COVID-19 changed my perspective on everything from the way I talk to people, the way I travel, and even the way I view life. More importantly, COVID taught me the most important life lesson I think of all the time: to react and not expect anything.

What I mean by that is that nothing is guaranteed in life from people to money, to even your own family. Since you never know when something may go left. Take for example sports, as when COVID first began brewing the NBA and many other leagues were in the middle of their season. Then, BOOM! The NBA was shut down along with every other sports league.

It was random things like the NBA and various other leagues shutting down that really made me begin to wonder and worry. Not to mention when school shut down and my friends and I thought we were getting an extended spring break. This excitement soon turned to disappointment when we found out we weren’t having a real senior year.

Originally, my expectations of the virus when I first heard about it was nothing. I didn’t think it was a big deal or that it would really affect my life in any way. Then, slowly but surely the virus began to ruin everything. People couldn’t really go outside. People were in a frenzy for toilet tissue and hand sanitizer. People I knew and cared about started to pass away. In short, COVID made 2020 the worst year of my life but I did learn something from this horrid experience.

When I was isolated in my room from my own family and had to wear a mask in my own house. I started to realize that this is what they call life, just random experiences, some are joyful and others are wretched like this year. But fortunately, I learned to adapt to this new way of life. This included zoom calls, playing the game with friends, and just sitting on my patio for air.

Life is a pain in the butt, sometimes, and if I learned anything from this past year it is to just be ready for anything. And when times are horrible and it feels like everything is suffocating you, it’s ok to take a step back and take a break from it all. Whether through music or a hobby it’s ok to escape but don’t let these bad experiences ruin you. Therefore, in short, don’t expect anything in life as a given. That paycheck might not come on time, you might not get that job, or somebody might get sick. Whatever it is you have to learn to react and adapt and at your own pace keep moving forward you got this.