One year ago at this time, the world was lost. As we were watching the number of cases of COVID-19 go up, we became more and more confused. None of us knew what to do when a pandemic suddenly started infecting many people. During this week in 2020, many events were being canceled and even school was canceled.

On March 13, 2020, the world changed. March 13th sparked off the first day of quarantine. At first, many people were confused but hopeful that it would be over in 2 or 3 weeks if we all just stayed inside the house. Sadly, this was not the case. School was canceled, which many students were actually excited for, thinking it was an early spring break. Then, when school was canceled for the rest of the semester, their opinions changed. Seniors did not get prom, did not get to have a last day of school, and did not have graduation for months. Not only did quarantine force many places to close, but it also took a huge toll on our daily lives. We just sat inside our house for weeks doing basically nothing. This also really damaged some people’s mental health. Junior Brenna Oxley stated, “Quarantine really did make me rethink a lot of my life. It messed up my mental health at first, but then it improved it.” 

As the one-year anniversary of quarantine comes up, we have to think about everything we have all been through this year. Whether you look at it from a personal perspective or an overall perspective, a lot has changed. Through all of it, however, we have made it work. Somehow, we figured out how to manage a pandemic while trying to live our lives to the fullest. Of course, we had to give up some things. Try to think about things optimistically though. Think about the next “anniversary of quarantine.” Most people will have the vaccine then and things might even be almost back to normal. In a survey of 30 Bob Jones students, many believed that time has flown by since the start of quarantine and are in disbelief that it has really been a year.

In conclusion, so many things have happened this year. It is surprising how much the world has changed and how much people themselves have changed. Let’s just hope that time will again go by fast until next March when hopefully things are starting to go back to normal.