2020 changed everyone’s lives in some way. With schools being closed and moved online, workers send home to either work or now unemployed, everyone quarantined with their families in their homes, and outside gatherings discouraged, we all had to adapt to this new way of living. We had to let go of a lot of things we were use to and enjoyed like hanging out with friends, going out on the weekends, enjoying things like the movies or parties.

Even though 2020 had been rough and we missed out on much for almost a whole year, 2021 is a new year and hopefully for new beginnings. One thing we all had to learn to adapt to, was staying home. We may not all be homebodies so this was a harder adjustment for some. With teens this has been very hard because a typical weekend for us is hanging out with friends. We had to adapt to not going out on weekends, no sleepovers, no movie theaters, and no seeing our friends or classmates unless through a screen.

With a new year, students are hopeful to maybe return to some of the things they missed in 2020. Kenwood student Ares R. shared some of the things she’s hopeful to return to in 2021. “My group of friends and I usually go to the mall on weekends so not being able to do that was upsetting, but I’m hoping COVID is gone in 2021 so we can start doing that again.”

Another thing that many of us didn’t think we would miss so much was school. We definitely took this one for granted. Ares is just one of many that is hopeful we’ll get to return to school in 2021. “I miss being able to get ready for something and seeing my friends every day. I didn’t think I would actually miss school but I do.” Even though a lot of kids complained about school and hated having to wake up early for it, we’ve definitely discovered we miss it and hope to return in person sometime in 2021.

It’s not just the hope of returning to school and seeing friends regularly again that students hope to get back in 2021. During Summer 2020, Covid-19 cancelled much of the usual summer traditions people look forward to whether it was vacations, annual fairs and festivals, concerts, Orioles games! Students look forward to summer for having fun, no school to stress about, and most importantly vacations, but Summer 2020 was not a typical summer so we’re hoping for another summer in 2021 of our childhood like the ones before 2020. “My family takes a yearly trip to Disney and we canceled it last year but hopefully we’ll get to go this year, “ shared Ares R. Even if we’re not typical vacationers, after what we endured in 2020 everyone should take a vacation to reset in 2021.

Without a doubt we will all remember 2020 as a very challenging year, but we did learn valuable things. We learned we can adapt to new things and let go of a lot of things when we need to. The only thing we can do is hope 2021 is better, and as Kenwood teacher Mrs. G says, “the resolution may not be to make 2021 the best year yet, but to make the best of this year with whatever it holds.”