2020: The year that was known for the unexpected, with chaos on the streets, a virus taking over the world, and a memorable presidential election for the ages. There was some good mixed in there with the bad, but generally, most people would probably agree upon the fact that 2020 was just not a good one. However, I still think we all learned a lot from this year, and that some things that we learned will help us in the future.

Firstly, one thing that many learned this year was to have patience. I can say that, from a personal experience, patience was not a quality that I possessed before this year. I used to expect to receive something immediately, and if there was ever a problem in my life, I’d expect it to vanish in a week or so. This year, we haven’t had the luxury to be able to expect things to pass by quickly. The main and obvious example of this: Coronavirus. Most people though that back in March this would all be over by June, July or early August. As the days went by, we all slowly started to realize that unfortunately, the expectations we held were unrealistic. We are now in mid-December as I write this, and just now are vaccines starting to roll out and be available nationwide. One thing that this year taught us is that some things we have no control over, and when it comes down to that, all we can do is accept it and let things naturally progress; in other words, be patient.

Something else that we all took from this year was to appreciate the smaller things. We had so many distractions that constantly blocked us from seeing what was beneath; the things that we constantly take advantage of on a daily basis. I forgot how stress-relieving and relaxing a simple bike ride was before the shutdown. I spent quality time with my family; I learned how to play chess with my dad, watched movies with my mom, and played video games with my brother, who got to come home from college because of the quarantine. I know others went out and made their own new hobbies, some becoming permanent for lots of people, and none of this would be possible without the current situation we’re all in, so in a way, 2020 helped us reconnect with the more simple aspects of life. Even if life became simpler for us, we still had some major events take place, such as the PS5 and Xbox Series-X release, the BLM protests, and the sports playoffs.

To wrap things up, I believe while 2020 was overall a bad year, there have been plenty worse. We still had plenty of bright spots in the darkness, and there was an overwhelming sense of hope and community that was felt at points, even if we were all separated from one another. So, if there was anything this year taught us, it’s that humanity can always adapt and survive no matter the circumstances, and that we can take on anything that comes our way in the future.