When I volunteered to write an article recapping this year, I figured it would be relatively simple since everyone can agree on how hectic it has been. In reality, this has been one of the hardest articles for me as I am reflecting on how much has changed in our society. We have taken many steps back, while also taking many forward. When I think about 2020, three big topics appear in my mind: health, climate, and racism. These big concepts have been prominent means of discussion, but this year truly put them to the test.
January started the year off with hearing about the Australian bushfires. These fires terribly impacted Australia and our planet as a whole, destroying 11 million hectares of bush, forest, and parks. About three billion animals and 34 people were killed. These fires really brought global warming to people’s attention. Luckily, president-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris will be taking office in the next few months, and there is some hope for the environment to improve. Biden has plans for us to be fighting to get to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and we must hold him to this. Net-zero means that the number of emissions produced will be balanced with the amount taken out of the atmosphere. This can happen by upgrading buildings to ensure they are more energy-efficient, along with making fuel-efficient vehicles more accessible as well as charging stations for said vehicles. Although this year has been rough in regards to climate, the plans laid out for the future give me a lot of hope.
The next big event is the reason why I am writing this in my own home rather than a dorm: COVID-19. I’m sure most students were alarmed last semester to hear about going into a sudden lockdown with a fully online transition. We were forced to become incredibly uncomfortable with our learning environments on short notice, but now we know Zoom like the back of our hands. We have never experienced anything like this in our lifetimes. This virus severely impacted my mental health, and I’m certain I’m not the only one who feels that way. This pandemic has led lots of people struggling to find a balance between their physical and mental health. It also helped people learn how to adapt to changes and embrace the little things in life before a different definition of normal presents itself. It also required us to recognize the importance of being sanitary. If we are generally more aware of health and safety, we might even be able to have fewer sicknesses from other viruses such as the flu.
The last big topic heavily discussed this year was racism. In May of this year, a black man named George Floyd was filmed being murdered by the police. This video sparked an uproar demanding justice for black lives. The Black Lives Matter movement saw an intense resurgence on social media, with petitions and fundraisers circulating with information on how people could make a difference. It even allowed people to discover past cases of police brutality, demanding justice that we should have demanded a long time ago for people like Breonna Taylor. Having social media allows us to be educated a lot more on racial issues since it has such a large outreach. Even though there were so many stories of police brutality, we are still learning about it and educating ourselves on the racial problems in our society. We are demanding justice for so many people and spreading the word on their stories, and I’m so grateful that our generation is using our platforms to effectively do this.
Even though we have faced so many unbelievably difficult challenges in the span of one year, we are so strong in facing them and working towards a better future for everyone. This year has been so different from any other, but that might be for the best. These differences haven’t been great, but we are aware of them and are working to improve them. As long as we continue to fight for ourselves, our environment, and our people, nothing will stop us. I was going to end by saying that hopefully, 2021 will be better. As much as I wish this was true, we can’t create high expectations on January 1st. Change takes time. There is no date on the calendar by which things should be magically better. These issues we have faced are big, so we have to be patient and hardworking for these problems to be resolved, but I believe we can really do it.