On 0:00 1st January, we said goodbye to 2021. A year that saw exams being cancelled for the 2nd time and the death toll being increased to over 140k. Many of us lost important people in our lives, and many of us reunited for the first time in years to see our beloved after a series of lockdowns. 

 

As we looked on at the fireworks and the celebrations and the parties, we all sighed collectively. We all hoped, deep down, that this was the beginning of the end. This was the year where COVID becomes a relic of the past. However, we could not be sure - and we still cannot. The uncertainty of Omicron; the uncertainty of exams; the uncertainty of lockdowns are all looming upon us. In reality, we don’t know if this is the beginning of the end, or the beginning of something even worse. We are on the cusp of discovery, the cusp of our future. There is nothing certain about tomorrow, but what we can do, as a whole, is reflect on what COVID has brought anew to our lives.

 

Well, that seems easy, I hear you say. Masks, sanitisers and isolation are the main 3 changes that our lives has experienced. And if you’re a secondary student like myself, then online learning and cancelled exams have become the norm. Yet, in a dark and twisted way, we have started to realise where we can improve as a society. I understand it is unfair to move on when so many lives has been lost, and it leads me to ask: what is stopping another pandemic happening?

 

It is important to reflect. If we are to leave something in the past, then we must have observed and learned everything we possibly can from it. Looking forward, what are the measures going to be like? Will this level of sanitation and hygeine still be mandated, after COVID has become the new cold? Or will we move on, act as this pandemic was a one-off event that will never, ever be repeated? Our actions in the future depend on you and what you want to say. Thank you for reading