The Impact of the Coronavirus 

From the Perspective of a 2020 Senior

Over the past few weeks, we have been experiencing a worldwide pandemic. As we all know, this pandemic has been caused by the spread of the Coronavirus, also commonly known as the COVID-19, that originated in China. It has been affecting all of us more negatively than positively, and this has changed all of our lives drastically from this moment of our lives onwards. This will change the school systems, the government, the economy, you name it – everything that we knew has changed (positively or negatively, based on your perspective on it) and now we have to adapt to these new changes. In other words, the life that we knew has now evolved into something new, that none of us truly know what it will look like. Our next step is to take it day by day and see where this new path will take us. And yes, I know that this is surprising and worrisome as we can’t control the outcomes of our actions like we used to. It is absolutely terrifying! Let me repeat that: it is absolutely terrifying! But there isn’t much that we can do at this moment of crisis. I personally think that this is a moment to re-create our system and create a better and improved one from which everyone will benefit. It will take us a while; yet, we have the time to do so right now. 

Do Something Positive

Take advantage of your free time and discover something that inspires you or will benefit the greater community. For example, Albert Einstein created and founded Calculus when he was in quarantine. Follow his ideology, to a certain extent, and do something similar to this. You do not have to invent math, but do something positive for the environment or for the community or do something positive that might change a person’s life forever. Who knows, right? You never know that a small compliment may change someone’s life choices or path forever. 

The Day We Have Been Waiting For

On a different note, think about all the high school and college seniors that were supposed to graduate this year…. Now with the coronavirus, we might not get to walk on our stage during our own graduation and might not even get a prom. The day that we have been waiting for for the past four years slipped through our fingers and we can not do anything about it. We all hope that these two biggest and life changing moments don’t get cancelled, but rather postponed. We all deserve the opportunity to have our graduation ceremony and our prom, even though it is different to previous years. Personally speaking, I do not care if it is different, as long as I have it and experience it for myself. For sure, this year is a year to not be forgotten; as well as the class that will never be forgotten – the class that finished their senior year with the worldwide pandemic. We will be the legacy class that was strong and fought hard until the very end even with the most difficult obstacle there is – the COVID-19. Similarly, what will happen to our first semester of college? Will we have it? Will we not have it? Will we get orientation? Will our first year of college be the same as any other freshman in college? We do not know the answer to these questions right now, but hopefully we will get these answers soon. 

The Environment 

Let’s not forget about the environment. I know it sucks that everyone is in quarantine and we can not go out and see our friends, be in large groups, hangout in the streets, go to restaurants, or whatever it might have been; yet, our environment has done nothing but  improve. We can see how the Earth took a deep breath and started to relax as we humans are not abusing it constantly and taking advantage of it. I believe that the coronavirus was the earth’s way to tell us to take a break, reflect what we are doing, change what we are currently doing, and improve upon it without hurting mother nature as we used to before the worldwide pandemic. We may not realize how much we are affecting the world, but unfortunately we do affect it a lot and it is kind of sad. This is our wake-up call to change our actions and make the world the better place that we always wanted it to be. 

It has Changed the World

In conclusion, the Coronavirus has affected all of us and has changed the world. Hopefully, this can be almost like a restart for everyone, including the environment – which has been improving and getting stronger since quarantine all over the world. Believe it or not, this pandemic has happened for a reason and it will benefit all of us, even though we can’t see the positive consequences at this very moment. I know that the world will become a better place in the next three to five years due to this horrible pandemic.

 

 

Opinion Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the various contributors to this website are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, or official policies of The Baldwin School of Puerto Rico.