This March marked the fourth year since Coronavirus-19 was declared a global pandemic. Seems like just yesterday students were logging in to Zoom classes awaiting the estimated two week break to go by. As humans, we are intrigued by the questions of whether time actually does pass more quickly as we get older, if we have enough time to accomplish our goals, and whether time actually does seem to “fly” when we are having a good time. However, over the last four years, this subject has become more and more important, and social media has labeled this observation as the “2020 Effect.”
In a nutshell, the “2020 Effect” is the collective feeling that the pandemic has significantly altered how we perceive time. It is no doubt that during the first round of in-home lockdown, time passed slower than expected due to the experienced feelings of isolation. And though, if at first we might have thought that time was passing slowly during this period, it seems that time has only been accelerating. Four years have passed since 2020 and five years have passed from 2019. The “2020 Effect” suggests that because all of our pre-lockdown memories seem more similar than our current ones, 2019 feels more recent than it actually was. It seems as though the period of isolation distorted our sense of time making these occurrences seem much more recent even though, in actuality, years have passed since the pandemic’s start.
Probably one of the most important things that you can take away from this understanding is that time is a relative concept. During quarantine, several people found themselves sucked into a “Groundhog Day” lifestyle that they are still in four years later. This raises the question of how it impacts the general student, more particularly, students at Baldwin.
After being asked the questions “Have you felt that time has moved faster since the end of the pandemic/lockdown?” followed by “How has the post-pandemic distorted illusion of time affected your high school experience?” Baldwin students have expressed their thoughts on the phenomenon.
“Time has moved a lot faster than lockdown, in my opinion. Especially since we came back from quarantine, mid 2021 to now have [gone] by in a blink…I feel like it hasn’t allowed me to enjoy my time to my fullest, everything is going by so fast and at this point there is so much going on. In between extracurriculars, academics, social life, it’s a lot. But I’ve gotten used to it by now and it’s kind of interesting to look back and see how far time has gone.” – Junior, Isabella Cortés
“Definitely. I feel like people grew really quickly. Like sometimes when I look at seniors (class of 2024) I can’t comprehend how they are seniors…It feels like i haven’t enjoyed my middle/upper school life enough in the sense of being with friends, making friends and learning, especially.” – Freshman, Pablo Nazario
Regulations for masks have been lifted, most institutions do not require the Covid vaccine, and ordinary products that were formerly considered “commodities” are replenished on grocery store shelves. The commonly recognized time effect has been the one factor that gives people the impression that nothing has really changed since 2020, despite the shifts towards “normality”. Possibly, the only way to reverse this effect would be to start managing our time intentionally and to refrain from waiting for Friday, the next break, or the end of our last class. Perhaps the day we quit closing our eyes and try to live in the present moment is the day we break the pattern of our life passing before our eyes. To recognize the beauty in being bored and to appreciate every aspect that makes up these brief but important times in our lives.
Works Consulted
Burke, J. (2024, February 27). Is the 2020 Time Effect Real?. The Villanovan. https://villanovan.com/24730/opinion/is-the-2020-time-effect-real/
Harvey, E. (2024, February 6). What is the 2020 effect?. The East Rockaway Gull. https://eastrockawaygull.com/4757/student-life/what-is-the-2020-effect/
Malone, M. R. (2021, October 26). The pandemic has played with our perception of Time. University of Miami News and Events. https://news.miami.edu/stories/2021/10/the-pandemic-has-played-with-our-perception-of-time.html
Natalie Gontcharova, T. P. (2021, March 11). Congratulations, our sense of time has been off for a year now. Why Does Time Either Go Slow Or Move Fast During COVID? https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/03/10332829/why-does-time-feel-weird-covid-pandemic
Published Aug 8, 2023. (2023, August 8). How the pandemic messed with our perception of time. The Transmission. https://www.unmc.edu/healthsecurity/transmission/2023/08/08/how-the-pandemic-messed-with-our-perception-of-time/
Rothman, L. (2023, March 7). How the pandemic changed our relationship with Time. Time. https://time.com/6260618/pandemic-relationship-with-time/
Sara Lindberg, M. E. (2023, February 1). Perception of time has shifted during COVID-19, new survey reports. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/why-time-is-passing-so-strangely-during-covid-5075438
Stirone, S. (2020, December 9). 2020 was A time warp. Vox. https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22150990/2020-time-covid-warp-year-end
