In such an unprecedented year, there is a lot to complain about. Personally, my 2020 has been one of the worst years of my life. I lost one of my dogs to cancer suddenly and unexpectedly over the summer. A biking accident left my father hospitalized with a collapsed lung and many broken bones. I had to say goodbye to a lot of my friends as they either moved or went off to college. Covid prevented me from seeing my family for most of this year and has cancelled both my Thanksgiving and Christmas plans and now it looks as if most if not all of our senior year will be online. Kobe and Pop Smoke both died. The list goes on. Through all of this, there are still so many ways in which I am very fortunate and many things to be immensely thankful for. It’s important to keep these things in mind in order to keep a positive attitude through these trying times, whether these things apply to you or if you have other things to be thankful for.
- College Apps
Although this may come as a surprise, I am thankful for college applications. While I may dread them and feel as though they hang over me like dark clouds at times, I am happy to have this stress. Although they are a lot of work, I am still very thankful for the fact that I have both the ability and financial security to be able to apply to the schools that I am. I’m also thankful that my family has instilled in me a value of education which drives me to become the best person that I can by challenging myself.
- My Job
Another surprising candidate. I am thankful for my job at Ace Hardware for a plethora of reasons. For starters, I am technically an essential worker (who knew that building grills and stacking firewood was the glue that held society together) which means that through lockdowns and statewide orders, I have had job security. While many of my friends who work in restaurants have been furloughed, I still am able to go to work and make money. Secondly, I genuinely enjoy going to work a lot of the time. The combination of great coworkers, relaxed bosses, and an ungodly amount of OSHA violations keeps me on my toes and makes every shift fun and exciting.
- School
As much as this year has been different from the last three years of high school, there is still a lot to be thankful for. With everything going online this year, teachers and administration have had to do so much by creating a whole new way to learn, essentially from scratch and I am deeply appreciative of that. Going into this year, I had just figured that I wouldn’t learn much while everything was online but I have found that this was not the case. While some classes don’t work as well as others (gym and ceramics I’m looking at you) it is still reassuring that during these times, NNHS staff are still dedicated to ensuring we all receive a quality education.
- Friends
Just as everyone else did, my friends and I were forced to adapt and change how we did things this year. With covid preventing many indoor activities, golf, fishing, and online poker became our new pastimes. With our flexibility and creative thinking, we were all able to stay covid-free for almost all of this year, even through a few scares. With everything seeming so bleak at times, my friends were able to offer some hope and an escape from the monotony of quarantine. I couldn’t think of a better group of people to get me through the last 8 months.
- Family
Although it may be cliche, it wouldn’t be right to list things that I am thankful for without including my family. I haven’t been able to see members of my extended family because of everything that has happened and I probably won’t be able to in person for a while longer. Despite this, I have been trying to keep in touch digitally over Facetime. Whether it is talking to my grandma or watching my nephew open gifts for his first birthday, I think I have managed to stay connected to my family. My parents have also become a bigger part of my life. Before Covid, my nuclear family was rarely all together; my dad is out of town for work during the week and my mom is during the weekends. From March until June, I was quarantined with them and could not leave the house. In order to make the best of this, we watched movies, played games, and did all the other family things that we haven’t been able to normally for the last several years. Although Covid has been rough, it brought my family together and I am thankful for all they have done for me.