It’s Been A While…

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.
Martin Luther King

All I can begin by saying is WOW. What a year. What an experience. What lessons this has taught us. And that’s all in the one year of 2020. It’ll forever go down in history for being a time that changed the course of many people’s lives. For better and for worse.

I know in recent months I have been ‘radio silent’ on this platform, so to anybody that has read my previous blogs, enjoyed my content or appreciated any single point I’ve expressed, I want to apologise. For one I’ve always aimed to be consistent in posting and putting my opinions out there, but if the last 12 months has taught me anything it’s to take a break when I need it. Yes a massive part of me has been disappointed and frustrated that adapting to uni life and COVID has greatly reduced my appetite for writing and producing content, however I also realise just how much my life has been altered by moving away from home and keeping up with the demands of a degree. Not only that but measures like social distancing, wearing face coverings and enforced social isolation periods have created mass uncertainty and anxiety for so many people, including myself.

While I’d lying if I said that a huge part of me hasn’t enjoyed uni so far, the annoying thing for me and most students (especially 1st years) is just how much this global pandemic has hindered our first taste of university life. From speaking to people who’ve done it, whether it be family or friends, you formulate a picture in your head about how great the 1st year experience is going to be. How many parties you’ll go to. The amazing people you’ll meet. The challenges yet excitement of moving away and gaining so much independence. The freedom of being to enjoy life seemingly without a care in the world. That being said, this has been far from reality. And let’s not forget it’s impacted people from all kinds of backgrounds, not just students.

Now I know it’d be easy to feel ‘doom and gloom’ about what this year has offered- and I send my huge condolences to anyone personally affected- however I’m hoping the challenges I have faced and the difficult experiences I’ve regularly encountered will stand me in good stead for a better 2021. Obviously we’d prefer a world where COVID-19 never existed, we weren’t flipping in and out of lockdowns and life returned to complete normality, but I suppose the most important lesson we can take from 2020 is how resilient the human spirit can be. Never in our wildest imaginations did we expect a virus to spread like it has, yet these extraordinary circumstances have shown how people can face the worst adversity head on and come out of it as better, stronger individuals. Should we face something like that in the future (that’s not me trying to scare people), I’m optimistic that we’ll be better 100x better equipped to cope and live life to the best of our capabilities! The more we can fight and battle through the tough times together the better.

To anybody reading this, I hope you have a great 2021. When you hit another low or a time where life feels almost impossible- remember you can do this. You’ve got through it before, and you’ll get through it again. It’s important we remind ourselves of this!