The Year of Change by Brea

The Year of Change by Brea - December 2022 Scholarship Essay

2022 was the year of change. The year of finally being released from the Covid-19 precautions and from the anxiety inflicted on the world from the overwhelming sudden change of our day to day lives being ripped away from us. 2022 was the first year of normalcy in 3 long years. With normalcy also came realization though. The realization that my parents, my school, my community, my generation, and myself, lost 3 years. 3 years of so much learning done through a screen for my generation. All the core developments of a teenager’s mind spent in a room, while their only source of communication is through a phone. 2022 made me realize to never take anything for granted.
2022 was the light at the end of a tunnel, for myself and many other teenagers in my generation. 2019 was when COVID hit, 2020 we went by a color code to know if we could have the next football game, have a homecoming dance, or if we could even go to school 5 days a week. 2021 was when the people just wanted their life back, but faces were still covered by masks to the point we forgot what everyone looked like, and the news was still listing the numbers of COVID related deaths. January 2022 the West Virginia Board of Education decided masks were not necessary anymore. My history class, 7th period, January 2022, our principal came over the intercom, masks were not necessary anymore, my class tore their masks off, and I finally got to see everyone’s face for the first time in 3 years. 2022 made me realize to never take anything for granted.
The rest of 2022 I spent making my own choices. I took on a role of independence and leadership in my own life as I had missed out on the last 3 years. 2022 made me realize how important life and its lessons are. We don’t realize how many challenges and choices we make in a day, all choices that shape us, until they are taken away from us. As 2022 was a dream after COVID, it still taught me to appreciate what I have. I will go into 2023 always taking advantage of having a choice and continue to make the best decisions for myself, my community, and my generation as 2022 made me realize to never take anything for granted.