The Roaring Twenties by Emelie

The Roaring Twenties by Emelie - May 2020 Scholarship Essay

The year is 2070, my students gather around me, with big eyes, eager to hear about the year 2020. Fifty years have passed, but I remember that year so vividly. Like it was yesterday. I was only seventeen, a junior in high school, ready to graduate and leave my small town. That year I had seen the world around me collapse, fill with panic and uncertainty, become quiet, and still. But I’ve also seen the world come together in a time of need, evolve, and reinspire.

I had just gotten out for spring break, excited for a break away from school and making plans to spend countless hours with my friends around the town, but that year our spring break had other plans. A handful of cases of a new virus began to arise earlier that year. Coronavirus, a soon to be known virus. Day by day, the cases began to grow, rapidly. At first, it was said to only affect older people and people with compromised immune systems. My generation, being as ignorant as we were, made posts about the virus, known as memes. We made jokes and laughed about the virus- just like we laughed everything off. We thought we were invincible, that nothing could stop us, but soon more research would be done and everyone would be at risk. Hospitals began to pack with positive Covid-19 patience and soon hospitals began to over fill, resources were becoming hard to find, tests were impossible to get. My friends and I would make jokes like “I wish Corona would cancel school, so we can have an extended break.” But that joke soon turned into a reality, Schools all over the United States were extending their breaks due to the rising cases in America. In a blink of an eye- toilet paper became hard to find, hand sanitizer began selling out in all stores, and the panic escalated quickly. Our economy began to crash, civilians began to lose their jobs, non essential business began to close. States began to place stay at home orders. Our country announced a world pandemic. We had people working from home. Nurses risking their lives at their jobs. Mask’s were required when going out. We had parents teaching their children at home. School online. Parents began to give teachers the recognition they had been lacking. Teaching was no longer seen as an “easy job”. That year we learned the importance of every role in our community. We learned the importance of our front liners, the importance of small businesses, the importance of our educators, the importance in mental health, and the importance of coming together.

That year the class of 2020, had their caps and gowns delivered to them, and graduated virtually. They missed out on prom, senior skip day, and their last day of High School. After the class of 2020, lost their senior year, we began to see change in our education. More money was granted to the schools. The student to teacher ratio decreased significantly. Student mental health was our number one priority. The classroom was no longer a place of just learning, but a place of coming together. Learning and understanding became more important then passing. Teachers were given the wages they deserved. Following the Roaring Twenties, education began to transform for the better.