After a year and a half of quarantine, hybrid school, mask mandates, and overpriced hand sanitizer, I think it’s safe to say that all of us are relieved at the reality of a world post-pandemic. In March, it will have been three years since quarantine started. And while we were in-person full-time last year, our last truly normal school year was in 2018-2019. Considering that the seniors were freshmen then, and some of the kids in pre-k had just been born, is it possible that we can fully return to life pre-COVID? We might never get back to the same lives we had before COVID-19, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. So, what aspects of this post-quarantine life are changed for the better?

Mental Health Awareness

The first and most obvious of the set is a greater focus on mental health. Ask almost anyone, and they will tell you that quarantine had a massive impact on their mental health and well-being. Recent studies reflect this as well. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), COVID-19 provoked a 25% increase in anxiety and depression. This led to 90% of the countries WHO surveyed including mental health support in their COVID-19 responses. The fact that countries planned to bring this focus has the potential to negate the stigmas we often see surrounding mental health and suicide. Over the pandemic, many people also started talking about their struggles with depression, anxiety, and more. This is so important to continue, as the pandemic left a mark on our society that isn’t going away anytime soon. 

Overscheduling

Before the pandemic, many families, including my own, were vastly overscheduled. From extracurriculars to sports to school events, there was something happening all of the time. After many of us have been through the wringer with our mental health, we don’t necessarily have the emotional or physical bandwidth to go out and do things like we used to. While we’re already back to sports games, plays, and other various activities, it seems as though people have learned to prioritize what they love. Hopefully, this trend will continue, as it’s imperative to do things we love, especially since Covid took so much of that away.

Self-Acceptance

Quarantine left us with an abundance of free time. This extra time allowed people to turn to YouTube, TikTok, baking, and other hobbies, and it also precipitated self-discovery. Millions of queer people, including myself, either realized or accepted their queerness during the pandemic. The prolonged isolation gave everyone plenty of time to self-reflect and ultimately sped up the process of coming out for some. When left alone without the social pressure of school or work, people could more easily accept themselves, both in and outside of sexuality.

The effects of COVID-19 will live on. Hospitals are still full, people are still dying, and everyone’s still trying to process the events of the last three years. While it’s important to realize that our world is messed up, it’s also important to try to find the good and learn from horrible situations. That good could be that you found out you love to bake, or you took some time for yourself when you really needed it, that you have decided to spend more time with your family, or even that you dumped hours of your life into your Animal Crossing island. Whatever the case, try to find that optimism, and let the lessons you learned from COVID help you as we work through these next few years.