UNPRECEDENTED TIMES Michelle Finnegan poses for a picture with her family at the Rise of the Resistance Ride in Disneyland once establishments began opening up after the COVID lockdown in 2021. Although adapting to a “new normal” was a strange experience, Finnegan was able to find fun in the moment with her family. “Even though there were a lot of restrictions which made Disneyland feel very different from how it usually feels, it was very fun getting to go on this ride and spend the day with my family,” Finnegan said. Photo courtesy of Michelle Finnegan.

It is well known that the COVID-19 Pandemic altered the established way of life for people worldwide. With government-mandated quarantines in America starting in spring of 2020, work and school had to pivot to alternative methods such as Zoom conferences and online learning. Society was thrust into a panic as grocery store shelves depleted quickly and gatherings were strongly discouraged, leading to social and emotional isolation for millions.

Although it has been almost five years since the pandemic, new habits formed during this time have been ingrained in many Mater Dei students. Sophomore Joseph Vu recalls his memories of online learning and how it amplified his appreciation for in person school today.

“I absolutely hated it,” Vu said. “I just felt way too distracted during [online school], to be honest. I think when a teacher isn’t there to guide you or to force you, [when] you can’t see or other students, it just completely turns off that sense of having to do work and I just got totally lazy. I think it’s just way more fun having a teacher and students [together in person] now that I look back on the COVID years and the virtual classrooms and all that. It just creates a bigger sense of community than online learning.”

Although the prospect of no school seemed nice at first, being deprived of social interactions ultimately made a negative impact on Vu. However, he had the mental fortitude to grow from his struggles.

“For the first month or so, it’s like, ‘oh, I don’t have any responsibility’. After that it just felt so empty, not having to do anything, like not having a sense of life,” Vu said. “I felt like I had a lot of mental issues during that [time, but] I think the mental growth was there. It reminded me to stop being lazy.”

On the other hand, Senior Michelle Finnegan found fun things to do during COVID as this time period gave her the opportunity to explore new hobbies and spend more quality time with family.

“For most of the lockdown, I was pretty content actually,” Finnegan said. “It was really fun to try new activities like baking and reading and poetry. I [also] had a lot of really unique experiences [with] my siblings and we would do a lot of games like Minecraft. We would do board games and then one particular experience was there’s this singing app called Smule. We made songs together doing that kind of karaoke. There were a lot of funny moments during COVID just hanging out with my siblings and it drove us a little bit crazy, but it was fun.”

When returning to daily routines after COVID, Finnegan shares the struggle of stepping out of her comfort zone, yet recognizes the ultimate benefits she received in the long run.

“I grew a lot more outgoing and ambitious from COVID because I had been so reserved before,” Finnegan said. “It showed me that I needed to step out of my own comfort zone and just try really hard to connect with people and that’s kind of influenced me to be more outgoing, and to be more ambitious, and to try new things. It was scary at first approaching a total stranger, seeing how it would go, but it was always a good experience.”

After everything she has faced during the pandemic, Finnegan expresses how it’s hard to believe how her high school years are coming to a quick end, but still looks forward to the future.

“I feel like time [has] really flown by since 2020 because during the whole pandemic season it felt like time didn’t go by,” Finnegan said. “So it’s really strange now that I’m going off to college soon, because it seems like a gap of my life was kind of taken out, but I’m excited.”

The unique experiences caused by the COVID lockdown have formed lasting memories in junior Malia Carandang’s life that she still carries with her today.

”[I got to] see places that were usually crowded and stores with shelves of food and toiletries empty. [There were] people I was able to meet online, and learn how divided people could be by seeing and hearing the arguments people had with their different beliefs about COVID,” Carandang said. “I find these [experiences] unique because I hadn’t perceived them before. [They] are lasting core memories I have [today].”

Despite the setbacks she faced, Carandang learned important lessons on how hard times eventually pass, and that everything happens for a reason.

“This time period definitely taught me things about myself and others, and have left me with indelible memories and experiences, such as carrying on with the habits and hobbies I picked up from the lockdown to my outlook on life,” Carandang said. “No matter how desolate or hard a time may seem, things will pass, it is never “the end of the world.”  Time moves on and things change, and from these things I’ll be able to learn and grow from these challenges and experiences I face.”