My Life in 2020

I have lived in Minnesota for seventeen years with a lot of good experiences. I worked, went to school to learn English, received US citizenship, exercised at the Y, and traveled to many places inside and outside the United States. When the year 2020 came, it was awesome because I planned to visit many places. However, my joyfulness ended abruptly because of the pandemic and lockdown for the whole world. There were several events in our country and across the globe such as the covid 19 pandemic, the death of Mr. George Floyd and the Presidential election that affected me and my family in different ways.

To begin with, there was the spread of a covid 19 pandemic in 2020 that shocked the world. There was worldwide spread of a new disease from person to person very rapidly. Many families lost their loved ones from the pandemic. I felt very scared. I watched the news every single day to keep up with what happened around the country and the world. I heard more and more people die everyday and many countries announced a lockdown and mandate to wear face masks. The pandemic caused many people to lose their jobs because they had to stay home. I started wearing a face mask when I heard that there were 100 deaths in the US. I was really panicking. I got a peculiar look at the stores because no one wore a mask like me, but I felt safe from covid 19. My heart was full of fear and frustration because I could not travel as I had planned. Covid 19 deprives me from visiting my friends and family. Therefore, I tried very hard to calm down and think positively about the situation, hoping that everything would be fine. I have adapted to the new normal as the CDC recommends by wearing a mask, social distancing in public and staying home. I try to be healthy by eating wholesome food at home, and working out at home instead of going to the gym. Thank goodness, I still continue my writing class and yoga online at home. I can see and talk to my teachers and friends every week. I can see the good things inside the bad things as the time has gone by.

However, the death of Mr. George Floyd on May 25, 2020 was all over the TV. This event was the second shock that drew attention from millions in cities across the country and the world. It was a disturbing moment when I saw an officer pinning Mr, Floyd to the ground with his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck. I heard on the news “I can’t breathe”, and he cried out for his mama before he was unconscious. Later, he died. It was a complex decision to understand between the duty of an officer and the resistance of Floyd. This event led to protests in Minneapolis. It started with peaceful protest then turned violent as fires and looting broke out. I saw public and private properties vandalized on TV. It really frightened me. I could not sleep well because I was concerned that covid 19 would spread faster when people did not follow the CDC guideline by wearing a mask and keeping 6 feet distancing. It seemed like our peaceful city turned into a turbulent city. No one knows when those problems will be solved.

Last of all, the Presidential election was the most important for the United States because Americans were going to vote for the president. The event was held on November 3, 2020 election day. I was very excited and interested in democracy. I watched the news on TV to follow the campaign of two big parties, Republican and Democrat, to find out their ideas to benefit our country before I vote. There was so much information from both parties. People have to carefully compare between them. There were many disputes between families and friends with different views. Therefore, when we get together we prefer not to have conversations about politics. However, after the election is over, who has the most votes will be our president. We have to accept and respect our democratic systems. That is how democracy works. I felt sad for people who rejected the results. I thought I did my part as a US citizen by voting. This time was the first time that I voted by mail because of covid 19. When election day came it was stressful because I wanted the one who I voted for to be the president whether the majority voted for him or not. I have spent many hours following the news from TV. It seemed like I forgot my bed time especially when they counted the votes. I felt relieved that who would be our next president would get the most votes. However, it broke my heart to see people do not respect the rule of democracy. They did not try to live together in harmony. At this point we have to accept and respect the majority votes.

In conclusion, 2020 was a very difficult year that affected people all over the world. After we were through the hard time, we have learnt many things from those events. I would like to thank the frontline workers who worked very hard to help the patients who were sick from covid 19. They risked their lives to help others; also scientists have done a tremendous job to get the vaccine out to the public as fast as they can to protect people from covid 19. I hope 2021 will be a good year for all because we will get vaccines and people will be safe to go back to work. I hope we will hear justice for George Floyd and the police officers from the court soon. Our new President Joe Biden will lead the US to be a better nation. Hopefully, the economy will also bounce back. We will get out from the dim year 2020 together and think in a positive way that every day is a gift.