49 Fun Times and Missed Opportunities During the Covid Lockdown

For me, I went into complete lockdown right after my March break during my last semester in high school. Me and my friends were scared, excited and anticipating the news regarding the lockdown near the end of the break. The question running through our minds and the topic of our conversation was whether we’d go back to school or if it will shut down and become online. They first announced a 2-week break in the middle of March expecting school to return to normal, but it ended up continuing for the whole semester and my final year flew by and I graduated without having to write any exams. As I transitioned into my first year at McMaster, everything continued to remain remote. Overall, I would say I experienced about a year and a half of lockdown-style learning between the end of high school and first year of university. It wasn’t until second year when in person labs and classes started opening up again.

When the lockdown first started, in all honesty I truly had an amazing time, contrary to many others. Me and my friends would often hope on Discord to call, chat, and play video games together. It was a time with virtually no stress. School felt easy, and there was hardly any homework as teachers were still adjusting to online school. A lot of the content being taught got cut out, assignments getting cancelled left and right, and overall, the course load became incredibly light. This gave so much free time and leeway for me to play video games and watch shows for hours on end without having to stress about studying or assignments. Often, I would wake up, eat food, and get on my gaming computer and play all day. It truly felt blissful without having to worry about anything.

At first, this was fun, but as the days flew by, me and my friends realized that we would end up missing high school graduation and prom. It’s so insane to think back and realize that one of the most important moments of my life – graduating high school and going to prom – was cancelled because of Covid. Instead, what we had was a hastily put together live online graduation ceremony if you will. I guess it got the job done but it was nowhere near the level of what I imagine graduation would have been like for me and my friends. High school was over, we were in the middle of a pandemic with everyone locked in their own house, but the next big step in my life was taking place. I was supposed to move in for dorm but unsurprisingly, I didn’t have to because of Covid. I thought that it was amazing that I could stay in the comfort of my house. But as days went by, I realized how much I was missing out by not being able to live the life of a normal first year student and meet new people. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I didn’t like my high school friends, we got really close over the pandemic. But I often wonder how different my life would have been if Covid never happened and I actually got to experience what a regular first year student would have.

During Covid I noticed several instances of blame. First and foremost, we had Trump, the American president at the time calling the virus as the ‘Chinese’ virus. Sure, he wasn’t the first one to blame the Chinese or even Asians in general, but his position and views affected how others, including Canadians, thought of the virus. When Covid became a global concern, several social media platforms were quick to spread the news. Many posts carried a narrative along the lines of, “Covid-19 has finally arrived in Canada from China.” Posts like these, especially on Instagram, often came up in conversations with my high school friends and peers. Strangely, some of them echoed Trump’s stance, blaming China and even unrelated Asian countries for consuming bats and supposedly spreading the virus. I remember hearing comments suggesting that the Chinese government had intentionally created the virus as part of a plan to take over the world.

Even though I didn’t personally contract Covid until much later after the pandemic, I clearly remember the stigma that surrounded it, especially right before the lockdown. At that time, something as simple as coughing in public could attract weird looks, discomfort, or even whispers. While I never experienced the stigma firsthand, it was very obvious how others were treated differently the moment they showed any symptoms. In high school, people were so wary, making sure to avoid whoever it was that went to pick up a tissue to blow their nose or coughed/sneezed during first period of school. Right before the lockdown, some of my family friends and neighbours at the time were quick to assume that these people who got Covid were careless and blamed them saying that they were “probably out partying” and spreading the virus. While I did agree in some part that some may not have been taking the public health measures seriously, I always thought what if these people were just unlucky and got the virus while being super cautious.

Covid may have taken away some important life experiences, but I still believe I’ve grown a lot as a person. Despite everything, I was able to build meaningful connections online, some of which have become lifelong friendships. Looking back, it was a strange but unforgettable time, and I know I’ve learned a lot through all of it.