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COVID-19 has a few good takeaways

Illustration+by+Marissa+Haas.+
Illustration by Marissa Haas.

COVID-19 has its fair share of negative connotations associated with it. People are sure to have memories of premature goodbyes, opportunities taken away and plans being postponed indefinitely. There are a few good things to come from this pandemic, however.

One of the better things COVID-19 has taught the world is to never take things for granted. At any time, the things we expect or look forward to can be taken away. It was certainly unexpected to have classes go online and not be able to have face-to-face contact with friends for months at a time.

Being aware of good hygiene is also a huge plus to come out of this situation. Hygiene should always be important, but the pandemic has made people more aware about how important it is. Objects are being wiped down more and hand sanitizer is being offered in more locations.

It will be good to think that people will still carry on these practices after the pandemic is under control. It seems like second nature now to walk into a store and apply the hand sanitizer they have at the entrance. Even when not offered, more people appear to carry hand sanitizer with them when they leave the house.

People have left their comfort zones while under stay-at-home orders in order to learn new skills and hobbies. With life and work getting in the way normally or being used as an excuse, isolation has made for a lot of free time, possibly allowing people to find a new thing to be passionate about. 

Moreso, everyone was forced to get out of their comfort zone and change huge parts of their life. Working from home forced us to learn to be productive on our own and we had to learn to communicate more with our fellow workers. We had to be more active keeping up with schedules and deadlines to make sure everything went on okay rather than just waiting the last minute for everything.

The forced responsibilities people have had to hold themselves to will be a valuable life skill to come as a result of COVID-19. Ideally, getting work done on time will be no problem once everything is back to how it once was. 

Many people will remember how the pandemic disrupted life long after it’s done. How life changed as a result of COVID-19 will be interesting to explore more in-depth in the future. Everyone will be able to share how they coped living through this moment in time, and we can all potentially bond over living through this historical event. 

There have undoubtedly been many hardships as a result of COVID-19. The massive social, economic and personal losses over the last several months shouldn’t be understated. But there is always a silver lining when it comes to situations like this. There are sure to be many other good takeaways from this situation other than the few listed above. At the end of the day, it has to be remembered: at least one good thing can and will be taken away from this situation we are all currently living in.

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COVID-19 has a few good takeaways