HAVING finished my primary school years on an inarguable high – dancing somewhat awfully across a hastily constructed stage, wearing a startlingly red dress with my hair painted ginger in such a fashion that my inspiration ‘Annie’ would surely be proud – I expected greatness from my secondary school years.

During the first months, although the change to such a bigger pool was shockingly scary, they met my standards.

I met plenty of pleasant teachers, learned some useful facts and even began to get over the initial shock.

Then, on March 23, 2020, after many months of randomly being pulled out of lesson having been in contact with the virus, lockdown was announced, and the already fragile balance of the secondary school ecosystem was thrown out of the window.

Even though my first experience of state-mandated lockdown was highlighted by the sunshine, there was undeniably a looming sense of the broken routine and threat of danger.

The second lockdown was much the same, although the disturbance was only amplified as the rules of a changed society became the norm once again.

While I didn’t really comprehend the enormous changes at the time, as I mostly focused on how to get away with spending as little time on my homework as possible and the most time doing whatever else I possibly could, I can appreciate the aftereffects of the pandemic far more seriously now.

The consequences in my school were almost certainly amplified by the disturbance of its own political corruption, a miniature parliament playing out right before my eyes, but the impact on the students – the lost time, the discomfort with exams and, less so in my year who knew one another from the first months of the first year or from our last year of primary where plays and standardised assessment tests solidified friendships, but also with each other – were experienced nationally.

The global impacts have also had a large effect on the school as conversations regarding wider discussions about the jab, social unrest and the government’s behaviour during the pandemic were all normal. While our language may not have exactly imitated that of the politicians, journalists and scientists, the content was not lesser than.

In nearly all ways, the Covid pandemic shaped how everyone acted with one other. The teachers had been challenged by the new way of educating, the students had to adjust to seeing one another every day, facing an environment we had barely understood to begin with, and our parents were all changed.

With my mum being an accident and emergency nurse during the pandemic, I was forced to confront the realities of the situation in a very personal way. The future seemed unsure and absolutely horrifying as the news told me in all the ways my mum was in danger.

While luckily it remained less lethal in most areas, including here, the changes initiated by the unusual times are here to stay, and I only hope that we as a part of the global community seek to improve our society from this shared experience.