Flashback to March 13th, 2020: as COVID-19 hit and began to spread throughout the United States, curiosity and questions spread throughout Panther Creek High School.

What was this virus? How would it affect us? Would we return to school on Monday?

Students walked out of the building that afternoon with intentions of coming back on Monday. However, instead of walking back into Panther Creek High School at 7:00am on Monday morning, they walked into COVID-19 quarantine.

It’s been a year since quarantine began, and life looks much different than anyone could’ve predicted.

As March 13th, 2021 nears, students at Panther Creek reflect on their experiences, personal changes, and new outlooks they’ve gained on the world over the last year.

With quarantine came an extended amount of time for some of Panther Creek’s students to focus on their passions. Senior Sydney Black took some of the time to narrow in on her hobbies, both new and old; Sydney picked drawing and painting back up, in addition to learning ukulele and guitar.

“I always thought that I never had enough time to do drawing, or painting, or things like that. I got the chance to do that during quarantine, which was so nice.” Sydney says. She also mentioned that creating and learning self-care were very important for so many people during quarantine as well.

Elise Kimbel, also a senior, reflects on personal changes and the ways in which she spent her time. “Obviously I’ve transitioned, so that’s a big change. I’ve changed all of my stuff legally,” Elise tells PCNN. Like Sydney, Elise has also spent some of her time finding new hobbies to partake in. “My friend and I go to thrift shops, so that’s been really fun!”

In addition to Sydney and Elise, 93.8% of students that answered a PCNN poll also agreed that they had found new hobbies to keep themselves busy.

While these seniors have found new hobbies and new passions, they’ve also spent time reflecting on themselves. When asked to describe themselves a year ago, these were their responses:

Elise said that “Compared to a year ago, I was a really generic person. I had very little hobbies, and I didn’t do a lot. In the last year, I’ve found myself liking more of my hobbies. Ironically, I’ve been going outside more, despite being in quarantine.”

Sydney highlights her improvement in comparing herself to others. “I liked to compare myself to people a lot, but that was much more frequent back then… I’ve definitely stopped doing that a little more now.”

It’s no doubt that COVID-19 impacted the world in extremely detrimental ways. It took millions of lives, put so many out of work, and flipped our world upside down. With this in mind, Elise and Sydney elaborate on the things that have kept them going during the pandemic.

Sydney emphasizes how big the little things really can be.“I’ve been doing the simple things, like making my bed in the morning and putting on a fresh pair of clothes. Small things build up, and it’s better than nothing.”

For Elise, it’s new media entertainment that keeps her looking forward to the days ahead. “New games, new movies, and new things coming out. Especially early quarantine, I was really worried that everything was going to shut off, and it did, but now things are continuously going.”

As they take a step back to look at how the world has changed, Sydney and Elise both emphasize that the pandemic has taken its toll on people globally. The pandemic has altered the lives of so many; the world looked very different on March 13th, 2020 than it does on March 13th, 2021. 100% of those who answered PCNN polls also agreed that the world has changed significantly over this time.

As we move further into 2021, Elise highlights the good in the future within her statement,“I think we’re getting a lot better though, and probably for the next few years, we’ll be getting significantly better!”

It’s now March 13th, 2021. A year later, we reflect on the many different perspectives we’ve gained and the individual experiences that we’ve had throughout the course of quarantine. While we remind ourselves of the changes that have taken place, both in our personal lives and within the world, we also look forward to a brighter future.