Brunswick County’s two year anniversary from when kids left school arrived and it has a lot of us still asking, what changed? As our own individuals and as a society we’ve all changed tremendously the last two years, but how did it affect us? 

“We haven’t had that connection,” said sophomore Elyse Mulvaney. “We haven’t been social and interacting with other people; we’ve been more focused on social media rather than in person. Social media has made a big impact on that.”

The quarantine gave a lot of people the chance to grow on their own and not have to worry about what other people think. Girls explored their sense of style and some came out a completely different person. It allowed some girls to find the confidence in themselves to wear the makeup they want to, wear those really cool clothes to school that they hide in the back of their closet because they’re scared to be judged.

“I learned more about myself with the time that I’ve had to figure out who I am,” said Mulvaney. “I like to express myself in my style, in a way I like to show people who I am. I feel like how you dress shows the type of personality you have.”

Girls weren’t the only ones who had time to explore who they really are; we all saw guys changed up their same haircuts that they’ve been getting since fifth grade to something completely different. They too created their own sense of style, whether it be dressing with a more alternative style, bringing out the hat and cowboy boots, or just changing up their hair color. Guys picked up different hobbies that genuinely made them happy and active, like lifting, skateboarding or even surfing.

“I got swole; I glowed up a little bit,” said senior Skyler Glasner. “Everything about my personality changed. I’m not even close to the same person, simply because I was at home more, and I had a lot more time to think about my future and things I don’t like about myself that I wanted to change.”

Summer of 2020 was definitely a summer none of us will ever forget, and our generation will have story after story to tell in the future. Granted, being in the middle of a pandemic is one of the worst things to happen, but not everything that came from the lock down was bad.

“Over quarantine, I was able to commit to my college’s lacrosse team!” said senior Isaac Parsons.