Surviving 2020: A Photo Essay

Before the Storm

This picture of me, Henna Datta, was taken on January 20, 2020 in the downstairs bathroom of my house, using my friend's camera. It was meant to be a beginning of the year photoshoot. To me, it represents how I felt about the year to come at the time, and brings back beautiful memories of taking photos with my friends that day.

An Unmade Bed

This photo was taken on November 18, 2020. I spent a lot of the last few months feeling down, laying in bed so often that I stopped bothering to make it each morning. This photo is my way of remembering those times, as I believe it shouldn't be ignored just because it wasn't happy.

Clarity

This photo was taken on May 25, 2020, on a trip my family took to a nearby park after my graduation. It is a moment of peace in which I fully accepted that I had to move forward rather than continue to dwell on the past.

A Puppy and His Pig

This photo was taken on June 10, 2020. It shows my dog, Teddy, and his beloved horrendously hot pink pig. After spending days in my dark bedroom, I decided to go outside and sit with him for a while, and he brought his pig with him! This is a very happy memory for me, as it was the first time I'd felt content in a while. I also think he looks super cute with his tiny pig!

The Best Medicine

This photo of me and my cousin and best friend since birth, Krissy Verma, was taken on August 17, 2020. This was actually a screenshot from a video that we took of us goofing off together outside. It is a reminder of how important friends and family are in hard times.

Nostalgia

This photo was taken October 17, 2020. My family traveled to the nearby pumpkin patch and were able to see the horses and baby goats that lived in the farm. The nostalgia was overwhelming, as being in this farm was a familiar part of my childhood, and picking pumpkins is a fun fall tradition that I'm glad we didn't break this year.

My Heart

This photo was taken on October 23, 2020, and is of my boyfriend, Logan Bruner. Not being able to see him is one of the hardest parts of being in quarantine, but it only served to strengthen our relationship. This picture captures how we feel when we're together, and is one of my favorites that I've ever taken. No matter how bad things are, the people who love you will help carry you through.

Expecting the Unbelievable

I was raised to believe that I must expect the unexpected. Always plan ahead in order to get ahead, work hard early on and enjoy life more fully the future is secure. So, when my junior year began, I knew that I couldn’t spend much time having fun. I declined invitations to parties, I spent lunch periods in the library, I didn’t join any clubs, choosing to save all of my free time for work or for advancing my studies in music. I promised myself that if I could get through 2019, then 2020 would be the best year of my life. I’d spend time with friends, try out for the school musical, spend time with my boyfriend, whom I began dating at the end of my junior year, and plan trips for the summer. I ended that year with a 4.0 GPA and was elated when I got into the University of Maryland a few months later. I felt as if I could finally take a breath. I was told to expect the unexpected, but how could I expect the unfathomable? Never in my entire life had I thought that the world would simply shut down. I live with my grandparents as well as my parents, so from March until the very end of June, I saw nobody outside of my immediate family. Although I tried to remain social in some ways, having calls with my friends a couple of times a week, movie nights with my family, I spent a lot of my time in bed, devastated that I had wasted so much time working hard, excited for experiences that I would never get. In June, the numbers started looking better. I saw my best friend, socially distanced, and we sat in my backyard talking for hours. I began meeting up with my cousins, with whom we eventually formed a quarantine bubble. And on our one year anniversary, I was able to hug my boyfriend for the first time in 4 months. College gave me a purpose again. I had time to spend with my family and with friends, socially distanced, and schoolwork was manageable and even fun at times. My family went on plenty of trips to places outdoors, such as parks and the local pumpkin patch. I love being in the Media Scholars program. Having one day a week to talk about current events particularly during the election was a huge relief because my family tends to not like to talk about such things very often. Spending so much time at the computer is exhausting, and I wish I could meet new people and have the true college experience but I am beyond grateful for the fact that my family is safe and healthy and that I was strong enough to make it through this year. It is impossible to expect the unexpected, you can only embrace life’s twists and turns as they come and make the most of what you have.