COVID-19 has affected the world in a massive way. Huge changes to society have occurred in such a short time period, and it has had a particularly strong effect on those of us who have not yet finished our development. I am a teenager right now, and I know that this will be a huge factor in how I turn out as a person. Later on in my life, hopefully, I will be able to say that I have survived a worldwide pandemic. This entire experience has changed me in many ways. I have had a lot of time to myself, and because of that I tend to get caught up in my own head. I have found out new things about myself, some good, some bad, but all-important. Overall I would say that this experience has degraded my mental state quite a bit. I have dealt with pressure in the past, but nothing this serious. Nowadays I am scared to leave my house for fear of being exposed to a deadly virus. Not to mention the fact that being stuck inside with my family constantly is wearing down on my sanity as well. As for the effect that this has had on my school year, I would say that it has made it considerably worse. Since I am a senior I’ve essentially lost what was supposed to be the best part of my high school career, and I feel that I have permanently lost an important part of my life as well. This quarantine has also affected my mental state, which has affected my grades, which affects my mental state, etc. I’ve gotten to a point where I spend more time doing nothing than doing schoolwork, and I don’t know if it’s some form of senioritis, or a depressive episode. I think that this will have permanently changed my life. Hopefully in 30 years I will be able to say that I survived a global pandemic. I think that this whole pandemic has changed our society in a permanent way. I think that masks and social distancing will remain common, and there may even be a sort of 9/11 effect, where the world is permanently changed. After 9/11 we saw a drastic increase in airport security, and I think that after this pandemic we will see an increase in the common usage of masks, avoiding crowded areas, and general sanitation. This pandemic is a horrible thing to happen and I know that millions, if not billions of lives will be permanently changed by this event, but I think we’ll be okay. Humanity is a species of survivors, and I don’t think this is what’s going to wipe us out.