In tutorial last week L5 were set the task of writing a letter to 2020, we are pleased to share with you Georgia Hodgson's letter below. 

Dear 2020,

You will not believe what has happened to me this year. You were undoubtedly memorable; I don’t think I’ll ever forget this year. Unequivocally, you have been the most eventful year I experienced in my entire life.

I like to think of you as a gloomy, subfusc sky filled with a plethora of rainclouds. However, in between the dullness, there were streaks of light: hope. I believe that most see you like the dark stormy sky, rather than recognising the sunbeams shining through too.

Captain Sir Tom Moore raised nearly 40 million pounds for the NHS during trying times; Kamala Harris became the first black, first female, and first South Asian US Vice President-Elect. And that’s just two outstanding achievements from individuals. As a community, we have banded together to protest the racial injustice many suffer globally; we banded together to support the NHS and teachers for all their hard work. The air quality improved in many places, and our priorities were re-established as we began to appreciate many things we took for granted.

You were a significant year for medical advances. Africa was declared free of wild polio after four years of no reported cases. Scientists created vital vaccines for COVID-19, which the MHRA approved in record time.

However, we must recognise the downsides. We must remember the unprecedented and challenging times that helped us bond. COVID-19, a virulent global pandemic, killed millions and put multiple countries into lockdown. Many great people suffered due to it. The patients who recovered, persevering through times that undoubtedly may be the hardest in their lives, proved their strength, bravery, and - most of all - gave society hope.

When I think of you, I remember hope. Hope that once seemed lost, but later was found. Hope that kept us all persisting through the dark to see the light. It’s the hope society needed to rediscover.

2020, despite your flaws, I will still remember your positives. I will remember the extra time I spent with my family; I will remember the spare time I got to pursue new hobbies and learn new things. I will remember 2020 as the year I wrote my first novel - even if I am too shy to show it to anyone - and the year I took my first drama exam. I also achieved my best grades yet this year.

I hope that 2021 will guide us to the end of a pandemic that has been weighing on us all year and prevented many things from happening. But, I hope we still leave with the appreciation and gratitude it gave us by reminding us of the little things that turned out to be not so little after all.

Thank you 2020, but good riddance.