There is No ‘Normal’ as We knew it
By Ronnie Kayla Neiman
A discussion that is becoming quite common lately is talk of going back to normal or creating a new normal or making the world normal again. It may be a cynical point or somewhat pessimistic to state that there is no such thing as going back to normal because that normal no longer exists.
More than a year ago, the world as we knew it changed. A virus was sweeping across the world. People just saw it as another virus, like the flu or H1N1. Something that made people sick but was rarely if ever even deadly. COVID-19 was just another virus to us. It came into our country and began to seriously harm people infected. In an attempt to curb the most deadly aspect of the virus, our prime minister and provincial premiers imitated quarantine. We were locked down.
Schools were closed down and teachers, professors and students rushed to create a stable online distance learning to continue classes. Many retail businesses and restaurants closed down, only open to delivery. Some restaurants and other businesses closed permanently. People couldn't go to the park, the winter and summer fairs were cancelled. We thought it would be over soon, maybe a month, maybe six months. We didn't expect it to last more than a year. That was when our normal was completely altered.
Another winter and summer fair cancelled. Some restaurants opened back up to the public. Some parks reopened. Though with some major restrictions. Schools have improved the online learning system, though many still struggle with the different types of learning. The Quill also had to adjust to this new world state. We would publish a print copy of each issue of the newspaper and distribute them throughout Brandon University campus bit that changed with campus lockdown. It was also a question of safety for the students who distributed. We moved to a completely online platform and it may stay that way for the time being. It would be good to go back to print issues as well as continuing the online aspect of the student newspaper. However the campus lockdown would need to be lifted and students back to being at the school for the distribution to make sense. It could be that the Quill has a new normal as well. It has it's good and bad points but it's a matter of keeping people as safe as possible.
The world has changed. We have changed in the way we have approached certain situations. Some places have decided to completely change how they do things because of the working from home aspect of the pandemic quarantine. The economy has also greatly suffered during the pandemic due to businesses closing, people being laid off due to restrictions, and increase in students fees at universities. It has been something that has made things even more difficult. It has made going back to some sort of normal more difficult because everything has changed so much. That normal is gone forever. Now we just need to readjust our lives and figure out how we turn this chaotic time into something better, heal from it and create a new normal.