Goodbye, 2020

Fernanda Figueroa | THE RIDER

“Insanely chaotic” is how economics junior Victor Borrego describes 2020 as the year comes to an end.

2020, for most, has been a wild year with surprise after surprise, and for mass communication senior Miranda Peña, this year was “very historic, one very big history textbook chapter.”

“It was crazy,” Peña said.

 Borrego, an SGA senator for the Robert C. Vackar College of Business & Entrepreneurship, said, “2020 was a very weird year for me, and I believe for a lot of people. It was just very interesting. You didn’t expect it.” 

With the year coming to a close and coronavirus still posing a major threat, mass communication senior Luis Rubio believes that “2020 is going to mesh into 2021, like it’s going to be a part two.”

Peña has a similar view. 

“I feel there’s a very big misconception that once 2020 is over, 2020 is over,” she said. “But the events of 2020 are going to pour over into 2021. I have hopes that 2021 will be a little bit better, but at the rate that we are going, I think 2020 is going to fall into 2021.”

For most people, 2020 has been quite difficult and UTRGV students are no exception. From COVID-19 delaying sports to increasing the number of online classes, the year has provided some challenges. 

Borrego said the worst part was everything was online.

“I couldn’t interact with any organizations,” he said. “I did not meet any professors and it was a little harder to self-teach yourself materials that you did not know.”

For other UTRGV students, 2020 has been tragic.

“The worst part of 2020 is I lost my grandfather to COVID and, in that span of two weeks, my parents also got COVID,” Peña said. “That was very traumatic. Luckily, they pulled through.”

Despite the hardships of 2020, the year still had some good moments. For Peña, graduating this semester makes the roller coaster that is 2020 easier to ride.

“Thankfully, I haven’t gotten coronavirus,” political science senior Franklin White said. “Being here in our home, being able to pay rent, that’s always something to be grateful for.”

With hardships come learning experiences and for Borrego,  he learned that he can be alone.

“I am good with isolation,” he said. “I don’t go crazy.”