Pandemic Pandemonium: Covid-19, Six Years Later
It’s hard to believe that Covid-19 entered our lives six years ago. For many of us, it feels both distant and uncomfortable, like a chapter we rushed to close without fully processing what it changed. My 2025 documentary: Pandemic Pandemonium: Covid-19, 5 Years Later revisits those uncertain, overwhelming moments and asks an important question: are we truly past it, or are we still living with its aftermath?
When the pandemic first hit, the world seemed to pause overnight. Hospitals were pushed beyond capacity, healthcare workers faced unimaginable pressure, and fear became part of everyday life. Six years later, the healthcare system still carries the scars. Burnout remains widespread, staffing shortages persist, and the emotional toll on workers who lived through the worst of Covid-19 has not faded.
Small businesses shuttered, entire industries were disrupted, and millions of people faced sudden unemployment or financial instability. While some businesses adapted through remote work or digital platforms, others never recovered, leaving behind empty storefronts and lingering economic uncertainty that still affects families today.
The education system was another area transformed almost overnight. Classrooms moved to computer screens, teachers scrambled to redesign lesson plans, and students were forced to learn in isolation. Six years later, educators and families are still grappling with learning gaps, and the long-term consequences of an interrupted education experience.
What makes Pandemic Pandemonium: Covid-19, 5 Years Later especially important is its focus on the present, not just the past. While society often frames Covid-19 as something “we got through,” the reality is more complicated. Long-term health effects, mental health struggles, workforce changes, and systemic inequities continue to shape daily life. The virus may no longer dominate headlines, but its impact lingers in ways both visible and subtle. By revisiting these experiences now six years later, Pandemic Pandemonium invites an honest conversation about resilience, accountability, and how society moves forward without forgetting the lessons of the past.
My Personal Experience
I remember being a senior in high school, when uncertainty split everyone apart. Some people laughed it off and hoped for a shutdown so schools would close, while others were terrified. In January 2020, the news began reporting on an outbreak in Wuhan, and I remember a sophomore in my class having a panic attack. I told her, “Why are you panicking? We have nothing to worry about. That’s all the way in China.” I’m usually confident in my judgment, but I
had never been more wrong.
As schools around us began shutting down, fear slowly crept in. “If schools are closing, this must be serious,” I thought. Still, most students (aside from that one sophomore) were frustrated that our school hadn’t closed yet. The energy in the building felt heavy and dark. People were either blindly angry, pretending it was a joke, or silently terrified. I was already struggling mentally, exhausted by the pressure and fed up with my Spanish and art teachers’ constant antics. I like to think of myself as strong, but during my final week before the shutdown, I completely fell apart.
I took Friday off, believing I would return the following Monday… Monday never came. A shutdown meant to last two weeks turned into months of isolation, my world reduced to a computer screen. Strangely, I didn’t mind. For the first time in a long time, everything stopped. Teachers were taking it easy on us, online learning was comfortable, and AP and SAT exams were softened out of sympathy. I finally had space to breathe.
I had been drowning before with multiple tests a day, forcing myself to stay on the track team despite hating it, constantly running on empty. The pandemic allowed me to press pause on all of it. I explored art, learned to tie-dye, and spent time with family I had been distant from. In the stillness, I found clarity. That unexpected pause reshaped my future, guiding me toward earning my Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Stony Brook University at 20 and a Masters of Science
in Journalism at 22, all debt free.
I would like to look at Covid-19 as not a blessing or a curse but an unforgettable experience that changed us all.
Click the link below to watch: Pandemic Pandemonium: Covid-19, 5 Years Later https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq-tp2rDtmg
