(This is the script I wrote to give me ideas of what to say during the podcast episode, therefore it is not a transcript as it does not follow 100% the same path of what was said during the episode.)
Hi, I’m Camila, welcome to my podcast! Let me start this episode by saying a very late happy new year! In this episode I will talk about how the year of 2020 was to me and what are my expectations for 2021.
For starters, 2020 was one crazy year, and it can’t be simply described by just a difficult and atypical year because it was much more than that. Our world will never be the same as it was before this pandemic, and of course, this has aggravating consequences for a lot of people, however, our world is filled with inequality, which was made extremely clear due to this pandemic, causing many people to open their eyes to the existing problem of worldwide poverty and inequality, as for example, whilst some people complained about having to wear a mask, others had no access to simple things such as clean water to drink or wash their hands or have a shower. Hopefully more people will now fight against inequality and lobby for change.
Not unlike many people I had many plans for 2020 that couldn’t be fulfilled due to COVID-19, one of them was regularly uploading new episodes to this podcast. Due to the stress of doing the second year of my undergraduate degree during a pandemic I ended up more busy than I could have ever imagined. I won’t promise anything other than I will upload new episodes when I have the time to do so, as my degree and my mental health are my top priorities at the moment.
I know 2020 has been extremely hard for many people who might be listening to this episode right now, so to all of you, I hope 2021 brings you lots of love, health, happiness and peace. May all of us have the strength to keep on going despite the many bad things that were brought during 2020.
One thing that lowkey scares me about 2021 is the fact I turned 20 years old a few days ago, in February. There’s something that makes me anxious about starting my 20’s. I don’t know why but I had never given much thought about turning 20, and now that my 20’s have officially started I can’t avoid thinking that this is an age where some of my friends will start getting married, having children, starting their careers, and overall I’ve now realised that the 20’s are a very important age, as everything I do during my 20’s will pretty much define how the rest of my life will be like. I’m trying to remain calm though, I’m sure I will always do the best I can to reach my goals in life, so hopefully everything will turn out for the best.
2020 truly was a life changing year for me when it comes to realising who I am and who I want to be, thinking about how long I have come and how much I have to do to reach my goals, as well as overcoming challenges that at times didn’t depend only on myself to solve (which made some situations even harder). 2020 to me was a year of realising the limits of my mental and physical strength, how far I am able to push myself, and principally trying to sort out my priorities. When it was necessary to choose only a few people that I would be allowed to see during social distancing, I got even more aware of those who truly are the most important people to me, as being away from my family during all this craziness of COVID-19 has been difficult, but it also made me create even stronger bonds with the ones who are closest to me. So here’s my huge thank you to all of you who made my year better!
One thing I was questioning myself was whether I should make goals for 2021. On one hand, I do think making realistic goals is important, however, 2020 brought many things that cause the future to be really uncertain, so I’m just thinking if it’s even worth making goals for 2021 other than getting good grades for university and do a few placements if possible, I feel like that’s as much as I can ask for given the current circumstances. I have to admit I’m not really expecting 2021 will be a much better year than 2020 was, but I honestly hope it will be. In all honesty, this year I only wish for peace and justice for those who were deeply affected by this pandemic, due to poverty, inequality, losing loved ones, unemployment, etc. Most of these problems people are going through could have been managed if we had better people in power all around the world, so my wish is only that more people open their eyes to these problems and go demand change and action from those in power, or even try to make change themselves by helping those in need whenever possible, as well as not being intimidated or afraid to make your voice heard. Change will not come until as many people as possible decide to get together and say no more, be that physically or online. In conclusion, I wish 2021 will bring us some hope for a better and fairer future for all.
If you’ve listened until the end, thank you so much! You can check my social media on Facebook and instagram, which are listed on the description of this episode, and tell me what are your goals for 2021! Also, I’d like to include a shout out to my roommates who keep encouraging me to upload new podcast episodes! Bye for now, see you all soon in the next episode!
