By Parvi Anand
In a month, we will be entering 2024, which will mark four years from when the whole world was changed. But will it feel like four years?
As I was scrolling through TikTok one night I came across a video, saying how “the 2020 effect got everyone tripping right now.” Curious as to what exactly this 2020 effect was I dove into the comments. After searching for a good 2 minutes I came across a comment asking “What is the 2020 effect?”
It turns out it’s the perception that 2017 was just 3 years ago when the reality is that in less than a month it will have been 7 years!
Time can be funny, especially when there is a universal, era-defining experience. The year 2020 felt like a fever dream in the way it warped time.
I chatted with some students to get their perspectives on the 2020 effect.
Patrick Smyth reflected on how time seems to play tricks on our minds. “It’s kinda crazy because 2017 feels like it just happened, but I was only 9 or 10 back then, and now I’m 16. It’s just wild how fast time flies,” he said. The difference between how we perceive time and the reality of its passing becomes clear when we think about the journey from early adolescence to almost being adults.
Lindy Jernigan agreed with Patrick. “I feel the same way because of how I perceive things. The 2020 quarantine really messed with our sense of time,” she said. It created a strange mix of memories and events that added to this feeling of time being out of sync.
Olivia Casinelli was caught off guard by a sudden realization. “There’s no way 2017 was 7 years ago,” she said. “I was just thinking today about how 4th grade was 6 years ago. It’s crazy. FROZEN WAS 7 YEARS AGO.”
Of course, it’s not only the 2020 pandemic that has this effect. It can be all big global or even personal events. For Zara Hebb, it was moving to Atlanta in 2017, which she described as “traumatic.” Looking back in time brings up heavy emotions, marking important life events that might have been overshadowed by the fast pace of the years.
Ultimately, the 2020 effect prompted some deep thinking about how quickly life stages change, leaving many to consider the meaning of it all.
Kai Labarrie echoed the general feeling of confusion. “Where did the time go?” she asked. “It’s actually terrifying. Sometimes I forget how old we are. We were in third grade in 2017, and I’m thrown off right now.”
