Reflecting on 2020

The year 2020 is truly one for the history books. COVID has dominated our lives, prompting people to work remotely from home, schools to switch to virtual learning, and businesses to undergo repeated cycles of closure and reopening. Even though our lives continue to be filled with social distancing and infinite Zoom meetings, we should not let the COVID-19 pandemic define the year. Looking back, the year 2020 still experienced several significant events that will not soon be forgotten. Surmounting the lack of diversity and inclusivity in Hollywood and film industries, ‘Parasite’ became the first non-English language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars. We were also reminded that climate change is an ever-growing disaster as devastating wildfires blazing through Australia and orange skies covered the West Coast due to wildfires. The death of George Floyd at the hands of police propelled the social justice movement, Black Lives Matter, into people’s lives as millions took to the streets across America and the world to denounce racism and injustice. And speaking of millions, a record-setting 81 million Americans voted to install Joe Biden over the incumbent Donald Trump as the nation’s 46th president, marking the beginning of a major shift in American politics. Turning from these world-changing events inward, with the year coming to a close, now is a great opportunity to pause, reflect on, and celebrate the accomplishments achieved in our personal and professional lives. As the Editor-in-Chief of an independent, student-run news outlet, I’m proud that Synapse has continued to serve our 4,000 subscribers, delivering an array of articles that ranged from personal stories of police brutality against our students of color, to current news that impacts the UCSF community, to UCSF and the COVID-19 response, to an arts series featuring Christian Dior. We are truly grateful for our writers and photographers who contributed to sharing news and their perspectives with the UCSF community and kept the quality of our content consistently high. And Synapse is constantly looking for ways to integrate more contributors – if you are feeling isolated or want to spread a message, we invite you to introduce yourself, share your story, and connect with the community through our Humans of UCSF until it’s safe to get together in-person again. And if you want to join our team, drop in to one of our bi-weekly meetings or email synapse@ucsf.edu. We’d love to see you! Let’s hope that 2020 goes out with a whimper, and that 2021 is a smoother journey full of new opportunities and possibilities. Until then, we wish everyone a safe and wonderful holiday break!