[061EN] My 2020 in 39 Photographs

I compiled this narrative in the third national lockdown of England at the beginning of 2021 amidst the triumph of the mutated ‘variant of concern’ of the coronavirus and the outcry of the NHS under extreme strain in all parts of the country. It is hardly inspiring to enter a new year with the situations deteriorating as such when, after having sustained all of life’s miseries we thought we could ever have imagined in 2020, we put such hope in the new year that everything would get better.

I dived into my albums in various devices and rolls of films to trace my footsteps through 2020 to put together this gallery in memory of the year that changed the world and everyone, and as I did so, I found that I spent no less good times than I suffered from bad times and when there was something to be lost, there would be just as much to be gained. In being locked up in a flat we enjoyed the companionship of friends, in not having an invigilated exam I focused on the project and finished it off properly, and in not having a summer job I enjoyed a successful gliding season with a few achievements, to name just a few, and I found that a lot of it was down to my choice, and I find it appropriate to take this opportunity to remind myself of this point more than any of the readers. It doesn’t pay to not accept reality imposed on us, but there is a choice to be taken on how to work with that reality and it is the competence in this respect that makes good engineers.

Don’t let it change your approach to life, don’t lose hope, don’t lose courage, don’t lose the ability to love, I say to myself and everyone reading this.

Tough days don’t last, tough people do.

The Michaelmas term finished without too much further drama. It was time for a friend and previous flatmate to leave Cambridge and move to Birmingham. In light of COVID we decided to do it ourselves, so I went out to hire a van. 12th December, I noticed in Birmingham that the van had a piece of diesel tank heat shield dangling from the underbody about to become detached. Had to call an AA van to fix it temporarily and I would exercise caution if I ever were to rent from the same company. As a result, we stayed in Birmingham, the COVID hotspot then, for much longer than we would have liked.

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