You probably heard opinions sharing the positive aspects of COVID. Yeah, it sounds a bit odd. This disease is scary, contagious, and can be deadly. It has changed our mindset. It caused arguments and created a nest for conspiracy theories. However, many of us experienced surprising effects as well, such as increased faith, stronger family connections, and of course, new opportunities provided by the internet.

In March 2020, I lost my job as a part-time teacher’s aide. To be honest, I didn’t mind. I wanted to reduce my chance to contact COVID as much as I could. After a few weeks of reading, watching Netflix, and taking walks on the empty streets, I craved something new. Well, what I found was not new. It was Utherverse. I still logged in once in a while, mostly out of curiosity. I just stood at the transport center and observed the people who didn’t have any conversation at all. They looked like statues with their avatars faded, which means they were away from the computer or had another screen open. It was depressing. Every single time, I sighed then hit the little red X on the top of the window.

I suspected and hoped that COVID brought some of my old friends back as well as new members. Ta-da, I was right. There was life all over the place. People were chatting, having parties, and opening businesses. I’m not saying that the population doubled. The groups were still out there, but they have changed. They let you in with open arms. After attending a few events, I figured out that the smaller groups were connected. Everybody knew each other! It was amazing. There was no crowd with over a thousand members. It was a strong community of about two hundred. I loved it. My old friends were gone, though. My friend list was small, and the profiles on them were unknown to me. The case of random friend requests, you know. It was time to make new friends. Since I had a lot of time, I spent long hours at various clubs and joined events from public weddings to fundraisers. Soon, when I entered, I got the “Hugs” instead of just a “Hi.” I admit it felt great. I talked to a lot of members who told me that COVID brought them back too. They had very similar situations to mine.

I was constantly exploring old and familiar places to go down memory lane, new and improved ones, and possibilities. I never had the patience to designs outfits, but I enjoyed taking photos and creating graphics. I looked through the market, and I noticed that the style I would bring is not out there. I smiled and nodded as I opened my graphic design program. I’m gonna spread my wings…because why not?