If our definition of a Singular Link is the union of unrelated elements resulting in something new, the epoch-making Link of our era has been COVID-19. Think about it. Over the course of about a year the virus went from something that affected zero people to something that affected 8 billion people. It influenced the lives of everyone. Everyone. Every. One.
Its impact was unimaginably vast. It changed the science of pharmaceuticals (mRNA), the engines of commerce (global recession), the way we think about our neighbors near and far (contagious). It accelerated changes in the way we speak to each other (Zoom), educate each other (Zoom), date each other (Zoom). People literally began using the same app for their Bible-study group and for their next hookup!
“There’s a app for that!”
Let’s consider how the pandemic affected one tiny sliver of the population: early Gen-Z.
If you were born in the late ‘90s, you were a young adult when the COVID lockdowns hit. Maybe you were still in school, or you recently joined the workforce, or you were considering your options, looking for direction. No matter, your adult trajectory was still in its early stage. And then — BANG! — suddenly your trajectory was nothing like what you envisioned just a few years earlier in high school.
If you were born in the early aughts (or, what the British call “naughties”), you may still have been in high school when the lockdowns went into effect. Your adult trajectory hadn’t even begun.
By 2023, you were back out in the world, mostly mask-less, feeling like your life had skipped ahead a couple of years, just like everybody else.
Except your experience wasn’t just like everybody else. For people younger than you, they were still kids when the lockdowns ended. And for people older than you, they were already adults when COVID began. It’s your group that stands out because you came of age during COVID.
Your experience seems to carry a teeny extra tinge of regret. When the lockdowns hit, you were just a kid; and when the lockdowns ended, you were suddenly an adult. You came out of lockdown carrying adult weight on your shoulders.
Many people born around Y2K share a common heartache for lost childhood. “I wish I had more fun.” “I wish I had gone out more.” “The last few years seemed to slip away so fast.”
Perhaps your sorrow of lost innocence is no greater than it was for those who came before you. But the thing that makes your group stand out from others is your generationally shared perception that the pandemic ended your childhood. It was the Singular Link that collided with your childhood resulting in… adulthood.
This shared experience could have a profound and lasting impact just as the Great Depression impacted those who came of age in the late 1920s. The Depression gave young adults first-hand experience of economic hardship and the challenges of entering a workforce in turmoil. It fostered political and social awareness, a strong work ethic, and a mistrust of institutions. Without knowing it, you Gen-Zers may be following in the footsteps of your great grandparents.