We here at The Skyline View wish to welcome you back to school for the spring 2021 semester! We hope it is filled with much prosperity and success.

Of course, with this year, there continue the changes that are happening in this world. For example, the country just elected its 46th president, Joe Biden. Coming with that comes the first female vice president in our country’s history, Kamala Harris, who happens to have a connection to the Bay Area, being from Oakland.

Continuing on the subject of women and milestones, it doesn’t just relate to politics. The world of sport had female influences as well. Recently, the Miami Marlins hired the first woman executive in the history of baseball, Kim Ng, after she was rejected so many times from various positions she had aimed for.

The Associated Press reported that Ng said that she was told by 500 people that they are now Marlins fans because of this and that she’s “heartened to set an example for young girls who might aspire to a career in sports management.”

Shortly thereafter, in late December, San Antonio Spurs head coach Greg Popovich got ejected from a game, which led to the first female to coach a basketball game, Becky Hammon. She still made history, despite it only being a temporary arrangement.

An ESPN article reported that a grand list of people congratulated her, including LeBron James, who commended her for “putting in work”.

The Red Sox followed suit with this trend by hiring the first female minor league coach in their history, Bianca Smith.

“I think it’s a great opportunity also to kind of inspire other women who are interested in this game,” Smith said in an interview on MLB Network’s program “Hot Stove”. “This is not really something I thought about it when I was younger. I kind of fell into it, being an athlete. So I’m excited to get that chance to show what I can do.”

Still, there are a lot of things that stay the same. Yes, some of us still have to meet on Zoom for classes. Yes, we still have to wear masks, and yes, most of the country is still on lockdown.

There is a ray of sunshine to be found, however. There is now a vaccine that is being administered to nurses and seniors over the age of 65. That way, the people taking care of the COVID-19-positive can stay safe, and our older loved ones — our grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, etc. — can be safe as well.

Although there is a vaccine and people are doing all that they can to prevent getting the virus, there are still people losing loved ones every day due to this pandemic. We can’t see loved ones that we haven’t seen since March.

All that being said, Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced that the stay at home orders will be lifted. This means that we are a lot closer to experiencing the reality of seeing loved ones and enjoying a meal at a restaurant — some sense of normalcy — even though things won’t be truly normal for a long time.

We must remember that it is still extremely important to wear a mask and follow all the necessary precautions is still extremely important.

Even though only about a month of this new year has passed, there have already been a number of changes. Women are becoming more prominent in the world, and the COVID-19 pandemic is showing signs of improvement, and a variant of normalcy will likely be experienced soon. As this variant approaches, we must be able to adapt to the changes that will come with it.