Just two months ago, my life changed overnight. The most intense period of my school career — preparing for A levels — came to an abrupt halt. Exams were cancelled and I had an overwhelming sense of liberation. I’d been looking at weeks of revision and stress. All this was washed away with lockdown; for a brief moment, I was completely at ease with the world.

I lapsed into a state of relaxation. But I soon came to realise that the implications of the lockdown were far more negative. It may seem that we teenagers are all moping around in our pyjamas, waking up at midday and watching endless hours of Netflix, but we are also thinking and talking to each other about how our lives are impacted day to day, how we are coping with the uncertainty and what this crisis means for our futures.

Those of us ending sixth form are facing a period of nothingness, a limbo between A Levels and university. Hours seem to fly by unproductively, with little to focus the mind on. Zoom and Facetime keep us connected with our mates, but it’s hard to keep a teenager penned in and some have escaped to hang out two-metres apart with friends. I have kept relatively busy by working as a virtual youth leader for Muswell Hill Synagogue but it has not been easy to fill my days.

Cambridge first year History student Sam Rubinstein, 19, tells me he’s also found lockdown monotonous. “It has been nice to read and relax, but I’m still gutted about missing a term of university.” He’s pessimistic: “I think it’s possible that I won’t get to go to university next term or, at the very least, that my experience of university next year will be undermined by social distancing rules. In the longer term, things are also quite bleak — I do think the economic impacts of the pandemic will massively hinder my age group in the job market.” He’s found a balance though: “Aside from all the university work, I’ve been reading, playing a lot of chess and trying to improve my German and Italian.”

Ilana Finke, 23, works full-time for my youth movement Habonim Dror. For her, life has become pretty hectic as the movement now functions entirely online. “Being able to provide our members with a space for fun and learning at a time that is really quite difficult has been an absolute joy,” she says.

“I have always loved change but I think that the world was in a bit of a rut and that this much upheaval may really force us to evaluate what is needed. I hope this inspires the youth to rise up and demand the future that they desire. They are uninhibited by what has jaded us and that leaves them in a position to dream big and what we need right now more than anything is big dreams.”

Eight weeks into lockdown, I am starting to feel the strain. I find I unconsciously cringe if I see people ‘‘breaking the rules,’’ even on a television programme made well before the pandemic. I have been looking forward to moving on to the next stage in my post-school life and it would be truly anti-climactic if the experience of starting university was tainted by Covid-19. I can only dream of what could have been the best year of my life.