The pandemic took everyone by surprise: in just a few weeks, we were all suddenly stuck at home. Looking back I can’t seem to grasp the little details of it all, the class suspension announcement was a blur. I clearly remember everyone was happy that we would be getting a break from school, not knowing that it would last much longer than two weeks, but almost two years. Looking back, it makes me reminisce for the “better” days. People say that we wouldn’t be where we are now if it wasn’t for the pandemic. Just like everything else, however, there are positive and negative sides to that sentiment. This pandemic has a big impact on our daily routines and forms of entertainment.
Our daily routines got derailed: we didn’t need to go out of our houses for school, work, or fun. We transitioned to online learning and we couldn’t go to malls. Our morning routines could be divided into two parts: opening our laptop and entering the meeting. If we were feeling ambitious, we would wake up earlier to look presentable for class. Other than that, we had to ask ourselves, “What do we do now?”.
Not only that but school life and personal life started blending into each other. Looking back, I don’t understand how I was able to juggle extracurriculars with classes from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon. I went through my day with ease, not feeling tired at all. The past school year, I would work on academics late at night on a regular basis. I started prioritizing academics over my personal well-being. From experience, I can say that the value of self-care in our routine suddenly dropped.
Personally, I do more work when I lessen the time I have for myself. After seeing the effects it has caused, I have come to the conclusion that I shouldn’t have to sacrifice my academic status in order to take more time for myself. I realized that I can’t be working and be available 24/7. I can use my personal free time to pick up new hobbies, work on managing my emotions, listen to my favorite music, and watch new shows and movies.
While entertainment is easily available, our company is mostly narrowed down to ourselves. We haven’t been able to easily interact with others because of the never-ending lockdowns. Now that we are stuck at home, we have more than enough time to consume new media, since we aren’t stuck in a routine where we have to go to school so early in the morning and get back home. Back then, we were able to have other forms of entertainment, such as going to the mall. Now, we only have ourselves, family, and gadgets for entertainment.
This pandemic has clearly been hard on everyone: every aspect of our lives these past two years was suddenly turned upside down. However, we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves. Yes, a lot has been going wrong recently, but we should also focus on the bright side of things 一 when one door closes, another one opens. We may have been deprived of many opportunities because of this pandemic, but looking back, we can still accomplish a lot of things within the restraints of our homes. After all, no matter how little or big an achievement is, it is still an achievement. Let us continue to move forward and endure the hardships to be able to be in the company of our loved ones once again.
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