Vishal Ramesh – Grade 6
On March 15, 2020, I came home, and my mom told me that the school was closed for the next 15 days because of COIVD-19. I was devastated but consoled myself that school would restart after 15 days. History followed its course, and as we all know, the newly phrased ‘lockdown’ was extended by our Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi. That’s when I came to know that, after lockdown, the School holidays would resume.
I felt a bit bad since I had not said goodbye to my friends and teachers at school. I received some homework, but after that, I felt empty, since school was a major part of my life. At home, I learnt through online courses, I began helping around the house, and it soon became my routine. I called my friends and talked to them, which made that emptiness little better. Very soon, I jotted down a plan for myself. I enjoyed watching MasterChef at home, reading more books, experimenting, cooking, and much more.
This lockdown was not a bomb of devastation as I earlier thought, but it was a fortress of opportunities unlocked. I began to understand myself more. As I learnt increasingly, not only about myself, about others, and discovered more on what I liked. When I found out that SpaceX and NASA were launching astronauts to the ISS, I jumped in excitement. I sat in front of the TV and had everything set up and began to watch it live. After a while, the mission got scrubbed, because of weather reports. The next day when they tried again, Dragon (the spacecraft they were riding) successfully docked with the ISS. I felt so happy since I am a huge supporter of SpaceX and NASA.
In the month of May, I received an update from my school about my online classes, and my excitement multiplied. I was going to meet my friends and I was finally going to learn the way I liked to, with my classmates. The night before the online classes began, I had set everything up, in my small makeshift ‘workspace’ and went to bed, but unable to sleep because of my said excitement. The next day I was woken up by my mother exceedingly early, I did my morning chores and sat in front of the device, ready for the online class. It turned out, that I was one and a half hours early! I read a book and again checked the clock and I was still about 30 minutes early.
I finally logged into the TEAMS platform and some of my friends were already there. I really enjoyed the classes and felt grateful to be a member of this great school. The Online classes are going really well, and I am using my brain to its full potential, every day. A new online event called ‘Global Analytica’ was introduced to my class, and, I thought it would be very formal and hard, but instead, it was really fun, and it improved my communication, research, and analysing skills. We discussed about New Education Policies and Covid situation from different perspectives.
Now, we are well into the first term, near the end of August. Our Term Exams are coming up, and everyone is studying hard. Even before the Pandemic, I loved to learn, and research on little projects, that connects up to something that can change the world. Because of the Pandemic, I’ve learned and nurtured many new skills. Even with all this, there was still something missing. And then, I realised what it was. Before the Pandemic, I would chat, talk and visit my friends, at school. But know, we don’t get to talk to each other inbetween the class breaks, van times or much-awaited lunch breaks. Offcourse, there is online texting and video calling now, but I was used to being able to talk to my friends when they were in front of me, as it was easier to convey things. Then I told myself, if you want to keep your brain healthy, you have to adapt to this situation. And voilà! I’ve learnt a new skill: Adapting to new and hard situations.
So, for you, it might have been a not-so-wonderful experience, but for me, it was one my best, because I learnt a lot, tried new chores, I think we should always learn from every experience. Again, I say, this lockdown was not a bomb of devastation as I earlier thought, but a fortress of opportunities unlocked. Thank you, and I hope this changes your opinion on COVID-19.
