“Oh, no! Did I oversleep?” Same thought every morning, after you realize you’re getting a suspiciously large amount of sleep. I check the time. It turns out I’m not late at all. I have three and a half minutes before the lecture starts, and that’s totally enough to brush my teeth and… well, nothing else.
Friends tell me that, sometimes, I use exaggerated sarcasm to help me tell a story, so I apologize in advance for getting caught up in the moment and employing too many stylistic devices.
I’m sure this pandemic changed your life drastically, too. Since the social distancing measures started, it has been obvious that it made a big impact on the society by contributing to the process of decreasing our possible exposure to the virus, but at the same time it also did a great job somehow distancing me from my assignments and studying. I felt so cut out of the world in the first few days that I finally started to do something I never had time for: growing my own vegetables and plants.
It’s so ironic how we are always convinced that there is a need to be in rush all the time because the life is expected to be some wildly, violent, fast-flowing stream. We always say that water is life, but it can also kill, right? Everything is just about the right amount of things. Balance.
And that’s why, this time, I remembered to water my plants regularly, so they didn’t die, and, in no time, I watched them flourish, and grow higher and higher, day after day. For the purposes of developing a little theory I had two thesis answering a dilemma of their rapid growth. First, flowers just needed a little sun and water. Besides, the air was stunningly fresh after all those planes had stopped polluting the atmosphere and they just bloomed. Second, even more logical: nobody forced them to watch all the news so they weren’t panicking and refusing to grow. (I already apologized for this :D)
Actual things I realized during this extraordinary experience
- We underestimate IT workers
I am a Business Informatics student, and as all of the classes have been moved to online platforms, sometimes I feel like I’m doing a full time job, just sitting at my desk eight hours a day. Then come the assignments and revisions, everything online, so, in the end of the day I start to feel dizzy and can’t even recognize my own mother from far away. I know we owe medical workers for their bravery, but I also can’t even imagine how hard these technicians have to work to keep us all - Online classes are meant to be extenuating circumstance, but they are a stressful experience Apparently, it is even more exhausting to keep up with curriculum this way. Professors are overburdening us with literature and assignments, because they are convinced we are able to process things more quickly while sitting in our own chair. Turns out, this way, we are just a human version of Internet Explorer browser.
- Laughing can make it better
This one is going to be simple. You got something you’re dealing with? Laugh it off. It may seem a lot more bearable. And, I know everything is not a joke, but why don’t still smile?
- We all deserve a medal
All of us had to ‘improvise, adapt and overcome’. It wasn’t an easy process of adjusting previously established behavior and routines to existing conditions, especially for moms and their little kids who have a constant urge to run and explore every corner of the city park. I truly admire parents’ patience and children’s obedience that it always reminds me to a meme reference “Give this kid a medal”. As a matter of fact we all deserve one. So I rewarded myself. You should too.
One more thing: We had an opportunity to slow down and breathe. Take it as a blessing and enjoy life!!
Written by: Sara Kljajić, student
YAMNFL Project Partner: LDA Mostar