From the “Notice” student publication, 2020
AUTHOR: RACHEL MATHEUSZIK
FEATURED IMAGE BY: KATYA SURYORAHARJO
In the midst of this pandemic, life for my family and me is weird. None of us has ever experienced anything quite like this before, and I think we are all just confused and kind of overwhelmed with everything that must go on, like school and work, while we are stuck in our house.
At the beginning, I think I was getting really bored just being at home all the time with nothing to do, but now that we have started school again, I find I’m a lot less bored and a little more stressed. I personally like having an organized schedule, and I tend to be more focused and less stressed when I am moving around and interacting with a number of people, but since we are stuck at home, I am not experiencing those luxuries. For me, it has been especially hard not being able to see my friends or spend time with them because these are truly the things that bring me the most joy in life.
At the same time, I recognize how lucky we are in this day and age to have technology that allows us to communicate through social media, but it still just isn’t the same as in person. Reflecting on that makes me wonder how much harder it would have been for something like this to happen in the 1930s, for example, when they did not have much opportunity to work from home and couldn’t connect with others through the Internet.
Considering how this affects my family, I would say we have been more annoyed with each other because we are spending every moment together without breaks. More of the little things that used to not bother us as much are really getting on everyone’s nerves. On the other hand, we do appreciate how blessed we are to be able to have each other during this difficult time, and that my parents still have jobs that allow them to work from home when so many other people are being let go. We are all very grateful for what we have.
Coming out of this crisis, I think Canada will be in a lot of debt that we will still be paying off by the time I am a contributing citizen. But despite the impacts it will have on the economy, I think that people will appreciate each other more and realize how valuable human connection is, so hopefully they will put down their devices more often and be more present in the moment.
Students were asked to illustrate typical scenes from their lives in lockdown spaces as they adapted to dramatic change.
