COVID-19 & Graduation
30 June 2020
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I completed my last semester of university and it’s definitely been weird. I think it’s fair to say that the situation’s pretty unprecedented and most of us never would’ve predicted a global pandemic to happen. Someone once told me that it’s often the things we can’t predict that has the biggest impacts on the world/people’s lives and I can certainly agree that COVID-19 has affected various aspects of pretty much everyone’s lives. It’s felt almost surreal to me that something like this happened and I’m in awe of how quickly the world around me adapted and changed in response to it. I don’t know if our ways of life will ever go back to what they were before this happened but I can be grateful that Canada - BC in particular - has done a good job of responding to the situation and keeping numbers low.
I remember back in March when we were first told that UBC would be transitioning the rest of the semester to online classes how weird that was and how much more serious things got over the coming weeks. I remember how much more uncertainty everyone had about everything because we didn’t know what to expect or what exactly was happening. Things were changing so much almost day-to-day and while it was good that everyone for the most part abided by the advice of health authorities and the government and stayed home to reduce the spread, it was still strange in the following weeks how different life looked and how empty the world seemed when you stepped outside. I remember going out in public for the first time a few weeks ago just to the grocery store and post office that after being home for months in the midst of everything how I’d actually experienced a bit of panic and anxiety from being near strangers. The social distancing measures put in place were unfamiliar and made the world seem like a totally different place from just a few months ago.
It’s a little bit disappointing that I didn’t get the standard university graduation ceremony experience but I certainly agree that it was the right choice not to have the ceremony in the interest of general public health and safety. I can’t say what I would’ve felt if I’d had that experience since I didn’t get to have it, but I can say that without it, despite receiving my degree in the mail, I don’t feel any different having actually completed my degree. I don’t feel the sense of accomplishment that I thought I would’ve and I’m not sure if not having a real ceremony has anything to do with it but I feel like it would’ve helped. Regardless though, I am happy to have gotten my degree and to move into the next stage of my life.
Being at home 95% of the time over the last few months has certainly changed the way my daily life looks. It’s given me a lot of time to think - especially since I finally graduated. I’m sure I would’ve had some uncertainty following graduation with or without the pandemic, but I do have to say that I think that with all the uncertainty and problems COVID-19 has brought with it, that it’s made my own worries worse. I’m even more uncertain than I would’ve been and some of the weeks have sort of blended together in quarantine. (I think this time has made most of us realize that humans really are social creatures and we crave human interaction.) Some days are better than others, but I’ve taken this time to tackle a variety of things and I’ve realized that nothing will get better if I don’t try to change them. With this in mind, I decided to work on improving the things I can personally control, which includes bettering myself. One thing in particular that I started working on is self-care which involves exercising, trying to drink more water, getting lots of sleep and taking care of my skin and body, overall. These sound like simple things but honestly, in normal times with either work or school, it’s these small things that I find I lose time for. Overall, I suppose I’m just trying to be healthier and I’ve incorporated exercise consistently into my daily routine which doesn’t seem like a lot but is an accomplishment for me. One of the things I realized is how important health is because without health, we have nothing. These may be small changes but consistency is often hard and I find that they’ve made me happier. While COVID-19 has forced us to be separated from people who don’t live with us for the most part, it’s strange that it’s actually brought me closer to certain people through different means like video calls. I’ve also had the chance to spend more time with family. So while the pandemic itself is a negative, there have been positives to come out of it both in my own personal life but also on a more global scale like the slight improvement of the environment and on climate change due to everyone staying home! Another thing I’ve learned in quarantine is that cleaning is actually very satisfying, as weird as that might sound. I found that decluttering really helps clear mind and feel better, happier and more productive. I’m sure I’ve heard it before but sometimes these things don’t really hit me until they just do.
I can’t believe summer’s now half over already, but I hope that things get better and in the meantime, I’ll continue to do what I can to improve my own life and make my own happiness in the midst of all this.