With the virus running amok, the whole world spiralled into chaos. Sometimes I wish this was all a nightmare I have yet to wake up from, yet no matter how many times I pinch myself, everything stays the same. Many aspects of my life have been altered to accommodate the global epidemic, some good some bad. Even though we are forced to change and mature under the unfortunate circumstances, it also allowed us to see things we were blind to, cherish those we didn’t. 

 

To begin with, my social life has been significantly affected. To me, friends are one of the most important things. It’s a great feeling when you can share anything with your friends and they would agree to disagree with you, a pleasurable discussion about anything. Now due to policies implemented by the Government for the health and safety of everyone, I’m unable to hang out with my friends as much as I used to. Therefore, slowly but surely I’m losing touch with my buddies. With school closed, we cannot chit-chat to our heart’s content during recess or after-school. Before everything, we used to talk every day but now it’s just a few messages sent here and there over the few months. It’s a fact that chatting online is completely different from in-person, the body language which makes conversations much more intriguing is non-existent, considering what’s in front of you are plain texts and not a living person, in one word it’s dull. In a way thanks to the limited chances of getting physical contact, I have come to appreciate the time spent with friends when we are given the green light to go to school, treasuring the seconds that I could speak with them. The old me would have never thought that there will be a day I can’t socialise. It’s like the old saying “You never know how important something is until they’re gone.” 

 

In addition, with lessons suspended, I have had more free time than ever before. As a result, I’m able to cultivate new hobbies. At first, it was overwhelming for me to have so much spare time. Prior to the pandemic, I had a packed schedule. Leisure time was never within sight for the reason that I was barely able to complete the never-ending tasks before the end of the day. Then without warning, everything came to a stop. Schools were to be suspended until further notice. In other words, all the tests and homework would be postponed or cancelled. “Finally! I have all the time to myself.” This was my initial thought after hearing the news. As the day passed, however, I felt complete and utter boredom. I repeated the same meaningless activities 24/7, even my favourite entertainment became monotonous. Then it struck me that I should use the time to enrich myself with different skills. Consequently I started to learn Japanese, bettered myself in culinary arts, made origami and etc… Even though they may not be of use for now, someday when I look back at myself I will be thankful for the path I took. The future is full of uncertainty, who knows when I will have as much free time as I do now? That’s why it’s important to utilize the time to its fullest extent, instead of rotting away doing nothing.

 

Furthermore, with the pandemic raging on I personally feel I have become sluggish. Normally I have deadlines upon deadlines to meet and so to avoid punishments I must finish all my work on time. Now without face-to-face lessons, teachers are more lenient considering there’s not much choice on how to punish us when we don’t do our assignments. Plus with online classes, nobody knows what we are doing behind the screen. Never once did I focus on the lesson. In consequence, my grades have suffered, as seen from my first exam since the pandemic. Am I angry with myself? Yes, I am furious. Yet I didn’t make an effort to right my wrong owing to my laziness, there’s not an ounce of self-discipline in me. Well not until the latest exam in which I hit a dead end, I only met the bare minimum for passing the tests. The results shocked me to my core. DSE is only in a year, there’s little to no time left. If I don’t devote to my studies, I will be dooming my future. However the road of commitment and perseverance is brutal, the mental effort to force yourself to do things you dislike is gruelling. It’s even worse when you beat yourself up for failing. Though through trial and error I understood that I should walk before I run, I’m trying bit by bit, telling myself that I’ve surpassed the me of yesterday.  In hopes of a future that I would not regret.

 

No one knew that the coronavirus would have such a devastating effect on the world. In spite of everything whatever we do we could not change the past, we can only look forward. We should acknowledge and amend our mistakes as well as ignorance. Through the impacts of the pandemic such as limited socialising, excess time, lax restriction. I won’t appreciate how precious the time spent with friends is, I would’ve never thought of exploring different hobbies and never would I know the importance of tenacity.  Luckily humans are the most adaptable species on Earth, thus no matter what situations are thrown at us we will adapt and become better than ever.