Cheery greetings from my side to all those reading.
One thing you all must be familiar with and certainly hate is the ongoing covid-the pandemic. After March 14th, 2020, everyone’s life took one awful turn- living in a lockdown. This changed everything, all our activities, our academics, our way of living. The pandemic gives all of us a very disturbing time to witness. It left people lonely, with rising anxiety levels and plummeting depression.
Now coming to my life in lockdown, I would say it was just an ordinary life, so an ordinary story to tell.
A day before the lockdown I had my university entrance test for NUST, the only academic activity going on. The atmosphere was different: People maintaining social distance, wearing masks, washing hands. Standing there I realized that the world has changed. Later, I had my online college exams too. Our HSSC board exams were also lined up. The covid situation in the country was now so uncontrollable that the education minister canceled all the exams country-wide. There I was done with my higher education. The next step was to get admission to a university. I utilized that free time to think of a career that suited me best. I then decided to become an Aerospace Engineer. Next, I looked up the universities offering it. Found IST, applied there and waited for the merit list. After that, I had a lot of leisure time because I had no test to prepare neither anything to study more. At that time, I used to draw, so my family suggested making a page on social sites and showcase my art. I thought for long about this, wondering if I will be seen or not, but then prepared myself. So, I tried that, made a page on Instagram, started uploading my things up, and I was getting a good response there. Months I worked and posted my artwork but then I got admission and got caught in the studies, so was not able to manage. Then I decided to switch off the page. This was my only activity in lockdown.
As far as my family was concerned, there was a lot of anxiety. Most of my uncles, aunties, and cousins in Lahore got affected. It made us worry for them. We were not able to go and celebrate Eid in Lahore, to meet our loved ones. No family dinners, no meetups, everyone was separated from each other. We canceled many of our functions, and weddings because of the lockdown. Everyone’s life was really disturbed. I also had to face online education; my screen time increased a lot. It made me sick with eye strains and headaches. Life becomes difficult. Every day the cases increased, causing distress and depression all over.
2020 was a very tough year, news of people dying made our lives painful. As of 2021, the situation is pretty much the same. All I hear is the news of people close to me dying. As you may have heard that your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change. So, the only way to keep things from spiraling out of our control, we must look out for ourselves and those around us. I believe the hardships will be over soon, for me and for you. In the end, it is belief and faith that will keep us going.
Till then stay safe and keep your masks on.
Sincerely,
Abeeha Batool
002
Aero 19-A