OpenImmunity Discussion

Dear All,

It has been a year or more since the pandemic gripped the world and turned it on its head. Ever since, we have been struggling to keep up with an increasingly unfamiliar reality. Although we have put a year's worth of experience behind us and are wiser for it, we still face great uncertainty regarding what lies ahead. If only for their unpredictability, these are testing times. And yet, in the midst of it all, we must pause to sense the weight of our own significance as individuals caught up in a critical moment of history. There is something unmistakably profound about experiencing the pandemic first-hand - in struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing world, in assuming new responsibilities, in exploring boundaries and searching tunnels for the proverbial light - and beyond doubt, each one of us has a unique story to relate along this remarkable journey.

History is made bit by bit, one page at a time. When history turns back its pages to the year 2021, it will have much to say. Let us add to the pages of history with our own story and give it something valuable to remember, for history is only as good as what survives of it as documented evidence. This blog is meant to be a diary and record of your experiences. What were some of the mental, emotional or physical challenges that you faced during life in lock-down? How did you overcome them? How have you grown as an individual through your journey? What has been one remarkable incident that you would like to narrate? What are your hopes or fears for the future? How do you think our economy and educational systems need to be revived, post-pandemic? Pen down your reflections on these different tangents in a write-up of about 450 to 500 words, appending your first name, last three digits of your reg. no,. and your batch and section at the end.

Sincerely,

Tamkeen
000
Aero19-A/B and MSE-12-B

Dear Fellows!

The period of pandemic is a rollercoaster for me. I have faced a lot of disturbance in my routine. My studies are highly affected by this pandemic because this online system is of no match to the face to face classes. I feel that my concepts are weak. Had it be better if I had taught all this in the university. Other issues like internet problems and load shedding are constant. These issues lead to low grades. This online system is not good at all.

The daily life chores are disturbed so badly. I remember the time when I have to undergo through a nose surgery urgently and there was no hospital available for the treatment. I visited a lot of hospitals and waited for about 3 months for my surgery to be done. Finally it was done by the grace of Allah.

This period of pandemic made a lot of barriers for me. I couldn’t go outside to visit different places for fun and adventure as I used to do before pandemic. Everything just turned its way. No meet up with friends, no gathering and I have to spend all of my day in a room which is quite suffocating sometimes.

I felt so alone even I was in touch with my friends and my family members through social media though I had a small circle but still there is some kind of void in a heart, some sort of empty space around me. You know it felt like I am getting more and more distant from the reality.
However, I think that to maintain some distance with everyone is good but this long disconnection between individuals hurts badly. I have dealt with my problems alone. Whenever I fall or faced difficulty, it was only me who helped me.

I used to feel gloomy due this lockdown period because there are so many restrictions for me as I said before but things are changed now, I am happy than before in my own world. I think, sometimes it is not good for an individual to cut them self from the real world and real people but if you see it from a different perspective then it is the best way to survive in this world right now.

I feel quite satisfied by the environment now because everything is revived, everything seems to me growing again and it really makes me happy. The air becomes cleaner and soothing. There is less noise pollution and the life is more scheduled than before.
I hope that everything will be fine soon. So these were my views and how I felt through all this.

Thank you so much for reading. Be cautious and take care of yourself and your family!

Yours Sincerely,
Ayesha Naseem
037
MAT 12-B

I breathed a sigh of relief the day they shut down my university, I couldn’t wait to not be worried going to sleep at night, not have to dread my next day. I’ve spent most of my life alone, having a military father I never spent more than a couple of years in one place. I was a fat kid that never made friends easily, getting people to want to be around me always was a struggle. The times changed, but the insecurities never really went away, I turned into an introvert that spent most of his time in-front of screens, be it my computer or phone. The first month or so was really a means of catharsis, I could do whatever I felt like, wake up whenever and sleep whenever. I wouldn’t talk to anyone, not even go downstairs to sit with my parents. I figured the university would open soon and I didn’t want to get fat again so I wouldn’t eat much. It started to get lonely around the second month in. My university friends were all from out of city, they’d stay in the hostels but once the university shut down, they all went back to their homes. There was practically no one to go meet, and I wasn’t about to just make new friends.
But then my friends started moving here, all 3 of them with their families. It’s been a blur since, but still a time I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. COVID guidelines out the window, there hasn’t been a single week that has passed between us meeting. It’s usually every other day, we even got the virus and then quarantined together. The people I care about make me a better person every day, they’ve taught me how to be sociable, how not be constantly worried, and most importantly for me, how to accept myself. I understand that the world is not in the greatest shape, but I’m trying to not carry the weight of it on my shoulders. My family has been great during this time, they’ve understood me and I’ve tried to be a good son to my parents. I’ve watched enough people lose their parents and don’t know what I’d do without mine. I was never really afraid of dying myself, the pandemic has just made me fearful of losing the people I care about.
Along with myself, I’m seeing the world change too. There’s a lot of good people in this world, people that go out of their way to help others. If anything, the pandemic has helped us be more empathetic to our fellow citizens. The world needs to change though, we need policies better equipped to serve the public in times of need. We need educations systems that do not create a toxic, stressful environment for the students. Maybe this pandemic will finally kickstart our transition into becoming a world that caters to all of its people, not just the top one percent.

Sincerely,

Mazen Atif
190301069
MAT-12 (B)

The pandemic Corona-virus was showing its lowest aspect across the world, and then there was a news for announcing the Lockdown in Pakistan. It was announced to authorized the deadly Corona-virus. The news channels were overloaded with global and national news of the infected Corona-virus patients. I watched the news every day to keep myself updated and connected to get all the information about this deadly virus. It was very important to keep my loved ones updated and aware of the deadly virus infection and its causes. All of our family member were at home and did various certain activities to spend our time in this lockdown period.
The lockdown time has been proven to be very productive, depending on how you utilize it. I will let you know how i spent my lockdown period.
The day of announcement of this lockdown, our all educational institutes were closed and our exams were set to be postponed, which is actually a blessing in disguise because I get a lit more time to prepare for my final exams but to be honest it was very difficult to study in such a cringing and painful situation when the whole world was getting into this deadly Corona-virus.
I get to spend some good quality time with my family because both my elder brothers and father are working from home now. We have been bonding and spending our time with each other quite a lot during this period. All this free time at hand got me to grasp new skills and knowledge. Although I am a material engineering students but quite at times I do coding and like computers in general to get extra knowledge from other field too. So I have been taking courses on topics like Data Mining, Data Automation and Artificial Intelligence, and I find these really interesting. They also come in handy when I am building my portfolio website or for any of my freelancing project.
I have also been using this free time to catch up with the football matches because football is my life and I can spend rest of my life watching football matches. I have been also playing football on my daily basis and I love to spend my time in such a physical play.
During this period, I developed a good habit of rising early and spending some time with nature. Early morning yoga practice was one of the best ways to keep myself fit and healthy during this period.
I really missed my university fellows and friends during this lockdown period. I played online Ludo Star,Pubg and FIFA with my friends and we enjoyed a lot. Thanks to technology that rather than being apart we were able to have our online classes, but to be honest online classes are really hectic and difficult to take while being at home.Taking course knowledge from professors on video bases was very difficult for students to grasp. Our educational institutes should develop some more powerful methods so they could spread the education to their students in a more better way. When the situation gets better and we are allowed to go to university again by the government, Our university management should set some extra classes for the students so they can get their concepts accurately clear which they have been missed or not understood in their online classes.
Lockdown has also emotionally and mentally effected us. While staying at home for so many days has made us lazy and has made us isolated in so many ways. It has disturbed us in so many ways like knowing that people are losing their lives on daily bases because of the virus is such a painful thing. Emotional overload during lockdown can be very difficult to handle. The first and most severe can arise from a traumatic experience, such as the loss of a family member due to Corona-virus. The combination of emotions, suffering, and the obvious difficulty of grieving under the current circumstances increases this psychological reality.
Lockdown was special in many ways because it taught me the importance of my dear ones and freedom. We are blessed to have whatever we want otherwise life is not so easy for everyone especially for the poor and daily wage workers. I felt sorry for them because I was financially not so capable of helping each and every one. Still, I and my family managed food and grocery for some of them.
So, contrary to the popular opinion that this lockdown period is just unproductive and boring, I think it really depends on how you spend your time. Being active on social media can help spend time but it is obviously going to get boring after a while. I would highly recommend that you pick up a new skill or do something you are really interested in to spend this time.

Yours truly,
Fahad ur Rehman Shah kazmi
190301002
Mat 12 sec B