OpenImmunity Discussion

Who knew there could be a time where one has to wash car seats, handles, door knobs and anything one buys from the market by anti-septics. It is just like dipping your entire house in Dettol, how ironic it is that this is exactly what I used to imagine as a teenager, I was once asked to give a 5-minute speech to entire class about my beliefs and what I want, and I said “I want everyone to dip their house in Dettol “. I was 14. I guess god heard me, I did not know this is how he was going to shape this in future.

Well, being germ o phobic way before then this pandemic, it was not strenuous for me when it started. I enjoyed it I was content seeing god doing this to entire world. But everything comes with a price, who knew it could be this deadly and what worse could come. I was yet to experience the reality! The fun started to fade away, the days became gloomy, streets and malls went empty like a place to be lived for ghosts. Gradually, offices were padlocked, the labor had nowhere to go, there were no means left for them to meet their needs.
My University life that I always longed for was like taken away from me even without a warning. Experiencing independence for the first time, I met people with different perspectives. I was developing sense of responsibility, and unexpectedly world lost its track. The studies switched to online platforms.
Depression took over, as not being able to do any physical exertion e.g., exercises, playing outdoor, which are psychologically proved to be anti-depressing, anti-anxious. The screen-time increased a lot that it muddled up the sleeping schedule and was a source of headache around-the-clock. I was still able to turn my pain into power, being desk bound entire day I decided to study and work hard till a point that I proposed a ventilator design to Pakistan Education and Health minister, I got the highest GPA as well, and I was asked by Pakistan’s Missile technology (NESCOM) to work for them and got their Sponsorship! Another perk of this pandemic is that families got more time to be empathetic towards each other. This bright outlook helped me to confront these challenges. The pandemic also created a sense of responsibility in its own kind. It developed sense of taking care of each other. It taught that what we must stand for in this world, the truth, the loyalty.
I hope that these marks stay with us and being health conscious can bring another kind of good for all of us in future. I think people have realized about the unnecessary things in life, e.g., pointless parties, huge marriage functions. One can save money for a better cause, like entrepreneurship, which will ultimately give rise to country’s economy. My fear is that people might continue this even after learning a lot from this pandemic, once it is over.

Maira Suhail
019
MSE-12-B