As tough as the COVID-19 pandemic was for everyone, its effects were felt stronger for some more than others. The entire world was impacted in ways that no one saw coming and through talking with other UFV students, I learned that everyone handled their lockdown differently. I focused on their experiences and how distinct those experiences were from mine, despite being in a very similar situation.
My personal experience was a bittersweet one. At the end of March 2020, we got the news that universities were being rapidly shut down. I really thought it would be a temporary shut down and things would be back to normal in no time. I thought I would have a nice summer and a break to go visit my family and friends in India, and in the fall I would come back and attend classes at UFV again. But that was far from what really happened.
My first struggle was being evicted from the student residence at UFV and having to move back home within a span of 2 weeks, as the university was shutting down and adopting the online method of teaching. Like many others, I had to clear out all my things and move back home before flights were completely cancelled. I was happy initially that I would get to see my family after a long time living in Canada, and the entire summer was really fun and went by quite fast. But in late June, when we got the news that universities were continuing to remain online for the fall semester, things were not so good.
During the initial stages of the spread of COVID-19, there was a lot of terror in the minds of people and not a lot of information was known to the general public. On top of that, all international flights were cancelled by the Indian government. I really had no other option than to stay safe at home and attend online school from India. But it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.
The time difference between New Delhi and Vancouver is 12 and a half hours. So, whenever it was daytime in New Delhi, it was nighttime in Vancouver, and vice versa. That meant in order to be able to attend all my classes, I would have to stay up in the middle of the night and study. That completely wrecked my entire schedule, and I was struggling to get a decent amount of sleep. Some professors recorded their lectures so the students could watch them later, but not all professors did that. So, I was sleeping during the daytime just so I could stay up all night and attend classes. Since everyone else at home was working on an opposite schedule, I was never really able to spend any time with them. However, we found ways to compensate for the lost time during the weekends.
It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. When I left home in 2019 to move to Canada and attend school, I never thought that I would have an opportunity to come back home, be with my family, and still be able to continue my education at the same time. And as challenging as it was sometimes to deal with everything that was happening because of COVID-19, I’m still glad that I got this unique opportunity. Moving back home and attending online school from another country had its pros and cons. And once I got used to the challenges, it got easier to see its bright side.
I think it’s safe to say that 2020 has been a testing year for almost everyone. Everyone dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects differently, and the biggest hurdle for many to overcome was the effect lockdown had on mental health. A long period of inactivity and not leaving the house caused a lot of damage to everyone’s mental health, but a positive outcome from the lockdown was the amount of free time everyone had to spend with their family and to bring out new projects and pursue old hobbies. The lockdown truly was like the two faces of a coin, and it affected everyone in its own ways.
To get a better understanding of everyone’s experience of the lockdown, I interviewed some UFV students about their lives in lockdown, how they adapted to it, and what life lessons they learned from it.
Joshua Balzer, Bachelor of Arts student at UFV and theatre enthusiast, states that he found himself having a lot more free time than he did before. Since the beginning of lockdown and the transition to online school, the format of theatre has really shifted, and that has been a big change for him. But he also misses socializing and being able to talk to people face-to-face.
When asked about his experience with online classes, Joshua admitted that it was much less engaging compared to an in-person class, but the transition wasn’t too difficult for him. The biggest upside of the lockdown for him was definitely the amount of time he had to do more things and spend more time with his family. He believes that his biggest life lesson from the lockdown would be the importance of patience.
Balzer explained that, with everything being online, tasks and communication took longer than usual and his patience was constantly being tested: “I used to think that I’ve always got to do things. I would have so much to do and so little time. But with the lockdown … everything is online and so I have had to be a lot more patient when dealing with everyone,” he stated.
Karn Malhi, a second year Bachelor of business student at UFV, compared his current situation to his life before the lockdown and said that there was not a lot of difference other than staying at home a lot more. Although, one big change for him was not being able to see his friends as often. Like Balzar, he also found that he had a lot more time to spend with his family and do a lot more things around the house which he normally didn’t have time for. However, the online classes for him were something that needed some time to get used to.
He said, “When we first started with the online class, I was really excited about it. I was excited about getting to do everything on my own time. Eventually, I found out that online school was not for me. I would rather be in an in-person class. Although I am coming around to it now, I would definitely much rather prefer going back to campus and studying in-person,”
Karn’s method of giving things time was a great way to adjust to a big change like that. I asked him what was one life lesson that he believed the lockdown taught him, to which he replied that time management was something he learned a lot about.
“A lot of classes don’t even have lectures, and you have to do everything on your own time. It gets really easy to procrastinate. So, it’s really important to learn how to not do that and just plan things ahead of time,” he said.
Kinesiology student Nicola Janzen describes her life in the lockdown as “chaotic.” She recently got a new job in healthcare and is spending a huge chunk of her time at work. A big portion of her time at work is spent ensuring the thoroughness of all COVID-19 procedures, which makes her job stressful and time-consuming. But the biggest upside of this lockdown for her is that she gets to dedicate a lot more of her time to working out and bodybuilding, something she’s very passionate about.
Nicola is also very focused on receiving her personal training certification, something she never thought that she would have time to do along with school. Now, because of everything being online, she is able to work on school on her own time. The biggest life lesson that she learned while in lockdown is the importance of making time for the things that you truly want to do.
“Before lockdown, the personal training that I am doing right now was just a dream. It was a possibility for after I graduate. But now that COVID-19 has given me some time, I have realized that I could’ve done it while I was in school the whole time”, she said.
Along with that, she also emphasized the importance of self-motivation when it’s so easy to get off track because of everything going on.
She admitted, “I’m a procrastinator, and I always leave stuff till the last minute. But now, I know that if you were to leave everything for the last minute then nothing is going to get done properly.”
As for another undergraduate, Shane Claridge: “definitely a lot has changed since the lockdown started,” he said. Claridge, a General Studies student at UFV and the Defensive Back for Valley Huskers Football Team, plays football for Canadian Junior Football League. He believes that the biggest change for him was the football season being canceled due to COVID-19.
The initial stages of the lockdown, when the gyms were being shut down, were an especially tough time for him as he was not able to train as much, and he thinks it affected his game. Claridge also felt that the lockdown and not being able to go outside affected his mental health.
Along with that, his experience with the transition to online class wasn’t a pleasant one. “When UFV first announced that they were starting online classes, we were almost near the end of the semester. Taking the online exams for the first time ever was a weird transition for me, and it wasn’t a good experience. I definitely learn better in a face-to-face environment,” he explained.
But on a positive side, Claridge now has a lot more time to focus on football, and he’s preparing passionately for the upcoming season. He described the ability to adapt as one of the biggest life lessons he received from the lockdown.
He admitted, “I’m the kind of person who likes to plan everything right down to the last details. But some of those plans completely changed due to COVID-19, and almost an entire year of my life was completely thrown off. So, I learned how important it was to learn how to deal with new situations and change the plans according to them.”
Everyone dealt with the lockdown in their own ways and had their own sets of challenges. Some people were caught completely off guard with all the major changes, while others decided to take charge and utilize that time for something they always wanted to do. Some people were agitated by the lack of activities they could do in the lockdown, and others were thrown off by the increasing complexity of everyday tasks due to reliance on the digital realm. And many others, like me, saw the lockdown as an opportunity to go back home and be with their families.
What really matters is how those challenges were overcome and how we will always keep these life lessons with us and look back at them when things get out of control. The lockdown taught us time management, patience, and acceptance. But the most important lesson was that life always goes on, and we constantly need to adapt in order to move forward.
Illustration: Elyssa English / The Cascade
