I’m a student, living amidst the mess of the pandemic. My student life is right now is entangled in the bog and mesh of chaos and dilemma. And this isn’t a scientific article, because though technology runs my life now, I’m an emotionally volatile person right now. Finally this isn’t just my tale alone, it’s a tale that echoes with scores of students out there, around the globe. It’s just that it’s the same song, but the notes and tones vary.
Isn’t it the pandemic, shouldn’t you all be happy about the fact that you are alive and safe and still studying, while there are millions of students severed off from basic education? That’s a question the student community is being dodged upon by the elderly world out there. Well yes, they have got a point, but the point that is going unnoticed here is that, apart from being physically alive, being mentally composed and happy is also a thing. Almost all of the student community is battling the bounds of depression currently. Yes, we have the internet and Google Meet out there to fill in the gaps. But that’s where we are being wrong. Doing your math and checking the galvanometer reading alone is not what the definition of school is. Doing your thesis and getting your exams done is not what college is. Beyond what you learn in the classrooms, there is this something called being with the community out there- learning to be a part of the society.
Education is not all about scoring marks and receiving scholarship, it’s about growing and evolving through mistakes and moments with fellow students. The tiny Google Meet cubicles and Microsoft team’s chat spaces don’t give you that. You can probably call it a faintest simulacra of being in a class. It is never going to be that same. Already students have lost an year and seems like another one is also up on the loss list, and we never know what the future holds. Well nobody is to be blamed, because the pandemic is the villain here. But it’s not the our fault that we check WhatsApp and Instagram while the teacher speaks like a mechanical voice sitting somewhere else. Because trust me it’s hard, we tried and tried but it isn’t that easy. But we all have been trying to hold on.
I’m repeating that this isn’t a fancy tale but a reality. Millions of students out there feel something which probably they themselves can’t figure out what it is. Moments of hyper mood and sombre depression and a feeling of nihilism, keep switching between these stages and it’s real hard to handle. Parents have been trying but they would never probably understand. But earlier it was fine, you could go out and have a chitchat with your friends, a food trip, a game of football, these would have sufficed getting back on track. But it’s not the same now, because now you have no track rather it’s a messy loop.
Solutions if you ask for any, well we don’t really have any. It’s just that we have to learn to deal with it. Probably meditation, reading, watching a favourite series, or movie marathon, a video call might help. But it isn’t the ultimate solution you have. The only way out is being strong. But that isn’t easy. I hope the world out there understands it and will be a little more kind and considerate to the student community. It’s really an complex scenario, because students are really loosing out on their prime fun years inside the mute and video buttons of mechanical meets. I hope the world understands this and be a little more generous.
