The Best Lessons Learned In Life During The Pandemic 

In An Instant, Everything Changed

On March 6, 2020, Jamaica announced its first case of COVID-19, the mysterious virus that has been — and still is — wreaking biological havoc all over the world. Since then, the ticking of the metronome of time and space has seemed to be knocked completely out of tune.

I had to move home from university in a matter of 48 hours. Every programme and schedule up to that point was pushed back for a month and was to be reorganised to accommodate the newness of being at home 24/7. One month of no school immediately sounds like a slice of heaven for any 12 year old, and probably for some university students. For a final year student such as myself, however, this readjustment sounded like pure chaos.

Best Life Lessons Learned From A Pandemic

My friend Khadijah always reiterates that in everything, there is something to be grateful for, and there is abundance. It is up to us to find it. This virus consequentially gave us students an abundance of time. We had time to spend with our families, with our friends who are close by, with ourselves. It gave us time to learn a new skill, cook something new, binge Avatar twice, and finish the never-ending papers that were about to be heaped on us.

For me, school being pushed back for a month was a break that I never knew I needed. In a conversation with a friend, she shared this sentiment, saying that if we were still on schedule to do exams in May, she would not know how well she would have fared. 

The quarantine period also gave me an abundance of time to celebrate the arrival of my bright-eyed bundle of joy — my niece. It was time to sit back and think of my future prospects, and to take in how exactly my life has been and how it may go in the future.

Best Life Lessons On Being More Careful

For everyone, this quarantine and the ensuing period of adjustment gave us a working lesson on our individual and collective responsibility to ourselves and each other. We have had to be cognizant of how frequently we touch ourselves, other things, and other people. We have had to wash our hands more often, and wear masks. 

Some people (and some countries, yes, you Miss Fourth of July), have failed to grasp this common duty of humanity that we have been charged with. But we must press on together, and only hope that everyone catches on. We must be aware of the abundance given to us. 

In the words of Lila Iké, we must be thankful for the blessings that have fallen on our tables.

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