A quick note
First of all – though this won’t be the topic of this week’s entry – I encourage you all to check out last week’s blog post if you haven’t already. In it, I discuss the importance of educating yourself on the Black Lives Matter movement and recognizing racism in your own country.
Now, onto this week’s subject:
Before continuing with the stories of others, I just quickly want to address something. When I first started this blog project, I was worried I wasn’t going to find enough people with relevant stories. I was surprised and a little shocked to find out how wrong I was.
At first, I anticipated having to ask friends of friends of friends. Posting on Facebook in hopes someone would reach out. Scrolling through Twitter in hopes of finding someone, anyone, with a story to tell.
And then I realized, I already knew a bunch of people. I knew some who studied abroad, some whose internships were canceled just like mine, some who’d face a study delay as a result of corona.
Project-wise, it was a relief. Empathy-wise, it sucked.
In some weird way, it’s reassuring to know I’m not the only one running into trouble or having to make some changes education-wise. But hearing everyone be stuck in limbo was definitely not a good feeling.
So many things that people had been looking forward to were canceled. So many things were delayed.
The uncertainty and stress this has caused both others and myself is unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. Students and trainees might be familiar with overlapping deadlines and exam prep, paper-writing and presentation-giving. Not that that’s any fun either, but most students manage – somehow - despite the stress.
Those are all things we expect. They’re all part of a schedule, too. You know when they’re coming up (you’re supposed to anyway… read your syllabi, kids), and you know when they’re over.
But this pandemic?
No one knows what the situation will be like in two months. There’s no “end date” and no upcoming summer break to wait for. We don’t know what the situation is going to look like in September. Or October. At the end of 2020. How exactly schools and universities will respond. If (school) events scheduled to take place then will actually be able to go ahead.
Everyone is different. For me, not being able to plan ahead is an awful feeling. I am a massive planner. By late fall 2017, I knew what I would be doing for the next year. Granted, that was an extreme case, even for me.
My point is: planning gives me structure, both something to look forward to and work towards as well as security. Even those who might not like planning are stuck, because there are also very little to no opportunities for spontaneous endeavors.
This way, everything is unclear. I no longer know when I will be able to graduate. There is concern around future job prospects.
And all we can do is wait.
As a way to pass time, might I suggest that – if your education has in any way been impacted by the coronavirus – you reach out and tell me your story? You can reach me via my e-mail or that handy dandy contact form on my “Contact” page. Or tweet/DM me @juliane_gla
