The national lockdown came at a critical time for first-year students. Much of the initial motivation and dedication to start their adult lives seem to have been demolished, albeit temporarily .
Sandton residents and tertiary students, Salmaan Ebrahim (21), Leila Mohamed (21) and Yusuf Adam (19) all shared their views on the lockdown.
Disappointed and concerned, Ebrahim is studying a BTech degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Johannesburg.
“We are missing out on a lot of work and I am left very confused seeing I have to do self-studying,” he said.
In terms of his university future, Ebrahim is worried that he may have to repeat the 2020 academic year in 2021.
“If the lockdown ends on the 16th of April like expected, I’m sure university can be up and running and work missed can be caught up on.
However, if Covid-19 does not get handled by then, universities will be closed for much longer and who knows what could happen?”
Kelvin resident, Leila Mohamed, an online student studying English, said that even her future has been put on hold.
“After I matriculated, I always knew I wanted to teach others, I feel really sad that it all had to come to a stop. Although, I look forward to resuming my studies when all this is over.”
Her daily routine helps to keep her grounded.”I meditate for at least an hour every morning and every night just to get some calm in all this chaos,”
Human resource management student Yusuf Adam has taken up gardening in this time as a coping mechanism.
He said that he expected the closure and plans to let things run its course. “To be honest I expected the initial excitement of varsity to be short-lived. I knew the work would start piling up and I was right. I feel that the sudden ‘closure’ of varsity was to be expected in this crisis.”
One important take-away for Adam is to live life and to practise gratitude. “One major lesson I’ve learnt from this whole corona/lockdown is the fragility of our daily lives. The fact that we take so many things for granted is sick and we need to use this disruption of daily life as a wake-up call to be more grateful and appreciative.”
Related articles:
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/256452/5-ways-keep-kids-learning-entertained-schools-closed/
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/259693/sandton-schools-embrace-e-learning/
