Story of Final Year College Student Who Joined college after reopening of eduction institution amid outbreak of COVID 19
Sonam Dorji a final year student shares this thought on his first day of college amid pandemic.
1st July 2020- College Reopens amid Pandemic
Tried, I flipped up my lagay slightly up, and quickly squinted my eyes towards the watch. It was 11. 40 A.M. Almost an hour passed, seated idly but socially distanced, in a college multi-purpose hall, Sherubtse College. Dissolved in an otherwise, occasionally interesting orientation program, I was rather drooled overhearing COVID -19 repeatedly. Infinite times. Social distancing, face mask, hand washing, risk factor and so and so forth. Now, here I am. Transition to normal phase l. College officially reopens.
In a judicial mood, was a bob of greeting from college management, love that shared bizarre, humdrum routine and encircled feeling singularly felt by 500 of us. Graduates of 2020, Sherubtse College. To come close to my view, this nature doesn't make any anxious narratives nor tips up the slightest detail of the enduring three months of virtual learning, away from college.
It was on 18th March when schools and educational institutions across the country officially closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the country with the first case being an American tourist detecting positive for the virus on 6th March.
Just a month after the commencement of the final academic semester the graduates of 2020. The most longed semester for any college student. As an observer, I found my peer heightened in grief and indolent while the majority of juniors were engulfed in a mountainous feeling of joy and freedom. All set to head home. But there, we were, final year students, concerned and shattered, questioning and cursing one another. Why now? Why? Why? And why? Just because the final semester is fun. The most awaited season for anyone graduating.
The coronavirus disease shook us like earthquakes and avalanched our hopes, smiles and joy, propelling an irresistible nature. With passing days, everything began to fade. Online classes started. Assignments were piled one after another. We were engaged. But these activities did not in any way, detailed necessary as my heart was when I was in college. It was rather about the experience, a one man's fight for two different enemies. Virtual and reality. It was like coming back to start realizing life.
Five semesters of college life gone by rounded in shoulders, extended hands, pampered love, timely calls from loved ones, monthly stipend and an additional amount from parents and siblings, no matter if the need is or otherwise. I was always lucky. Now, as I look back I find myself dependent and socially ill at the hands of the fortunate and the love of people around me. A learned man was grizzled in fighting for irrational reasons not knowing it was for me. But as I left college, my heart heavied for something I never had before.
I passed by three long months in legitimate work no hatred can storm me. From being devoted in charge to my little ones to help them academically to helping my age-old parents in the paddy field to aiding my religious mother read prayer scriptures, to being a master chef to being a dishwasher. To be a storyteller to educating my uneducated parents on social media usage and identifying fake news.
The list goes on. I have seen a similar story like mine uploaded on various social websites but mine is an inquiry. A question that leads to something and answered a heart that's not lost. The courage and the patience from where truth comes from. Perhaps resettling myself back to college, a realization pricks. What if it was not for coronavirus? Well, that's considerably better than before. An answer to my question. A realization I never learned in my academic modules.
This is not the end. It's just the beginning. I have sunk in the light I never knew I would. To the home, I always belong. It's all started with the Corona virus.
