Handling the Covid-19 Pandemic from a Student’s Perspective
Let’s face it. A pandemic is stressful. From closed schools and working at home to crowded hospitals, people of all ages are experiencing overwhelming emotions, many of which are hard to process. The numerous health precautions we are told to follow make people all across the United States feel stressed, anxious, and worst of all, alone. However, as there are actions to reduce the spread of Covid-19, there are also actions to help cope with the adverse feelings of stress and loneliness.
In particular, many students across the United States are experiencing many difficult times. As a current freshman in college, I have missed out on a lot of meaningful opportunities due to the pandemic. Unfortunately, many high school seniors, including myself, did not get to enjoy their senior prom. With such a big event to look forward to, many people feel as though they have missed out on a once in a lifetime opportunity. High school seniors also missed out on celebrating graduation with their friends and family. Even now, we still feel as though we are missing out on life's biggest moments. With the majority of courses being held remotely, students find it hard to connect with their curriculum in a meaningful way. My first semester of college was entirely remote, and I have faced the realization that my freshman year of college was much different from the norm. All of the abnormalities accumulate, and students like myself begin to have flooded thoughts about all the things that didn’t go as wanted. It’s stressful for anyone!
It is important to maintain psychological wellness in our day-to-day lives. Therefore, it is vital to find healthy ways to cope with our stress. It is extremely important to keep an optimistic viewpoint in life, especially during a pandemic. By staying optimistic and hopeful, you will realize that this is just a stage in life, and things will get better in the future. There are various activities I have added into my own daily lifestyle to help cope with stress and loneliness. While the following activities are not clinically proven to help everyone, you may find some of these tactics helpful:
Exercise- exercising daily has helped me cope with stress. Not only does it help you stay in shape, but it also releases endorphins (your “feel good” hormones). During this time, a lot of students may have more free time than usual, and exercising can help a lot with that. In particular, practicing yoga or any form of meditation can be extremely beneficial, as it will help clear your mind.
Sleeping- everyone knows that getting enough sleep is important to staying healthy. Sleep can also be a potential way to refresh your brain from the many things that occur in your life. For example, whenever I am stuck on a problem and can not figure out the solution, I usually take a quick nap. After waking up, I work on the problem again, but with a refreshed mindset. This usually helps me solve the problem.
Eating a healthy diet- A well-balanced and nutritious diet is one of the most important aspects of staying healthy and having a positive mindset. Food fuels your brain; the type of food you eat determines your ability to function as a human being. While we may not all enjoy it, a well-balanced diet including fruits, vegetables, and legumes can lead to a healthy lifestyle. This includes your mental and physical health. Speaking from experience, a change to a healthy diet not only makes you feel better about yourself, but also brings a change in your entire mindset. By eating healthier, I am more focused on my tasks, have more energy throughout the day, have an overall calmer mood, and have a more optimistic viewpoint. In general, eating healthy makes you happier (and who doesn’t want to be happy?)
Mindless tasks- performing simple activities that do not require much effort is a great way to cope with stress. Whether it is doing your homework for your easiest class, copying notes from a textbook, or even just messing up a Rubik's cube, these small tasks can help one feel accomplished. The little things in life can make people happy and change their entire mindset.
Watching movies/ TV shows/ Youtube videos- In particular, watching older movies/TV shows gives you a sense of appreciation for the generations that preceded yours. You gain a sense of what the culture was like during the time period, but most importantly, you take your mind off the pandemic and focus your attention on a happier depicted period of time. Watching other people in a happy scenario can be extremely beneficial in helping cope with loneliness, as you feel engaged with the sight of other people’s enjoyment.
Researching topics that interest you- While prioritizing school and maintaining your course load is time consuming, we still find ourselves with more free time than ever. The biggest mystery is how we can spend our time wisely. We all have our own unique time-wasting mechanisms. Instead, we can learn more about the things that truly interest us. This does not have to be academic, it is tailored to YOUR interests. If you really like a TV show, you can find out some fun facts about that show, or even try to see what other shows/ movies the director has made. If you are interested in linguistics, you can search the internet for more information about the origins of a language, or even the culture behind it. The internet is filled with information, and it is your job to find more about what interests you. You will end up feeling rewarded, astonished, or even more curious than you were before!
While these activities can help relieve the pressures that come from living in a pandemic, there still are many problems that come with online learning. Students find this year to be especially challenging when it comes to connecting with their fellow peers, inside and outside of class. With boring zoom lectures and other online club meetings, not only is it hard to stay engaged in class, but it is also hard to create new friendships. While social media plays a big role in getting to know others, it does not feel the same as talking face to face. This can be disheartening to many students. We feel as if everyday consists of the same schedule of events, and feel a sense of loneliness from not being surrounded by the people we were normally used to seeing everyday. Online school can also be more challenging academically than previous years. Without the true engagement of in-person schooling, such as getting called on in class by the teacher or performing labs, we feel that we are not truly learning the material. As many of my online exams are open-book, there is little need to study the course material if you want to pass the class. This results in students facing a lack of motivation in watching pre-recorded lectures, or learning the concepts described in class thoroughly. Asking the teacher for help can also be more difficult online, and library study groups seem to become a thing of the past.
Luckily, with social distancing measures in mind, there are options for those feeling left out socially or finding a hard time learning the material. Creating a group chat with the other people in one of your courses can be helpful for understanding what is happening in the class. This can also lead to study groups, which are as effective online as they are in person. You can ask your peers to explain certain topics, which might give you a different perspective and help you understand the topic better. You can use these groups to study for exams or complete homework problems, and they can also be useful in meeting new people and socializing. For those looking to connect with friends and family, playing fun and creative games online can be a great option. There are numerous online games that you can play, but creating new and creative social games may also be an option for engaging activities.
Coping with stress and loneliness can be quite challenging. However, it is important to realize that you are not alone in the process. As students, we are all facing the hardships of online learning, the desires of wanting to talk to people in person, and the struggles of isolation and boredom due to being at home. We are all in this together, and together we will get through this time period, coming out stronger than ever before!
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html