It was one of our dreams as teenagers. Staying up all night, playing games without control, and spending Ramadan at home in your bed. I was over excited. As school closed, I felt free. It was like an early summer holiday. Everyone was hoping this day would come where there was no work to do. I planned to play video games all day and stay up as late as I wanted to. Usually on school days we had to sleep early and wake up early, which really annoyed me. Now I finally have a chance to have fun and fill my time with joy and happiness.
The only thing that made me feel anxious and afraid was the number of deaths that were increasing day by day. I was terrified about the lives that the coronavirus had taken, although I never showed that fear until….
My mother was infected with coronavirus in April, and she had isolated herself in the living room for more than 3 weeks. While she was fighting the virus silently, she used to call me ten times a day to remind me to do my school work and do my best. I was confused about what made my mum worry about me and about my education while she should think about herself and her health. We wanted her back. Life without her around seemed horrible.
I found the answer to making mum less worried. Before lockdown, I didn’t prove to her that I could take responsibility for my duties such as schoolwork. I called mum while she isolated herself and said:
“Mum, from now on I’m going to make a change, just watch me!”
I started putting more consistent effort into my work, I also started to do more independent work to make the most of my time. Being very organised and focused on what I’m doing makes me feel happier.
I am always willing to do new things and also willing to put in 100% effort.
I became motivated to take my education more seriously and made a revision timetable and I developed a new hobby of reading everyday. I set myself a target of one book a day.
I knew I was capable of managing my time in this way, but perhaps I never tried before mum was in isolation.
I thank God she’s now well and healthy. Once my mum saw the change in me, she was overwhelmed. She was over the moon, and in that moment I felt proud of myself and proud of the decisions I made. Besides that I still had time for things that I find fun, like playing video games and football!
The pandemic has changed our lives drastically. The negative side of this is losing many innocent souls, people we love, people we know, and even we don’t know. Every single person deep down wanted this to stop because who knows who could be next.
A positive side to this was families spending more time together. In my own family, we were having 3 meals at the dining table, and I started socialising more with my parents. I felt like this period of time has brought my family closer together.
After everything I went through, I wanted to meet my friends and other relatives again. It was hard not playing football but I was still able to kill time by playing PlayStation with them, which I really loved because we could joke with each other online. Last summer, we all used to meet outside and play football, but it makes me sad that now we can’t do what we normally do in the summer.
This virus has affected many others, especially non-key workers as they weren’t able to provide for their families. It is really sad. My dad is a key worker and while he was at work, I was praying everyday for him to get back home safely.
Lockdown was a turning point in my life; many others have used it to guarantee freedom. I used it as a chance to take more ownership of my school work and motivate myself without depending on others.
Applications are now open for headteachers and senior leaders working across education. The programme gives you the opportunity to connect with your authentic self and equip you with powerful strategies to bring about the changes you believe in.
applications are now open for headteachers and senior leaders working across education. The programme gives leaders the opportunity to connect with your authentic self and equip you with powerful strategies to bring about the changes you believe in.
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