Class of 2020 hijacked by a Virus

“There is no education like adversity”  - Disraeli

Last week marked the moment that our 2020 final year students completed the last chapter of their school life. What a $!&!#!*!  year it was! The cherry on top of all school years has certainly got to be your final year when all the traditional celebrations and rites of passages occur: year 12 graduation, school farewell, annual awards ceremony, school leadership roles, school formal, your last school production or school athletics carnival, driving your friends around with a bona fide driver’s licence, 18th birthday party(for many) and schoolies(a beach celebration for school leavers in Australia). However for the Class of 2020, Covid has robbed them of what is touted as being the best and most memorable year of their teenage lives. True, some generations had it tougher during the war years, depression and recession but it still sucks. 

The year started like any other with year 12 students entering the hallowed halls of their schools bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with aspirations of making it their best year yet. Resplendent in fresh uniforms, armed with the year’s book lists and stationery and an eager and optimistic attitude towards their studies, they were ready for the challenges that this all-important school year would throw at them. Never in their wildest dreams did they expect the insidious Covid-19 virus would be hurtling towards them at breakneck speed to wreak havoc on their precious, final school year. 

It is not just the big ceremonies and celebrations that were missed but also the little, insignificant moments that all contribute to this coming-of-age year: like studying in the library, attending career workshops, enjoying little moments with friends, mucking up in the common room, making plans for overseas experience, deliberating with your besties about the trendiest colour or sexiest cut for the ball gown, agonising over whether your crush will ask you to be your partner for the school formal. It is these mundanities too that collectively  make up the final year which will be etched in their  minds more than any other. What a devastating loss for our school leavers of 2020 who for the most part were out of their normal school setting as they battled the the year remotely and online. 

Their last year of school was literally turned upside down for the 2020 cohort: an academic year that is usually ordered and organised in military-like precision in neat sections of covering curriculum, well-planned study sessions and the mandatory tests and exams was suddenly up in the air. Instead of forging and cementing friendships in the final year which many say last a lifetime, the students had to social distance and isolate. Ploughing through the complex course work is tough enough but to be suddenly thrown in the deep end in terms of the delivery and disruptions made the senior year even harder to contend with. Overnight, traditional classroom settings were replaced by Zoom sessions which unsettled many because of technical difficulties and unfamiliar territory in terms of lesson delivery. 

In Australia, the Corona virus pandemic was just another “first” for the 2020 cohort who will turn out to be the most resilient bunch yet because of other changes that they endured during their school career. They made up the first year of compulsory prep school when it was trialed in 2008, they were the first year 7 classes who were removed from primary school and newly housed in high schools, and in Queensland it is the first year that Year 12 students are sitting the newly introduced ATAR exams which other states are familiar with. No other peace time school leavers had to deal with the changes that our 2020 cohort had to struggle through with such unprecedented disruptions in their education. 

As it often is, the best laid plans in life go awry and in times like these, the inspirational words of Oprah Winfrey can be so motivating: “Turn your wounds into wisdom”. Adversity is unwelcome and  inevitable but it does not have to define who we intrinsically are. We can overcome our mishaps, misfortunes and mistakes to still find happiness and conquer our goals. Every metaphorical demon we successfully slay, serves to strengthen our will, our confidence and our ability to confront future obstacles. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, right?

It is often during a time of upheaval that the most soulful reflections are made. The class of 2020 had a taste first-hand to do without in terms of rationing and restrictions that were put in place. The products of decades of economic prosperity, these school leavers have never really faced financial hardship. Unlike our generation that studied after leaving school so that we could fast track to a career that would ensure our economic survival, this Generation Z were more into higher order thinking like: what vocation would align to my moral values, is the career direction I pursue based on ethics, how can I add value to the world as a environmentally conscious individual and for many school leavers, work-related ambitions were a distant thought as they planned for the overseas gap year. Suddenly, international travel is not happening in the foreseeable future and jobs are few and far between as big conglomerates have become bankrupt. The immediate future looks bleak and our school leavers this year will no doubt face the brunt of economic hardship. The silver lining though has to be the time honoured truth which proves that in times of trouble, creativity and ingenuity comes to the fore. This has to be a positive thing, surely.

So, in these extraordinary times when our education system the world over has witnessed the most cataclysmic catastrophe in the history of education, the Class of 2020 will emerge as the most resilient, most creative and most compassionate cohort not in spite of, but because of the significant challenges that they had to face. Instead of bemoaning what has been lost from this watershed, final school year because of the pandemic,let us focus on the blessings in the form of lessons that came in its wake like learning to adapt, to be flexible, to be creative, to problem solve and to communicate better - invaluable life skills that are not part of the senior year school syllabus but smart skills which will no doubt hold us in good stead for the unpredictable future. 

So, Class of 2020, never for a moment think you were disadvantaged. On the contrary, you were the chosen ones, the lucky ones, because you share a bond that goes beyond borders with your global peers  and having experienced the limitations of our education system that was glaringly exposed through the virus, you are the best persons to redefine our dismal education system that have been trust upon us for centuries without heeding all forms of changes. You represent true grit. Go out and dream big! Oh, and also, thank you, Covid-19, for usurping the traditional teacher’s role and delivering to the senior students of 2020 the best life lessons they will ever experience. 

 

Lessons to be Learnt from Mother Nature

Mother Nature may be forgiving this year, or next year, but eventually she’s going to come around and whack you. You’ve got to be prepared.               Geraldo Rivera

Well, what do you know. A social media post I read recently summed the present crisis we are going through with the Covid-19 virus so well: it spoke about Mother Nature sending us to our room to think about what we have done to Earth. The social distancing and self isolation that are being thrust upon us is her way of getting us to look into ourselves and reflect on our hurried and hectic lives on the Rat Race Highway. 

Our dear mother has tried many a time to scold us through hurricanes, cyclones, tsunamis, typhoons, droughts, floods, heatwaves, bushfires, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and melting ice but like disobedient children, we never heeded her warnings. Now, with the deadly Corona virus comes the thwack on the head, the smack on the cheek, the slap on the wrist or the kick in the butt. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned so maybe it is about time  we stop what we are doing and listened. 

As a pantheist,  I owe more to Nature than the scriptures. Nature is all embracing: We live in it, and it lives in us. We can touch it, feel it, smell it, hear it, taste it, know it and experience it. Therefore, for me personally, it is much easier to be in the moment, observe Nature and learn from it as it embodies all the lessons that we need to revisit. Lessons in life that the Corona virus, an offshoot of nature, is teaching us right now. 

As a parent, Mother Nature dishes out parenting advice that far surpasses any of Doctor Spock or Doctor Phil. It would do us well to slow down and walk with this parenting expert to learn some important life hacks about bringing up children. In her quiet, unassuming way she gently teaches us what matters in the grand scheme of things - you just got to slow down, watch and listen. 

I run three after-school tutoring centres and sometimes I have to arrange make-ups for missed lessons. A simple task, right? You would never believe how packed the kids’ lives are: amidst the dance, horse-riding, drama lessons, sports activities, acting, art, music and play dates, there isn’t another spare hour in the week to fit a make-up lesson. The  kids are exhausted, they have hissy fits and sometimes they need to be cajoled into participating into various activities. Right now, the Corona virus is saying: Mums, slow down. Throw away the hectic schedules and take time to interact with your kids. Set aside some bonding time to do the food prep together, engage in reading activities and discussions afterwards, watch how the sun sets on a balmy evening, observe the spectacular colours of the lorikeet as it sucks the nectar from the bottlebrush tree, play in the rain or start a vegetable patch. Give them the space to simply be. They will still blossom and thrive naturally without all the so-called enriching activities.  

Once again, to borrow an example from my tutoring centres, we have students of all aptitudes and abilities as our business promises that we offer learning support so that your child can “catch up, keep up or get ahead”. Yet, most parents have a single-minded mindset that their kids must achieve all A-grades or be top in class. Children are like flowers - they are unique and come in all different shapes, colours and fragrances. Treat them like Mother Nature would. Be patient. Do not hurry their development. Nourish them with warm smiles, kind words and tight hugs and watch them grow. In their own time, they will unfurl their colourful petals to kiss the warm sun and bloom as big, bold and breathtakingly beautiful as they can be. 

In the recent catastrophic event of the worst bushfires that Australia suffered, thousands of people were displaced, too many animals perished and countless acres of forest land were scarred. Yet, amidst this adversity, there were these heart-warming images showing the resilience of nature: green shoots bursting through burnt bark and the life cycle started again. Nature was back in business. Be like Mother Nature:strong and resilient. Use the Corona virus pandemic to explain to our kids that sometimes the best laid plans in life goes awry but even though there are great losses, much inconvenience and a shift of our priorities, this too would pass. Instead of making as if they are burdens because of the school closures, we should seize this wonderful window of opportunity to teach them to weather the storm by readjusting their sails. For deep roots to take hold and grow strong, the wild winds have to batter the tree mercilessly. Only in hardship, can we become tougher and more likely to meet other challenges that will inevitably threaten us later in life. 

Our Australian prime minister has just announced that as a society we are possibly looking at a lock-down that could stretch as long as six months. Can you imagine contending with a house full of kids for that length of time? I think the Corona virus is going to kill more relationships than patients  and send many parents to meltdowns if not mental institutions. During this time, maybe it would be timely to teach kids about the joys of nature like in the good old days. We spent a lot of time outdoors, we ran around, played hide-and-seek, climbed trees, swam in rivers and lakes, made  up our own games (more-so dictated by finance rather than ingenuity) and never had the time to get bored. And even if we did get bored, we never complained to our parents; we dealt with boredom as it was just another state of being like happiness, sadness or hunger. Pampering our self-entitled kids with more stuff must stop - this is a timely opportunity to let them feel how the have-nots live. 

For far too long, we have been racing along at break-neck speed. This virus scare is a reminder from Mother Nature to take stock of ourselves; do an inventory of what matters most. You would have to agree it’s our health, family, human relationships and peace of mind that should take precedence and not mod-cons, consumer goods, egos or self-interests. As unpleasant as life is right now, may our children learn the simple, old fashioned values in life. Like nature intended. 

To conclude I borrow the immortal words of Albert Einstein who said: Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. Now, it is up to us to emerge from our rooms and acknowledge whether we have learnt our lessons in self-correcting the equilibrium of nature or not. Like any parent, Mother Nature is caring and forgiving but sometimes even unconditional love has its limits. 

That which doesn't kill us, makes us stronger

“A great disaster is a symbol to us to remember all the big things of life and forget the small things, of which we have thought too much.” Jawaharlal Nehru

At this time, the C-word is everywhere: dominating all headlines, leading television newscasts, in conversations both intra-personal or digital so the corona virus or the Covid-19 naturally makes up my motivational piece this week. As much as I avoid negative topics, I am forced to face the current one which is inflicting so much fear, panic and hysteria globally. 

As I write, the current world-wide statistics are: there are 168958 recorded cases and 6492 deaths but looking on the bright side, 76585 people have recovered and with more constraints put in place, we hope that that will help to “flatten the curve”.

The good ol’ fellow, Winston Churchill, reminds us that in challenging times we need to look outside the proverbial compass for solutions when he said in the aftermath of the Second World War: “Never let a good crisis go to waste”. The reality of the situation is that whilst we feared another World War to bring us to our knees, we are facing head-on the devastation of “microbes instant of missiles” as Bill Gates prophesied in 2015. 

Inasmuch the landscape has been clouded by this novel corona virus, there are a lot of good things to come out of it too. Around the world, the balconies of Assisi and Sicily are filled with song and dance as the Italians cope with their country’s lockdown, for the first time the once polluted air of Wuhan in China has cleared up to reveal blue skies, South Africa has latched on to another topic of complaint besides “load shedding” and closer to home in Australia toilet paper has assumed a new level of importance in the form of memes and a timely distraction from the recent droughts, floods and bushfires that have saturated the psyche of our country. 

Nationally, the government’s call for clampdowns on air travel, banning of large scale public gatherings, cancellations of concerts and sports fixtures and minimising visits to public places, there is an opportunity to reconnect to family. Rather than looking at the downside of “social distancing”, embrace the precious time to interact with family. For far too long, the hustle and bustle of work and school life have hardly left us with any time to converse, to learn more about each other or to spend time harmoniously creating treasured moments through games, hobbies, crafts or cooking. Maybe there will be such an overload of time that we may indeed get tired of our devices and spend more time with family like in the good old days when life was so simple. Most importantly, there is nothing like a nasty virus to reinforce practices of good hygiene in the home. 

Within our community the so-called enemy virus has set in motion changes that we hope will continue long after this dreaded disease has died down. Concerned citizens in Facebook groups are offering help to the elderly to assist them with their shopping, generous people are sharing their consumables even though they don’t have too many rolls, bottles or tubes themselves, people in the know like health professionals, technology experts and education professionals are putting out important information for families to cope with this new plague and religious organisations like temples, churches and mosques are stretching out their hands to help those that are most vulnerable to the virus. The most wonderful thing though is getting to know our neighbours in a more open and sincere way when hitherto we just nodded or waved in greeting. 

In our industrialised society, factories are closing down and decreasing the rate of carbon emissions, the roads are getting quieter and the air cleaner with travel kept to a bare minimum, new practices are being implemented at workplaces where the idea of working from home is proving to be more convenient, restaurants and takeaways may be losing business but the joys of good, wholesome home cooking has been resurrected, the economy is slowing down and will inevitably push some businesses to bankruptcy but with this a whole new window of opportunity is opened up with enterprising entrepreneurship and creative cottage industries. 

As individuals, this uninvited disruption to our daily lives has been so good to stop, listen and take time to self-reflect. It allows us to focus on the moment instead of racing ahead and paying attention to regular scheduling, work goals, must-meet deadlines and burning ambitions. By no means am I trivialising future aspirations but sometimes we seem to be so focussed with our eye on the summit that we fail to enjoy the joys the mountain roads avail us like the breath-taking vistas, the beautiful wild flowers or the clean, fresh mountain air. 

As unwelcome as the virus is, it reminds one that even in death, there can be the rebirth of love: to love your family by starting new conversations that will improve connections, respect and gratitude to your parents, long lost or ignored relatives and siblings who are often taken for granted, to love your community by offering help and much-needed support, to love your friends by looking out for them and using the time to nurture authentic relationships, to acknowledge the mighty presence of god and the enormous power of nature but above all to love yourself. 

Take time to open the windows of your soul to pamper, preen and pimp yourself in mind, body and soul so you emerge from this whole debilitating catastrophe with renewed vigour and vitality. 

Didn’t German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche eloquently stated: “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger”? I know full well that Kelly Clarkson’s lyric was inspired when her boyfriend at the time ditched her for another girl but with the new terminology like “social distancing”, “self isolation” and “flattening the curve”, this song could very well be the theme song for the corona virus so let’s end this post on a happy note and sing along if you know the tune:

You think you got the best of me

Think you had the last laugh

Bet you think that everything good is gone

Think you left me broken down

Think that I'd come running back

Baby you don't know me, 

'cause you're dead wrong

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Stand a little taller

Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone

What doesn't kill you makes a fighter

Footsteps even lighter

Doesn't mean I'm over 'cause you're gone

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger

Just me, myself and I

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Stand a little taller

Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone

So while our guest, the corona virus, is here, no handshakes, high fives or fist pumps, do it in the age-old tradition of the Indians: bringing the open palms together and saying Namasthe (meaning “I bow to you”). 

Namasthe, Folks!