Living & Learning Through A Pandemic
Story appeared in the 2020 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.
BY HAYLEY PICARD, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING
HYEONGMIN (DAVID) KIM (’22)
School days are happy times in young people’s lives and feed good memories to be enjoyed throughout our future. Recently, COVID-19 has changed our school lives considerably, but it remains a positive experience. This spring we have faced some new challenges. We stopped going to school and replaced it with online classes and it has also been a long time since we’ve seen our friends and teachers. However, not everything has been bad. I learned some valuable things during this hardship.
I didn’t realize before that school and friends are so indispensable. It has been quite difficult for me as I miss everyone! Now that everyone is gone, I realize how much I truly cherish their presence. I’ve seen too many empty seats of friends and teachers in the last while! I realize their importance to me. Before this experience, I took for granted the time studying at school with friends, but this pandemic has made me realize how happy and blessed it is to be able to study with classmates and instructors.
Let me tell you a little bit about what I did during the quarantine. I love playing the piano! I have been playing for a few months and I am at an intermediate level. I practised the piano every day for 1 hour. It tends to restore my mind. I usually practice Classical songs or New Age songs. During this pandemic period, the piano gave me a lot of comfort. I also participated as Iran in QueenMUN held virtually at QMS. I couldn’t meet with others and discuss, of course, but I felt connected with everyone as I discussed and exchanged opinions online. Furthermore, I’ve recently become interested in learning more languages. So, I’ve started to learn French on my own. Learning new languages is exciting and very interesting to me.
“Why is attending school so important to us? I think it is because of the sense of community, a vital component and major motivation of life. I think school is not just a place to study, but a place where we all create relationships with friends and teachers. When I go back to school after this COVID-19 situation, I will reflect on the importance of school and friends once again and enjoy a happy life with increased gratitude. The QMS community is healthy and strong! Let’s all remember each other’s contributions and endure this time of social distancing well. We often discover what we value the most during difficult times.”
KATIA BANNISTER (’21)
The COVID-19 pandemic has created many changes in my life these past few months. Online schooling has had its ups and downs, but the highlights of my distance learning have revolved around the ways I’ve been able to incorporate my extracurricular community organizing activities into my Environmental Science class.
I am the leader of the Cowichan Valley Earth Guardians crew. We are a group of socially and environmentally aware youth who engage with our community to educate about and work on social and environmental issues. The pandemic has disallowed organizing community events and meeting with community members in traditional ways, consequently it has tested our creativity and resiliency as youth activists.
One way my group has continued to raise awareness about climate change is by participating in the Fridays for Future digital strike. Each Friday we take pictures of ourselves holding signs that promote climate and environmental action. I have also been taking advantage of my time at home to do more land based learning, such as foraging and sharing my endeavours on social media. Another way I personally continue to raise awareness about environmental issues is through my blog. Recently, I have written about how COVID-19 is affecting climate action, a resurgence of victory gardens and concern about food security during the pandemic and the need for a green recovery from COVID-19. To learn more about the Fridays for Future digital strike and other initiatives I am involved in, visit my blog Sowing Seeds of Change. Education about the implications the pandemic carries involving environmental protection is essential to ensuring that the pandemic does not cause long lasting harm to our capacity to protect ecological communities.
While COVID-19 has been cancelling in-person events, many events have been moved online. Both my organizing group and I have taken advantage of these online opportunities through participation and presentation. The pandemic has made extracurricular education opportunities more accessible. Webinars are now occurring daily and organizations are going the extra mile to make sure they continue to offer educational opportunities despite COVID-19. I recently presented on the subjects of youth in the climate crisis and intergenerational collaboration for the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria.
“Continuing to make sure environmental and climate issues stay in the spotlight despite the pandemic is critical. As it has for decades, the time for climate action remains now.”