The Pandemic Lockdown Enabled Me To Reinvent Myself In One Year
Plus: Why I Am Disenchanted With Research and Academia
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It has been one year since the pandemic lockdowns. It was towards the end of March 2020 that we started experiencing the gravity of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns across the world.
Everything is still in flux regarding how we work, live, learn, teach, interact, and contribute. We need to rethink work, learning, employment, organization, and education during these times. I believe we can still turn this crisis into opportunity and innovation. In this article, I will share my own example of how I did this.
During this lockdown, I have written many reflective pieces and shared them with the world. I have been busy creating a new self — more reflective, creative, imaginative, and entrepreneurial than I have ever been. You will read my story below.
2020 Was A Year Of Reinvention And Chaos
The last year has been a roller-coaster for all of us. The pandemic has been overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. We have lived through unprecedented and hard times. We have faced systemic changes in our ways of life.
In my job, this meant moving everything online, including teaching, meetings, and research. I have dreaded the lockdowns and online work at first, but I have found myself adjusting well to the situation. Online teaching turned out to be not bad at all after all. My students and I tremendously enjoyed our online sessions. We were still able to interact, provide each other morale and inspiration, and keep learning exciting things.
In fact, my teaching helped me to cope well with the pandemic and the lockdowns. I felt teaching was like an anchor that kept me sane and focused. I felt an enormous responsibility to inspire and motivate my students under the lockdown and pandemic conditions.
Online teaching turned out to be much more fun than I expected. I have created a lot of pedagogical innovations, new exercises, and reflective pieces. Teaching has…