Post Pandemic: What Realities Await Us At School?

A sneak peek into the future!

Before the Lockdown

When Tobi heard that, the state government had ordered all students to return home because of the Covid pandemic, he couldn’t believe his ears. At first, he tried to dispel it as a rumour that would not hold ground; but then that night, as he received that frantic call from his mother requesting he take the first bus home the next morning—he knew it was not a joke.

Grumbling while packing his bags, he could not even say good-bye to his friends the next morning— it was a Sunday, and they had all gone to church. Feeling disappointed, yet happy to go home after such a hectic first half of the semester, Tobi unpacked his bags and settled into what was going to be a long, long break.

During the Lockdown

At the beginning of the break, Tobi was ecstatic. He was a well-known introvert in his neighbourhood—rarely going out unless to purchase something, or occasionally take a brief walk. He spent his time indoors, playing whatever games he could lay his hands on, seeing movies on Netflix, and chatting. Apart from the expected change in his mum (she requested that he wash his hands every four hours, on the hour, and was strict with it), everything seemed to be going well. Life was good!

Nevertheless, life has its own complications.                                                                                           

Even though the fellowship he attended in school organized meeting days at least twice a week, he found out that he gradually began to lose interest in them. It started from the days he exhausted his data surfing through the Gram and could not join in; down to the times he convinced himself he was doing “important” stuff, and had no choice but to miss them. He didn’t know that fellowship with the brethren was as important as the secret place.

Tobi soon discovered that his relationship with God was not as strong as he would have wanted it to be. He began to see his daily prayers—which were not very consistent beforehand—as tiresome and unproductive. Even his study of the Word was suffering; he started to lose clarity and couldn’t comprehend simple, basic truths. He didn’t realise that the discipline of faith helps in fulfilling purpose and communication with God.

Tobi began to wonder why various webinars were springing up as fast as you could say “Jack”. From graphics design to freelancing, various classes were beginning to spring up—each one of them claiming the same thing: Let us help you make money at the comfort of your home! For whatever reason, he seemed to think the number of “get-rich-quick” frauds had increased due to the pandemic—he never joined any.

 The people on his chat list didn’t seem left behind as well: on a daily basis, his folks were either posting links to their write-up or investing in one crypto-scheme or the other. He never really knew the value of curiosity and the power in asking questions.

As the days passed, and his level of boredom increased, his level of sleeping and eating shot up. He rarely slept less than ten hours per day, and seemed to be hungry every 30 minutes. He immersed himself as well in seeing movies and found pleasure in surfing social media and being at the top of every current trend on Twitter. Even so, he found out that he couldn’t keep up his relationships with friends again; he reasoned that since everyone was so far apart, no one would probably notice if he couldn’t call or text as often anymore. He never valued the importance friends—and mentors—have, in encouraging and supporting each other.

After the Lockdown

Because of space, I’ll leave us to imagine how Tobi’s life would look when he returns to school:certainly not good.

I could go on and on and on in describing what various aspects of our lives may look now; but the reality is that the future we so desperately await starts now. We may succeed in convincing ourselves that the carelessness and indiscipline we allow to slip in don’t really matter—but they do. You don’t have forever to do whatever you want. Be aware of the season in which you are, and make up your mind to make that change you desperately want to see in your life!