Stay Home Advice: Satveer on Reflection

Each week we bring you the voice of one of the young people we are working with at the Jack Petchey Foundation to share their thoughts, ideas and tips about how to make the most of social distancing and staying home. This week’s is from Satveer, who has been involved in our Young Enterprise Competition and connected with us via email to tell us how explore the theme of reflection and young people during the lockdown…

REFLECTION

So, here we are, amidst a pandemic, our whole life paused by an invisible enemy. It’s crazy to think a whole new decade has started with many life-changing events, the Australian bushfires, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the rise of COVID-19. These are just a few things that have shaped 2020 to be a year written for history books. But, hey, at least we can say we were part of it.

I have to admit, lockdown was quite difficult to begin with, the first two weeks felt like two years. Eventually, time flew at just the right pace, a schedule slowly started to take form (a messy schedule, but still something right?). As schools began to close and many students’ lives were changed drastically, reality kicked in that this pandemic really did affect the whole country, from young to the elderly everyone was affected in some way or another. GCSEs got cancelled, some students were over the moon, some relieved and some clearly upset.

University students having to graduate over a laptop screen, Year 10/12’s missing out on valuable education, Year 6 SATs being cancelled, prom being cancelled, the list goes on and on and on. How have you been coping with all these cancellations? How have you been staying positive when every time you turn on the TV, news of the virus bombards your thoughts, reminding you that your part of a battle?

Instead of focusing on the negatives, why don’t we think about the positives, what lockdown has allowed us to do? I personally felt that as lockdown continued, finding activities to do became easier, such as; catching up on that latest series on Netflix or baking banana bread or even, believe it or not, preparing myself for A-Levels. Being able to use this time to catch up on things that you wouldn’t have been able to do without worrying when the deadline for your homework is, or the number of presentations you have to prepare for that important meeting tomorrow morning. We have been allowed to pause and let the world breathe. It’s not so bad, this lockdown, I’ve been able to spend more time with my family and even appreciate them more, one night we’re watching a movie and the next we’re playing board games.

Honestly, there are so many different ways that you can spend your time during lockdown, for example; paint a canvas, start a business, exercise. Speaking of exercising, it really is such a helpful way to start your day, you feel great and refreshed and basically ready to take on the day. I have to admit though, sometimes I just chill, eat chocolate and watch a lot of Tiktok. I’m sure we can all relate to the fact that Tiktok has literally become an entertainment source. It’s, also, another way in which we can communicate with our friends, taking on challenges and combining each other’s clips to form an amazing video like the don’t rush challenge.
We still have a long way to go until life gets even the slightest bit normal. If you start feeling sad, listen to music on the maximum volume. If you feel lonely, facetime your friends.

If your scared, write it all down and then erase it, literally erase all the fear. Lockdown really has tested the way we operate and sometimes it makes me think 2020, a whole new decade, is a year that is allowing us to change for the better, evolve, and think about the future instead of just rushing into things. Maybe, this has all happened for a good reason.

Oh, I forgot to ask, how are you? Just really think about it. How are you?