Dealing with changes brought on by COVID-19 in 2021
It’s a brand new year! We should celebrate and count our blessings; last year was tough but we managed to make it through and we should be proud of that.
However, the pandemic is still at large, and the instability of last year is likely to be a continued theme this year, at least for the first few months. But don’t worry, things are looking up this year, with vaccines being approved the end is in sight! We still need to be careful and follow guidelines in order to protect lives as vaccines will take time to be effective, and this will result in continued restrictions for the short foreseeable future. There are some things you can do to make this time easier on yourself and people you care about, which is what we will be discussing in today’s blog post.
One of the main things we will have to keep doing is being adaptable and flexible to the ever-changing situation. It’s not easy, especially when you want to make plans for something like meeting up with your friends, and then suddenly being told you’re going to be put into a lockdown, but we’ve got to be ready for anything this year. We are living in novel times, and being able to adapt is an important part of overcoming difficulties
We’ve also got to try and make the most of the opportunities we get this year - however they come. With universities mainly being online, offices closed and possibly having to isolate at any time, it's looking unlikely that there will be things to do in the “normal” way. But if a work experience opportunity comes up, or you find a lecture related to your current subjects or the course that you want to do at uni online, or you find yourself in contact with someone who has experience in doing what you want to do, don't pass this up. You could gain some invaluable insight that you didn’t know you needed - and doing things that you can talk about on your resonance statement or other applications will show to other people that you’re a go-getter, even in the middle of a pandemic.
Most importantly, we should try and stay as positive as possible. Times are hard and we’re probably all missing pre-COVID life - I know I definitely am! But hopefully it won’t be too long now before we can go back to our normal lives. In the meantime, staying positive will help us keep well physically and mentally and will hopefully give us a better outlook on the situation. Think of how to make the most of being at home/having everything closed down - things like facetime, exploring your creative side and just doing things you wouldn’t normally have time to do if you were going out and about everywhere can all help make things seem a lot less gloomy.
Make sure you check on your friends and family around this time! The holiday period has been difficult with not being able to see family, and a large part of the UK being in Tier 4 lockdown with severe restrictions. This is difficult for everyone, so make sure to check in on people - the only way we will be able to get through this is together.
I hope this has helped and given you an idea on how to approach 2021 and the coronavirus. Wishing you all the best!