By Resse Berret- 8M-2020

When COVID-19  struck, it did very hard! The effects of this virus are bare across the world. However, one sector that was highly affected was and still remains is the education sector. Students across the world were told to remain at home indefinitely as schools and learning centres remained under key and lock in almost every nation. After months of trying to manage the pandemic and with hopes of getting the right vaccine beckoning every day, governments have put in place mechanisms to help have a resumption in learning. With these new mechanisms, the group that is currently pondering of its next move is that of us-the students.

Carrying the title ‘student’ is considered as a burden on us. It is something heavy and unwanted. The school on the other hand is a place where parents spend their money on their children. This is the place where some children seen as delinquents are taken care of. Waking up early every morning serves as constant pain in the neck that never seems to cease. The hormonal nightmare of being a student can be heightened by issues relating to our welfare in school, which many factors contribute to. As we resume learning during and after this pandemic, remember to be keen on these factors to make the school environment conducive for your learning experience.

Academic performance. This is likely to have an impact on our self-esteem. We have to acknowledge the fact that it isn’t in everyone. God created us differently and accepting our flaws and weaknesses will make a difference. If this is not handled sensitively, it could have a lasting detrimental effect on our relationship with our studies.

Academic pressure, workload and exam stress: Exam stress can get to even the most studious and confident of classmates. There’s a lot of pressure on us as our parents and teachers expect us to get the top marks because they will give us a boost to achieve our dreams. We’ll often also be taking part-time work and extra-curricular activities not to mention trying to maintain a social life. It’s a lot to juggle. Unfortunately, there isn’t an awful lot our parents and teachers can do, other than being a supportive presence in the background.

Relationships: Relationships are part of our lives. Some of them may be healthy with others being otherwise. With these relationships, we get to witness the good in the lives of people we love, but we also have to navigate the difficult-like hurt, betrayal and frustration. The normal way people respond when these things happen is to withhold forgiveness, seek revenge and show no mercy.

When someone does something that hurts or offends us, we often take it as a personal attack. We assume they are meant, to hurt us, and at times people do but for the most part, we’re just imperfect people trying to be perfect. In addition to how people treat us, we need to examine how we handle relationships in our end. When it comes to relationships, let’s look at the contrasting ideas we find in what’s accepted as normal and what could be better than normal. Let’s choose to be better than normal in how we love and live with the people around us.

The Apostle Paul shares very specific instructions in Romans 12:9-18 about how we should operate with others. He says

We’re called to love each other as brothers and sisters, honour one another beyond what we’d give ourselves, share with others who are in need and possibly the hardest part not repay with evil when someone wounds us.

By doing this, we are making the school environment amiable to all and sundry. We must therefore remain true to our goals in school as we shape our future.