A bat soup dilemma, a lazy 16-year old and zoom
OH MY GOD, It’s 7:05. I’m already late. I rush through my morning routine as fast as I can. I pull my rather crumpled hoodie over my night shirt to make it look like I’m wearing the school uniform. I don’t exactly plan on revealing my sunken, sleep-deprived eyes on camera, but it’s better to be safe. My teacher is kind enough to let me into the meeting even though I’m 10 minutes late. I half heartedly try to understand the chapter he is trying to teach me, while thinking about how comfortable my bed was. And why would my brain decide to spurt a doltish dream about Angelina Jolie being possessed by the spirit of Dr. Doofenshmirtz? Staying at home with no human interaction does tend to change people.
The class ends quite quickly and I think to myself “that was fast”. Unfortunately for my lazy mind, my conscience knows that I slept halfway through that lecture and that’s why it seemed fast. Mom gets me a glass of milk which I hastily drink. I rush to the bathroom to attend the only call I seem to get lately. Finally I began to grab a hold over my sense to return in time for the next class. I think I’ll finally prove to my feeble-minded soul that I can attend a class on time today, but it seems that my desktop decides to malfunction every time I try to be punctual. I beg my classmates to send the meeting ID and password, which they eventually do, but does it really matter anymore? I’m late yet again. Deciding to pay full attention in class this time I get into a mood and even turn on my camera. This class luckily goes smoothly. As soon as the class ends I decide that now is the time for breakfast. Sadly it’s not ready yet so I end up eating it during the next class because the universe seems to be conspiring against me *insert sad/crying emoji*.
Very soon the conspiracy continues because I realised that I had a test that I (being the dumb kid that I am) forgot about. Our Whatsapp group is getting all riled up. Everyone one is nervous. We all know what’s going to happen but no one talks about it (hint: it rhymes with beating 😛 ). The test goes rather morbidly. Is it just me or did we all think that more than one option was correct( I mean what is up with that) and once we were done with the test, we decided to make the mistake of discussing the paper. The funny part is all of us got different answers for the same question. After the test I pass out on my bed thinking a 10 minutes rest to my eyes should do me some good. Of course I slept for more than 20 minutes. I barely make it in time to answer my attendance. This class goes on in the same mundane way as all the others had before. As it ends I finally get time to catch up on some lost sleep (whose idea was it to keep classes at 7?).
All of us are stuck with online classes and we all miss those memories we made when we could actually go to school. We are all having a hard time managing our monotonous routines along with the exponentially rising pile of work. Everyone is having a tough time (yeah, even the arts students, okay sorry just kidding). Focusing on the positive side, not having to complete our notes (it’s not like everyone is ever up to date with notes.) and catching up on our co-curriculars are a few perks that we might not have had if we continued with in-person classes. However stress does get the better of us and managing stress is not something I can help you with because it isn’t like I’m any better. Although personally taking a walk with my Spotify playlist does provide much needed mental peace albeit interjected with the occasional sadistic thought about the lady announcing ads. All any of us can do is hope for the best and contemplate what to do when we finally meet that Chinese woman who was hungry enough to eat bat-soup.
– Prakhar Verma