The view from my window is what I see every minute of the day | Muhammad Nowshervan Qureshi | Unbiased Narrative 1.5
Not so dear COVID-19,
The view from my window is what I see every minute of the day. My work desk is in front of a window. Everything good in life is so close but I feel that I am in a cage and these good things are not accessible. I miss fresh air.
I was aware of what a pandemic is as I studied Health Sciences in my Graduation. We used to discuss SARS and Ebola. I heard about it but personally never knew or felt how it was until now. Now, we have new terminology, Syndemic as COVID-19 is accompanied by drug crisis and housing crisis. Its effect has become bigger and vast.
When I think about March’2020, I remember that my mother was freaking out and she wanted me to come back home. My family lives in Burlington, Ontario. I immediately spoke to my professor and she agreed. Within the next two days, I booked a flight from Vancouver to Ontario. Ontario was shut down the day after I landed there. I started to see the changes; there was no shaking of hands, there was isolation and social distancing. That time it didn’t really sink in. After three months at home, it seemed that the situation was getting better and British Columbia was doing fantastic comparatively. Some of the projects I was involved in were picking up. So, I came back to Vancouver. It is better to be on the ground and it is easier too. I always have this mindset that as soon as someone needs anything or any work needs to be done, I should be there to get the tasks done really quickly. Also, I was afraid that if I didn’t come back, my graduation would push back. My parents understood my thoughts. But, they were scared too. They kept on thinking about how I would manage alone, will I be careful enough, will I be traveling in buses. But they did not put me through any of this pressure. They simply said, “We trust you, just be careful”. My sisters narrated these background discussions to me later after I was back in Vancouver. My dad has always had our education as a priority. Everything works around that.
It was a good decision to come back. I was involved in a project with the Seniors Housing Innovation Lab. Although it started pre-pandemic, the last leg went through 2020 and the last conference happened in Oct’2020. It was a big and memorable moment for me. Not only did I get to meet various people (some of them were the frontline workers as well), I could listen to their stories. They told us what they were going through and it was my face-to-face with reality. It was not just about their struggles but also about how the community came together to help each other. These people motivated me to keep going. I realized that people are putting in 1000 times more effort than me, so I cannot sit down or feel low. They helped me re-focus.
Things were a little unfavorable for me personally. But I call them hiccups compared to what these people had to go through. I had to shift my thesis to a capstone project. Because of the pandemic, it was not possible to collect data from the older adults and the individuals experiencing homelessness. I was working on this research for some time and had become attached to it. If I had waited, I wouldn’t have been able to complete my thesis on time. Changing it was a small bump on my path. My professor took me through this change step by step. She guided me and also involved me in many paid research projects. She constantly checked on my mental health not just as a student doing projects, but also as an individual. I couldn’t have been luckier and I am thankful to her. I am truly blessed to have strong support from my family. They are my backbone and to add, I am blessed to have really good friends, especially my roommate.
I think being busy is helping me navigate this long pandemic. I have always been working on 2 different projects. I am involved in multiple research projects, classes, and my capstone project. I try to cook at home. I kept zero ideal time to think about what is happening since 2020. In fact, my mom has been complaining that I don’t text or talk to her every day. Not having to constantly worry about where my next paycheck is going to come from and the fact that I can work from home is my privilege. One day when we are over this period, I want to go back to my family. And, I want to close my eyes, shut everything down and simply relax in a swimming pool.
(Muhammad is doing his Master’s in the field of Gerontology from Simon Fraser University. He moved to Vancouver in 2018 for his studies. A few years back while he was doing his Bachelor’s from the University of Ottawa, he had volunteered for a seniors care program. He reflects on that period as the time when he realized that the older adults give a lot more back to society than we think. He learned and gained a lot from this volunteer experience. Ever since then he has been involved in the study of Gerontology).
