By Aadit, 18, Nairobi, Kenya
Fortnite, Warzone and Netflix. I could spend hours and hours on these, but after constant nagging from my mum and having run out of shows to watch on Netflix, I decided that I should make use of all this free time I have due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, over the last few weeks I have found an interest in coding and how languages such as Python integrate with businesses and I am also taking part in an online course by Harvard called “Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies” which is extremely relatable as I live in Kenya. Although coronavirus has caused so much damage around the world, the lockdowns and quarantines have brought out a few positives for me, such as these courses I am doing- things that I wouldn’t have tried otherwise.
The fact that schools closed so abruptly, and exams were cancelled, this meant that I had to rush back home on the next available flight. Not being able to celebrate the end of an amazing 5 years in boarding school with all our school traditions or go on an exciting trip to Croatia over summer with my school friends, was pretty devastating to hear. All this uncertainty got me worried for my future. What would happen to my university applications? How could I graduate school without A-level grades? Will we be able to go back to school? Thankfully most of these questions have been answered in some form but that doesn’t change the fact that this pandemic could have drastic effects on our future in terms of our careers and social life.
As Gen Z, our generation will only learn from this pandemic and in a way it’s a good thing. We’re all hoping that this pandemic blows over as soon as possible but the biggest issue is about what will happen after. The world economy has suffered and will continue suffering from this pandemic with crazy things happening such as oil prices dropping below zero in America. Being part of Gen Z could possibly mean that we are the generation that will have to bring world economies back to normal and that is scary.
Finally, as much as Houseparty and Zoom are helping me stay in touch with my friends, the idea of being suck at home is very frustrating but by staying home at least I know this will only make the situation better. Hopefully my friends and I will still be able to have that crazy summer we were looking forward to before coronavirus!