I recently graduated from university, having gone to university way later than my peers. As an older student in an undergraduate classroom, I often felt out of place and alone. The country I graduated from being Thailand, where either youre Thai or your not. Shoutout to the friends who constantly helped me along with simple word lessons, translations and explanations. The degree was B.A. in Advertising in the faculty of Communication Arts and I’m happy to say I learnt a lot of skills in class and while working on assignments. My last semester coincided perfectly with the plague of covid-19 and I attended classes only online. I didn’t really get to say goodbye to my friends there; neither did any employer get back to me about the numerous places I applied for a job to — nobody was hiring with the malls, the restaurants, the markets and offices closed indifinitely. Thailand had been my home for a long while, and I would’ve loved the opportunity to work there since I was already settled in. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
I moved back to Bangladesh after an entire year of lockdown, and had to be super careful on the flight and at airport. It felt like something out of a virus outbreak movie, with the people furtively glancing around to only see each others masks and eyes. Both Suvarnabhumi airport and Shahjalal airport was transformed into a sea of masked men and women.
I reached home and met my parents, who were super cautious about sanitising all my luggage every few minutes and warned me to not step outside the house during lockdown times.
I lived is Isolation, alone from morning to night, mostly creating songs and reading. My parents went ahead with their work-lives and I didn’t really get a chance to talk to them before lunchtime. I spent my days, one by one, applying for jobs on Linkedin, Facebook, Bdjobs and a bunch of other places. Nothing. Nada.
I felt like there was nothing to do to bring myself out of this depressive state, at the same time noting that I hadn’t risen from my bed watching TV when I could’ve been practising calisthenics to improve my mood instead. I lolled around, watching documentaries and films, mostly TV shows. Tv binging with a bunch of KitKat bars. That became my life for almost 6 months.
I had applied to a well known newspaper in February even though there were no positions open at the time. I just sent off a friendly cover letter w/ attached CV, asking them to contact me if any opportunity arose.
I can happily declare now that they got back to me a week ago, and I had my first orientation and meet and greet at my new office today!
My mood has now shifted, I now feel purpose and I’m about to walk the treadmill for hours a day losing all the belly fat that I’ve gained. This article is for anyone who hasn’t yet found an answer to their covid time miseries. There is hope. Keep at it. Switch it up. Try virtual everything. It’s a new world order. Your time will come.
#motivation
