I think that this transition process will be difficult. Sometimes I doubt myself and think that I haven’t made the right subject choices as I might not do that well in them. But I think that as a grade level, we have an advantage for this transition to IB. Our teachers are spending lots of time in online school, getting us prepared for G11 and it’s possible outcomes. This has been very beneficial it makes me feel that I have made the right choices for IB.

personal statement

I’ve experienced many things, but none of them were as crazy as this year has been. G10 was supposed to be the year that ‘mattered’ and the year where we would really start to focus. Instead, our exams were cancelled and school closed because of the Coronavirus. This virus has not only impacted my life, but it has impacted billions of lives all over the globe. I think I can safely say that everyone has lost something because of this virus.

At first it was hard to understand what had happened. I didn’t really understand when they said that our IGCSE exams had gotten cancelled. I didn’t know whether to be happy or upset about it. Of course exams being cancelled was a huge relief because I didn’t have that extra stress to do well and to study hard. However, I also couldn’t help but to feel a bit disappointed as my opportunity to prove myself and what I’ve learnt for these 2 years during this course was gone.

Since that email, everything has gone past in a blur. Online school has almost become a habit for me. Personally, I am not really enjoying online school as I feel that I spend too much time staring at the laptop, which hurts my eyes. But apart from that, we are doing more projects that are helping us to get ready for G11. We would have never been this prepared if we did our exams. In subjects such as science, maths and geo, we are doing reports that are quite interesting and to some extent we can choose what we want to do. This makes these subjects more interesting to learn, but I find going to school much better than online school.

I was quite disappointed when I heard we weren’t going to be able to go back to school again. I was really looking forward to seeing my friends again. Although I’m disappointed, I understand why G10s aren’t going back, as our course is over.

These few months have been nothing but hectic. Although it is quite hectic, I feel like I have been reliving the same day over and over again. Feeling this kind of boredom has taught me to be inventive and taught me ways to make my day better. I have started learning new things that I never had time for before, such as yoga. I have also started to spend lots more time with my family and we all feel much closer than we ever have before. Quarantine has made me feel much more grateful and even though I have learnt many valuable lessons from it, I can’t wait for it to end!

Thank you,

Anya Prasad

What has lockdown taught me about money?

I’ve been saving money since I was 7 years old. When I would get a bit of pocket money I would save it instead of spending it on candy or a treat. Saving money and not spending it unnecessarily was important to me from a young age and is something my family and I have always valued. Seeing the economic crisis that is going on now because of COVID-19 devastates me. I feel very lucky that my family and I are fortunate. Millions have lost their jobs and don’t have money for resources such as food and water, let alone medication. I’ve learnt to appreciate what I have and also to not take anything for granted.

Can breaking OUR DAILY habits be good for planet earth?

Personally, I think that breaking our daily and staying at home everyday is great for the environment. In a way, it has given our planet time to ‘rest’. Everyday humans continue to exploit our planet, exhausting it of its resources that we use in our everyday lives. Since we aren’t travelling as much as we were before, air pollution levels have dropped drastically. Habitats started to heal just weeks into lockdown and all we have been doing is staying at home. This shows the severity of the impacts we have on our environment by just doing things we consider basic routines.

what has lockdown taught me about the environment?

Lockdown has made me realise how fragile our environment is. It gets exhausted from our daily actions and it never gets a break. Now that it has a break, it is restoring and healing itself. Lockdown has taught me to really appreciate the environment and nature because it is so valuable. Once it’s destroyed it’s almost impossible to get it back. After this lockdown I am never going to take nature and going out for granted again.