No one could have predicted all that has happened in the last year. No one could’ve known that the discovery of a new type of virus, initially thought to cause flu like symptoms to people, would change the world so drastically. Now in 2021, a little over a year since the appearance of the Corona Virus, the world has no choice but adapt. But in the process and as a result of this adaptation, there were further unseen circumstances that impacted the students across the world.

Students are no strangers to stress; from being unprepared for a test to dreading the results after. But in the new normal, there are new factors of stress that can affect a student’s mental equilibrium. Most students now are forced to continue their studies from home, though most universities and schools are slowly opening back up, however the former situation causes circumstances that previously students wouldn’t have had to deal with. For example, having family around is not often a conducive learning environment; having siblings hanging around as they are trying to study, or parents that tell them to do chores while they’re in the middle of class. This puts more pressure on these students as they are forced to balance these new situations on top of their academic responsibilities. Excessive stress over a prolong amount of time can be damaging to an individual, leading students to feel like they have trouble coping or worse yet causing depression.

On top of this, some students might also face a problem in staying organised. Previously, classes/schooling having rigid time tables may have been a cause for duress, but the sudden almost complete absence of this structure, have cause most students to lapse into a state of disorganization. Students may have trouble waking up in time for classes, or have problems in completing their assignments on time. Some may look at this and blame self-discipline, but these students have been so accustomed to the existence of this timetable that they are simply having difficulties in managing without it. In a college campus, students would know and feel responsible to be up by a certain time, and be in class by the certain time, they’d feel they have to complete their work by soand-so time. This can be attributed to a positive influence of peer-pressure, students see other students being productive and they want to be productive as well. This feeling however, is quite lacking in an ODL hence often this method becomes detrimental for students.

Lastly, a lot of things in this new normal are unknown. Eg. no one knows how long this pandemic is going to last, even though there is now a vaccine for the Corona Virus, how does anyone know whether it might re-emerge or not in some years’ time? What does it mean for a student to have to live in a world with so many unknown factors? These students had most of life paved in front of them before; go to school, graduate, get a job etc. But all these things have to be approached differently now. There are things they can and can’t do, and new proper ways to do the things they used to do. Facing these unknown factors would cause anyone anxiety. Students especially, as they are often young and would soon become adults and step into the adult world. This would mean that the things they do now, the world as it is, would inherently affect them and their futures in the long run.

Students these days have to face a different world than the generations before. This is not to say that previous generations did not have troubles of their own in their time as students; but simply to say that the troubles are different. So many factors affect students now that did not affect students 10 years ago, and vice versa. The purpose of this article is simply to raise awareness to students’ plights. We are having difficulties facing certain factors, but we will face them nonetheless. And we will emerge stronger, if/when force to one day faced similar problems once more. For now, we should all be conscious that everyone is facing their own set of problems and circumstances that we might not know of. We have a responsibility in this new norm to spread empathy and kindness to and for each other.

Date of Input: 31/03/2021 | Updated: 21/02/2023 | ruzaimi