It’s Friday morning but it could be any other day for all I know because everything looks the same. I just graduated a few months ago and I was one of the lucky few who managed to get a job before the global health pandemic that now plagues the world. Coronavirus (COVID-19) has thrown us all into uncertainty. But weren’t we always uncertain anyway?
My job here at 925Egypt requires me to write articles and follow the news – which luckily for me, keeps me exposed to everything all the time. From speaking to experts in the field of HR and management on what companies need to be doing and from researching ways to make working from home easier, it’s good to hear what people have to say.
One thing I haven’t actually done is hear what the recent graduates, university seniors and 20 year olds have to say about this. I can’t speak for everyone but being a 20 year old, I am in between the work world and the post grad/ university world.
The Confusing Stage
Let’s get something straightened out here: the early 20s are confusing with or without a pandemic. Looking around at a pool of recent graduates, it seems as though no one has anything figured out. Some take it as a joke and laugh about it with their friends. Some are pressured by their families into accepting corporate jobs. Some are getting married. Some are refusing to accept that university life is over and so they continue to study for a masters degree. Some are ‘taking a break’ and ‘traveling the world’. But all of that has taken a pause when COVID-19 hit. Now, we are just on hold, uncertain and confused all at the same time.
It seems a little inappropriate to write this as I am well aware that there are people around the world dying because hospitals are lacking in necessary equipment for the treatment of the virus. But because my close group of friends have either just graduated with me or are about to graduate, the constant and continuous conversation of ‘what are we going to do now?’is everywhere around me.
The Current, Unfortunate Stage
I login to Facebook and find students complaining that they aren’t learning anything from their online classes, I go to WhatsApp and find how my friends are angry at life because they are unable to find a job, I check Instagram stories and find the 20 something year olds turning the entire situation into a joke. And then there are the overachievers who haven’t even graduated and are worried about graduating into the present state of the world.
Just as every business owner in every profession is worried, the 20 something year olds are worried too. But I think we all need to accept that there is nothing to do right now except wait and be patient. The post-coronavirus world will happen eventually and the only reason there is uncertainty is because nobody knows when that moment will come.
Making Use of Right Now
But to those in the early 20s, who don’t really have that many life determining responsibilities at the moment, now is a good time to pause, reflect and figure out what you want to do. Life is literally asking you to take a moment and evaluate your priorities.
It is the time to be making lists of goals you want to achieve, researching jobs you want to work in or companies you’d like to intern at it. It is also time to take a few online classes of things that insert you and read books you’ve always wanted to read but never had the time,
According to an article published in The Guardian titled “Young People Are Having To Take Career Decisions Too Early,” we take major career decisions as early as 16 in high school. This is not even about spending our university years trying to piece things together. As young as 16, we often have to choose between Arts and Sciences.
By now, you’ve probably already made those decisions. But right now, you’re being given time to sort your head. The last few years have been a race: making it through classes, balancing your hobbies, figuring out your career path and the list goes on. For the first time, you can actually sit down, breathe and think. Make use of the free time.
