The covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, followed by the continuous lockdown. With the pandemic escalating, it has been difficult to cope up with the ever-moving world. Day-to-day routines have changed, with the online educational system and more importantly, the unproductive stuck minds and time. Yet the leftover time had to be managed somehow. Covid-19 brought along bigger challenges other than just the virus itself. While the situation has been, without any question, challenging, there hasn’t been any ease since then.

The pandemic just didn’t stop at isolations but also affected world economies and GDPs in general. Yet I had a different perspective towards the covid-19 episode. As much as anybody, I was too affected by the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic. And until now there is no certainty as to what the world will look like post-coronavirus yet one thing has to be certain – life won’t be the same as we knew it once was. But, the covid-19 pandemic and lockdown did not have to be a bad thing.

I saw the pandemic lockdown as a golden opportunity to improve myself. Though being at home limited the number of opportunities yet, it was the right time to learn new and different things. Schools opted for an online educational system especially the best CBSE schools in Pune. But I felt it was more of an opportunity of doing activities indoors than outdoors, and it can also be fun by achieving enhanced aptitude and skills as the best CBSE schools suggest. As we are aware, everything and anything is available on the internet opening doors to different dimensions of opportunities. Whereas, Indoor activities can be an experience in itself. In fact, a lot of new platforms have been introduced to the world to test a different set of abilities.

In order to expand my horizons of interests, I tried to find and research new and different types of skills that I can learn. The skill development domain required a detailed game plan with some ground rules to achieve my goals. Innovation was needed in the skill development area as the complete focus was on learning efficient models online which can be integral to the new and emerging realities. Being a student, I needed to refine skills that would be useful to me in my studies as well as the career ahead. I also invested time into things that were not relatable to my career choices but it was more for the fun part. But my prime focus was to reinvent, reskill, upskill, and multi-skill. To be of more help here some of the skills that I learned with my experiences related to them: –

Communication

I didn’t realize how important it was to communicate with other fellow people, be it, friends or family until the lockdown happened. But here, the zoom calls and virtual meetings that I initiated, helped me the most. Communication plays an important part not only in a successful career but also in building a trustworthy network. Communication is also interconnected to emotional intelligence which is another vital aspect of career and general life. I understand why communication may not be a skill for people yet, it is important to note that shyness can interfere in communication, making it a skill to learn as communication offers me confidence and clarity.

Intrapreneurship

This was a new concept that I came across. Intrapreneurship is basically, acting like an entrepreneur within a company or an organization. My primary reason to develop this skill was to bring along more motivation and activeness to my work. While learning the intrapreneurial skills, I understood, it was helping me to keep up and stay relevant to the market with tackling and finding new opportunities. While the pandemic has been challenging as well as restrictive, I tried to maintain focus on the future aspect and career growth skills.

New hobby

It was difficult for me to be enthusiastic a few times during lockdown, as being stuck and being creative didn’t go hand-in-hand for me. Instead of waiting around, I tried to engage in activities that I like to take on in general life. I tried cooking new recipes. I have a sweet tooth, so I tried my hand at baking. Cooking made me feel more active and helped me concentrate on my other skills. Another hobby I took on was learning a new language. To be honest, it’s confusing as to which language to opt for, but I found my way around and went with German. Learning a new language added a great deal to my resume, which will help me when I will be seeking a job opportunity.

Discipline and responsibility

At first, I would like to clear out that being disciplined is a skill in itself. Discipline demands a great deal of determination and concentration to fulfill what you are required to do. I tried a different way of discipline, instead of behaving like the
Indian Army, I tried to set my rules for daily routines. Waking up early, exercising, equal time distribution to studies and extracurricular activities, helped bring a sense of balance and responsibility into my life. I tried to take advantage of being home and overcoming the challenges of lethargic habits by doing continuous activities. Discipline and responsibility go
hand-in-hand, which in turn helps in developing management skills that can be useful for a career as well as normal life.

The PAF

PAF stands for Patience, Adaptability, and Flexibility. Lockdown has surely tested everyone’s patience and the ability to adapt to whatever may come across the way. Patience is a key aspect in terms so sustaining life, and it can only be achieved if practiced. Impatience can cost while patience can reward is what I learned. Adaptability is a concept with which humans are familiar for decades, and it exists in every single being. There is only a need to understand how to use it, and pandemic surely helped me adopt the adaptation ability. Lastly Flexibility, now why would I say flexibility is a skill? It is only because I have understood, with flexibility comes survival, which can be of utmost importance in today’s world. Flexibility can be very rewarding in terms of opportunities.

It was a task to decide upon the appropriate activities, but I must say, it has been no less than a roller coaster experience. Everything at the end lands upon how you deal with the challenges that come along with learning new skills and how you tackle them. There were other activities too, that I tried my hand on such as gardening, learning about finances, involving in creative activities, and also learned and played the harmonium. I felt more cheerful once I decided to take up new skills to learn and I would advise others to try their hands on new and exciting things as it can offer you positivity and lighten up your moods while adding value to your future goals.

Also Read: Best CBSE schools in Pune.

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