Hello 2020. Assalamualaikum, I hope this finds you (who is reading this) well. 

So far, flying cars still has not been seen yet but we do have a virus out there going around in the air, unseen by our naked eyes hahaha. Can't believe a pandemic occurred and my blog is still dry hahaha. 

Covid-19 outbreak was really something and is still something! As of now, the cases are increasing and it freaks me out a little. This week, a lot of the malls here in KL/Klang valley have positive covid cases, one is actually in my area. Dang so close but lets just hope for the best okay? Stay home whenever you can & take safety precautions!

I haven't been writing because during the MCO, I had online classes to attend and a pile of assignments and tests to be done. It was so stressful. The amount of work I had was insane I tell you. 

Luckily I wasn't stuck in campus during March & April because the day before MCO (17/3), my mom was in Terengganu working and as the prime minister announced the MCO, she told me to pack my things and had me hopped on the bus to Terengganu from Kelantan so she can take me back home hahaha. So I was home from 18/3 until now 30/9 and will be going back on 10/10. Hahaha I kinda have mixed feelings about going back to campus. Dah lah I have to pay an expensive amount for my room later on because I tak dapat bilik at first and had to buat rayuan and "kind" USM gave me DM6 (air conditioned room) which will cost me my kidney. Ugh. Terus takde mood nak balik hahaha because duit tu I nak guna untuk benda lain ish geram betul.

Enough about that, lets talk about online learning!!! How did it affect your mental health? I bet it was really stressful right? I'm sure it was worse for working adults that had reduction in their salary, some even lose their job. I feel so sorry for them especially if they are the breadwinner. I mean, they have a family to feed and bills to pay. May Allah makes it easy for them.

For me, I did enjoyed online learning but not the work load!!! For god sake, I had quizzes every other day, test each week and assignments on most of the days. Barely had room to breathe. Almost gave up. And I had to went through all that from the end on March until the end of July. Wow, can't believe I survived. A miracle. If you saw my list of work to do or test & quizzes, yall would have fainted. The list was never ending. It filled up 3/4 of my desktop page. MasyaAllah. 

The part which I enjoyed was not having to get ready and walk to class hahaha. I just get up, take my shower, have some breakfast and sit in front of my laptop. If anyone ever say "Ala, duduk depan laptop je, bukan penat pun nak compare dengan jalan pergi kelas". Well, excuse me sir, have you stared at your laptop, 20 hours per day for 4 months? Sebabnya apa tau, memang online class tu sekejap je like half day but you don't get to move away from your laptop after the class ended because you have tons of things to be submitted. Not even on weekends!!!!! My laptop sampai battery pun rosak geng hahaha and now I even have astigmatism which I don't have before even though I dah rabun from high school.

A lot of people had an enjoyable Ramadhan but mine in the first half was not that great because of me myself. I haven't gotten used to it the first time, so I macam lack of energy gila. I sleep very late, I don't sleep after sahur and some of my classes were early. And then kekok sikit cause I usually eat before or during the class because I woke up early and tends to feel sleepy at 10 AM and above, tapi ni tak boleh makan so struggle sikit kat situ. Then after class I tahan mata and buat kerja or notes if ada quiz. But I always kecundang at 5 PM macam tu because tak tahan sangat. So awal-awal tu I rarely helped my mom prepare for iftar so I kinda feel bad about it. Sometimes nak bangun bila dah nak maghrib tu pun tak larat Ya Allah mengantuk sangat. Bila teruk sangat macam tu, it just doesnt feel right so I sleep betul-betul that one weekend and start off new, tukar schedule so I don't sleep in the evening. But overall, Ramadhan was awesome, I get to have iftar at home with the whole family because usually during Ramadhan time, we students will be at the campus right? Yeah alhamdulillah for that.

Online learning (the lecture part) isn't the best but it's bearable. Personally, I liked it better. But I know some people learn better face to face and can't really keep up with it online. It's fine, different people different ways. I liked it because some of the lectures which was pre recorded, I can listen to it when I'm ready and I can pause it whenever I'm out of focus and repeat the part which I may have overlooked. And because we had quizzes for each topic, I did most of my notes too. Normally bila ada test baru lah terhegeh nak buat kan? hahahah. Because if I'm in USM, i don't have all the time in the world to study. Sometimes I'm tired sometimes I have too much fun hahaha and petang-petang kan main la apa la. At home, I am the farahanis that doesn't know the word exercise. Plus I tak boleh nak pergi jumpa kawan pun, maklum lah MCO. So I have the time lah to do my notes. Cumanya penat tak terkata nak cover semua topic semua subject pulak tu, terkejar-kejar jugak.

One thing that I am grateful for is that my parents were really understanding this time around. They don't budge me or ask me to do this and that. I guess they saw their daughter almost going crazy in front of her laptop. I swear there was one day where I looked like a madman, I have papers all over the floor and my dad came into my room, saw me like that and had to ask me if I was okay. That's how bad it was people. Unfortunately, some of my friends or students that I saw on twitter or any other social media that had parents saying things to them like "asyik duduk depan laptop je, tak tolong pun" ha sakit sikit lah yang tu kan. Haih may Allah gives us patience.

Oh! Internet connection. Alhamdulillah thankfully I have a strong one at home tapi ada je kadang-kadang dia gila sikit. But for those yang tak ada or memang line tak okay at their house, omg I cannot imagine. Yall are warriors!!!! and may be some of the most patient people on Earth hahaha. Dengan nak tunggu document upload or download berejam lagi. Fuh, I would have flip everything knowing that I am not a very patient person (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻  I cannot stand slow internet connection. I think semua lecturers memahami and you just need to tell them but ada je lah kan yang tak, aduhai nak buat macam mana.

Btw, this online semester marks the end of my second year in Forensic Science USM. I will be in third year soon omg!!! Time flies. Feels like it was just yesterday that I was crying all week during my orientation lol.

Apparently next semester is a "blended learning" where we have both face to face and online class. Not sure on what it depends on. I do have classes and lab to attend but I also have online classes as well. My schedule is packed, nothing new in forensic lol. I swear every other courses has more free time than us. Ours are always full, morning to evening, 3 labs per week at least ever since first year. Gosh. Cheers to surviving!!! 

I must say that online learning is not very fair to all, some have it easy, some have it tough, either because of internet or learning in general. But hey let's just hope that things will get better soon, pray that there will be cures and vaccine for covid-19. 

As for now, we just have to adapt to the new normal. Please take this matter seriously. It can cost life. Till then, take care of yourself & remember to clean your hands, wear your mask and practice social distancing peeps! 

Labels: Education, MCO, ODL