Covid-19 Is Here To Stay But So Are Your Bright Career Prospects—Hang On To Hope
Dear Friend,
Daring the dread of Covid-19 disease with multi-pronged mantra of ‘jaan bhi, jahaan bhi’ (life as well as livelihood), India has finally started unlocking substantially, more so from June 8, 2020. However, the storm is yet to pass. Danger of coronavirus is still lurking out there. Humanity, including in India, continues to be under siege of Covid-19 fear and fatalities. As you walk out of the lockdown, you are a different person than when you walked in.
India and the world have woken up to a stark reality that Covid-19 is here to stay, and that we have to learn to live with it as well as with the new normal unleashed by it. A new normal where prevention is the ultimate panacea—involving face masks, social distancing, personal hygiene, staying indoors, increasing immunity, sanitising our hands and environs, and being extra-cautious about our health. The foremost thing to remember is that we have to fight more than fear Covid-19. Note that the Covid-19 recovery rate in India is more than the incidence of new cases.
However, the unlocking should not make you lower your guard, both in respect of your health and career goals. Green shoots of economy are visible. Our economic activity is rebooting, and so are your life and career prospects. Disruption is giving way to reconstruction albeit with a difference. Things which had fallen apart, are falling back in place. Almost all the rescheduled competitive exams are round the corner. This is the time you have been waiting and preparing for. These are the times which can make or break you. Choice is yours. Remember, hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.
You are not alone to be facing these turbulent times of catastrophe. According to latest UNESCO report, the pandemic has impacted more than 157 crore students across 191 countries, including 32 crore in India. It has also impacted the decision of more than 48% of Indian students who aspired to study abroad, says a report by the QS-ERA. The report titled ‘Indian Students’ Mobility Report 2020: Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education Choices,’ says that “while there is likely to be a demand for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) based professionals, it might not be the same for non-STEM courses”.
Further, the pandemic has transformed the centuries-old chalk-talk teaching model to the one driven by technology. This disruption in the delivery of education is pushing policymakers to figure out how to drive engagement at scale while ensuring inclusive e-learning solutions and tackling the digital divide. The educators are changing their way of teaching, so you too have to change your ways of learning. These testing times offer you a chance to reinvent yourself.
Hang on to hope. Nothing lasts forever and nor will this disruption. So, believe in yourself and your future. He who believes is strong and he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions. Don’t take your eyes off your goal. Stay focussed and fastidious. Some amount of stress and anxiety in these times is but natural for you. In fact, the good kind of stress actually helps you to become more alert and able to finish tasks. But continually being exposed to stress, coupled with negative thoughts, can shut down your immune system. The key is having positive attitude, staying grounded and determined, and shedding any extra ambivalence, worries or anxiety.
Train yourself not to worry too much as worry never fixes anything. When in distress, smile and remain steadfast. Learning how to remain resilient and how to stop over-thinking are essential habits that can help combat stress. In such times, take recourse to good humour, meditation, yoga and exercise, the combined effect of which acts like a tonic for mind and body. These are the best antidotes for anxiety and depression.
Stay calm and composed as you finally prepare for or take the exams. The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. Instead of being pushed by your problems, be led by your dreams. Benjamin Disraeli had rightly said that “There is no education like adversity”. The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had aptly said that “You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”
As you prepare to take the final plunge, the Competition Success Review (CSR) is there as a stepping stone of success for you. In these trying times, we at CSR remain committed to you irrespective of whichever side of the digital divide you are in. Internet may be the in-thing today, but it is fraught with the problem of plenty and authenticity. This is where the CSR comes to your rescue by providing most apt, authentic and analysed information, best suited to your needs. Come on and make the best use of it. Read, lead, succeed!
Yours sincerely,
(Surendra Kumar Sachdeva)