2020: The Survival.

This article has been lying in my drafts since December. I remembered it a few days ago when I had one of my insomnia episodes.

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We are almost two months into the year 2021, and even though we're all trying to pretend the previous year didn't happen by giving it all sorts of camouflages- cue panasonic, panoramic, pantomiming among the myriad of hilarious labels I came across on the internet- 2020 did happen. And it changed the universe.

From my study table, whilst I wait for my next (online) class, this was my 2020...

January- Exams and all that.

If I saved a penny for every time I whined about having exams in January since the past few years, I would be close to being a millionaire.

Dragging my wet boots through the snow when the sky had barely cleared to write an exam will never, ever be my favourite memory of January.
Once, I had something that kept me going- my flight back home. This year was another one that made me complain less because I was going home! I couldn't wait to get it over and done with. 

Typical of the dramatic year 2020, things didn't go exactly as planned, albeit in my favour. I ended up writing my exams while my nephew and sisters' voice blared in the background. Whew!

February- The gift that keeps giving.

Oh, February! How you complete me. February is that one month that I look forward to- the start of another session, which reminds me how close I am to getting this degree, the crazy two weeks holiday where, if I'm not travelling, I'm binging on shows like never before, and of course, two less days of worry. 

Going home after two years definitely helped me get back on my feet. I needed to detoxify. I wish I'd write about my trip to Lagos, but with the incidents during the final quarter of the year, I'd rather not paint Lagos the rosy colours it was in February. 

(2021) I'd forgotten how 14th February used to be a thing until I was back in Lagos this year. Colourful flyers advertising "Valentine packages", tweets about who has a significant other and who doesn't, memes about the consequences of Val nights, and everything overwhelming about a day that seemed like every other day to me. I find it interesting. From a spectator's view point. 

March- The beginning of chaos.

Corona had started its nationwide tour in China and continued within that region when I left for Lagos. March came, and it was already next door. The indefinite closure of the university would eventually last for six months. Six months without seeing the walls of a class or hospital room. My professional life would surely be interesting.

Over the course of the lockdown whilst having some erratic online classes and a heap of assignments, I debated the idea of online classes for students in the medical field. Should we, who would later be in the forefront of a health crisis- should a similar situation occur in the future- be hidden away from the chaos? Or, should we be given the opportunity to learn from this chaos in order to prepare us for the uncertain future? I still don't have a concrete answer. (You can drop your thoughts in the comment box below😉) .

April- The birth month and even more chaos.

I spent the most part of April in the kitchen. I especially tried lots of cheesecake recipes, perhaps preparing for my 23rd birthday.

I was 23 in the panoramic year, and honestly, I don't know how to feel. One certainty was that old age was creeping in like a thief in the night. True to my pessimistic nature, I see pictures of 23-year olds that are graduating from university, and starting businesses, and just running their adult life smoothly. Sometimes, it takes a head dip in water to realize that as a medic, I'll spend the most part of my life as a student, and in the end, it will always be the noblest profession.

May- More chaos.

The world doesn't seem like it will heal soon. I'm listening to more BBC podcasts, and I have had to take a break from that. The death toll keeps peaking, and daily records are being broken.

When I go to the grocery shop opposite my building to grab a bottle of milk, I spend 12 minutes out of 15, waiting on the queue outside. If this is the future, please get me on a time machine.

#BlackLivesMatter ✊🏾

June- Exams and all the disarray in between.

That I will write exams in the middle of all these is a dream I hate to have. Does it better me to write a core exam like "Surgical Diseases" online? 

Anyway, the exams started with a little touch of controversy, went "smoothly" like you'd expect an online exam to go, and ended with me feeling as if I'd missed a whole semester.

"If uni continues this way, I might as well assume that I took a gap year".

July- Less chaos?

*breathes a heavy sigh of relief* 

Cooking has been my saving grace for the last five months. A hungry stomach breeds an angry soul. Amplifying my joy in cooking, the panoramic has given me the time I need to enjoy some moments of happiness while the world is still trying to heal. 

August- We all deserve a break.

The beach, an island, the mountains. Just anywhere. I wanted to step out and breathe in a different atmosphere. I visited all except an island. Hiking up a mountain 2000m above the sea level during summer is an activity I'm sure I'll never embark on again. And that's about that.

September- A new dawn.

The last time I was this excited about going to school was before I started uni as a fresh year 1 student. Springing up from bed to hurriedly get ready for school, grabbing my backpack and stethoscope and running a sprint to the clinic, missing breakfast and having on my default tired look in classes. Yes, I miss all of that! It felt good to be back. To be a student once again. To be a medical student once again. Oh, I miss the taking the patient histories. Absence does make the heart grow fonder.

October- It is not over, yet. 

#EndSars✊🏾#EndpolicebrutalityinNigeria #Endbadgovernance.

November- Back to square zero.

And we're back at home again. Initially for two weeks. Now, till the end of the semester.
Done. Literally.

December- A depressing holiday.

While I prepare for my finals, I have decided to share with you, a teaser of the movie that was 2020, from my POV.

Despite the prolonged cloudiness of 2020, there was something that kept us going. Hope.

So, we were able to smile in the little moments of sunshine. We participated in IG and Twitter challenges, we took up online classes, new hobbies, we made new friends, we discovered new talents, and most important of all...we survived.

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While I've written most part of this piece last year, I have added little touches to fit into the current situation.

Amidst all the chaos, heroes that did not wear capes gave the world another chance at healing. 

To the doctors, nurses, laboratory scientists, hospital assistants, ambulance drivers, grocery store workers, deliveryman, and every essential worker that has been on the frontline of this health crisis, alive or not, YOU ARE OUR HEROES! This generation will not easily forget your sacrifice.❤

Vaccines have reached the consumer level. Nevertheless, mask up and stay safe :)

Till a next time when I don't feel like being lazy...Bye!

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All images belong to the rightful owners.