Rony Joseph

Student, Management

When you’re scared, you’re worried about things. You want to be close to your loved ones.

In Dubai, when I was a kid, the swine flu situation was pretty big. There was one point where everyone at the schools had a mask. It was just a normal mask, not an N95 mask. I remember I used to be the quiet kid in the corner always, but because I had an aunt working in the hospital, she gave me an N95 mask. She had an extra and gave it to me and I wore that at school. I have never received so much attention than I did that day. I was the popular kid all of the sudden. So, we did experience a similar situation [to COVID-19], but it was not nearly as bad as lockdowns and that sort of things. It was just wearing a mask, following rules and washing your hands with soap.

When the whole COVID-19 situation was starting to get scary, I remember I had fallen ill with just a normal cold or something. I was really scared. I had spoken to my mom, saying ‘Listen, I might not be taking care of myself.’ When we heard it was going to be online classes, I was like, 'I can’t leave to Dubai. I don’t have a visa yet.’ India where my dad lives was the only option I had. The fact that they are in lockdown was scary for me. I would have not been able to do my finals as such because when you go there you have to be in a quarantine centre and you don’t get Internet access regularly.

I told my mom, ‘I want to leave, but I also had made a commitment to a job in residence.’ I was worried about my mom being alone over there and how she would deal with it. When you’re scared, you’re worried about things. You want to be close to your loved ones. But I was happy that I would still have something to do here, and I could still help people.

There’s a custodian who works here and he loves the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL team. I’m a huge Oilers fan. We usually both hate the Bruins so much and we love making fun of Brad Marchand. But with the fact that there is no NHL season we don’t get to see him flying around and hitting people. It’s really nice to have the custodians around. I do really like talking to them. Once in a while they share what their experience has been and a funny story or something.

I am doing spring-summer classes. It just started out, so it’s smooth right now. I’m also working on getting my visa extended and reading a lot of books. Mostly factual stuff. I read How to Win Friends and Influence People. A lot of informative books, like Unshakeable, and books about how you can develop yourself.

The majority of the students that are still here are here because of borders that were already closed. By the time, they could make a flight, borders were closed and they were not allowed to enter.

It is good to know there are other people still here who might be experiencing similar things.

← Campbell ↑ Home Mona →