COVID-19 has struck at the heart of Canada’s youth. But instead of punishing them, students are about to experience what kids have dreamed about since the invention of the schoolhouse.
Canadian students now have permission to stay home or hang out in socially distanced groups.
For many university and college students, this isn’t just a long-forgotten dream come true, it’s also a chance to rediscover themselves.
“Raise your hand if you’ve spent so long focusing on and engaging with academia that you never had any time to develop any hobbies” said University of Guelph graduate student, Ray Martin, “and now that the university is shutting down you essentially have a bunch of time off and you don’t know what to do with yourself.”
One of the things many students are coming to terms with is the fact that many post-secondary students have not had the time to pursue a hobby for years.
Whether it was the stress of high school, pressure from parents, the need to work to pay for school, or just the workload itself, students don’t have time for hobbies.
Man stockpiling toilet paper builds fort
Many students are revisiting past enjoyments like classic video games, or childhood favourites like building forts. Some have taken up activities from the distant-past, like reading.
It’s currently unclear how long the hiatus from school will last, but no matter how long, there will be a whole new generation who will never know the pain of hoping school will close for a month, and still having to go.
