“I was excited. I was going to be hosting an event and the wait to that day seemed to never end!
That was when the Indian Government declared the shut down of malls and theatres due to the rise of COVID-19. The venue where the event was supposed to be held, got shut too. I was upset.

I am 20 years old and I am from Taiwan, studying in Minerva Schools. Our school sends batches of students to 7 different countries every year. Hyderabad is one of the places we come to. I was here for three months and I walked in with a slight uneasiness of how different and difficult it might be for me to adjust. Oh, how wrong I was! This place felt like home real soon. I discovered multiple cafes and restaurants where I went regularly to study. I travelled around India wanting to experience it myself, keeping all the preconceived notions aside. It was beautiful. Hyderabad taught me a lot of things and one of them was that things will never go as we expect them to, instead we must learn to accept things the way they are. Unfortunately, my stay here didn’t last long as we were all asked to head home due to the pandemic. It was a busy day for me since I had to leave all of a sudden. It was tough, but I made it home. Leaving Hyderabad on such short notice left me feeling incomplete because goodbyes were left unsaid and there wasn’t any closure.
Taiwan, after facing a big hit in 2003 due to SARS, has been prepared since, in case a wave of the pandemic were to hit us again. So this time, we were ready. People are taking precautions everywhere! I was quarantined. My quarantine is the role model of quarantines. I have been home for 11 days and haven’t seen my dad yet. We treat everything as if there could be a virus, sanitizing consistently. I don’t see quarantine as 14 days away from everything. I see it as a time to explore, learn and network with people. All we need to do is accept the situation.

This is where I want to say that although the media is talking about the situation day in and day out, do not panic. Take the precautions and take it seriously, but do not panic. And, people who think that because they are young and that they won’t catch it – this world is not just about you but also about the people you love. It is for everyone, that we partake in a collective effort. Things will eventually fall into place.”

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