REFLECTIVE JOURNAL 1- EVERY MOMENT OF LIFE IS PRECIOUS

 Since this is my first entry in writing journal, I would like to share about my first experience that I believe related to Sustainable Development Goal No 3: Good Health and Well- Being. I want to write about my experience infected by Covid-19 during my studies in International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

It was the second week of my stay in IIUM, which my first week of class as a Dentistry student after going through Taaruf Week for a week. During the Taaruf Week, all students gathered together to join all the talk session in order to let us know more about IIUM Kuantan. Since the number of Covid-19 cases have reduced, I think the chances for me to get affected is reduced too but as we all students came from different background and different state, some doubt have been cast upon everyone here. Consequently, I wore mask and take care of my hygiene during the 7 days period of Taaruf Week. 

In my first day of class, I started to acknowledge that a lot of us are sick with some symptoms. At that time,  I'm worried to be close to someone with symptoms but in class we are always together, praying together in a small room, make us more exposed to the Covid-19 virus. It was hard to keep myself away from the symptomatic friend. At that moment, i realised that someone could have been affected with Covid-19 but I just ignored it as Covid-19 is already common in our society. Although it's common, I still want to prevent myself from being affected as it brings hassle to all of us. All of us have known that we have to quarantine ourselves from the crowd and it is hard for the students to study online. Studying online is not the same as physical class as the lecturers will focus more on the students in physical class.

At the third day of class, my roommate was  affected by Covid-19 after having cough and flu for almost two days before. Subsequently, my other roommates and I were anxious and took some precautions when we go to the class the next day. All of us are well and have no symptoms at all. To make sure that we are all healthy, we took the Covid-19 test and it turned out that I'm positive with Covid-19. I even have checked it twice as I'm shocked and bewildered since I have no symptoms at all. After that, I immediately told my assistant leader batch to inform the batchmates to take the test if they are symptomatic. The process went well and I moved to Mahallah Khalid Al-Walid for my quarantine period.

The time has come, the experience that I have never think of and I have feared the most. Being far away from my family and friends was really a burdensome and sorrowful condition for me. I have to live alone in a room with 4 compartments. In the morning, when the class started, my classmates have set up a hybrid class for me. I joined class through the Microsoft Teams, the audio is audible but sometimes I could not see clearly what lecturers have been writing on the whiteboard. It was a stressful moment for myself as I could not learn efficiently. Fortunately, I have friends to rely on, we had an online meeting for her to explain back to me what they have been learning for that day. I am so grateful to have a reliable friend like her. I got the food for free, so I managed to save some money for my future use.

 Actually, everything happens for a reason. I am able to spend my time alone, trying to understand and memorize the lectures without any disturbance. Furthermore, I got to pray and strengthen my bond with Allah, during my time alone, we got to worship Allah without having to think about something else. The Internet does not have any limit, when I feel down and sorrow, I video called my family and friends to cheer me up. Thus, family and friends are so important in our life.

At my fourth day, I checked out from the quarantine block, realized that I got to discharged in a short quarantine period than my friends made me a lot more grateful. I tested negative in my fourth day. Its not a long period but actually a memorable moments that I cherished the most. This experience also able to make me acknowledge my true friend who are going through thick and thin with me.

In my point of view, experiencing every second of my life in the quarantine period appointed me to think and appreciate every moment of life. Even though it seemed like its hard, but actually brought me a lot of lessons. Not everything bad that happened in our life is really bad. It was just how we manage and cope with the situation to acknowledge it in a better way. The time I met my friends back, I felt like they are playing some important roles in my life. In order for myself to move better and to move quickly, I should always have my backbone and the source of strength cheering me up. We have to observe the test and challenges given in a different perspective to have a broad mindset and happy life. In fact, life has ups and downs , try to appreciate and treasure the moments as they holds thousands meaning of life.