For the safety of the world, people are quarantined during the Coronavirus/Covid-19 outbreak. Many are enjoying being indoors and are carrying out their work from home. Some are taking the time to relax and enjoying family time. Many are bored and finding it hard to stay indoors, despite having internet at their disposal.
I run Voxcel Group, along with my elder brother, Piyush Goyal, and together, we are enjoying our time with family. Usually, we are buried with a lot of work and tight batch timings, which leave us with little to no time to reflect on life. Even Sundays go in doing works, such as marking students’ mock tests and giving them detailed remarks on four IELTS writing parameters. Only a few teachers in the world do that. Count us in those. This is how passion should be. Whatever you do, do it with full focus and enthusiasm. The universe will take care of the rest.
Recently, I told my students over the WhatsApp messages to continue their IELTS practice, since sooner or later the pandemic will be over and the world will go on the normal mode (of course, many things will change).
How I am Taking Quarantine?
Well, as I stated earlier, my schedule is usually very tight and I leave with very little time to do any activity on Voxcel Group’s social media accounts and even to do blogging. In the past, I did a lot of content writing and won many awards for my short film “True Love” that I penned many moons ago.
When the complete lockdown was announced I decided to not let it go waste. Being indoors will not only help to break the chain of Coronavirus spread but will help me to learn some designing skills and resume my blogging for Voxcel to help my readers out in their IELTS and study Visa journey.
Presently, I am trying my hands on Adobe Photoshop, Canva etc, software to test the waters for future marketing campaigns. Besides, I am learning how to design good marketing slogans and are constantly bringing ideas to the table; taking the obscure ones out.
“Boredom is a state of mind”
I had two options, either to relax and watch movies, as I am a screenwriter, too, or work on my dreams. I chose the latter. I can watch the movies later on, but the time once lost, will never come back. .
Hence, I am working tirelessly and churning out content and honing my designing and video editing skills. I am positive this will help Voxcel’s juggernaut and will lay down the solid foundation for many years to come.
If I talk about my partner, Co-director and brother, Piyush, he’s busy preparing IELTS modules and doing planning to Keep Voxcel at the top of the game. He’s also taking online IELTS classes and clearing doubts of the students. Nonetheless, he’s helping in writing content; he’s a great writer, too.
Everybody has different liking and it’s up to you how to find the right thing during the lockdown.
Hopefully and thankfully, you might never get this time again in life, when the entire is slowed down and the people are in the homes. This is the best time to make it useful and learn some skills to enhance your future post lockdown and curfew.
Still, I can offer my 2 cents considering where the world is heading.
Coding –
The world is becoming technically advanced and many companies are adopting to go full robotics. Hence, the sky is the limit for great coders. If you are looking for a study visa abroad post your 12th grade or if you are going to study in your home country – this professional skill can lighten your future. Many IT professionals are working from home and keeping us connected with the web during the pandemic. Imagine, if we had no internet or had been disconnected to the web during the curfew? People would have done gone mad.
Moreover, top players in the game are still earning money, while the world is locked indoors and millions have lost their jobs. If such a situation happens again, you will be busy with your job and will not only earning money but will be helping the world in many ways.
Designing –
Humans love graphics. Without pictures or pictorial presentations, the text looks obscure. There is some software to test the waters: Adobe Photoshop, Canva, Postermywall, LucidPress etcetera. If you are a beginner, you can test the rest of the mentioned websites, leaving Adobe Photoshop.
If you are determined or know some basics of designing, there are many free tutorials on YouTube to hone your designing craft on Photoshop.
Video Editing –
Many companies now go for video content to fuel their marketing campaign. There’s no age bar for video editing projects. They pay handsomely good money and the best part is you can work freelance and can earn money right from your personal space.
Remember, videos are impactful. Most people love consuming video content, instead of anything else. That’s the reason why countless people have developed their income sources by making videos. Any good video is meaningless unless it’s not edited perfectly. There are many video editing software that you can try your hands on. Filmora, iMovie etc. are quite popular among the beginners as well as well-established youtubers and vloggers.
Cooking –
I often ask male students during the IELTS speaking module practice, which skill they want to learn. Most say cooking, but hardly they do, despite knowing how many problems does one face when he/she goes abroad on a study visa.
Cooking requires pure passion and love. It is very therapeutic. Moreover, homemade food is healthy and less expensive as compared to ordering from restaurants. Some might say, organic food is expensive than the restaurants, but at least you stay healthy and hygienic when you eat at home, thus avoiding a lot of health issues and wasting money in the long term.
Students who are planning to go aboard. often have full of excuses to have time to avoid learning cooking. This is the time to do. Get into the kitchen and help your mother. Let her have her own leisure time, too. Mothers are the best cookery teachers, so enjoy the time while it lasts.
Since you are planning to go to Canada on study Visa or your dream country, knowing cooking can save you a lot of hassle; plus, there are thousands of jobs for chefs across Canada and other western countries.
Watch English Movies –
Recently, I gave instructions to all my students to watch one English movie per day during the Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic. Usually, they don’t do it and make silly excuses and remain stuck at the average listening scores. Don’t underestimate the power of listening. It can transform your mentality and can help you to score Band 9. Such a band score is a dream for most and trust me, they aren’t tough to score in listening if you are well prepared. Watch any English movie of your interest. Listen to English songs. For a while forget listening to songs in your native language. Check IMDB list for Top ranking movies by the fans and start watching them. You can subscribe NetFlix, Disney+ hotstar etc online video streaming platforms.
Reading –
Reading is the food for the mind. Read novels or any article of your interest. When you read, you subconsciously develop your language skills. I often tell this to my students to develop band scores not only in their reading module, but also develop their writing and speaking as well.
Students, who are planning to go abroad for high education, should read about the country. Become familiar with the customs, traditions and the atmosphere. This will help you to not feel alienated post your landing.
Often many international students get culture shock because they paint a rosy picture in their head and hit hard with the reality when they go to Canada etc countries on a student visa.
If you are not planning to move aboard, read whatever you can. It will broaden your mental horizons and you will find many ideas to start your dream businesses and any other thing per se.
Remember, it only needs just one idea to transform the world. Apple Inc etc. like companies are the prime example.
Writing –
The world is becoming a global village and many companies now need quality copywriters and content writers to churn out great content. Learn the insights about copywriting and mind you, it’s a much-esteemed job and can you pay handsomely once you start mincing coherent content that has a voice to resonate with the masses. Doesn’t matter if you are working or a student, you can work on your skills with your regular businesses and can work as a freelancer.
It looks easy when you read an article, but it can be the toughest thing to do. Many companies, almost all MNCs constantly look for creative writers to write catchy slogans to attract attention to boost their revenue growth. Sometimes, it can take weeks, or months to get just one slogan right.
I also suggest my students to keep practicing their IELTS writing and don’t stay disconnected from working on their weaknesses. The only way you can improve in writing to read and write. WRITE! There’s no shortcut.
Spend Time with Family –
This comes as a shocker. Many people would argue they do it already. But still most of the time when we did it before quarantine, we were buried in our smartphones. We hardly asked how our parents, grandparents are. We hardly genuinely asked about their emotions and what they feel about life. Now you have got enough time. Keep your phone aside for a while and do chit-chat with them.
This is especially for students who are planning to move aboard soon. Do it the quarantine period during coronavirus outbreak. Deepen your family bond. This time is all you have got.
