Olivia Medical Anthropology

“Establishing and keeping a routine can be even more important than having a lot of time” -Austin Kleon

Prior to living in a world that is constantly uneasy, we lived an orderly life with a constant routine. On a global scale, Covid-19 has been around for just about two years. Meaning that not only has this pandemic been a part of our lives for an extended period of time, but it has affected our mentality and the way we live. Without this “routine” it became harder to find motivation to carry out tasks one would usually do in the blink of an eye, almost without thought. For me, this scenario mirrored my educational work ethic. In school, I always overachieved in my studies, and was without a doubt on top of the work I needed to complete in order to be in control. Feeling in control of my knowledge is a way I created structure in my own life. But as the pandemic crept up on society and into normal life, losing the feeling of this structure was brutal. I felt as if, without even realizing it, I slipped into a feeling of habitual disinclination to accomplish tasks. Even now, just short of two years later, I am recovering from my work ethic that resulted from Covid. Going completely back to school forced me to re-adapt to the environment, and get back on track with what I want my organizational mindset to be like.