We invite Dehonians, co-workers and other collaborators in SCJ ministry to share their personal reflections regarding the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in their lives and their communities. The following is from Frater Kodjovi Hubert Liassidji, SCJ, a seminarian in our formation program at Sacred Heart Monastery.
When I started the semester in January, I never thought that it would get to be harder and more difficult as it did. After my spring break, everything was turned upside down. Adjustments were made due the pandemic of COVID-19. In-person classes moved to online learning. Sometimes it seemed that each professor thought he or she was the only professor left for the semester. It was a learning method that I was not used to and was often hard for me.
First, there was time management. All of my classes required a lot of time and intensive work; I had to learn how to properly make time for all of them. There were assignments required before a class, during a class and then again after a class. I used a schedule planner, but again, this new way of learning continued to challenge me.
Self-motivation was also difficult. At first, I didn’t have any motivation for online learning. But with the encouragement, the help and the support of my brothers, I have come to understand that I need a positive attitude and a sense of determination to overcome these challenges. I am grateful that the lockdown affects neither my prayer life nor my community life.
This time of lockdown reminds me that I can do a lot of good from a distance. That is, without being present I can still offer help and generosity. Besides holding in my heart those who need my prayers, I can share happiness with people far away just with a phone call, a letter or an email to check on them and to let them know that they are in my prayers. Of course, one of my prayers is that this pandemic comes to an end soon so that we can begin to work toward more of a sense of “normal.”
