2021.09.17
Making Lemonade out of Lemons
Have you ever heard the expression, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’? Basically this means that even when the situation around you is very negative, you can try to find something positive in it. I was reminded of this expression recently while reading student compositions. All the students in the first year of high school wrote about their summer vacations and also about how they have spent time with their family since the Covid-19 pandemic started. They have had to endure so much this past year and a half. It has truly been ‘a time of lemons’ for so many young people. School trips and family vacations have been cancelled, lessons interrupted, club activities restricted, and time spent with friends reduced. But yet even in the face of so much stress and regrettable situations, it is amazing how our students, and I’m sure many young people everywhere, have been able to adapt and ‘make lemonade’ out of this tough situation.
In their compositions, students highlighted various positive aspects of the past year and a half. One common theme was that they have been able to spend more time talking with their families since the pandemic started as they aren’t so busy with club and their parents are home more than usual. This has led them to appreciate their families more. They also wrote about how they have developed new hobbies, like cooking, to replace hobbies that they could no longer do. One result of this was stronger family ties. Their families appreciated the food that they made and they better understood how much effort their mother or other family members spend making meals. They also had many creative ideas to replace some of the normal fun that they could no longer enjoy. A number of students wrote about how they had ‘family festivals’ at home instead of the normal local festivals. Other students created Disneyland at home, with costumes, movies and memorial pictures, which took the place of a real trip to Chiba. Still other students had a camping party in their backyards instead of at a faraway campsite. What wonderful ideas!
All in all, I came away very impressed with the resilience of our students even after a year and a half of this pandemic. They have inspired me to also do my best to ‘make lemonade’ instead of complaining so much about the situation around me. Thank you, students, for your positive energy that has proven more powerful than the Covid-19 pandemic!
In their compositions, students highlighted various positive aspects of the past year and a half. One common theme was that they have been able to spend more time talking with their families since the pandemic started as they aren’t so busy with club and their parents are home more than usual. This has led them to appreciate their families more. They also wrote about how they have developed new hobbies, like cooking, to replace hobbies that they could no longer do. One result of this was stronger family ties. Their families appreciated the food that they made and they better understood how much effort their mother or other family members spend making meals. They also had many creative ideas to replace some of the normal fun that they could no longer enjoy. A number of students wrote about how they had ‘family festivals’ at home instead of the normal local festivals. Other students created Disneyland at home, with costumes, movies and memorial pictures, which took the place of a real trip to Chiba. Still other students had a camping party in their backyards instead of at a faraway campsite. What wonderful ideas!
All in all, I came away very impressed with the resilience of our students even after a year and a half of this pandemic. They have inspired me to also do my best to ‘make lemonade’ instead of complaining so much about the situation around me. Thank you, students, for your positive energy that has proven more powerful than the Covid-19 pandemic!
