They’re calling the MBA batches of 2019-21 and 2020-22, the COVID batch, and rightly so. MBA students from all over the country were deprived of probably the best perk of pursuing an MBA from a premier institute – the campus life. I am one of the thousand victims of this catastrophe. Unforeseen events like COVID, call for remarkable contingency measures, and that is exactly what the Goa Institute of Management took.
Our journeys commenced digitally with all students anxiously going through the rigor of an MBA through cyberspace. A term and a half later, as the nation-wide lockdown eased and the curve began to flatten, the institute took a brave and very well-planned step to call its students to campus in a staggered manner. Batches of approximately 50 students were called to campus based on the severity of hurdles faced by them while pursuing the course online.
As students from my class started reaching campus, the WhatsApp groups started getting flooded with wonderful photos from the campus, and naturally, I, along with my peers started experiencing “FOMO”(Fear of missing out). I never really understood the true essence of the saying-“Patience is a virtue” until our second term ended and I finally got to hear the three magical words “Pack your Bags”. Needless to say, I was elated, but the one thing that I was apprehensive about was the mandatory week-long quarantine on campus before I could move into the hostel along with the other students. However, now that I look back, the quarantine was not just well planned, but the experience exceeded my expectations.
The campus takes your breath away the first time and continues doing that ever so often. Post collecting the keys to a quarantine room in a completely contact-less manner, I anxiously unlocked the door to my assigned room and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. The room looked like it was straight out of a hotel and even though I didn’t see a single human being apart from the security guard, it felt as if I was being welcomed to the pristine campus of the Goa Institute of Management. The quarantine room had all amenities required for quarantine like an electric kettle, paraphernalia for making tea, plates and spoons, drinking water, internet connection, air conditioning, and the best part – delicious food delivered at the doorstep four times a day.
I was fortunate enough to be able to slip into a vacation mode for a while since it was a Sunday (who wouldn’t?). After a scrumptious dinner and a good night’s sleep, it was business as usual – lectures during the day, assignments during the evening, projects during the night. Before I knew it, the week had passed. I tested negative for COVID19, marking an end to my quarantine journey. I remember going through mixed emotions while handing over the keys to the room. On one hand, I was finally going to experience the campus life that I had been longing to experience for the past five months, and on the other hand, I had to leave behind a very convenient setup. A few weeks have passed since, and I still can’t stop talking about my quarantine experience.
-Aurko Mukhopadhyay (PGDM-BDA 2020-22)
GIM BUZZ 
Superbly described
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