Institut Teknologi Bandung

BANDUNG, itb.ac.id - Coronavirus (COVID-19) has now become a global pandemic. WHO World Health Organization reports, as many as 186 countries have been affected by the plague, including Indonesia. One effort that can be done to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to limit activities (social distancing). All community interactions are limited to one another, including teaching and learning activities. Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) has also issued a lecture policy online in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Although college students are required to study and do activities at home, of course, they can still remain productive. Many things can be done at their homes in the midst of this COVID-19 outbreak. The following is a summary of some of the productive activities of ITB students during #Stayathome.

"Besides studying and doing work from home, I keep myself productive by watching many things that add to my horizons. I also have more time to hone my hobby that is cooking.  Cooking a balanced meal can also be tips for students to stay healthy," said Tutur Riama Maruliana Sianturi, a student majoring in Management 2017 when asked about her busyness during social distancing. She also added that college students do not forget to exercise. Exercise becomes important to maintain endurance and body condition stays in shape.

Meanwhile, according to Christopher Kennard Wibowo, majoring in Industrial Engineering 2018,   during distance and online social studies, he suggested not to forget to continue doing sports activities because it is very important to maintain endurance and keep your body healthy. He often spends free time at home to spend time watching the news, reading books, and working on several projects that can be done remotely. "Healthy living must start from adequate rest and eat nutritious food," he said.

A different story came from Ahmad Ramadhon, a student majoring in Mining Engineering in 2017. He acknowledged that at the beginning he had a little difficulty adapting to online learning systems, especially courses that needed calculation. However, slowly, he can adjust this online course system. "Actually, the online teaching and learning system can be effective as long as lecturers and students can communicate well," Ahmad said.

Limited social interaction also initially made Ahmad uncomfortable. This is because of his habits that often socialize directly with his friends. In order to overcome this difficulty, he busied himself with understanding his lessons and doing his work at home. "In my spare time besides studying and doing assignments, I mostly fill things that maintain health such as maintaining a balanced diet, sunbathing, and exercising lightly at home," he said.

But for Shafa Amarsya Madyaratri, a student from the Department of Technology and Information Systems 2018, during the social distancing and online lectures, she became more thorough in maintaining cleanliness and residence. She also agreed to always maintain good health despite exercising at home. "Online lectures allow us to study distance, but it still requires extra effort to understand some of the lecture material," she said.

Although she has not had time to learn new hobbies, during college online she tries to stay productive doing her work and understanding lecture material. The internet really helped her as a place to ask and learn.

While spending time with various activities, the college students who interviewed invited all parties to jointly maintain social distance in an effort to prevent transmission of COVID-19. It is important for all of us to support government programs by doing activities at home

Reporter: Evita Sonny

Translator: Elisabeth Sirumapea