I am a candidate for the Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP) examination which was supposed to be held last year. Thanks to COVID-19, it was postponed and rescheduled twice with short notice which led to flight tickets being burnt and some deposits for accommodation forfeited.

It made the already tough exam even harder as we were put to face extensive uncertainties. Furthermore, the exam was held physically and we were placed in a hall with hundreds of candidates. We had to adhere to a lot of new norms which included wearing a face mask and keeping a safe distance away from people at all times when in public. COVID-19 also made it tougher to secure jobs in law firms as not many firms were willing to take in new blood during such a difficult time. However, thanks to the pandemic, I’ve also learned new skills at home as we were advised to stay home as much as we could. I’ve signed up for free digital marketing courses held by Google. I’ve also learned new skills such as video editing and improved my cooking skills -I guess that’s a bonus from this pandemic.

I find it important to still keep ourselves occupied and always updated with the technology especially when we’re stuck at home most of the time. That way we won’t be left too far off the track when this pandemic is over and life gets back to normal. The COVID-19 pandemic has also changed the way social gatherings are held and many religious celebrations were cancelled to prevent widespread infections. Therefore it’s been quite some time since I’ve seen some of my relatives and friends in person. I sincerely hope this pandemic will end soon and we can live our lives normally.