Homecoming of the Changemakers : Emotions and Beyond

“We are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at the in-person classes.” And suddenly flashbacks of the past month and half hit every student across the country. All the bloodshed,gunshot noises, screams of agony, victory dance, and the surreal feeling of achieving the goal. In the span of over a month, the identity of students was beyond educational. However, since they now have to go back to their place, has the transformation been smooth?

For a movement so passionately designed and carried out by the students that got engraved in every heart, we were far too involved to come out of the trance once asked. As Jannatul Maida mentions, “The long time away from classes didn’t even feel like a break with all the ongoing incidents.” The exhaustion has been more than just physical, removing our old shell to give birth to a new layer of courage to change. MD.Abrar Jahin Adib (Junior, CSE) mentioned in a conversation that ‘I have studied more about the country, its history, and constitution than I ever did in these past days’. A month of being vocal, despite the consequences we were threatened with, led to the awakening of students to everything that was unfair and corrupt that could not be addressed before, while now, stopping feels close to impossible. Every other day we notice various students asking for reforms in their respective institutions that they couldn’t before, and that came from a space of fearlessness.

But have we been able to transition to studying like we used to? Like many others, Fatima (Senior, ENH) does not think so. “I have assignments piled up, but I don’t know how to look at them. I felt like a student during the movement, but now those memes where they say I’ll do everything but study are more relatable.” This reluctance of students to get back to study has raised concerns of authorities leading to promoting recreational events and meditation activities. Although for some, like Mansia Samrana Khan (Junior, EEE), the break from the daily chaos called predictable life has been a good chance to ground themselves.

However, one feeling every Bangladeshi student collectively shared after coming back is that despite their desire to leave the country, no one felt the hesitation to die for its betterment.