When I first enrolled in CMPW, I would have never envisioned my placement to turn out the way it did. Nobody could have predicted that there would be a deadly global pandemic just six months later. However, I still learned a lot, and it gave me some unique insights into how the future could look. I realized that working from home has become more viable in today’s age of technology.
I knew from the start that I wanted to work in the political sphere, so I was ecstatic when I secured a placement with MPP Natalia Kusendova. The first week went well. I was beginning to navigate my own way through the beautiful maze of Queen’s Park. MPP Kusendova had me do the kinds of tasks that I had hoped for, like write speeches and prepare questions for Question Period.
However, by the end of the week, we had received the announcement that COVID-19 was much more serious than we had initially been told. By the next week, Centennial had temporarily halted all field placements. That was a huge disappointment, but I understood it had to be done.
We later received news that we could resume our placements virtually. It was strange at first, but I quickly became accustomed to virtual group chats and regular phone call meetings throughout the week. During this time, they had me work on a big project: I was to create a newsletter to be distributed to every household in MPP Kusendova’s constituency. It felt great to finally apply my newly-acquired design skills. In under two weeks, I had created a polished newsletter that was ready to be distributed. Everyone was pleased with the result.
Unfortunately, after I had finished the newsletter, there just wasn’t enough work for me to do because of COVID-19. I was told that my placement would be paused and resumed once things returned to normal, so I am now waiting for this to blow over.
This has given me the chance to reflect on things. It amazes me how much work can be done from home and it makes me question what the future of work might look like. With technology, can those of us with office jobs now work from home? It would save a lot of time and increase production. It would also save many people (and the environment) from commuting every day, and it would allow us to work in a comfortable environment (although this could also be a bad thing for people with subpar living conditions). But on the other hand, will we lose an important part of the human experience without face-to-face interaction? People already argue that this has happened with social media.
I don’t have the answers to these problems, but this pandemic has proven that a lot of work can be done remotely. Realistically, we will still be going into the office once things return to normal, which will be good since everybody will be tired of being at home. But both extremes have its consequences. Commuting and working in an office 9 – 5 every day is exhausting. I hope that going forward, employers will recognize what work can be done from home and give their employees the choice. If we can achieve a better balance between these two working styles, I think we would be much better off and less stressed in our day-to-day lives.