“This too shall pass,” were the four words that kept Saba Musharrif going as she handled the overwhelming workload during the sudden coronavirus lockdown in 2020.
As one country after the other announced lockdowns and universities shifted online, Saba and her academic computing team embarked on a roller coaster ride. They developed entire user experiences and collaborated with multiple units in Pakistan, East Africa and United Kingdom to train hundreds of faculty, students and staff on the basics of e-learning.
The year had started with a change: her manager had transferred to a different department earlier in the year and all his responsibilities were now hers - in addition to her existing role. Saba rose to the challenge and led the transition to virtual learning environments. Back-to-back online meetings, unstable internet connections, email floods and phone calls throughout the day were her ‘new normal’ for the first few months of the lockdown.
“I have previous work-from-home experience, but it was different this time. The lockdown taught me how to structure my activities better and I kept reminding myself that I cannot control everything with so many teams working together.” In the end, it was Saba’s dependability and positive attitude, and her team’s individual strengths, that ensured a smooth transition in spite of the countless ups and downs.
Throughout the tense months, Saba made sure that she regularly took time out to de-stress and spend time with the family, to reduce the chance of burnout. She started her days with exercise, made sure that she spent time with her family every night, practiced her hobbies - including painting, needlework and paper art - and even learned to crochet thanks to YouTube tutorials. “It was extremely hectic and I made sure that I took breaks.” Saba is also active on social media where she posts tutorials of her arts and crafts.
Now, Saba and her team work on a variety of virtual learning environments which include student and teacher orientations, IT security and data policy tutorials for all employees and infection control courses for patient-facing staff at the Aga Khan University Hospital. She was planning to pursue higher education and personal development courses but with the lockdown and subsequent hectic routine, she had to put her plans on hold.
Saba continues to lead the academic computing team on projects that help the University and its thousands of students and staff cope with the challenges still posed by the pandemic.