BY WENDY ZHANG
Running a private music studio and keeping it afloat during the pandemic year is challenging enough. But finding out you are pregnant on top of that? It adds another dimension of stress and complexity to an already disorienting situation.
I found out I was pregnant with my first baby a few months after New South Wales’ statewide lockdown, and found myself on a journey navigating the world of pregnancy — and running my studio — during the global pandemic year.
When everything started to change
I resumed teaching in my studio in early January, right after I got back from an exciting overseas trip to New Zealand. I’d heard about the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, and how serious it was in China, but did not expect things to go bad so quickly here in Australia.
By the time term 1 was due to start on 27 January, I’d received various text messages from concerned parents asking what I would be doing with students coming back from China, and if there would be any safety or hygiene precautions in my studio.
That’s when I realised I had to act.
I quickly contacted all my students recently back from China, asking them to self-isolate for 14 days, and switch to online lessons instead. I also asked all students coming for lessons to wear a facemask and wash their hands.
At that time, my online lesson experience was zero – I had never tried teaching online, even though I was familiar with Skype, WeChat, and other online conferencing software. I was confident that I could do it, as I thought online lessons would be the same as online conferencing. Big mistake.
I stuck with what I knew best – WeChat and Skype video calls – and used these platforms to conduct my online lessons for the next two weeks. It worked okay, but was not the best experience: I was using my mobile to call the students, and the screen was quite small to see their hands. There were also internet connection issues with one of my students, which I did not anticipate.
I was glad when the two weeks were over and we all went back to face-to-face lessons.
I normally plan my students’ annual concert at the start of the year and I was excited to lock in a date – 27 March – and a venue for this year’s concert. But a few weeks after I announced the date to my students, the news got worse with the pandemic, and everyone was freaking out.
I had to make the difficult decision to cancel this year’s concert. I was devastated, especially seeing some students’ sad faces after hearing the news.
I needed to make a successful transition to online music lessons
It was around this time that the statewide lockdown was introduced – 23 March. Once I heard the news, I knew I had to act again, and quickly.
Overnight, I drafted an email to send to all my studio parents, asking them immediately to switch to online lesson. This time, I was prepared: in the month prior, I’d research the most suitable software for online lesson, and chose Zoom for its recording feature and easy login access. I’d also decided to use my laptop instead of mobile so that I was able to see students’ hands clearly.
I created login and instruction manuals for my students, and sent them along before lessons. And voila – I started my online lesson journey.
To be honest, it was difficult. Way more difficult than the face-to-face lessons I was used to and had taken for granted. For starters, I had to quickly gather all the books and pieces my students used. Then, it was preparing for the lessons by getting all books and materials ready (my room was a mess with books and pieces lying on the floor), having a lesson plan, writing down lesson notes, and sending them over to the parents after each lesson.
Dealing with the internet connection issues was the worst. When I first started online lessons, my connection sometimes dropped two to three times during a single lesson. It was disruptive and annoying. But then I discovered the connection was always better on Saturdays, so I switched a few students over to the weekend.
Improving my music lessons during COVID-19
During the term break, I brainstormed some ways to improve the online lesson experience, both for myself and my students. I decided to create one single login for each student, instead of emailing different logins to them each week. It was a time-saver! I then scheduled lessons with 5-minute breaks between each, so that I could have time to go to the loo, stretch, and relax a bit.
Looking back, these small changes were definitely needed – especially for long teaching days where I had 10-12 students consecutively. I subscribed to the Zoom’s premium licence so I wouldn’t get kicked out after the 45-minute limit, and the internet connection became much more stable after I started paying.
One more thing I did, which worked wonders, was introducing a toy puppet to my younger students at the beginning of each lesson to keep them excited and curious. They started introducing their own toys to me as well, and it became a fun exercise we all looked forward to each week.
Keeping my music studio safe for all
Despite all my efforts in making online lessons productive and fun, some parents were not happy with this format. They demanded we go back to face-to-face lessons as soon as the schools resumed. I was equally firm in my response: no, we needed to wait and see. What if one student got the virus and then passed on to all other students?
The parents were not happy, but I did not budge.
I waited until term 3 in July to re-open my studio, when the restrictions were more relaxed and shops started to re-open. It was pure joy, and a huge relief to see my students’ faces instead of a screen. I was very, very happy.
And then I found out I was pregnant with my first baby – and exhaustion, panic and uncertainty started to kick in on a whole new level.
Discovering I was pregnant during COVID-19
The exhaustion of pregnancy was unlike anything I had experienced before. I was the type of person who always had loads of energy, rarely got sick, and never miss a lesson. But the pregnancy, especially the first trimester, made me tired, emotional, and nauseous. I did not feel well, and yet had to carry through all these lessons already scheduled and pre-paid.
Saturdays were cruel – 10 hours of lessons with a 30-minute lunch break – that I felt so exhausted afterwards, I just wanted to lie down forever. Mondays were worse – I did not feel like teaching, and got so emotional I started yelling and screaming to my partner like a child. I’ve never been so emotional in my life.
And then, it was the uncertainty over all these questions: When shall I announce my pregnancy to my students? How much leave should I take? What happens during the time I took leave? Who is going to take over? And what would my students’ reactions be? Would they be upset?
All these questions on my mind kept me awake at night. The answers became clear as I reached the end of my first trimester, and my doctor gave me the all-clear about the pregnancy.
Announcing my pregnancy to my music students
I announced my pregnancy news to my students around teaching week 16, after I decided I was going to teach til the end of the year and then take six months’ leave, returning in July 2021. My students were happy for me, and said their congratulations. But the part I didn’t quite figure out was who to refer my students to. All my teacher friends lived quite far from me, so even though they were happy to take my students, it was most likely to be online lessons.
Some parents were very forceful in asking me to introduce them a local teacher, as they were not keen on online lessons with a new teacher. It prompted me to embark on an extended search for my replacement teacher. I searched online, asked friends for introductions, and reached out. For weeks, no one was available or interested.
I was about to give up when a teacher, recommended to me by a friend, suggested another teacher who lived nearby may be able to assist. I reached out to her, and she replied immediately saying she was happy to help!
It was such a relief to find someone, and I let my students know as soon as possible to give them time to plan.
Reaching the end of the 2020 teaching year
I am now reaching the end of my second trimester, and also heading towards the end of teaching for 2020. Looking back, I was amazed at what I achieved: not one student lost during the COVID-19 crisis, everyone progressing well, and nine students passed AMEB exams with good results!
Everyone stayed with me despite the constant changes and challenges thrown to us this year: 14-day self-isolation for those returning overseas at the start of the year; annual concert cancelled; forced statewide lockdown; switching to online lessons overnight; AMEB grade exams cancelled; adapting to new video exam format; returning to face-to-face lessons.
I was so proud of the resilience shown by my students and the community around me, and hope through my journey, you may find some inspirations as to what to do in life’s most confusing and challenging experiences.
Shout Wendy a cuppa?
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