University in the time of covid

 Doing a degree is tough and doing a degree during the era of covid adds an extra layer of difficulty that I wasn't really prepared for when starting my degree in 2018. Whilst I thankfully had a normal university experience for the first year and a half of my degree it soon spiralled into a confusing state of limbo between being a full-time student and a full-time shut in.  

The first term of University AC (after covid) was a weird one. It was last term of second year, at my university last term was simply allotted for revision for the upcoming exams. Therefore I didn't really miss any face-to-face lectures or tuition and my social life was always dire during exam season anyway, so really being locked down at home shouldn't have made much difference (other than the fact that our exams were online). Yet, this was the term I struggled the most in. Throughout Easter break, in which I had to write the majority of that years essay, and term 3, in which I was revising, I was constantly bombarded with horrible headlines about a killer disease that so little was known about. The fear of my loved ones getting sick and the uncertainty about the future covid would bring was constantly in the back of my mind throughout that entire period making it extremely difficult to concentrate on my work. Plus with the added difficulty of lacking my normal university routine (due to being at home) and the lack of any semblance of a social life, my grades suffered. 

 I think one thing that made the situation far worse than It should have been was the way students were treated by society. In the media we often faced more blame than anyone for an increase in covid cases despite schools reopening at the same time.  We were always an afterthought in government briefings and no one seemed care about how difficult it would be to miss out on your uni experience. Whilst there were news reports on kids missing the playground or teens missing prom almost nothing was said about students still being charged full rent or teaching fees. Whilst the difficulty of teens not taking exams or adults having to work from home was discussed it was never mentioned how almost all finalist students around the country still had to take exams and write essays under immense pressure of covid and have the resulting marks count towards their degree. Whilst everyone was facing difficulty under covid it always seemed to me that students were one of the groups which were frequently forgotten about during the crisis. 

Moving on to year three of my degree, we were locked down almost instantly after I moved back to my University accommodation but this time things were slightly better. On the covid front, my anxiety had calmed a little having spent many months of hearing an onslaught of terrible news I had become somewhat numb to the situation and with the added talk of a vaccine I wasn't quite as fearful for the future. Furthermore, this time I was locked down with my uni friends, we couldn't go to the pub or throw parties but we found multiple ways to pass the time whilst locked down. We had craft nights, board game nights (One night ultimate werewolf is a game I highly recommend) and belted Let It Go on my karaoke machine. The most intense change I faced, however, was with my lectures and seminars. Whilst in person seminars stayed in tact in term 1 by term 2 (when a more serious lockdown arrived) everything was online. I was lucky to have a group of amazing lecturers who provided interesting and  detailed lecture recordings to view online so it never felt like I was without the necessary teaching needed to pass a degree. Plus they were all available to answer emails and have online meetings with whenever I began to panic about my essays (I panicked a lot). My dissertation tutor in particular was really accommodating and kind, he was always there to advise me on my work and provide emotional support whenever things got tough. Perhaps the worst aspect of online learning was the online seminars in which it felt like only one person was ever confident enough to talk and most of my time was spent praying that we weren't put into breakout rooms. But besides the awkwardness of online seminars and the fact that I went slightly stir crazy in term 2 (when I was locked down at home again) things were far better in my third year and I think my grades reflected that. 

Rounding off my degree I was able to spend June and some of July in my uni accommodation with my friends. We managed to go out as a flat again, go out for drinks, out to eat and  even took a nice boat ride on a near by river. Whilst I didn't get to visit my unis club one last time (Pop I miss you) nor did I get a graduation ceremony, I was just pleased to live my last few months as a undergrad as a normal student. Being a student under Covid was somewhat of a nightmare situation, I know many people had it far worse than I did but I can't help thinking how different it would have been If covid had just stayed away for another year or two.