"Since September, I had been living in student halls and it had been an amazing experience, learning to become an independent person, without having my parents doing my laundry or making my meals..."

Officially, June 2020 marked the end of my first year at university ('uni'). I had planned to celebrate the end of my first year with friends: food, fun, and laughter - the usual. But then the world turned 'upside down'...

when the world turned upside down

The global pandemic brought my first year at uni to an abrupt end in March 2020. I study Biomedical Sciences at St George’s, University of London and it's located inside one of the busiest hospitals in South London, where the death toll due to Covid-19 was extremely high. My flatmates and I would always hear from friends studying in other institutes, who would say that their university is closing for the rest of the year. Various institutes were closing around us: UCL, Manchester, Liverpool, King’s College London and so on. We were very surprised to be one of the last institutes to decide to end the year, since strict measures were not yet taken at the time and going to university within a hospital was very stressful for some. To put it simply, my university is merged with St George’s Hospital. In fact, one of my lecture theatres is a corridor away from Covid-19 patients, so to be one of the last institutes to close down was shocking.

My university decided to suspend all teaching on 16^th March 2020 and from then, all teaching and support would be online. I remember when I received this email and all my friends jumped up with excitement, since it meant not waking up early for lectures anymore. However, at the same time, we realised it marked the end of our first year; we would have to go back home and not see one another for a long time. The next two days were spent spending time with my flatmates and making the memories last a little longer. It was an emotional time helping each other pack up our rooms and saying our last goodbyes as we did not know when we would see each other next as who knows when the global pandemic will be over. But we felt optimistic, naively we assumed we would be back to living in halls in a week or so since it would be much easier to revise with no distractions from family.

Unfortunately, that dream was really and truly squashed when lockdown within the United Kingdom was announced on 23^rd March 2020. Despite our spirits being flattened, we understood these measures were necessary to reduce the risk of transmission. This meant everybody had to stay at home, and going back to live with my flatmates was no longer an option.

lockdown

At the beginning of lockdown, we were issued a Students’ Union survey in which the majority of students had voted to cancel all summer exams due to the strange times we were in. I had it in my head that exams would not be taking place on site nor online, but I was still revising and keeping up with the knowledge I needed to know for my course, just in-case.

A month later, my academic lead emailed to inform us that exams would still be going ahead, but will be online, with changes made to the format and time constraints. So, it was confirmed. Exams were taking place, despite several complaints made by students. It was understandable because it would allow us to progress onto the next year, but as you can imagine, stress levels were through the roof! It was very difficult for many students to concentrate whilst revising at home, since there was no access to library facilities. As with many institutes, our uni library was closed and this was hard for pupils because there was no way to get any textbooks/revision books, other than through online platforms. Also, revising in a library surrounded by other hard-working students motivates many to really knuckle down and study. Of course, due to Covid-19, this was not allowed; we had to find a way to motivate ourselves whilst being in family homes. At a time like this, communication was key: the communication between students and the university. Our university would often email us during these trying times, so that every student knew we had the support of our institute and we could contact them with any problems/struggles that we were facing. When it came to exam updates, the university was quiet but still managed to update us when they could. Yes, we were annoyed by the fact that these exam update emails were late, but we had to keep in mind that everybody including university professors/academic leads were living through unprecedented and very strange times. No-one really knew what was going to happen.

taking a massive leap forward and then back

Since September, I had been living in student halls and it had been an amazing experience. I had felt like I had taken a massive leap forward in truly understanding what being independent is all about. Learning to become an independent person, without having my parents doing my laundry or making my meals; managing my own finances. There were many times where I would miss living with my family since my course can be intense and there are many competitive people.

Then in March, I took a massive leap back and was back living with my family again, this time missing halls and more than I can even express. April/May months are known as the exam revision period so my days were spent studying and since lockdown rules were put in place, seeing friends was not an option to get energised and motivated or relax. My siblings’ schools had closed down too so they were staying at home. As you might expect, there were many distractions around whilst revising at home: family members, Netflix, the comfort of our bed, YouTube, the close proximity of the kitchen to our rooms. It was very difficult to study for exams with all the commotion, so let’s just say, I had a few breakdowns as did the majority of students across the UK. As well as interruptions within the home, the news about the current situation would be everywhere. Seeing the death toll due to Covid-19 rise everyday was a hard pill to swallow; it made us fear for key workers. Baba (dad in Bengali) works for the NHS, so knowing that he would be surrounded by many people carrying the virus was unsettling, especially for my mother who was fearing for his life every day. I understand that he has to work, play his part, help patients, save lives, because one day, I hope to be in that same position in life, to be able to benefit people both physically and mentally. Knowing that so many lives were in danger was a horrible thought and we just had to hope for the best and play our part by staying at home and then ‘staying alert’, whatever that means. This worry and the pressure of exams was heavy but we had to find a way to relax our minds, by doing the things we love, whilst at home, e.g. watching a new series or doing some exercise.

vision vs reality

Covid-19 took a toll upon the mental health of people across the UK and across the globe. Looking at and reading the news everyday was saddening, knowing that thousands of lives had been taken away. During lockdown, people were surviving and not really living. No-one could see their loved ones, friends and family; no-one could do the things they used to do like eating out, going to the amusement parks, gyms, retail therapy, salons, the barbers. This was tough, having to adjust to a new routine where everything was different and had to be done within a household instead.

From a personal perspective, and from many discussions with family members who have been to uni before me - uni is more than just study. My vision was that of a platform to build a strong foundation in (as I mentioned before) cooking, managing finances - getting the basics right. It’s also about discovering yourself, socially - understanding and nailing that 100th “hi, i’m Simran…” when you meet yet another interesting and energised stranger. Uni is about trying new things in a (relatively) safe environment and building that core group of diverse friends with different interests and strengths to support your progression through Uni and into the ‘real world’. For it to only be my first year as a student and for the impact of Covid-19 to happen, let’s just say it was very different to what I expected.