Degrees of Resilience : Navigating University through Covid-19

Elise Telford tells us about her experience of studying English Literature at King’s College London during the pandemic. 

Originally, I decided to defer my university application to September 2021 as I had always wished to take a year out and travel before going back into education. However, as we sat at home in March 2020, watching the world arrive at a standstill from our TV screens, I promptly reconsidered my choices.

Mindful of how Covid-19 debilitated all forms of travel, I decided to change my university entry and move to London in September 2020 to begin the next chapter of my life. The challenges posed by the pandemic affected every aspect of the typical university experience.

However, one unforeseen challenge that no one could truly prepare you for was participating in virtual fresher’s week. Already apprehensive about meeting new people, I then found myself in my halls of residence, attempting to leave a resounding impression on unfamiliar faces, through a small square window on zoom.

Not only did fresher’s week transition online, as the university also decided to move societies to the virtual realm. You can imagine my intrigue when I heard that there were online auditions for a zoom performance of Romeo and Juliet…

Arriving in London during a time in which Covid restrictions were ever-changing, you can imagine the shared frustration felt by students that were having to grapple with this new unpredictable reality. To socialise, we had to be outside, which initially doesn’t sound too bad, until you consider that it was October, with days growing shorter and temperatures plummeting.

On top of the socialising aspect of university being compromised, a few days before the first semester commenced, we were sent an email confirming that the following year was entirely online. Pre-recorded lectures were released at the beginning of each week, followed by hour long seminars that would take place on zoom.

The enthusiasm to learn new material each week started losing momentum, as there’s only so much excitement one can muster up for a pre-recorded screening of Shakespeare.

I remember the announcement delivered by Boris Johnson on the 31^{st of} October 2020, confirming that the UK was preparing to enter its second lockdown. As my family live in the Isle of Man, I made the decision to fly back home rather than be confined to the four walls of my accommodation indefinitely. Now looking back three years later, the mandatory two-week isolation that Manx residents had to adhere to feels like a distant memory.

A small price we had to pay to live without restrictions. Whilst it was difficult to say goodbye to London in the middle of my first term, I saw the bright side of experiencing university remotely from the comfort of my own home. After being away and navigating my own independence, returning to my dad’s home-cooked meals was an incredible indulgence for a student like me. Suddenly my taste buds were being treated to more than just curried pot noodles.

Despite my first year of university not being quite as I expected it to be, looking back, I would not change anything. Whilst the restrictions altered our usual way of socialising, they also created opportunities to meet people in different ways. As going out and socially drinking wasn’t possible, I was able to make friends that I may not have met if covid restrictions weren’t in place. Although online learning posed its own challenges, I am lucky enough to say that I was able to experience in-person teaching in my second and third year.