Dear Lockdown,
Living with you is like living with no one else. In many ways you have shown us different meanings of ‘normal’, and many are looking forward to the normal we knew before we joined your company, however many are still understandably apprehensive to leave you alone.
But with university life in the most part continuing, as students, our version of our time with you has mainly consisted of adapting to studying online and an online exam season. However, housemates over recent weeks have become replaced with family members and the world of coffee cups scattering library desks and SU meal deals as the go-to library snack ceases to exist.
In honesty Lockdown, you have been trying on us all. But you have also shown that it is possible to procrastinate over our deadlines even when there is not much else we could be doing…
But while we have been occupied with work (or procrastinating), others aren’t so occupied with the fact we are still working (or trying to at least)? With primary, secondary, and further education seeing changes or gaps to curriculum teaching, universities really have been the ‘abnormality’ in carrying on.
So, in this abnormality of university students facing struggles of adapting to new working styles, or perhaps the prospect of missing out on seasonal work at home, it seems odd that we have been neglected in this new kind of journalism that’s emerged among COVID-19 coverage, having not fully made the cut.
Many have shared how student tales of lockdown living have been missed or neglected among media and news reports. And so, we will lead the task of sharing this with you instead. Over these next few weeks, I am not sorry to say that you will be hearing from the lot of us.
Students from different courses, in different years, universities and even countries will be writing to share what their experience with you has been like, comments on recent events and advice on ways to get along with living life with you.
I hope that you enjoy this series of lockdownletters.
Best wishes,
Courtney Bridges.
History, Politics and International Relations, Royal Holloway University of London, 1styear.