At the start of the semester this year, I decided to move home to Sydney to be with my family in these uncertain times. With general anxiety around the pandemic growing, university dates changed to accommodate the move to an ‘online campus’ and the general stresses of upcoming assignments, I was certainly worried about leaving ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ and all the resources and support I knew were available to me there. However, the transition to a ‘virtual ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ’ has been a surprisingly smooth one, and it often feels as if I never left.
Perhaps the most important lesson this time away has taught me is how grateful I am for the friendships and connections I have made at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ. While it’s difficult being away from my friends, we catch up every Sunday on a weekly Zoom call. I look forward to these calls each week and love hearing about how everyone has been keeping themselves entertained, whether on campus or at home. I’m in my final year of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ now and know that I will be leaving next year with lifelong friends.
On the other hand, my brother James is in his first year at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ and had only just begun making connections when we decided to come home. At first, I felt sad that he was missing out on the opportunity to develop friendships in the same way I had.
However, I was proven wrong.
James is constantly chatting online to college friends or catching up with his corridor through regular Zoom calls. Together, we have been seriously entertained by ‘ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ College Survivor’ episodes (ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ’s crack at recreating the popular TV show) and the letters posted on our ‘ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ College love letters’ Facebook group, where we post anonymous shout-outs to others at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ.
While adapting to the changing university environment has been challenging, support from ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ’s academic team has never been far away. Between weekly subject tutorials on Zoom, organised study groups, and private consults with my tutors, I have been forced more than ever to stay on top of my work. Moreover, both James and I have really appreciated the weekly check-in texts and calls from our corridor residential advisors and ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ’s on-staff academic advisor. Although the move to online exams has me a little worried, I know there are so many resources at my disposal to help me through the upcoming assessment period.
That said, of course a ‘virtual ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ' can never be as good as the real thing and James and I are excited to return to campus next semester. It’s been a weird period for us both, but it has also highlighted all the things we love and miss about ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ. We are very grateful for all the support that has been provided to us in this time.
Some of the things ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓƵ’s residential students have access to during the lockdown period, both on and off campus, include:
