Thursday 18-03-2021 - 16:51

Susan, Brooklyn Bridge, New York, March 2020

 

Well hello everyone.

Can you believe it has been 1 year since we closed the doors of the Students’ Association and went to work from home expecting to be back in a few weeks! At the beginning of March last year, I was in New York, running in the elections and campaigning and making plans for the summer. 

As the weeks turned into months we realised that this wasn’t going away and we quickly had to change our summer plans as well as adapt to a new way of life! Our Class of 2020 had to finish up the year online, with no meeting up with pals in celebration, no end of year ball and no graduation amongst other things!

Another full academic year end is coming closer, again with the same issues for our 2021 graduates as our 2020 graduates, but you have all made it this far, you have been truly amazing, resilient and inspiring! 

And, every cloud has a silver lining; the good that has come from this situation is that we have all came closer together as a community, re-evaluated what is important to us and showed strengths and skills we never knew we had in the face of adversity. 

So here’s a quick look back at how March 2020 changed our lives in a year…

• 16th March UK Prime Minister says “now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact and travel”
• 16th March Glasgow Caledonian University ceased all face to face teaching
• 16th March Students’ Association Building and London Office closed
• 17th March Students’ Associations moved their services and activities online
• 19th March PM says the UK can “turn tide of coronavirus” in 12 weeks
• 23rd March PM announces the first lockdown in the UK, ordering people to “stay at home” 
• 25th March Coronavirus Act 2020 gets Royal Assent
• 26th March Lockdown measures legally come into force 

Everything changed for all of us in March 2020 and how much Covid-19 impacted the students and staff at GCU cannot be overestimated.

I asked GCU students and Full Time Officers past and present how much the past year impacted their lives and what impacted them positively and what was the worst parts for them this year! 

For myself the worst part has been the loneliness of working from home on my own as well as missing people I care about, however I have also been impacted positively; with the new skills I have developed, making a real difference to student’s lives and I have been learning so much about myself! And it has been so good to see how most of us have come together to form communities to support and help each other!

 

Tabitha Nyariki our very own VP SHLS and returning Full Time Officer next year told me the worst part of the year for her was not being able to meet her friends or family, being isolated and not being able to go out for a coffee or to a restaurant for a meal. She said, “These are things I took for granted and didn’t realise how much impact meeting a friend for coffee or going on a night out contributed to my positive mental health.”

The best part of the year for Tabitha was being able to work on things that she is passionate about and getting involved in so many spaces and activities that have challenged her way of thinking, working and living. She said, “Having to stay home has given me a chance to appreciate my own company even more and be able to find new creative ways to keep busy.”

 

Kathinka Mumme, a 4th year Multimedia Journalism student said the worst part for her was not seeing her friends & not being able to go out with them after a hard day at uni however the good part was being home in Germany for longer than the usual 2 weeks break & seeing her family there! 

 

4th year Media and Communications student Sarina Vlaytchev told me her year had been impacted negatively due to being isolated and away from friends and course mates and not being able to share the stress with them and also not being able to have a physical graduation in the summer. She said “A positive that has come out of this year personally is I have learned to get to know myself more, be with myself more and spend more time with myself so that has really enhanced my self-love.”

 

Vincent Waters is in his 3rd year studying a BSc in Applied Psychology, for him the worst part of this year was not being able to get the peace and quiet of uni to study uninterrupted however his positive was being able to get to classes and meetings without the commute.

 

For Kweku Bram Larbi working on his PhD Research in Virtual and Augmented Reality the worst part was being stuck indoors with gloomy weather, not being able to see friends or go out. On a positive note Kweku said he was able to create room for deeper self-actualisation and development on old and new areas of life and productivity.

 

Bethany Stevenson, my team mate from 2019-2020 and last year’s VP SHLS is now a GCU MSc Marketing Student, she told me the worst part for her was not being able to see her friends and family. She said “I miss laughing with people and having a good time, however, the best thing that has happened to me was having the time and space to decide what I wanted to with my future and as a result I signed up to do my masters and now I feel on track with the right career path.”

 

Nicole Percival completing her 4th year Social Science degree spoke to me about the negative part of lockdown for her which was the lack of socialisation with her friends and family. She said, “Especially the little ones who didn't understand why I wasn't able to come see them and I didn't get to hold my niece until she was 5 months old!”

She told me the good part of this year was academically being able to overcome the difficulties that COVID-19 brought. “Although it has been harder working from home constantly our department have found different ways to keep us together. Things like study retreats, Netflix nights and games nights. Recently our Social Science Society also started doing study retreats which I led and it gave me a way of getting to know different people from different year groups and probably people I wouldn't have socialised with if we were actually at university. And I still managed to get to Greece for a few days for my 30th in August!”

 

Ese Johnson studied a Masters in Public Health at GCU and didn’t have a good experience this year, he wanted to break down the stigma of talking about mental health and told me “my battle with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts heightened during the lockdown period.” However, his recent employment in his desired public health field has been the highlight of this year.

 

Amanda Kerr who is studying an MBA in Global Management and also the Students’ Association Disabled Student Officer told me the worst part of the year for her was becoming a carer to family due to restrictions and local authorities not being able to support as they would normally. The positive of this year for her was making new friends at uni despite not actually ever physically meeting people.

 

Eilidh Fulton my team mate and Student President from 2019-2020 is finishing off her 4th year in Applied Psychology, she told me the worst thing for her was not seeing her mum as much as she would have liked to and the best thing for her to come out of this year was the way it brought people together to support each other!

 

Zoe Nicholson our very own VP SCEBE said for her the worst part was not being able to see family and friends. “Especially coming into this role as I know myself and the team would’ve had so much fun in office. Also missing out on events such as Sports Ball and Graduation.” 

She told me the best part of lockdown was taking time to go on nice walks, “I forgot how much of a benefit exercise has on your mental health so it’s really relaxing to be able to go out for a wee walk and just clear your head!”

 

GCU’s very own Moses Apiliga, VP GSBS 2019-2020 chatted with me and said the travel restrictions were the worst part of this year for him as he couldn’t visit his wife who lives outside of the UK. He told me the positive he has taken from this year was “being able to reflect on ways to improve myself. So I decided to go back to my studies and finally begin my Masters.”

So there you have it, some low points for everyone where we have struggled with mental health, missed family and friends, suffered loneliness and stressing alone as well as other individual issues but also some really nice positives the past year with people showing more understanding, being more supportive, self-aware and taking care of themselves as well as others. The future is looking very positive and I hope you can all take some time to self-reflect on the year gone by. 

Take care, stay safe.

Susan Docherty
Student President