Remember when I said I was slightly worried about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic? Well this week, my level of worry sky rocketed to an 8 out of 10. With more increasing cases not just in the UK but globally, governments are taking strict measures to reduce on social contact as much as possible and sadly it means schools had to shut down till further notice. Unfortunately, some of us here for the sole purpose of receiving an education, the future is now blurred. How long will this last? Will I get to do my research project? Will I graduate this year? I have all these questions in my mind.

As the days go by, emails and texts continue to flow in from university, home office, house of residence, the NHS, friends, family, church etc…and I am overwhelmed by all this information. The streets are deserted, shops out of basic groceries and most of my housemates left for their home countries and family. Everything is coming to a stand still and I must admit, the situation is quite surreal. The only option I have left is to embrace the couch potato within me and wait this out.

Unfortunately or fortunately, school didn’t close completely. Classes were transitioned to online platforms. Yesterday, I attempted to join my first class of the week since the transition and it did not go well. Technology failed and neither one of us that logged in could receive any audio or video of the presentation. My worry is this might also occur during online exams and assessments and we will get penalised for it. I will be using the uploaded slides and recordings to study for my next communicating science class. I hope I can keep up.

It is hard to concentrate right now because everyday you are given reason to worry about something. Today, I hope to stock up some food and basic needs just in case transportation is grounded at some point. Other than that, it’s just me surrounded by my four walls and trying to remain sane.