Reflections on my virtual student life

It was unpredictable how hugely Covid-19 would change our daily life. It proves how vulnerable human-beings are. Since the end of March, the University of Leeds campus closed in consideration of the safety and wellbeing of their staff and students. Lectures and exams were moved to online and despite all this, we have continued to have a good learning environment during lockdown. However, the digital platform has helped us build a new way to enjoy our student life ‘on’ campus...

A birthday is supposed to be one of the most important days each year. However, as long as social distancing measures are in place the large group gatherings, house parties and pub quizzes are not an option anymore. It doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy our time without our large group of friends right next to us. My birthday was at the end of June, and my friends organised a zoom call with me to celebrate my birthday. We enjoyed our time, chatting about our recent life under lock down and playing online games. The only difference was we couldn't share the birthday cake together...more for me! Instead, we gathered from different parts of the world, in different time zones but I felt we were still in the same room, especially when we sang the birthday song together.

Compared with what used to be considered 'normal', you could not read someones body language during the meeting. However, it is easier and more convenient for us to join a meeting at home, by clicking a link, rather than walking to campus or city centre. The pandemic provides us with a chance to calm down and rethink friendships. Some of us have quieter environments to talk more with friends compared with normal time in a noisy pub or house party. All of us get a chance to slow down the speed to enjoy our time with family, earning more time to finally focus on hobbies or pick up that new interest you've been wanting to try.

In the first week of lock down, supported by Leeds Students Radio (LSR). Leeds University Union (LUU) organised a virtual fruity which attracted students to party virtually. It was also the first social gathering purely online for most of the current Leeds students. Other societies also started to quickly organise social events online to help combat the feeling of loneliness and remind everyone we are in this together.

There has also been a lot of academic panel discussions held online. A large number of students joined the #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) discussions online and joined into hear lectures related to the pandemic worldwide. It’s been exciting to find the new ways of learning and also experience the power of social media in protests. Upon reflection of this, more and more students began to think how their voice can lead to the decolonisation of the cirriculum within their university. This pandemic will not stop us from learning new things and pushing for social improvement. Even as I am home and keep up to date with the U.K. news, it has been interesting to see certain conflicts arise in international relations under pandemic too and how the political discipline may change because of it.

This week, together with other LUU student executive officers, we underwent a training week with National Union of Students (NUS). It was supposed to be a face to face event, networking with other university officers and share our ideas to represent student voice effectively. I was lucky to be in a group with active participants, which gave us a chance to exchange ideas, such as student life under the pandemic, decolonising the university, and ensure better engagement between home and international students. We wouldn’t have received the chance to meet each other in a small chat room if we were actually face to face in a large group of people. This proves online platforms do provide a chance for us to talk with each other and still feel comfortable to raise questions.

I started my executive officers’ role about two months ago and there has been lots of funny moment during online meetings with other officers. Either a cat walked into the screen or your colleague laughed at your freeze faces because of network issues. Facing this unpredictable pandemic era, we are more united as a team and we look to support each other to ensure students still enjoy their time safely when they return back in September, October or January. We will continue to give useful suggestions so that new policy or change can solve the students issues.