LIFESTYLE - Controlling The Uncontrollable
University lecture room lie empty, but the work hasn’t stopped
As the great Avril Lavigne once said; “What the Hell?”
And I can relate. From looming deadlines to the government throwing around restrictions like confetti, life seems to be moving at 100 miles per hour and that frightening feeling of having no control has actually taken control over our lives.
Everyone has a period during the pandemic that resonates with them. Maybe it was after you were laid off as collateral damage to yet another lockdown or the day you got the phone call that a loved one’s battle with COVID-19 had been lost. Lockdowns have been especially stressful for students.
Emails began rolling in informing us we would not be returning to complete our degree but help and support would be available for our final exams and dissertations which were due the following month. No big deal. Well, dear reader, I can tell you it was a very big deal because students were thrown into a pit of anxiety and uncertainty.
Online libraries and Spotify became my new best friends. Thankfully, my lecturers extended our dissertation deadline to May. I submitted mine the day I was supposed to be boarding a plane to Rome with my best friend. A few days before, my tickets to see Taylor Swift in July were refunded. I couldn’t help but feel like everything was going south.
Like many other students, I had no idea what I wanted to do after I completed my degree. So, I applied for a Master’s in Law at Ulster University and here I am six months later, not one foot placed on campus and debating which topic to choose for dissertation 2.0. Wish me luck.
From speaking to my peers and scrolling through Twitter, I learnt that many students are in the same boat. It’s perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed. Your feelings are valid, and you’re allowed to feel a wee bit sorry for yourself now and again.
I learnt that compartmentalising even the smallest of things, maintaining some sort of routine, talking to family and friends, investing my spare time in things that I enjoy doing, and above all, accepting the situation for what it is, enabled me to retain some control over my life.
The pandemic saw a lot of people adopt a ‘You do you’ mentality, to feel like they have some control over their lives, when life seems uncontrollable. If ordering yet another delivery is the highlight of your day, do it. If reading your favourite novel for the umpteenth time is an escape from reality, do it. If baking banana bread adds a little sweetness to your life…you get the point.
Students should be proud of themselves as they juggle the pandemic, university, work, and mental health. As we navigate this new normal, what this pandemic has taught us is that as students, we can adapt to even the most cataclysmic climates. Many students are now admirably campaigning for university fees to be refunded, some are living away from home, whilst others are adjusting to moving back home.
Read Jason Bunting’s article on Tuition Fees
It’s important to remember that there are some things which we have no control over, including the pandemic. I’m a stickler for planning but the pandemic has taught me that you cannot plan for anything in life. As most of us learn from home behind a laptop screen and a cluster of coffee cups, the best we can do, for now, is to sit and weather the storm.
During a period where life seems to be passing us by, it’s important that we make time to do the things that make life a little easier or better. Make time to do whatever brings you some sliver of happiness. And so, reader, I leave you with five simple pieces of advice: socially distance; wash your hands; wear a mask; try and take it one day at a time; and in a world that is out of control, don’t let it control you.
Georgia Stanley is a Law graduate from QUB and is currently studying for an LLM in Gender, Conflict and Human Rights at Ulster University.