My Lockdown Experience
This article aims to share my experience of the current Covid-19 pandemic as a 20 year old university student living in London.
Flashback to my second year of university I remember the UK government advised us that we had nothing to worry about regarding the Covid-19 virus. My biggest worry was my end of year exams and securing an internship to further enhance my skillset in a tough job market. But fast forward a couple months we were in a national lockdown and my exams were cancelled.
My exams had been replaced with open book exams which was weird since I have never sat an open book exam before. But it did help as I was able to look over my revision notes however, the questions set had become more difficult. From a personal point of view, the pandemic has really had an impact on my social life, fitness goals and finally my ability to obtain my driver’s license. Before the pandemic my leisure time was mainly spent working out, playing football and hanging out with my friends visiting many different restaurants around London.
With the lockdown access to the gym’s has been varied so it was hard to train consistently and continue to reach my fitness goals. I have had to adjust by training in my garden using free-weight exercises such as pull ups and push ups. Although this does help me retain some strength it has not really helped me retain my old physique as I have been noticeably ‘deflating’ over the pandemic. What I miss the most about attending gyms was the social aspect as it was like a community for me and my friends as we would push each other to work harder therefore, training by myself has become a lot less enjoyable. Working out is also very important for my mental health as it is a good way to escape your problems.
In terms of my social life, I am used to seeing my friends regularly every week but obviously due to the pandemic I have not been able to. However, social media has made it easy to stay in contact and play video games together. The pandemic has also disrupted my flow in terms of my ‘driving career’. My lessons have been constantly disrupted with lockdowns which has made it difficult to build momentum and the wait to get a test is long and uncertain.
Now time to shine some light on the positives of lockdown from my personal experience. Although online lectures are disappointing, having recorded lectures allows you to access it at any time and refresh your knowledge on the topic. Another positive is the ability to sleep in due to no longer having to spend time travelling. I have also managed to save a lot of money that I would usually spend on train fares. So, lockdown does come with some pro’s as well as cons.
Just like everyone else I cannot wait to get back to normality. I feel like the pandemic has fast forwarded me into the ‘big cruel world’ because I thought I would have around 2 years to enjoy before responsibilities creep up on me but, when the pandemic is over I would have missed out on so many experiences and would be expected to get a graduate job in a tough job market.
