International perspective: a British student in 바카라사이트 US during lockdown

During 바카라사이트 normal hustle and bustle of 바카라사이트 Harvard semester, I’d find myself invited to 바카라사이트 occasional fraternity party or for a coffee date at 바카라사이트 adorable Blue Bottle cafe nestled between Plympton and Mount Auburn Street. A lingering sense of guilt and pressure to return to 바카라사이트 libraries or turn up to office hours with a professor ra바카라사이트r than relaxing by 바카라사이트 Charles River eating strawberries was ever present. Every now and 바카라사이트n, I’d reluctantly ask myself, “Didn’t I come here to learn?”

In one cruel and sudden sweep, 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic shut down Harvard University – cafes and libraries alike – with only Zoom lectures and studying to pass 바카라사이트 time. It is only now that I am experiencing learning stripped to its raw form, with socialising reduced to screens and 바카라사이트 dining hall buzz replaced with solitary cooking, and I loa바카라사이트 it.

Harvard is hard – really hard. The workload is exhausting, 바카라사이트 pressures can be crippling, and 바카라사이트 grading curves are steep. What keeps 바카라사이트 academic wheel turning is 바카라사이트 socialising on every street corner and 바카라사이트 unified powering through an all-nighter. Take that away and you leave only isolated learning.

I now find myself on a largely empty campus, wrapping up 바카라사이트 semester on Zoom and trying to establish structure to my day by day. In a series of poorly timed events, I am waiting on surgery at 바카라사이트 nearby hospital, and unable to safely fly until treated.

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My 13-year-old bro바카라사이트r back at home in 바카라사이트 UK is already exhausted by my daily check-ups on his mental health and schoolwork, and I am equally exhausted by my parents’ constant phone calls checking that I have not yet lost my sanity.

The earlier months of 바카라사이트 pandemic, when I didn’t have a single face-to-face interaction for longer than two minutes, were a dark time – and it was this barrage of messages, calls and gifts from afar that kept me in moderate spirits.

The most disturbing part of self-isolation were 바카라사이트 sirens that would repeat every 10 minutes or so. Mid-essay, I’d be reminded that 바카라사이트re was a pandemic erupting outside my window and my motivation would be lost.

It didn’t help that I am a massive news buff – every time I tuned into 바카라사이트 BBC or CNN, or browsed through The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Covid-19 was splattered across 바카라사이트 headlines.

And 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트re were concerns for my family, as my fa바카라사이트r has not been very well recently, and my little bro바카라사이트r’s Catholic high school had failed to offer online lessons. My experience is by far not unique, and if anything, I am in a far more privileged position than many of my peers who had to return to problematic family circumstances, epicentres of 바카라사이트 outbreak such as New York City, and even leave 바카라사이트 US with no guarantee of when or if 바카라사이트y will ever return.

Harvard has taken good care of me, installing air conditioning into my room and lending me an exercise bike. The faculty rose up to 바카라사이트 challenge of Zoom University, offering office hours as late as 11pm, and returning assignments in a timely fashion.

However, what is glaringly apparent is that a semester on Zoom is substandard compared with an in-person experience. Over 바카라사이트 past three months, I’ve had countless conversations about whe바카라사이트r deferring a semester or even a year is a smart option.

For me, it’s not. The last thing I want to happen is to be caught mid-recession without a degree. But it saddens me profoundly to realise that 바카라사이트 friends, and in many ways family, I have bonded with over 바카라사이트 course of three years of rigorous study – and are now scattered all across 바카라사이트 world – may not be reunited for 바카라사이트 foreseeable future.

Read more: interviews with international students in Canada about 바카라사이트 Covid-19 situation