If this was a post a year ago I could have never imagined myself writing anything along these lines. Very naively, the same thing even to go back 3 months. Lucky until this point, myself or no one I knew had be directly effected by this virus. Until this point, suddenly me and many around me all started to catch it. Inevitably this was sadly going to happen at some point, living in a lively student city often labelled 'the hotspot' of covid-19 it was no surprise that so many tested positive or was around a positive case and still had to begin isolation.
I am writing today's post on day 10. My last day of isolation! Over the past 10 days, a lot has changed, not just for me but society as a whole through this pandemic. When I originally tested positive my first initial feeling was guilt and shame. Catching covid was something completely out of my control, I followed and respected all rules and procedures in place, but it is important to be honest. Although I directly did not want these things to happen and it could not be helped, I was struck by an immediate wave of guilt. Myself testing positive, meant my whole university groups one day on campus per week had to be put online as we had all been in contact. This 1 hour 30 in person work was invaluable to us all, so when I knew it was 'my fault' it had to stop for us, I felt terrible. My guilt did start to lift as a few days later the university confirmed that all teaching for all pupils was not to be online until the end of October due to the high and quick rise in cases in order to protect all staff and students. It is a very surreal feeling. I have not been outside for days and as soon as I can, I almost feel like society is pausing again with stricter implications and more places closing again on Monday. This ramble brings me onto the main bit of today's post. What is it like to study with symptoms ...
It started as a cough, at the time I did not know whether it was just a case of the flu but I got tested just to be sure as I had been around people who had tested positive. The next morning (after the test) I woke up and immediately felt worst. The cough got worse and I felt very achey. I like the refer to the ache as the silent symptoms. The cough, temperature and lack of smell/taste are a universal symptoms, but the aching is the symptom I have heard and experienced most young people talk about. Later this day, I got the dreaded NHS text confirming my worries that I had tested positive for covid-19. It first came with a lot of admin, contacting everyone I knew, phoning home (as I live away), it took me a while to process that I actually had it. I consider myself lucky, yes I have lost my smell and taste, been coughing and generally wiped out and feel so unwell but this virus takes so differently to different people and sadly has been fatal for many. Lets move this onto a more positive note, the NHS! The track and tracing service rang me straight away and calmly together we worked through everywhere that I had been and contacted anyone who was at risk. In addition to this initial call, every other day here and there, they would ring me to check how I was doing physically and mentally. They were checking I was following all self isolation restrictions by law, and made sure I was in contact with friends and family and wasn't alone. This was something I never expected as never heard anyone talk about it, and I think more should! I live in a fairly large student house so in addition to university work, we playing lots of board games, watching hundreds of films (hundreds is not even an exaggeration!!) and even got dressed up one night and hosted our own party to keep ourselves busy still enjoying our student life. A lot of time was also spent sleeping; although I was hardly doing anything I have never felt so tired and exhausted so a lot of rest was had!
When I was not asleep, the rest of my time was spent doing work. On top of the stress and uncertainty of testing positive and what the next few days/weeks would entail, I had a big deadline. My isolation finishes on the 9th October (today) at 23.59, and my first university assignment is due at 21.00. I am writing this now as I have just submitted it. Pressing that button for the first time was the relief I needed after a strange 2 weeks. Usually, I am always motivated, I am so passionate about my course and future I am always so eager to further my learning and research more, this particular assignment I found it so hard to 'crack on' with. If this was a written assignment, I probably would have found it slightly easier but this particular one was a recored presentation. These are usually my favourite types of assessment as when I start talking I can't stop, I and really enjoy presenting and sharing my passion with others, however this was the last type of assessment I felt I could access. I had the assessment planned but I had to formally make my slides and record my voice overs. (due to the closed campus we had to record voice overs for our presentation). My first challenge was headaches. As a result of covid I had quite strong headaches when concentrating. This made it hard when sitting down for long periods to concentrate and get lots of high quality research and work done. In addition to this, I lost my voice which presented a multitude of its own challenges when trying to record my presentation. When recording it, it would often cut out and I would have to re record bits and bobs. I additionally found it hard when I was listening to it back and editing as I could hear in myself how I was not at my full best. I found this personally quite challenging as I always like to put my full effort in and although I have done this, and so proud of myself for working through the assessment when going through uncertainty, I know I could have done the better if I was not feeling so unwell. In reflection of this, I have come up with a few top tips for working to a deadline when your feeling under the weather:
- Drink plenty of water (and take some paracetamol too!)
- Split up your work, take lots of short breaks
- Set up and plan, organise what your are going to do and split it up over a period of time
- Stick to your personal timeline; be strict on yourself but also recognise when you need to breaks
- Get plenty of sleep; get a few early nights in and set your alarm. I find I am most productive in the mornings
I know today's post is a little impromptu and not exactly linked to teaching, I however thought it was crucial to document as a student to share my experience and tips with others. Im eager to share in my next post some ideas and my thoughts that I developed through my assignment, focusing on normality and ability in todays education system. I am excited to focus some more structured discussion around a student teachers preceptive on todays education system.
- Miss Yeoman
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