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Arriving at the gates of the student accommodation late last week felt quite surreal.
It had been more than seven months since I packed my bags and left in the middle of a confinement. While everything had changed in the outside world, everything inside my student apartment felt the same.
Even before the scenes of students partying in Galway this week, it was hard to imagine that he would be here for long. The hustle and bustle of hallways and groups of new friends are places that would make public health officials break a sweat.
‘Pressure cooker’
College life right now is a pressure cooker ready to explode, and the question has to be: How did we allow it to get this far?
Like me, thousands of students across the country, many of them for the first time, left for college this week for a new academic year. After an unprecedented summer of events, we returned with energy and enthusiasm to get back to normal.
The hallways of my student apartment have been filled with the sounds of chatter and laughter from new housemates. This enthusiasm for the majority has found its expression in discreet meetings within the guidelines.
For the minority, however, it has resulted in drunken scenes that have made headlines and sparked outrage in the media and online.
Now it feels like the events of the past few months are a distant memory. The idea of catching Covid-19 is starting to seem more like an inevitable reality than a distant nightmare.
My phone rang and rang throughout last Friday and Saturday after the government announced that universities would have to move online whenever possible. I received emails from all departments and teachers, all with the same line, “today was a surprise for us.”
If the institutions were shocked, you can imagine how shocked the students were by the news.
Many of us had traveled across the country to live in expensive student housing and to dig with strangers.
Are we safe now?
If I cannot attend the lectures, how can I be safe in my apartment building, interacting with other students? It is difficult because we want to be here, we want to learn.
People are understandably upset with students, given recent socializing videos. But maybe it’s time for people to realize that students have been underrepresented and treated negatively during this pandemic.
Despite the government’s request to all Irish universities to introduce improved measures for the protection of public health, it is obvious to many of us that this approach fell far short of what was required.
The consequences associated with the reopening of tertiary institutions should not have been an unexpected event. Government and university agencies had plenty of time to prepare.
The UK and France are seeing an increase in Covid infections due to a series of outbreaks at universities. The risks have been well publicized both nationally and internationally, we knew this was coming.
Science tells us that while young people are less likely to have symptoms, they are still infectious and can pass the virus to others without knowing it. However, it is also the case that many students are away from home and no longer interact with high-risk older relatives and relatives.
‘In youth we learn, in age we understand’
If you take your own personal social responsibility out of the equation and rethink what you were like in your teens or early 20s, what would you do?
My first week back to college, according to tradition, was celebrated with pints with friends. However, things were far from normal. There was no dancing at the tables or drinks at the bar.
Instead, we limited ourselves to a table we had reserved in a pub with drinks a little too expensive for a student’s budget. There were times when life seemed to return to normal, but they didn’t last long.
Between the masks in the bathroom and the constant stream of hand sanitizer, it was clear that this was a night out in the days of Covid. As we all come to terms with the realities of the “new normal,” college students are trying to come to terms with seismic shift, just like everyone else.
We are faced with an uncertain academic year, part-time employment is lost or at risk, interaction and experiences with friends are limited, life is on hiatus and all important parts of growing up in Ireland are affected. I think it is important to understand that there is no conspiracy among the student population to undermine what has been accomplished to reduce the virus thus far.
Most are doing their best, but it has been an incredible challenge. Mental health professionals who work with adolescents have already recognized that restrictions affect the student population differently.
It is developmentally appropriate that we prioritize friendships. I think that social distancing from friends has a much more negative emotional toll on younger people than it does on more mature age groups.
A big part of growth is creating social relationships. The need to socialize, have fun, and hang out with friends doesn’t come from a selfish place in many cases. Although, it is obvious that the scope needs to be addressed.
Over the weekend it was reported that students at some colleges would face fines and even expulsion for violating the guidelines. In particular, students who are organizing, organizing or attending a meeting.
Perhaps it is time for the government to force all institutions to subscribe to the agreed guidelines to prevent Covid? There may be an argument in favor of fines and some kind of measure to prevent people from losing their minds.
As a student returning to college under these rules, for my part, I would make sure that others around me don’t jeopardize my education because of a hangover. I’m also pretty sure Mom and Dad would be up in arms if they had wasted their hard-earned money to see their kids back home and locked up again after just a few weeks.
We need a more proactive approach. We need leadership and not scapegoats. Yes, a cohort of students is disappointing the larger student population, but they do not represent ALL students.
You need to act now before it gets out of control and before the minority ruins it for the majority. Educators must step up and the government must enforce regulations to ensure compliance.
Messages must be clear and specific. Can I go to campus for a pint and a sandwich at a college bar, but not a lecture? There are countless examples of how students were left in the dark about their future in recent months. For this reason, the blame for not adhering to the guide cannot rest firmly with the students.
Going back to college will always present problems, and everyone must take responsibility for the problems we now face. There is definitely a mental vision among students that our indestructible youth will protect us from this pandemic.
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The evidence clearly indicates that this idea is a myth, but we must spread the message.
A cheep UCC student Ben Quigley was trending this week when he spoke about how he was left unable to breathe and “temporarily paralyzed from the neck down” nearly two weeks after testing positive for Covid. The 20-year story left many shocked and made many students (including me) think twice about our plans for next week.
Perhaps Dr. Ronan Glynn needs to take a break this week and let Ben take his place at Covid briefings.
Harry McCann is a 21-year-old student at University College Cork and an award-winning entrepreneur.
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