Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Students talk about learning at home
Anxious students have revealed the struggle of adapting to working at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University, which have campuses in Medway and Canterbury, suspended all faceto-face teaching last week. The University of Greenwich – which has a campus in Chatham – also ditched lectures for online lessons. But students have told the KM Media Group how “stressed” they are – with some fearing they will not be able to attend their graduation.
Some international students had to make the heartbreaking decision to choose between staying on campus or flying back home. One of them, Medway-based Isabel Marš ne, from Latvia, said: “I had to leave university with only a day’s notice because my home country’s borders were closing, and I know many other international students had the same experience.
“So it’s been very stressful coming home and adjusting to the situation.
“I wasn’t able to bring home a lot of books and I obviously don’t have access to the library, so that makes all of my essays a little more complicated – but my lecturers have been very helpful.” She says she has been having online classes on Zoom regularly and been given extensions on assignments. She added: “Working from home is difficult because there are so many distractions. At university I would go to the library and work, but at home its so much easier to procrastinate.” University of Kent student Chloe Rose says one of her assignments is a documentary film, but she is unable to finish it due to the lockdown. “It’s super hard to concentrate when you’re working in your bedroom,” the 22-year-old said. “It’s lost its place of being somewhere to relax. “After working hard for three years, it’s really hard to accept your last piece of work won’t be to the standard you imagined it would be when you started it. “I feel like I’ve been robbed of my last day of university – being with my whole year all together, my last exam at university, and my last night out. “We’re not even sure if we will have a graduation which is just heartbreaking.” Chloe says she feels “stressed and anxious”, not only about her work, but not knowing if there will be any job opportunities.
Another international student, Charlotte Balmer, said she had to make the difficult decision to stay in the UK, rather than return to her home country, France.
“It feels like the world is crumbling around us but we still have to keep up with our deadlines,” the 22-year-old said. “I know I’m safe and privileged on so many levels – I have support from the university and my parents and friends back home.
“But the atmosphere is really hard to cope with.
“It’s a challenge to work from home, it’s hard to concentrate and stay positive. But my