COVID-19 restrictions should noy stop you from learning

THE COVID-19 focus has shifted to discussions on ‘dates and distances’ as colleges look to reopen in the autumn. This is purely for logistical reasons surrounding the safety of students as they look to return to the college campus and lecture halls.

However, if you’re a student then you should know that none of the above precludes you from preparing for a new college term - at least not in terms of doing some basic academic groundwork.

Whether you’ll be sitting in a lecture hall or in front of a laptop come the autumn, one important thing needs to be understood: learning goes on regardless. This is June and chances are – even allowing for the shambles of the Leaving Cert – that you have an idea of what you want to study in college. If so, then prepare by evaluating the course’s structure, reading list, methods of evaluation and criteria. This is all essential groundwork that can still be carried out outside the wider debate of social distancing and reopening colleges.

The new college year has the potential to be unlike any academic year experienced before now. You may have to adjust to the way you live in college digs, the way campus life is structured, and in the way courses are presented. But none of this is reason enough not to try and get a head start on the fundamental point of education, which is, essentially, about applying our minds to the task at hand. Get some learning in early, it never goes to waste.