A week or so before returning to St Andrews to start my second year, I messaged a friend I made in first semester. I asked her about how her summer had been, what she had been up to, and how she felt about coming back to university. She replied that she was excited about returning, but almost felt like she was a fresher all over again. The oddness of this feeling, of having studied at a university for a year but simultaneously feeling unfamiliar with it, was something I could definitely relate to.
I started at the University of St Andrews in 2020, when restrictions were heightening after laxity during the summer months. In October, for example, meeting rules were a maximum of six people from two households and all indoor premises were to close after 6pm. I can tell you now, if you decide to meet someone outdoors after 6pm in October in Scotland, you run the risk of hypothermia! Fitting to their purpose, the restrictions did not allow abundant opportunities for socialising. And like everyone else, I was doing tutorials online or in-person, sitting two metres apart with face coverings. Side note: I completely understand that these rules were the same for everyone and that they helped keep infection rates down. But, writing them down makes even more real the bizarreness of the entire situation.
I joined a few societies and met people where I could. I managed a few in-person classes which felt like a glimpse into the uni experience. To be honest, I enjoyed the routine first semester brought, and I absolutely loved the town from the start. So, whilst it wasn’t the most exciting term, given the restrictions, I felt I made the most of it. (It’s also fair to say though that I don’t know what I was missing out on – if I had ever experienced a tradition such as Raisin, I might have felt more hard done-by to have it cancelled!).
I went home at Christmas and received ‘The Email’ in January that advised students to stay home for second semester. So, from December to the end of August, I was back at home with my parents doing online tutorials. This was the case for many people, and in no way was my situation unique, but the experience in itself was bizarre. It’s strange to have lived with four other people, to have seen them every day, isolated with them, memorized their pets’ names, only to then not see them again for eight months. It is an odd sensation to feel like you know someone without ever actually meeting them, or at least not without a face covering. And now I’m back, it feels awkward to message people I met very few times asking them if they’d like to go for a drink. So, as my friend said, it kind of feels like being a fresher again in that I don’t know all that many people, and the people I do know, I haven’t seen in months.
But, there are certain aspects in which I don’t feel like a fresher. I chose the people I am living with this year, and I feel like I know them well (bar one who was a mutual friend). There are societies I joined last year which I am still a part of this year. I know my way around town and where the favourite spots are (I mean there are only three streets- even I can manage that!).
I am excited for the year to begin again and am optimistic about the possibility for events to go ahead. Last year there were no big in-person events being planned – the best you were going to get was a Teams call. This year, every time I open Facebook, I see a new in-person event.
So, just as teaching this year will be ‘hybrid’ – a mix of online and in person, I also feel like my experience will be hybrid, a mix of knowing what I’m doing and also having no clue. I think it’s important to remember (but also easy to forget) that lots of other people feel like this too.
I’m hopeful that this year will be a little more normal. I don’t want to use the word ‘bizarre’ when describing my university experience. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a ‘normal’ year, whatever that might be.