This personal piece was written by Jade Lim – a 4th year psychology student at UQ as part of her placement with the BeUpstanding team As we are all practicing social distancing rules, the majority of us are working from home. While doing university remotely, I felt like I have been stuck in a continuous loop where the concept of time and space were merely a distant dream. Okay, maybe my situation during this pandemic isn’t that dramatic, but honestly I have been so unmotivated to do anything and I am sure many students feel the same way. With the transition of classes from being offline to strictly online, I find it even harder to keep up with the tutorials and lectures than when I had to go on campus. The lack of face-to-face communication and accountability allowed procrastination to occur easily. Alas, being at home calls for distractions or the endless amount of ways you can preoccupy yourself besides actually doing something productive. The fridge, TV and bed all seem to call out my name whenever an assignment deadline is closing in. Besides that, being extremely reliant on technology and the internet has made me prone to having strained…
It is a marathon – not a sprint: perspectives from quarantine
This personal post is written by guest blogger Meg Grealy – who speaks of her experience of returning from overseas and into quarantine. Had you asked me in January, or even the beginning of March, what my April days were looking like they would sound achievable, nothing too extreme, just the routine of a twenty-something who had just moved to the UK on a working visa. I would have said a morning run (so I could make it across the finish line of the 10k I’d signed up to run on May 3rd) a 3-day work week, and an exploratory beer in various pubs across my new city. In hindsight, the only thing I managed to get right is the daily run (although it’s purpose is now to harness endorphins for the day). And yet the daily run is maybe the only thing that has kept me sane and allowed me to stay present in a period where everything is confusing. It seems the only effective strategy of taking control is to muddle through conflicting emotions and anxiety-inducing news cycles. As we started this year during a bushfire crisis, I feel as if there has been a delay in…