Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, there was no college last week, or this week. Last week I caught up on my work, wrote up my thoughts on the case studies, but it did feel a little odd. It was hard to concentrate. It is still hard to concentrate to be honest. It’s taken me until now to properly formulate my thoughts into something legible. Being stuck indoors is an interesting experience, to say the least. I wouldn’t mind so much if I could just do as I pleased. If I could immerse myself in an audiobook, read a book in peace or be left alone for three hours to really dig into an assignment, this isolation lark would be a breeze. I’m very comfortable in my own company, and I can fill my own time very easily. In fact, this extra down-time would be great, as I do have several little jobs to do – finishing them off would stop the nagging in the back of my mind.
We are in self-isolation right now, starting week two on Monday, so me, my wife, my son and my wife’s parents are here 24 hours a day, and I don’t feel like I have the freedom to do as I please. My son demands attention, and I gladly give it to him, but the only time I truly get to myself is after he’s gone to bed, and strangely enough, it is quite tiring sitting around doing nothing all day – most nights after I’ve put him to bed I feel like going to sleep myself. Sometimes I can’t get to my computer to do some writing if someone is in the room already, so I settle for doing something semi-constructive instead.
I don’t want to go out into the world once our isolation is over. I do not want this virus. I know I would survive it, but my son and wife have underlying respiratory conditions, I don’t want to catch it, and then pass it on to them. On one hand I want to go to work and help – do my part for the local community, but on the other hand, I don’t want to catch this virus. As I work in a supermarket I’m classed as a keyworker, so Jake can go to school if we need him to, but I don’t want him to, it’s too risky. It’s a strange time we’re living in. Life has changed profoundly in a matter of weeks. It all feels very unnatural.
As a class we have a WhatsApp group that we use for sharing ideas and posting any handouts for any of our classmates that were absent one week for whatever reason, and recently the mood has been very sombre and reflective. There are a lot of questions about how we’re going to finish the course, how we are going to do the assessment, when can we record and transcribe the hour-long roleplay and what units we have left to do… There are a lot of unknown aspects that are up in the air at the moment. I’m sure the answers will come in time, but I understand that it can’t happen too soon, and that a lot of other people are in similar positions with regard to exams, qualifications and such. It’s best not to rush back to anything at the moment with all this going on.
I’m looking forward to moving on to the next unit and the challenge of something new to dig my teeth into; but at the same time I miss my classmates as I feel we’ve really gelled as a unit. I also feel a little upset I’m missing out on valuable skills practise in the roleplays, as I feel this is my weakest area.
