by Tracey Bowers-Lee
While we are all trying to cope with the realities of COVID-19, students around the world are going through similar struggles.
On March 20, British prime minister Boris Johnson announced strict social distancing procedures across the U.K. People were to only shop for essential needs and limit exercise to one form a day. They were also told to stay home unless their jobs were considered essential.
At the time, in Manchester, England, 22-year-old Tenage McDowell was spending a two-week break home from London, where she is completing her Master of Science in Mental Studies at King’s College. She already holds a Bachelor’s in Psychological and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Cambridge.
McDowell was supposed to graduate next year after completing her dissertation.
What challenges have you faced with social distancing?
I basically socially isolate on a daily basis. I live in a flat with two of the tenants. However, with uni work, I just keep to myself, it's all I really have to do at the moment. I’m isolating anyway and I have been since last September. So, this is kind of just standard procedure for me. The only difference is that, because it's imposed by an external force, it's a bit different. It feels like a punishment. And from that perspective, it kind of gets you a little bit down. But in general, I think I'm coping fine because it's just what I do anyway.
How has the pandemic affected your studies?
All lectures have been cancelled. All educational settings have been cancelled. Exams have become remote and have changed into coursework or online assessments which are timed and dissertation projects have been cancelled.
What was your dissertation on?
My dissertation was collecting data about whether high-intensity interval training is feasible and acceptable as a treatment for improving mental health. And we would collect data about that and then analyze it during the summer. However, because we have to social distance, we can no longer take part in that placement and therefore have no data to complete a dissertation.
When were you supposed to graduate?
Graduation would have been next year January for the course would have finished in September this year.
Do you think the course will be done in September?
Our course will be done. Whether we can graduate, we don't know. We need to submit a dissertation. But, I mean, I'm not sure what's going to happen with that. Some people have been given completely new dissertations to do, which can be done completely remotely. However, my supervisor has asked us to do that. I think we're going to see if we can do some other sort of alternative arrangement.
What are some things the U.K. is doing to help promote social distancing?
I don't think the kind of persuading for us to stay in is strong. Like, everyone's doing it off their own accord. People who have senses are staying in, I mean, and then other people are still going out. The government are increasingly trying to encourage us to stay in but because they weren't very assertive in the beginning, people are still taking advantage of going out and just ignoring measures. And theories are going around that it's linked to 5G. If you watch news reports down here and interviews, you'll just see people saying, ‘oh, I don't believe in this stuff’ or ‘social distancing is not going to help.’
Have any of your friends been affected by the pandemic?
Not health-wise, no, but my friend is final year of getting her medical degree in her sixth year. She still had finals to do but they just passed her and then immediately sent her into the workforce.
What do you think about the handling of the pandemic by the U.K. government?
Our government tackled it all wrong and it’s going to last at least over a year to get things back to normal. We implemented measures to prevent the virus way too late. I believe there's a narrative going around saying that our government was given two weeks to prepare and to buy ventilators and all different things to help prevent the spreading and the mortality rate of the virus, but they didn't. They just ignored all kinds of advice, especially from the EU because they're trying to leave the EU and dissociate from it. We've implemented things too late, which means that our cases are going to continue to rise. We're going to be in this for quite a long time. While other countries are stabilizing death rates now, we're still going up.
How do you feel your prime minister has dealt with the situation?
I’m going to laugh. It’s not funny but the way we have tried to deal with this situation is laughable. Why I didn't mention before is that our first strategy was herd immunity. The prime minister wanted everyone to, about 80 per cent of the population, to get the virus so that they can build up immunity. And it was kind of akin to the scene in Shrek. Well, Lord Farquaad says, “Some of you will die, but I'm okay with it.” That type thing. And then yeah, the first strategy was to let people die. And then there was controversy around that. And we then changed our strategy, but the government said that their excuse was that the strategy was based on a different virus that they've been modelling. Don't know, it just didn't make sense. But they soon came to realize that just wasn't the right response. Now, we're enforcing the social distancing measures and all of this and that, at first, everything was contradictory. Our prime minister actually has the virus and he went into intensive care today, or last night, and it's quite evident that we're dealing with it quite badly.
(Editor note: This interview was recorded on April 6, 2020.)
Comentarios