Lockdown in college accommodation - GAB family

I am a biochemistry 3rd year and following the lockdown arrangements for Trinity Term, my exams got postponed till next year. Nonetheless, I decided to stay in Oxford for TT and live in off-site college accommodation rather than returning at home. I was extremely lucky to spend my lockdown with three of my friends who also decided to stay in Oxford and now I can comfortably call them my "lockdown family" who I will remember for many years to come. Over the past three months they were the people who supported me the most and I grew so close to while dealing with feelings of homesickness, loss of motivation and restlessness. They helped me maintain a routine and were always there as a welcoming face or someone to have dinner with and chat. They made this lockdown as good as it could be and an extremely valuable experience that helped me grow as a person. Two of my friends had their finals this term and being there for them helped to get my mind of things and in holding each other accountable we managed to create a routine, which I found to be extremely important during lockdown. A typical day usually had a slow start in the morning and some work ("light revision" as I like to call it because I had not much else to do apart from some tutorial work). As many other people during the lockdown I took up baking and running to stay busy which was a good opportunity to explore Oxford outside the usual places I visit during term. Another habit I tried to maintain was afternoon Skype calls with mum to fight the homesickness and to keep in touch with things happening outside the Oxford bubble. The evenings were usually the best part of lockdown as they started with quick dinners which devolved into 4-hour long catch up sessions in one of our kitchens playing games of would you rather and making tik toks.

2020-04 to 2020-06 See all items with this value

South Oxford, UK.

Two of the pictures are my friends after they got a somewhat different trashing experience outside their own staircases. The other picture is all four of us in the common room of our accommodation where we spend most of our time doing work but mostly procrastinating. One picture is from the Rhodes Must Fall protest on High Street on the 9th of June. It was probably the most people gathered together in one place we had seen in a while, all wearing masks and peacefully protesting to make their wishes heard by the university. The last picture is from when I volunteered for my college's initiative to provide meals for the homeless of Oxford during this extremely challenging time.