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2029-03-25
Ormond College Student Update, 25 March 2020
HIST30060 This is an email from March 2020, describing the introduction of strict new COVID restrictions at Ormond College, the largest residential College at UniMelb. As the document describes, this meant that any students who remained on campus went into full "lock-in" -- they were not allowed to leave at all, not even for essential shopping as per the rest of the state. This caused many students to flee campus and end up in unstable short-term accomodation, rentals, and sublet's (myself included). This email goes some way to demonstrate the impact of COVID on specific communities such as residential colleges, and on students more broadly. Beyond this, it's personally impactful to me because this email signalled that I had less than a day to make the decision between being homeless and remaining locked-in at College. Like many, I chose homelessness and eventually ended up in a sublet with friends-of-friends. -
2020-07-09
Covid-19, Education and Making Choices
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced almost everyone to make decisions, some small and some drastic. The following is a reflection of how my studies as an international student at the University of Melbourne, Australia were affected by the pandemic. The date is 9 July 2020. Covid-19 cases have been on the rise in Melbourne in the past two weeks. This trend seems specific to Melbourne as the rest of Australia seems to have the situation under control. I receive an email from the University. The email announces that the studies for the second semester (July to November 2020) will take place entirely online. The majority of semester 1 (March to June) had also taken place online. But students were hopeful that a return to face-to-face teaching would be possible given the relatively low number of cases of Australia up to late June 2020 (when the second wave started). As an international student, I must make a choice. To stay in Melbourne or to fly home. I need to do so quickly, since incoming flights to Melbourne had already been suspended, and there is no guarantee that the same might not happen to outgoing flight. In my case, returning home seemed the obvious choice. I would rather have stayed in Melbourne (a city I love!), but alas at least to return means to be closer to friends and family during these times. I write this in October 2020, the semester is almost over, and the number of daily cases in Melbourne has now dropped significantly (to single digits), after months of strict measures. For much of the rest of the world however, there does not seem to be an end in sight. Submitted as part of the HIST30060 Making History subject at the University of Melbourne.