Aurelie is second year student studying BA Events Management, over to Aurelie:
Like many other students during my the uncertain times of government lockdown in the UK, I had to go back home in March. Being an international student also added a layer of difficulty. I found myself saying goodbye to my flatmates as the uni closed, finding storage for my stuff and getting the next flight to the USA.
It felt very overwhelming and was quite the unknown at this point, at a time where all my deadlines were due whilst not knowing when or whether I would come back to the London.
But within a few months, as lockdown eased in the UK over the summer, Greenwich students have been able to start preparing to go back to uni in September.
When I planned my travels back to London, I had made sure to properly do my research into what was legally expected once I arrived.
I found all the information I needed on the Gov.uk Entering the UK page which made me feel a lot more informed on how to go through my return as smoothly as possible. I made sure to prepare face masks, gloves and hand sanitiser to make sure I stayed safe during the journey and had to plan ahead for my quarantine upon arrival.
The USA was one of the countries on the list for mandatory 14 day self-isolation and I was pleased to find out that the uni's accommodation services are very supportive with the possibility of having to move out during the year due to COVID-19 and can help international students self isolate by providing them with an earlier move-in date free of charge.
I have now returned to the UK, done my quarantine, and feel excited to move back into uni again.
I had actually expected these few weeks to be more stressful then they actually turned out to be. My flight went smoothly because airports are quite empty at the moment, even though wearing a mask constantly for hours on a plane is quite difficult.
As long as I had filled out the passenger locator form for quarantine I needed before arrival, everything else through airports and border controls happened as normal, and it was in fact faster and easier than expected.
At first, I was dreading quarantine since I am an outdoorsy person and get bored easily, but it gave me the time to unwind, focus on hobbies, catch up on Netflix and prepare my move-in back to uni (I chose to self-isolate in an Airbnb studio). It flew by much faster than I expected and now I am back out and about in London hanging out with friends again (while social distancing).
Overall, even though everything went well, I am still very relieved that this entire process is over and now that I am settled back, I can start getting my academic mindset back. And even though these are strange times we live in and having to wear a mask and social distance on campus is something to get used to, I actually am very excited for having more of an online experience when it comes to my learning, which makes me feel safer and gives me more control over my work-life balance.
As of now, accepting change and adapting to the current situation is for the best until things return to normal, I am still very confident that this year in university will be just as amazing as my previous one!
Thanks for sharing your experiences Aurelie!
