It's University But Not as We Knew it, Jim!

Many students, in the UK (and elsewhere), are off to start their degrees at University around now. This is, in deed, normally an exciting time when they can form new friendships and get to know varied course colleagues. For many, it's their first time as 'proper adults', with a first taste of semi-independence and responsibilities (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/12/i-suppose-youre-stuck-with-these-people-the-students-facing-an-uncertain-new-term). Things have, of course, dramatically changed in our Covid-19 decimated world, with their having the likelihood of being coralled into small groups with people they don't really know. Many of the introductory parties and the sessions where they can join societies have been placed on hold (or, in some cases, rendered illegal. It's not certain how much face-to-face contact they will get with academic staff (that can be a mixed blessing but a genuine 'meeting of minds' with an actual practioner can be important in guiding intellectual development). Things like practicals, field work, tutorials and seminars have all be made more difficult or have had to be removed from the curriculum. Will everything be on Zoom? How easy will it be to make return visits to home or have a visit from a family member or friend? Having said that, things are very different from my own first experience of university in the 1960's. I arrived at the University with a single suitcase in the days well before mobile telephones (my family didn't have a house phone, so letter writing was the only option and communication took at least a week). I have been impressed by the ingenuity shown by today's cohorts of freshers (even if they do now require a small truck to take their belongings to their accommodation). Many seem to have been using a variety of social platforms to contact the people they will be living or studying with. In this way, they not only get more information about where they will live and work, they can only prepare themselves for the idiosyncrasies of people that will share their 'bubble'. 'Shock/horror' media tales of 'wild' student parties have predictably started to appear but I think the present cohort are generally much more responsible than people were in my days. Good luck to all the new undergraduates and let's hope that there will be a return to something like 'normal' before the end of their studies!