It can be quite challenging changing the way you work… From being surrounded by hundreds of other students, busy with their daily life, to sitting at home, working online away from everyone else. It’s a huge transition that one needs to adjust to, but through the ups and downs of lockdown, the Uni of Surrey has had our backs through it all.

I’m a real control freak, so during this time of uncertainty where a lot has been out of my control, I’m grateful that my lecturers have enabled us students to take control of our studies. They’ve uploaded all our lecture notes and the associated Panapto’s in advance to our original University timetable, which has given me the control to decide, in my own time, when and which lectures I complete before the exam time approaches.

I receive regular updates via email and other social media platforms with how the University wishes to move forward during this period of time. The University and our lecturers have accommodated all our studies to continue online and have made changes to our assessments that will both benefit and enable us to perform our best while working online from home.

If studying online were to continue for longer, I would have absolutely no problem. I’ve found that I’ve gotten into a routine with working at home. It’s allowed me to fit in other activities into my daily life that I didn’t always get the chance to do when travelling into Uni every day. I’m now able to get in a morning workout and spending more time with my family in the evenings. I’m also able to control when I work and how long I work, to make sure I am working during the hours I’m most productive.

Working online has been a bright side during these times, and I’m privileged to be able to continue my studies through this.

I’ll see you here same time next week!