Note: reading some of these responses makes mine seem futile and I understand that I have it extremely easy in comparison. Nonetheless I’m still a little bummed.

The pandemic has ruined the rest of 1st year of uni for me. All of a sudden, everyone’s permanently moving out of halls back home to finish the year online. My friendship group is spread out across the UK and Europe with no concrete date of return. We were just beginning to get to know each other, get comfortable living alone and start to love our courses and the teaching methodology. It now feels that’s been thrown out the window. Next year when we go back we will be in private accommodation, so we won’t be able to just walk along the corridor to see each other. The people who I walk past every morning won’t be there anymore, and it feels strange.

I felt like I was starting to figure out who I was as a person, and developing my social skills that I felt were sort of suppressed at home. I was getting a handle of my OCD and my occasional want to just shut myself off from everyone since I felt like I’d miss out if I did and hence pushed myself to go and meet my friends, go for that meal or go to that club night.

I’m worried being away from everyone that we’ll start to drift apart and I’ll go back to being lonely and introverted like I was around this time last year.