As a former university student, I took for granted the ease of walking around campus and building relationships with like-minded students (perhaps I was too optimistic or simply naive). As staged as the picture below may be, it captures the significant elements of psychological wellbeing that lockdown students missed out on during their time at university. It also captures (by my own admission) what I thought university would be like. I was mistaken.

Visits to the student bar, sneaking drinks on the bus and bonding in societies and intramural teams are the most overlooked things at university. I didn’t know how important these social activities were until the national lockdown in March 2020. I went from being laborious to lazy, from motivated to deflated, and from excited to underwhelmed. Heading to the library in my latest pair of baggy jeans to napping in my room for hours as my Netflix account continued to ask me if I am still watching – yes Netflix, I AM STILL WATCHING. At times I felt like a snail, buried in the shell of my room.

In all seriousness, the pause of university social interations took a toll on my mental health to the extent that I rarely interacted with my flat mates. Alongside thousands of students across the UK, my flatmates also saw increased difficulties with depression and anxiety indicating that a separate issue was brewing: A mental health pandemic.

In the wake of COVID-19, students suffered in silence. Their issues were overshadowed by the media’s attention on the vaccine rollout and severe travel restrictions. Students also suffered from lost loved ones, health concerns, extreme workloads and the peculiarity of online exams, to name a few, all whilst living away from home in new and unfamiliar environments (“student life”, eh?). The transition into adulthood, be that managing your student loan (and all that DEBT) or finding people to live with, was not an easy feat. And what did the universities do in the meantime? Send out some warming emails or conforming words like “we are here for you”? Issue more staff support roles? I mean, come on. One University of Exeter student recalls the time he called his university support line and reached an automated answering service. “Email us at blah blah blah to book an appointment”. In a time when supporting students during this troubled time was the least universities could do, they had fallen at the first hurdle. The detriment that the COVID-19 pandemic has left on us and our loved ones has been overlooked by universities and only in the distant future will society truly realise the heavy cost to students and the future of our country.