After nine months of the coronavirus pandemic, students are struggling with loneliness, motivation problems and homesickness. In this story there are a few tips on how to get through this period, and three students talk about their experiences. Plus: what grade do they give this time in their lives?

Research by I&O Research for the Dutch news organization NOS shows that 69 per cent of young people are more lonely now than they were before the coronavirus crisis, and half are experiencing lower moods. A survey was conducted among 8300 students by Caring Universities (in which Utrecht, Maastricht, and Leiden Universities and VU University Amsterdam are participants). Students reported that their concentration is poorer (56 per cent); they are lonelier (52 per cent) and more unhappy (47 per cent). Students worry about falling behind in their studies (77 per cent), about their loved ones getting infected (58 per cent), and about the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis (26 per cent).

Surveys were held in Wageningen too, one of them by international student association ISOW. Society secretary and student Janina Fraas (24) says, ‘Half of the respondents feel there is a communication gap among students and between students and teachers. Two thirds say the pressure on them is too high. I find that myself: with online education you feel as though you’ve got to figure out everything for yourself. And about half are experiencing anxiety.’

Uncertainty

‘When the pandemic started, we thought: it will all be over in a couple of months,’ says Fraas. ‘Now those months have passed and we still don’t know when it will be over. There is a vaccine, but it can take months and maybe a year before the situation gets back to normal. That uncertainty is bad for people.’

Get outdoors as much as you can

One of the difficulties students run up against is having to do everything in the same room. Fraas: ‘Your bedroom is also your study and the place where you relax. I live in Hoevestein in a room 12 square metres in size. That just doesn’t work. I go to the university a lot to study, because you simply can’t stay in your room all the time.’

According to the survey, students would benefit if more social contact was possible on campus. Fraas: ‘Create more workstations and allow more activities on campus. People are really fed up with online activities that are supposed to be such fun.’ Work pressure needs to go down for students too, say many respondents. ‘The academic year just rolls on and there is hardly any breathing space between periods. You have to go on achieving constantly,’ says Fraas, ‘whereas a lot of international students are used to classic semesters in which you can study at a somewhat more relaxed pace and you’re only super-busy around exam weeks.’

What can students do about it themselves? Fraas: ‘Get out of doors as much as you can. Go for walks, go running, get some exercise. You’re allowed to meet outdoors in groups of three again, so that’s something. It’s important to get out of your student room for a while. And look for a nice hobby.’

Homesickness

Student psychologist Nereida Ordovas Garcia runs workshops on coping with homesickness, loneliness and the challenges of higher education. ‘Many students were already homesick,’ says Garcia. ‘The coronavirus has made it worse because now students also worry about the health of their friends and family at home. And before the crisis, if EU students felt really down, they could easily fly home for a long weekend. If you did that now, you would usually have to go into quarantine on arrival. And then you never know when you’ll be able to go back to Wageningen. That uncertainty only gets bigger the further away you come from.’

When the pandemic started, we thought: It will all be over in a few months

Garcia also sees a lot of students with motivation problems. ‘Students who are struggling with their courses often feel they are drowning in all the work,’ she says. ‘That can be very demotivating. In such cases I advise them to study at home in a more organized way. Get a diary and plan your day as precisely as you can. Not just with a list but with a tight timetable: reading this from 9 to 10; online class from 10 to 11; a break from 11 to 11.30 with a short walk, and so on.

Perhaps Garcia’s most important tip is to accept the situation, difficult as that may seem. ‘It is a stressful time. Many people have negative thoughts, feel stressed and tend to procrastinate. If you fight against it by saying “negative thinking is stupid”, you only reinforce those negative thoughts and end up feeling even worse. It is healthier to accept that it just is a difficult time. “OK, I’m feeling seriously stressed, but what can I do to live a worthwhile and satisfying life even so?”’

Three students on their struggles with the pandemic

‘December and January will be tough’

Meltem Meydankas (28), a Master’s student of Biosystems Engineering from Turkey, gives her student days in Wageningen so far a 5.

‘Even before the coronavirus crisis my programme was quite challenging, but the coffee breaks and the contact with my fellow students helped me get through it. Then education suddenly went online. The morning classes were OK, but by the afternoon my concentration was completely gone. That was really hard. At the moment I am working on my thesis, so the only person I see who has anything to do with my studies is my supervisor. And that’s online. I miss the coffee breaks and my friends. The days are getting shorter and it is dark for longer again. December and January will be tough. I only meet two or three friends. I avoid the rest because you can be infectious without having symptoms and if I get sick, I don’t have any family here to look after me. I live alone, so I can’t afford to take the risk.

I sometimes feel like I’m wasting my time here

I find it quite stressful working on my thesis all on my own. I have taken part in motivation workshops, but you always get the same tips, like “make a distinction between the space where you work and the space where you relax”. More easily said than done if you have a small room.

Studying abroad seemed like a good opportunity to travel, but I can’t go anywhere now. Turkish people need a visa to travel freely within the EU. I sometimes feel like I’m wasting my time here. I need to find an internship to be able to graduate. That’s not easy, as many companies are not taking anyone new on during the coronavirus crisis. One of my friends is doing an internship online, but I don’t think I can learn much that way. I’ve heard that you are allowed to write a second thesis instead. As if writing one thesis wasn’t difficult enough! I want a real internship: it’s important to get some experience.’

‘The practicals help me stay motivated’

Samuel Rapolu (25), a Master’s student of Plant Sciences from India, gives his student days in Wageningen so far a 7.

‘I started my Master’s in February, so I had about a month of normal education. After that it was mainly online. When you are following long classes, you easily get distracted. You soon start looking out of the window, at the clock or at your telephone. In the first period of this academic year, the university came up with “blended education”, which meant we could go to the campus more often. The practicals help me stay motivated – much better than when we only had online education. Even if a practical only goes on for a quarter of an hour, that brief moment in the lab can brighten up the whole day.

I try to meet a friend every day so I don’t go crazy in these strange times

My first month in Wageningen was great. I met lots of new people. When the pandemic started, things got harder. When I meet people now I get the feeling that it’s harder to really make contact with someone. Maybe because you can’t give people a hug or a pat on the back. I think that kind of brief physical contact helps to develop closer friendships. I do my best to meet a friend every day, so I don’t go crazy in these strange times.

I would dearly love to visit my family in the Christmas holidays, but India is far away. Travel is risky – imagine if the world goes into lockdown again? I wouldn’t be able to work on my thesis until I got back to the Netherlands. I think it’s important to stay positive, but it’s also important to acknowledge that this is a difficult situation.’

‘Every day is the same and that’s been going on a long time’

Steven Pieterse (19), a first-year Bachelor’s student of Food Technology from the Netherlands gives his student days in Wageningen so far a 6. 

‘I’ve had just one lecture and a few practicals on campus so far, and the rest is online. And even the practicals are limited – there are far fewer people, and you have to keep your distance and wear a face mask. You see a clear difference in the quality: on campus teachers feel at home and students and teachers can see each other. There you really feel like you’re at university. I don’t get that feeling in my room when I’m looking at a PowerPoint presentation.

I’m getting to the point where I’m losing interest

I have three housemates, but they are seldom at home. The Food Technology students have a WhatsApp group, but contact is mainly online. Apart from that, I’m in the Hellingproef cycling association. There is no outdoor training at the moment and the spinning classes at the Bongerd weren’t possible either because of the coronavirus measures. My grandparents live in Wageningen, so I go for a meal with them sometimes or we go for a walk. And I go home to my parents every other week.

How can I make sure I do get some social interaction? The pub is closed and it’s not easy to meet up. I did consider joining a student society but I didn’t want to take any risks because I often visit my grandparents. Period 1 went OK, but now I’m getting to the point where I’m increasingly losing interest. Every day is the same and that’s been going on a long time now. I chose to come to Wageningen because of the lovely green campus and the student life. This is not what I expected.’

Are you struggling with motivation problems, homesickness or loneliness? WUR has student psychologists, student deans and study advisors who are there to help you. See https://www.wur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/Current-Students/Student-Guidance.htm, and for workshops and training courses on www.wur.eu/sts

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