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March 19, 2021, by UoN School of English

Fighting Covid-19 in the time of assessments

Three modules, three assessments, all due on the same day. The Autumn term ended, and students dispersed for the upcoming Christmas season. I work as hard as I could in between the festivities we were allowed to have among the current climate. I took a break for Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and let’s be real, a few days after that. Suddenly, it’s the first of January and my assessments were due in less than two weeks.

Panic ensued. I buckled down and focused completely on putting the finishing touches on each nearly completed assessment. A couple of days later, something wasn’t quite right. I’d begun coughing, I spiked a fever, and I felt totally drained of energy. A week away from submitting my assessments and I was getting sick. I couldn’t believe it. I told myself I could fight through it, that I had to fight through it, and finish.

The first day I literally couldn’t get out of bed, I knew the worst was true. I knew I had come down with COVID. I ordered a test, and anxiously waited two days to get my results back, all the while feeling sicker and sicker. It came back as expected. I now had only a few days left to get my assessments submitted on time.

I knew there were grace periods offered, but I had worked so hard and come so far, I was determined to submit each assessment on time. I took each short moment of clarity I was allowed, and I worked. I typed for five minutes and then rested. I read over my work for ten minutes and then rested. The day before my assessments were due, I logged onto Moodle. I went into each module in turn and hit the submit button.

As I sat back, resting, after finally completing my assessments I breathed a sigh of relief. I would’ve felt relieved in turning them in no matter what but having fought through the fog of Covid to finish and submit my assessments I was even more proud of my accomplishments. Being a Master’s student is tough in any circumstance, but it is even harder in the current climate, especially when you find yourself fighting Covid in the time of assessments.

Amanda Baker is a Creative Writing MA Student at the University of Nottingham.

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Image credit: Kelly Sikkema
Posted in Student Words