Covid-19 presented lots of challenges to our university, as it has across the world. For third-year students about to complete their studies, it was a particularly demanding and bittersweet end to their time at YSJU. Here, in one of our Covid-19-related student blogs, graduating third-year Elara Christie looks back and offers some reflections.
My time at York St. John was the best three years of my life. The History course is so welcoming from the moment you meet them. Before you know it, you’re in a full-blown community of people rich with diverse ideas, talent and intelligence.
When you sign up for University life, you never think that it will end abruptly. Throughout your degree you glamorise the cap and gown and the photos you’re going to take outside of your University with your Dissertation. You get to your ultimate year and everything becomes ‘the last’. It’s your last ever lecture, last ever seminar, your last ever coffee in your favourite coffee shop. You overly romanticise every detail of what you’re going to wear, do and say for your ‘lasts’; you’re never going to experience it again.
My University experience ended abruptly on a random Monday in March. I never got my ‘lasts’. I never got my goodbyes. My graduation is all up in the air right now, with only a questionnaire asking if I’d attend a socially distanced graduation in November or if I would prefer to do it all online. Yet, I wouldn’t really change any of it.
Although the sorrow of not getting my ‘lasts’ is to be expected, it also brings the reminiscent reminder that I am sad because I had such a good time studying History at York St. John. I have done things here that I thought I could never achieve, including writing a 10,000-word dissertation and studying abroad in New York for three months. I am sad it came to an abrupt end because I had such an amazing time there.
The most important thing I learnt at York St. John was that if you put your mind to it, nothing is impossible. I learnt to live my University life to the fullest, and every time I was rewarded with something amazing. Whether it be the social life, academic life or just falling in love with the city of York, there was always something to get involved with. I learnt to study hard whilst having fun, and that there can be a way to balance your life. I have made the greatest community of friends here, with memories that will last a lifetime. I cannot thank the effort that the History, American Studies and War Studies lecturers have gone to in order to ensure our success.
I also learnt that if something is not right, it is okay to speak up. I took a few modules at York St. John where they were not what I had expected; it happens from time to time. Instead of trying to get through it, I spoke up about it. The lecturers and the head of the department were always there to help, and my thoughts were always taken on board. The department always communicated well with students, and this always ensured our success. If something felt ‘off’, I always knew I could speak to a lecturer any time, whether it was after class, in a one on one meeting, or through email. This was also enhanced through the feedback of the academic representatives, which I was a part of, who made sure that the course leaders knew what was going positively and negatively throughout the course.
I found that if I was comfortable with a module (by that I mean I enjoyed it and retained the information), I tended to get a much better grade than I would have in the module I would have struggled in. I learnt that University life is about playing to your strengths, not wrestling your weaknesses. Your first year, and even your second, is a lot of playing around with what you like, how you learn and focusing on adaptation. I would recommend trying to branch out and study things beyond what you’ve already learnt, you may just find something worthwhile.
Many of my peers expected me to be interested in the U.S./Russian modules, but I found that when I swapped to the Victorian module at the time, I learnt something really new and interesting whilst also playing to my strengths. I think that comes when you start to settle on what type of History you enjoy, and my strength was definitely social history. By playing to my strengths, I was able to cope with my stress and feel more comfortable in my lectures and seminars. I ended up really enjoying all the modules I took, and the flexibility meant I could specialise in what I enjoyed.
If I had to give my advice to the incoming third year students, I’d tell them this:
Please start your dissertations early. It will be the hardest assignment you will ever complete, and you never know when a global pandemic will hit. Writing a dissertation in a normal climate is hard enough but having to write it in a world with no physical library, limited resources and neighbours living with three young kids next to you is even more challenging. I know you’ve probably already heard that a thousand times by now, but I would rather you start it now than go through what we had to go through. It’s tough, but it also pays off enormously when you hand it in.
Also, take each day as it comes and do not be afraid to speak up if it does get too much. Live each day in York as if it’s your last; you never know when something out of the blue will hit. Enjoy every moment you have at York St. John and make sure you get your own ‘lasts’. Who knows, if you collect enough memories along the way, you’ll end up sad because it’s over, too.
I don’t regret one bit of studying History at York St. John, and I thank the abrupt ending for reminding me of all of the good times I had. It’s made me realise that University, even during the ups and downs, was truly the right choice for me and I’d do anything to re-live it all again. I can’t wait for graduation, even if it does take place online.
YSJU: History, War Studies and American Studies 