Hello, my name is Pruthwiraj, but I introduce myself to people as "RAJ" (much easier to enunciate). I am a second year Biomedical Science Student from India. I joined Cardiff Met in 2019 September, starting my journey as a university student. Little did I know the world was going to turn all upside down in few months into my university life (Sounds like a good start to the story ha-ha!).
The times that we are living now are unprecedented and unexpected ones. Lockdowns, restrictions, pandemic, immunity, vaccines, these are the words which are more used by people than ever before. Remembering the first half of my fresher's year, which was full of fun and more socialising, makes me to dive into the past and relive the moments. Yes, things have changed but in the way I have learned to go with the flow and have adapted myself better in these circumstances.
The biggest change or challenge for me (for every student) was the switching from in person classes to online studies. It was indeed a very weird experience in the beginning, and I did not know what to expect. Going to the university, walking through the beautiful parks of Cardiff, I really started missing that. But slowly and steadily everything fell into place. The approach of blended learning which included some online synchronous and asynchronous sessions and in addition to that the lab sessions conducted once every week went down well with the students and helped me and my fellow peers to adapt well with the changing situation.
As our course is accredited by IBMS (Institute of Biomedical Science), it's mandatory for the University to carry out our practical sessions without any disruption. To ensure a safer environment, everyone had to strictly abide by some rules like social distancing when possible, wearing masks all the time when present inside the lab and around the campus. University was responsible and took utmost care when it came to put certain systems in place to prevent overcrowding by limiting the number of students allowed in a single session, which was done by dividing students into different groups with different timings. We were guided by each lab's staff to carry out our experiments independently rather than working in a group (which used to be so fun and interactive). Sanitizers were installed at multiple areas within the labs. After the commencement of the lab sessions students were expected to maintain the rules and safely exit the labs through specific doors. One way system was also introduced, which ensured in maintaining safe distance among the students and staffs.
As far as the online classes were concerned, our professors did a fantastic job in ensuring that students do not feel disadvantaged. Starting from the lecture delivery, doubt clearance, everything was done so smoothly and timely. Question 'Padlets' were set up to give us an opportunity to ask any questions regarding a lecture and it was answered and discussed both in the Padlet and in Q&A sessions. The lectures were recorded, which gave us ample opportunity and time to go through them multiple times, which I felt helped me a lot in clearing my doubts and towards a better preparation for the exams. I also had opportunity to attend some online seminars delivered by very knowledgeable people around the world, which were really intriguing and interesting and will be of great help going forward.
Ready to hop on to the Teams Meeting with my morning cuppa (big fan of Pokémon by the way!)
Constant support through emails and online meetings were provided which kept me updated about the situation and which made me feel more at home. Having a small little conversation through teams with my personal tutor during the term time was of real help. Immense support and motivation from him kept me going during the tough times. I feel every new venture has its pros and cons but it's up to us to see it as an opportunity to improve and better ourselves each and every day.
So far, the experience in this pandemic as a student at Cardiff Metropolitan University has been beyond my expectations and I would love my university to continue giving us this quality education and opportunities in future too. Everyone including me and all my friends have missed attending classes in person last year but are very hopeful of things getting better soon and we can get to socialise more and live our university life to the fullest.