Coronavirus: Phoebe Pinney (QM 2018-20)

Phoebe, who left us last summer as Head Girl, recounts her experiences of moving from the sixth form to university in the midst of a global pandemic.

A particular anxiety near the beginning of the pandemic for a lot of year 13 students such as myself, was the uncertainty surrounding what would happen with our upcoming A-Level examinations. When the government announced that they would not be taking place at all, it was a massive shock to all students and teachers across the country. Our school career ended rather abruptly with no time to properly process the situation or celebrate such a large milestone in our lives.

I am sure that many students were delighted at the idea of not having to go through the stress of exams, but for me this was quite a nerve-wracking prospect as I had no idea whether my given grades would be enough to get me to my goal of Cambridge University. On results day, my heart sank opening the envelope to reveal that my grades were far below what I was expecting - the A-Level results given to me under the government’s algorithm had all been lowered from what my teachers had predicted.

Panic set in further when I found that I had neither been offered a place at Cambridge, nor at the University of Manchester which was my next choice. I was lost and scared in the few hours after opening my results and felt cheated out of the grades that I could have achieved if I had been able to work hard and sit the exams. However, after communicating back and forth with the University of Manchester over the course of this long and distressing day, they offered me a place on my desired course which was a massive relief.

Six months on, I am now starting my second semester of Computer Science at the University of Manchester and things are, of course, still far from normal. With the effects of coronavirus still rife, I have not once set foot inside the university, instead doing all my work remotely from my student halls in Fallowfield, which has definitely come with its challenges. I am very happy with the university I am at and could not imagine another course more suited to me, but I am acutely aware that many first-year students have not been as fortunate as me with their university experiences.

This year has taken its toll on everybody and students have certainly felt the brunt of it too. With a lack of reassurance, rapid decline in student mental health and no certainty over how our studies will progress from here, I am sure it has been quite a worrying time for many young people, coupled with the everyday apprehensions of living during a pandemic. However, I look forward to the day that I can attend lectures, explore the city that I’m in and enjoy the social aspect of the ‘university experience’ to a fuller extent.