Friday 20-03-2020 - 12:02

Its Friday 20th March, 10:20am and here I am sat at my dining table providing telephone and email advice to the students of WGSU.  I should be in my office, but our building has closed its doors due to COVID19.  It kind of feels like a weird dream.

I was on annual leave on Monday, I was glad I had booked it off as things were starting to look a bit frantic on the news and social media, so like many I grabbed some loo roll and enough minced beef to make a gazillion cottage pies to pop in the freezer. In hindsight I realise I was just following the masses and this wasn’t really necessary but it’s hard to not get caught up in it right?

Day 1 of working from home was weird, all of a sudden I was communicating with the SU team on the phone, whatsapp and then Microsoft teams. I’m a bit dumb when it comes to technology so to be honest this worried me a little, but I seem to be getting the hang of it. I already miss the face to face banter, especially Cath constantly reminding me what time it is, Katie providing a free massage and my sporadic catch ups with Marc about what’s happening at home. Of course we can communicate by other means, but it’s not the same.

Within an hour of sitting at my dining table I noticed that my back was killing me. I realised that if we are in this for the long hall I would need my trusty office chair at home with me #coronavirusproblems So off I popped back to the office and loaded my chair and stand up desk into my car. I should get an office health and safety gold star for this!

Advice has been busy as you can imagine. I’m supporting students with the general stuff, EC’s, progression, statements for misconduct and so on. I try to call students where possible but some of this has been over email. This feels alien to me, I’m a people person and enjoy the one to one contact. I know that students often feel so much better when they see me, apparently I have a calming effect and my straight talking approach puts students at ease. I hope I can provide the same reassurance over the phone and email. So far it’s going well, as over the past few days I’ve heard that gentle sigh of relief from students as they realise that I’ve got their backs.

I’ve tried to put a home routine in place so that I don’t go stir crazy, this includes, setting my alarm (a bit later than usual as I don’t need to make the journey into work) a bit of exercise like a walk or yoga, a shower and get dressed for the day. It’s tempting to slob about in my jim jams but if I’m dressed I’m ready to work. Whilst studying at home try to get yourself into a new routine, create a new normal, it’s good for your noggin. Also make sure you take breaks, I’ve already been guilty of not moving away from my laptop for hours and working later into the evening. As of today I’m putting a stop to that. A brew break in the morning, a proper lunch and another brew break in the afternoon minimum. During your breaks move away from your books and devices, switch off, recharge, eat chocolate, do whatever works for you.

I’m all set up and ready to provide advice from the comfort of my own home (on my trusty office chair of course!) so don’t hesitate to get in touch with myself or Cath on suadvice@glyndwr.ac.uk our response times may be a bit slower than usual, so please bear with us!!

 

Written by Kim, SU Student Advisor