The COVID-19 Omicron variant is impacting UBC students in new ways.
Everyone in the university community is currently being affected by the most recent COVID-19 wave as UBC begins yet another term online. Just as faculties were gearing up for a return to on-campus classes, the highly-transmissible but less-deadly Omicron variant forced classes back online.
As the Omicron variant surges worldwide, we spoke to some of UBC’s student community to see how they are adapting and coping with this new chapter in the pandemic.
‘A very nerve-wracking experience’
After second-year music student Adriana Zaharijevic’s brother suffered from COVID-19 last year while on business in the United States, the pandemic became more real than ever.
“It was a very nerve-wracking experience not only for him, but for our entire family,” she said.
Zaharijevic’s in-person exams became another source of anxiety as she juggled a lengthy commute and concerns over the health of fellow test-takers.
“Students who had the sniffles or the cough showed up regardless of feeling under the weather which put everyone else at risk. I remember being uneasy while taking my exam and constantly thinking about if my mask was on right.”
Like Zaharijevic, second-year student Dishti Mago experienced a reality-check when her parents contracted COVID-19 earlier in the pandemic.
“I didn’t take it seriously. I thought, ‘It’s just like the common cold, it’s like the flu.’ But then my parents got it,” she said.
Mago, originally from India, attributes many of her past worries to media consumption triggered by her parents’ experience. “[Daily case numbers] can be at the back of your head and interfere with your daily operations.”
For second-year student Leila Sabeur, the turning point came when she and her family tested positive for the virus. “I think there was a bit of a stigma going on with people contracting COVID[-19]. I would ask myself, ‘Are they not vaccinated? Have they not been respecting restrictions?’ And now after having gotten it … it definitely brings in a new perspective.”
‘You are not in this space by yourself’
However, in these stressful times, Zaharijevic and Sabeur recognize music, reading and exercise as their main stress-relieving outlets. “I rely on exercise as a big stress-reliever and without it, I don’t have a steady routine,” Zaharijevic said. “I think [music] is a great way to just detach from the source of your stress,” added Sabeur.
For Mago, surrounding herself with people that remind her of home when in unfamiliar situations is grounding.
“I regularly talk to my parents [and] I have people on campus I hang out with often that make me feel better … I do have this feeling that, no matter what happens I still have someone to fall back on and I think that’s very important.”
First-year arts student Syndio Chun said making these connections can be difficult with everything online.
“It’s already difficult enough coming into first year to seek interactions with other people, but obviously with COVID[-19], it just makes it ten times harder and then, with things going back online, it [becomes] borderline impossible.”
Still, while Chun said he has “developed this ability to learn things by [himself],” he finds talking to others helpful.
“Remember that people are real and you’re not in this space by yourself.”
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