I Hope That College Remains Online

I have passed all my exams and I am finally in the final year of my degree!

I’m excited and nervous to get through this year of college. I have a dissertation to do and a lot of other work, which is all very daunting.

On top of the work being daunting, I have this unpredictable illness that always affects my college work. Either I’m too fatigued or in too much pain to do my best in college. Or brain fog kicks in. Either way, I know I could be doing better in college if I wasn’t sick. But, instead of being negative, I will carry on and do my best, despite my illness. I have gotten through that past three years, I can get through this year too!

Due to Covid-19, college is online. This works in my favor as between the pain and fatigue I wouldn’t have been able to return to college full time.

I have online lectures from 9-4 Monday to Friday. On good days, I will get up early, sit at my desk and take notes. I will make sure to get up and walk around my room every half an hour as otherwise, I will be too stiff to move! On bad days, I attend my classes from bed. On these days, I’m too sick to get up but at least I’m being productive while attending college from the comfort of my bed.

Brain fog

A lot of our lectures record the class and send them to us. I find this extremely helpful as often I find it hard to keep up with all the writing. Sitting at my desk writing notes hurts my shoulders and my hand. If I write for too long, I will end up having my hand stuck like a claw. Having the class recordings sent to us really helps with my brain fog too!

As I said above, I’m in my final year of my degree. I’m only back to college a couple of weeks but I’m trying my best to keep up with studying and writing assignments. It is so important for me not to fall behind. If I fall behind with my college work, I will get stressed, which will no doubt cause a flare. Of course, I will not be able to do college work if I am in a flare.

So, I have decided to stay motivated and organized for my last year of college. I find I procrastinate a lot when it comes to college, I cannot procrastinate this year.

I really hope that college stays online for the full year. There are talks of us going into college part time and doing part time online. Even though it will only be for 2-3 days a week, I will not be able to do this due to pain and fatigue.

I'm worried that I won't be able to attend college if it returns on campus

My college campus is a 30-40 minute drive from my house. The car park is about 1-2km away from the college campus. If college does return on campus, I will have to ask for a disabled parking spot. My disability has not been approved here in Ireland yet, it takes a few months. So, if this is not approved in time I do not know if I will be eligible for a disabled parking spot. This is one of my many worries about college returning to campus.

Another worry is that I will not be able to attend college for a full day. I could maybe attend one to two classes one day a week. My fatigue levels would not allow me to stay up in college for a full day. I feel like my body would give up, I would definitely faint, and it would cause a big flare. So, let’s hope that college stays online and that I can get through my last year of my degree!