Ghost town

The University of St Andrews closed its campus and moved teaching online soon after learning about the first infected student - about a week before Prime Minister Johnson declared a state of emergency. In turn, I had a chance to board one of the last Edinburgh-Prague planes before the borders got closed. However, I ended up cancelling my flight a day before it was due. I still had three pieces of coursework to finish, and working on them in Jablonec would have been difficult. More importantly, my housemates developed symptoms of Covid, so there was a real possibility of me infecting countless people on my way home.

Although in quarantine, I spent the rest of third year in St Andrews. With housemates we developed a daily routine and kept each other sane. During walks, the already silent town felt like a ghost town. All buildings were closed, people nowhere to be seen - not in the streets, not in the windows. Only occasionally, in the carefully curated gardens, one could see children playing. Though nearly invisibly, St Andrews kept on living. Through the newly created Facebook page St Andrews Covid Aid people of all cultures and age groups organised the distribution of food, medication, face masks. The pandemic led to a wave of solidarity and brought together international students with older locals.

At the same time, there were notable differences in how everyone got to spend the pandemic. Although all my shifts in the university library, just like the ballroom dance circuit, got cancelled, and our sustainable energy campaign was suspended, I had the opportunity to successfully finish the semester and a few online courses in Global Health. I could call my loved ones and was not short on anything. Contrastingly, some of my friends had to care for their ill family members, others - medical students - joined the front line.

Another luck of mine is in my chance for a physical graduation, which was denied to so many. Based on the principal’s regular emails, it is now almost certain the university will open again next semester. And if that happens, the small seaside town will, after months of silence, become even more vibrant. I am rooting for all of us.