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Mark Baldwin, Student Life Officer

Exit the era of face-to-face counselling with students sitting on my red sofa in College Hall, and enter a new era of finding suitable backdrops around my own home for online meetings! Much though I’m adjusted to the technology, I miss the deeper reality of live human connection with students and colleagues greatly, and also realise I should tidy the house.

My own reality of this era is probably different from the next person’s reality, and the next, so while hovering above the situation for a reflective overview, I realise generalisations simply won’t work. I therefore write from personal perspectives that not everybody will identify with, though some might.

Much is written about the wondrous malleability of the adolescent brain, and its elastic capacity for new learning as it re-models itself during that life phase. Working with young adults I see and appreciate this on a daily basis. Also in the context of COVID-19 it’s evident how fluid and capable young adults can be in forming new living strategies, often against considerable odds.

At the College I’ve noticed barely-occupied units, a drastically depleted social scene, incomplete good-byes between close friends who've left the campus in haste, classes without the buzz of 'live' participation, pixelated teaching and learning... Much of what we cherish in the vibrant rhythms of college life is, for now, on hold.

There are temporary technical issues, troubles with establishing new routines, a need to let go of expectations, an overcoming of self-pity thresholds, as well as more fundamental issues of isolation.

Zooming out, I also notice some of our students whose home and family situations are very deeply troubled by the viral outbreak, for whom the effects are even harder to bear due to scant resources, geographical separation, certain vulnerabilities, pre-existing health issues, or other fundamental struggles.

Withstanding these challenges, whatever their relative scale, is a big ask for any young adult. For many studying at ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ College Utrecht, already predisposed to hard work and accepting challenges, the sudden onset of the COVID-19 era – with all of the common restrictions it brings - may arrive as another layer of energy-demanding expectations, enough to sap even the brightest of minds and strongest of hearts. And in some ways, particularly for those already in deep struggle before it all began, it may well remain so for a while yet.

This makes it all the more remarkable to see how, amid the many different signals of (not) coping from within our community, it has pulled together extraordinarily, with quickly improvised initiatives that keep us socially connected, structural solutions to keep us engaged in learning, and tailored approaches to accommodate the new set of studying/living conditions. Students and staff at ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ College Utrecht, and also worldwide, are investing their time, intellectual prowess and community spirit in keeping the ball rolling, even as some of them experiences the most terrible consequences of the outbreak for themselves.

Equally noteworthy and well researched is how, within the developmental flux of adolescence, the human brain will link motivation predominantly with personal reward. As youths, it seems working hard at something in the long run is more likely when there is an identifiable personal gain to be had. So when we are required to observe mobility restrictions, hygiene protocols and sacrifices to our routine freedoms, in the name of altruism, it could be that many adolescents experience reduced, or even absent, motivation towards those 'common good' goals, while ‘what's in it for me?’ is not yet clear to see. This might also erode more general motivation for other things, too. There is no ‘culpability’ in this, only the human condition.

Those whose sensibilities can relate clear personal reward to abstract altruism, are perhaps more likely to adopt restrictions and protocols with sustained sense of purpose, and to maintain motivation for their other, existing goals, too. Worth observing is that in maturity there is still no guarantee that human motivation is ever truly separate from personal reward, and even with elaborate life experience, adults can lose sight of the value of serving the greater good, and motivation slips accordingly. Especially if fatigue, irritation, deep troubles elsewhere in life, and insecurity are present, as is often true during times of radical change.

And yet isn’t this exactly our personal and collective challenge, every hour of every day until further notice? How we meet this challenge will differ per individual, and while there has been good evidence of success so far, locally and globally, the imposition of ever-more restrictive social measures is perhaps a signal that our motivation to observe those measures falters more than we might care to admit.

I notice that I’ve had to overcome a few cumbersome thresholds in my own alignment with what is truly required of us in 'corona times'. Even if that's a normal part of circumstantial adjustment, it's heartwarming to feel how encouraging everyone has been towards each other in this. For me, orientating towards a post-COVID-19 era, and especially for those of us fortunate enough not to bear the worst burdens of the outbreak so far, when abstract altruism seems just out of reach, I find a somewhat ‘no-nonsense’ perspective and some soul searching supports my own longer-term motivation.

Would it not be true to suggest that, as far as ongoing studies are concerned, most of us (aside from those already in deeper struggle beforehand, or those now suffering tragic consequences as a result of the virus) are being asked to endure a temporary set of inconveniences? And can we not count on support from a range of adaptation strategies managed with and for us in creatively across the university: IT staff, teachers, tutors, counselors, university administrators, senior managers, executive teams, student representatives, facilities staff, and each other?

While I notice these inconveniences as challenging, exhausting, isolating, and confusing, for me personally, it’s a very long stretch to describe them inherently in pathological terms (e.g. psychologically damaging, harming my mental health, or similar), especially in these relatively early days of adjustment. However, like pain, grief or emotional setback, what we’re experiencing is highly subjective, and any attempts to generalise the impact – one way or another – wouldn’t be helpful or right. Talking together about our own experience, also considering the global effect of not enduring these temporary measures, must prevail.

We are all asked to continue our work in new and supported ways, and to put aside some of our lesser personal concerns, as part of a global wellbeing effort of the highest importance - so that the elderly, sick and vulnerable amongst us might live, and so that those whose job it is to keep them alive can function as well as possible. How clear does the value of our temporary, collective sacrifice have to be before we overcome our individual dips in motivation?

Now the rules of the game have been temporarily adjusted for the common good, if we find studying and working whilst contributing to the world’s urgent wellbeing effort less motivating than studying and working under routines formerly in place, what could we learn from that?

If we notice an infrastructure of support, how might we contribute to it as much as we take from it. How do we take note of our own privileges and act upon moral duty to help others less fortunate? And for those with relative privilege and security, how can we continue expanding our world view beyond the campus ground we belong to?

More than ever, these are the days to bring all our collective grace, muscle, compassion, intellect and ambition to rise to this challenge. With the kinds of fantastic examples there are in and around our college community, the outlook is optimistic.

Now, where’s my vacuum cleaner…?