Your definitive list of the best lockdown silver linings

The after-parties will be madder than ever

4 years ago

Lockdown has been pretty rough, to say the least. While we all know people who have in some way been affected by the virus, and many of us have really struggled with our mental health, there is inevitably some good which has come from it too.

Even though I don’t want to negate how difficult it has been for all of us, I am fundamentally an optimist and so I can see some silver linings for students, that may bring some comfort to focus on.

Zoom pub quizzes are surprisingly pretty decent

I miss the world- everyone does, but being socially distanced has given me newfound gratitude and appreciation for not just the social life that I’ve lost but also for the social life that I’m able to maintain with all of this new-fangled social media.

Things are bad, but they could be worse and I’m feeling grateful and appreciative for every zoom call, power-point pub quiz (god I miss The Rose and Crown) and Facebook comment discussion. All these things I took for granted before but hopefully, once this is over, I never will again. Yeah right!

Social media is actually a nice place to be, for once

Leading on from the previous point, I think another silver lining is that some of the elements of social media that were the most toxic and upsetting simply don’t exist anymore.

The main element I’m talking about is FOMO or Fear of Missing Out. Nobody is afraid of missing out anymore because finally for once, nobody is doing anything else either. I can’t really say I miss swiping though friends Snapchat stories on those rare Wednesdays when I put work before Crisis. This probably won’t last the moment lockdown ends and the envy train starts up again, but at least for this period, there’s some relief to be had from that one particular form of social media-induced anxiety.

I haven’t heard the word Brexit in weeks, and I can’t say I miss it

A huge silver lining, for me at least, is there appears to be a pause on political hyper-focussing and anguish. What I mean by this is that as the day to day political spin has stopped and all the news is dominated by Corona rather than which politician tweeted what, or more Brexit malarkey.

I feel like the shared struggle with this virus could even unite us as a nation and perhaps repair some of the polarising damage that has been done in previous years from election to referendum to election. Maybe with Coronavirus as a shared struggle and as a moment of national unity, we can hope to be less polarised going forwards.

The air quality means I can actually see the the other side of the city

I live in a city, it’s a nice change. Need I say more?

Growing emotional connections, without sex getting in the way

So one of the worst parts of social distancing has been aptly nicknamed ‘The Cockdown’. It’s a pretty self-explanatory term and while yes, it sucks, I think there are some positives that have come from it.

People are still forming emotional relationships but in taking the sex out of them, for many, these relationships have been given the opportunity to grow on a deeper basis than just sex. The student lifestyle isn’t usually one that supports this. I’m optimistic that many of the relationships formed out of this crisis will be stronger and more emotionally grounded than those that start from a purely sexual place.

An additional note on this front could also be that the chances of catching an STI post ‘cockdown’ are probably lower. With months for infected students to get clean, the slate may have been cleared for the great return. Don’t get complacent with protection though, STI’s will still exist and babies are still a thing.

Realise who you’ll actually still be mates with, after Uni

This is a bit of a harsh one, but positive nonetheless. This long period of separation has more or less ended circumstantial on-campus friendships. That sucks for sure. But what we’ve been left with are the people you can actually manage staying friends with without seeing every day. Treasure these people, they are likely the friends you’ll be holding onto for the long haul. It sucks to lose friends, but better to know who’s staying for good.

The after-parties will be madder than ever

I heard the ’20s was supposed to be rip-roaring. When we all emerge from our social distance caves and can finally hug one another again, we’ll have a lot to celebrate.

So look forward to more parties than ever. Reunions and raves, dinner parties and summer barbeques. We might just be on the lookout for any excuse to get together. Maybe while we’re at it, we might even remember that going out was always supposed to be about seeing friends more than it was about getting shitfaced.