Conor Anderson - UCDSU President re: Trimester Two

Hi everyone, this is Conor, your Students’ Union President, and I am recording this message to talk a little bit about the email that was sent out by the Registrar this morning, announcing that Trimester Two is going to be an online trimester in the same way that Trimester One was. I know a lot of you are upset about this announcement. I am not particularly happy to be spending the next term online either. I’m very much sick of Zoom, I would like to be back on campus, but, on the whole I do think that this was the right decision.

The fact that we have certainty now, means that if you are an international student you can decide to go home or stay. It means if you are a student who lives outside of Dublin, you can decide to go home or stay. You have the certainty that you can do your course until the end of this academic year at-distance and online. So if you need to be back with family, if you can’t afford the rent if you have any of these reasons that you might need to leave (or stay!), you now have the certainty and the clarity to actually make reasonable decisions for yourself.

If you are feeling isolated, this is really the time to reach out. There are a lot of resources and supports for you. I know that they are not enough in the face of the sort-of terribleness of this pandemic year, but they’re there, and it is important that you try to reach out to them. That means the Welfare Officer with the Union, it means the Chaplaincy, it means the student advisers, it means taking to your lecturers. It also means talking to your classmates! I know I sound like I’m beating a dead horse, but getting organized with your classmates if you have an issue, talking to them, figuring out what you can do-- At least for me, when I do that with students, it makes me feel a little less alone. So, that’s it. This went a little long, but good luck out there.