Our boarder Maureen in Year 10 looks back on the challenges over the last year

My name is Maureen and I want to talk about my experience at the St Mary’s School, Cambridge in the boarding community and how I have dealt with the challenges of learning from home.   

I joined St Mary’s School two years ago and I have been living in the boarding house, Mary Ward House, before lockdown. When Covid-19 in the UK reached its second peak, many boarders who are far away from home, including me, started to feel homesick and panicked about the unstable situation. Although everyone was having a difficult time at that time, the boarding community provided us with a comfy, safe home.  

When the second lockdown started, I returned to China and started a long period of online study. For me, sitting in front of the computer every day watching the screen and typing really requires a lot of perseverance to persist, and what worries me most is because my network becomes very poor after 9 pm every day, combined with 8 hours of jet lag, caused me to miss many important events and assemblies. After a while, I started to feel disconnected from the school and boarding community🙁. However, it is fortunate that the boarding staff and my teachers have been sending emails, meetings, caring and understanding the situation, which gave me a lot of encouragement. Perhaps the reason for me to choose St. Mary at the time was also because I heard many friends say that the teachers here are very responsible and care for their students.  

Although online classes are difficult, what supports me is my dream and aspirations for the future. I’m enjoying the lessons I’ve chosen and more and more into some specific subjects like Classical Civilisation, Drama and Music, and I have so many hobbies. I might choose one of them as my career, who knows! Just thinking about them gives me lots of energy to keep working hard.  

Maureen

Year 10 Student