VU Vollies: Stories from lockdown

Lockdown can be a real-life challenge. While I don’t spend time on commuting and with other tasks I used to do in my ‘normal life’, it seems I considerably increased the number of hours I stay in front of the computer doing new tasks. Zoom classes, Zoom meetings, Zoom workshops, and to relax, more Zoom parties. It is easy to forget that we must take care of our health and find ways to alleviate all the stress and uncertainty surrounding us.

How do I deal with quarantine? I obligate myself to take at least 30 minutes of Zumba online classes every day. I love Zumba, it is a fun and addicting activity that you can do in your bedroom, living room, and you also have the benefit that nobody is checking on your moves or dancing skills (unless you decide to dance on the balcony and challenge your neighbours – just an idea). At the end of the online class, I always feel energized and positive to go back to my Zoom life hahaha. Small things like this can make all the difference in your wellbeing. So, get up and Zumba on!!!

It is quite normal to feel overwhelmed in this current situation, not knowing when the isolation will end.

Attempting to cope with the social distancing mode, I try to explore many things that I used to think would be difficult to enjoy because of time constraints living as a student prior to 'quarantine life'. The activities are meditation, cooking, baking and practicing ukulele (beginner).

In celebrating one of my housemates’ birthday, I baked a birthday cake that surprised them because I did it for the first time. I also cook my local cuisines such as rendang (Indonesian spicy meat dish), sautéed chayote, sautéed bitter gourd, noodles, fried rice, spicy boiled fish, and other cuisines that my mother used to cook at home.

I found these activities are beneficial for helping me to stay productive and sane within the unprecedented circumstance at the moment.

Hi everyone, hope you are all coping well. I know some of you will possibly have found this lockdown quite as tough as I have with not being able to see family (we video call every day using all the funny filters!), my inbox is open for all of you lovelies. If I am honest it took me a little while to not feel quite as overwhelmed! Despite all the things going on there have been a few added bonuses that I would like to share with you.

Apart from trying to get my head around online classes, working nights, and experimenting with my many makeup palettes, a lot has happened. My partner Sam has been home more, and we have been able to spend more time together, usually by the time he was home from work I would be going to work. We have spent our time together going on short walks on the river just behind us, attempting to teach me how to cook, but mostly playing Mario Kart on the Wii, I think he might start refusing to play as I keep beating him! Haha. Oh and we are looking at adopting a puppy!

Wishing you all well, I miss you all! Can’t wait to see you all when we are back volunteering at events together.

Hi everyone, we hope you are all wonderful!

Unlike everyone's amazing innovative and cool hobbies, we took a step back in time to become farmers! Yes, farming is our new hobby. We love watching these little guys grow as we take care of them everyday. They bring happiness and freshness to us during these difficult times. Our little chili pot is particularly growing strong, hopefully in the near future we can start to harvest them. Can't wait till then.

We are also growing garlic, coriander and everlasting (Chau's favourite flower). When our miniature garden bears fruits, we would love to share it with everyone!

Love from the Vollies Power Couple.

Life in a lockdown can be a struggle. It is important to balance my studies with other activities to keep myself motivated and look after my mental health.

I finished reading the book Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton. I picked up that book last year and I never got the time to finish it. I felt pretty great finishing my book and it motivated me to start another one. The second one is in my mother tongue East-West: Purbo-Paschim (Book 1) by Sunil Gangopadhyay and the book is written in Bengali - honestly, reading it after 14 years is simply a great opportunity for me.

I did a digital detox: spending more time with family, talking to my partner, mom and my cousin and brother. Life was a real digital detox. I start standing in the supermarket queue to buy a newspaper and reading a real printed paper every day. I try to put my phone on silent for 3-4 hours a day and spend the time with myself. It feels good.

My main job: nappy changing and washing milk bottles for my son. This is the new role I found myself best fitted and enjoyed the most; thus, COVID allows me to be a great dad. In this lockdown period I had also written a letter to my son for his 6 month birthday which probably he will read when he will be grown up where I had describe about his family background and culture to connect him with his roots.

Got addicted to Netflix: I am usually busy with work most of my week, and I don’t get a lot of time to start a new show. Now I'm watching ‘BETTER CALL SAUL’. It’s addictive!

Lockdown is so good that it’s given me time to call people who I have lost touch with due to time difference, busy schedule or laziness.

Believed it or not, I start cooking by helping my mom while she is cooking and got very good feedback for my breakfast menus – a bread with smashed avos, butter-fried mushroom and a scoop of sour cream. That’s all about me and my lockdown!!!

Hello Jumble Jellies and Fumble Bellies! I know you are not channelized with energy any more. But hey, the best thing is that we are in a period of time where technology has evolved to the extent that we can literally connect with ANYONE in this world. That's precisely what I have done during this period. I have been able to reach out to nearly 10k people through my network in just one month. Yep as crazy as it sounds! I have impacted, inspired and motivated numerous people through my content on LinkedIn and connected with many of them through Zoom call as well.

Why? Well, I believe, ''We as humans, often need someone to just assure that everything will be FINE in future. I love to be that voice. I believe someone out there who is just few steps behind my journey, looking for a helping hand to get him/her through. I love to be that grip.''

Your turn, how does your DIGITAL LIFE look like, my friend?

Hey my lovely VU people, I have been quite busy with my uni classes and my placement online, but at the end of the day I feel productive after counselling high school students especially in these challenging times, and I feel fortunate enough to have this opportunity as a mental health counsellor.

But besides this, I have learnt a lot of things which I never got time to do before...hhaaaaha. I tried my hand at cooking (including butter chicken, manchurian and chocolate cake with icing), and I was happy when my first time cooking gave good results.

Whenever I get time I try watching some motivational TEDx videos or read articles online, and I spent most of my nights on Netflix actually (it worked as a stress buster after my assignment submissions) . Besides this, I took out time to talk to my family and friends, as I missed them the most during this time. I hope that things get better soon and I can socialize with my friends and also I'm waiting to meet all my Vollies team and have loads of fun.

Stay safe everyone and enjoy this time.

This year has definitely been a roller-coaster. I have mainly been on Social Work placement which was almost completed before COVID restriction. During lockdown my partner and I have taken the time to learn new cooking skills and video chatting with our families. For me I have enjoyed my time social distancing as it has allowed me to start projects that I have wanted to do for ages; for example I have wanted to learn how to use video editing software.

Learning online has been challenging however it was for a reason, and as Ishie works in age care it has meant we have to be really careful with the pandemic. Hopefully we are all able to get back on campus in the second half of the year.

At the very beginning of the lockdown, it was quite difficult for me to be isolated but as time passed I found many ways to keep myself occupied.

Apart from the online studies, I got a chance to spend time with my doggie 'Rocco' where I used to go for long walks and enjoy the beautiful neighbourhood, breathe in the fresh air and embrace nature by making sure that I address social distancing rules. Moreover, I got a chance to spend quality time with my family. For myself, the lockdown allowed me to identify myself and enjoy the simplest yet valuable pleasures of life.

Whilst the quarantine was an extremely challenging time for all of us, it was an opportunity to refresh, recharge and look to the future. Over the self-isolation period I was lucky enough to be able to continue (and finish) my VU placement with Melbourne Sports Institute by completing projects remotely for them, in addition to my online studies.

To keep my physical fitness up, I began running a few days a week, which I’ve continued as restrictions have lifted. The lifting of restrictions has meant community sport has returned in a limited form, meaning I’ve been able to get back on the tennis court in both a playing and coaching capacity.

The silver lining of this pandemic has been an appreciation for the simple pleasures of life; we were confined to the four walls of our home for a couple of months which has ensured we don’t take our lives for granted.

Despite how challenging this time in lockdown has been, I have used it to really focus on self-care and to do things that previously I may not have had time for; as well as looking after my new gorgeous pup, Theo, who has taken up majority of my time and heart in the last 5 weeks of him being in my life.

Undoubtedly, this has been an incredibly challenging and unprecedented time, and that is why I have found it is so important to remain connected to support networks. So, in this time I have been continuously calling friends and family to check in and socialise. In fact, my best friend and I always wanted to create earrings, but we never seemed to have the time. So, we used this time to do it together…online.

To do so I bought polymer clay from Spotlight and some earring hooks and set out on a creative and exciting new journey. My friend and I created polymer clay designs at home and sent them to each other. This ignited my passion further, and so we used this experience to share tips and tricks (such as warming the clay prior) to improve. As a pre-service teacher I decided to use the clay to also make beads, which will be used to create a lanyard for the future.

I am definitely not an expert and need a lot more tricks and practice, but I am grateful for the time I got to connect with friends virtually to celebrate shared passions and create new things. Especially because this made me diverge from baking edible goods, which is something I have definitely been practising in this time as well.

Did quarantine put you in a position where you have to push beyond your comfort zone?

Hi my name is Shehroz Obaid and I’m one of the students at VU studying Diploma of Information Technology leading to Bachelor of Information Technology. As we are all experiencing the current pandemic in different ways and at different points, this story is not to shame, but rather to encourage you to find ways to keep yourself busy during this hard time.

One of the realms I focus on is personal reflection and growth. For many of us, a new, renewed or strengthened interest in self-care and wellness, due to the current situation, has led to a bit of self-discovery. During this time I start focusing on my physical appearance and body along with my studies. I learned that staying active and exercising is an important part of keeping both your body and your mind healthy. As quarantine time has been extended it can be extremely mentally disturbing to be stuck inside. It is beneficial to keep ourselves busy whether it is exercising or with co-curricular activities.

Hope everyone is fit and fine in this hard time. I do not know how the majority people took this pandemic. I took it as an opportunity as I got a huge time for myself.

I learnt many things in this time and got very impressive results. In the initial phase of this pandemic, I was very scared. I shared my problems with my brother, and at that time I was feeling very low. My brother taught me how to handle this situation. He gave me two tasks to do: one is meditation and the other is sun salutation. These tasks changed my life completely. Meditation keeps my mind and emotion stable and meanwhile sun salutation gives me energy. That’s why I think this is a beautiful opportunity.

Hello Vollies! Before lockdown, we all were busy with our university schedules and jobs. However, COVID-19 has changed it and hence our schedule has changed drastically.

To avoid sitting still and to keep active, I visit a park near my house to practise freestyle football - my all-time favorite sport. It is the best way not only to keep myself fit and healthy but also helps me to improve my mental health. It is a unique sport meant for all those who are fond of soccer and want to try something different with ball control and creativity.

However, I believe that a person who can maintain a perfect balance between recreational activities and studies is unbeatable, and thus after getting selected for the Global Victoria program, I am balancing both of my favorite things and really enjoying this lockdown.

Hello everyone! I'm Fouzia, a third year social work student. The biggest challenge for all of us this year was to adapt to and accept the new ways of 2020, due to the pandemic. I too have been staying home, mostly busy with online classes and assessments. It's a quite hectic experience, lemme tell you, especially living with a full family rushing to sit in front of their laptops with breakfast in hand from 9 o'clock sharp in the morning, all ready to start their days. Oh poor router, he has it the worst one would say!

Apart from that, I've been binge watching dramas - K-dramas, C-dramas, Taiwanese dramas and Thai dramas with a failed attempt to learn all of these languages at once. It's fun being able to use different expressions using different languages. I've also been drawing, I am not good at it, but that didn’t stop me from randomly drawing my favourite characters from Naruto using a pen only in my notebook. Not all days are the same, some days are bright and eventful, and others are just gloomy and long. Music has been a constant companion at all times.

I also realised the importance of our mental health as it gets affected even by the slightest changes in our daily routine and expectations. I feel like we've been negotiating with our heart and mind a lot this year. So along with physical activities, it's necessary to prioritise the little things that can positively affect our mental state, no?