Source: University of Otago
Sean Prenter reflects on his experience staying safe and finding support over the past two years.
Sean Prenter is Co-president of the Otago Disabled Students’ Association and reflects on his experience staying safe and finding support over the past two years.
It resonates with me a lot the talk of the last two years feeling like a fever dream. However, I would far from call it a nightmare.
For me that’s because it has kept my disabled whānau, my parents and my grandparents and I safe through what could have been a more sinister affair.
As part of the Disabled Students’ Association we’ve supported our whānau’s health and wellbeing by using Zoom, online games and quiz nights through these challenging times. The disabled community has been further helped by the University creating accessible learning online and that continuing into a post-pandemic future would be the perfect ending to this dream.
Calling Ōtepoti home, I’ve found comfort in the solidarity of the student and local community who have cooked for those in need and delivered essentials. Further, through social media engagement, OUSA, the the Sustainability Office and the the Social Impact Studio have made COVID-19 restrictions and support information accessible for the student population. Next to the Pūūtea Tautoko fund being available for students enduring hardship, I think the combination of this support and unity has seen the student population endure the pandemic with resolve and resilience.
We’ve planned social events like this to give us something to look forward to.
The reassurance I’ve found in my community has provided me with the stability to find a rhythm with self-care through these turbulent times. The start of the pandemic left me feeling anxious with the uncertainty of what was to come and how I would self-care going forward. Since the lockdowns I’ve had to adapt. A taste of normalcy was created by simulating a day on campus, getting changed in the morning and studying in the living room. I’ve also found solace in daily journaling and meditation, and now I find myself in a bizarre situation to have the best mental health I’ve had in a long time. That stability has meant my friends and I have been able to support one other. For example, my flatties and I have avoided training at the gym where we can, keeping exercise fresh with different home workout challenges. Most recently, our flat had Bollywood night with Indian cuisine. We’ve planned social events like this to give us something to look forward to.
This memory and others were captured on the film camera my brother gifted me for Christmas. For me this camera has captured what’s been central to my journaling and self-care through the pandemic: the mahitahi of focusing on what we can control while celebrating the past.
