Amélie from France studying Biology
Hi, my name is Amélie. I am currently studying at the Paris-Saclay University in Master 1 Biology. I have been chosen in an international program in which I am the only French student. My family lives two hours away from the university. Therefore, in September 2019 I got my own apartment very close to the university. Right before the lockdown I went to see my family and had to stay there until the end of the lockdown. I am aware that many students currently do not have the chance to be with their family. They get to see them only via skype. Last year I went to Germany to finish my Bachelor’s degree staying there for one year. I learnt a lot, especially how to live by myself far from my family. I know what it feels to be alone without anybody around. Yet, it was a good experience which made me stronger. Going abroad allowed me to be selected in this international Master 1. Studying is quite difficult right now, especially working in groups via virtual tools and remaining focused. One advice I could give is to be patient, to try new things: learning a new language, cooking, trying new recipes and especially... take the necessary time for living, breathing, thinking, dreaming, writing, becoming a better person each day and meditating.
I do feel quite reassured to be staying at my parents. Now that we do not have the same occupations we tell each other new stories, we communicate more. Sometimes it can be a bit difficult since I'm used to living by my own. For instance, I am used to studying late at night but my mum does not like it at all! She wants me to sleep quite early.
We did not go to the supermarket this week and had a few things left such as flour and some pieces of "Vache qui rit"cheese. I decided to improvise something and to make Cheese Naans. I mixed some flour with water to get a homogeneous and solid dough. With the dough, I made eigeht balls that I filled with the "Vache qui rit" cheese. Then, I flattened each ball to get sort of pancakes and I cooked each "pancake" in a frying pan. It tasted really good!
Nicolas from France studying Medicine
Hi! My name is Nicolas, I'm a 4th year medical student at the Université Paris-Saclay faclty. Like many people, I was very surprised by the speed and extent of the Covid-19 epidemic. Very quickly we saw new patients arriving at the hospital where I was then doing an internship in geriatrics. The number of patients in respiratory distress was increasing all the time! Some doctors, for their part, became ill while protective measures were put in place little by little. A few days later the ward was transformed into an intensive care unit, dedicated to patients with Sars CoV-2. Since then, I have been reassigned to the Emergeny Medical Service of Melun where I take part in the pre-hospital care of patients.
For me, the introduction of the containment measures finally has less impact than for others: I continue to go to the hospital in the morning and work on my exams in the afternoon. I keep in touch with those around me as much as I can and try to reassure my family that I am in contact with noone who is seriously ill. Finally, like many people, I am waiting for this epidemic to be behind us and for us to be able to go out again when winter seems to have already gone.