Volunteer Blog

Since January, I can count all the people I’ve met up with in person on one hand. To tell you the truth, I’ve coped with it the same as most people. Sometimes I feel lonely, sometimes I feel stressed, and sometimes I feel like it’s possible the world actually ended three months ago, but I haven’t looked outside to see it. But I think the weirdest feeling of all is when I feel hopeful. With the sun out...

Graduation. That big day we all work so hard towards, the cap and gown, staged photographs, and hoping you don’t trip across the stage. Or in a year of a pandemic, watching your name scroll past on a screen and celebrating in lockdown. It’s what we work so hard for, years of being a student and getting to experience all those highs and lows and sticking with it regardless. I know I barely focused on much else when doing my...

The pandemic has seen an increase in loneliness and isolation for many: young people transitioning from secondary school to college as well as students who are dealing with a gaping hole where their social life once was. It is very easy to feel like you are alone in college at the moment which can make productivity and motivation really tough. I was struggling to see how to keep social when I was unable to meet up with...

Back in the summer, I heard that the lovely people at Niteline were looking for volunteers, and I was interested in getting involved with an organisation that is helping so many students. I joined the organisation and began training in August, albeit under much different circumstances with coronavirus! The training took place on Zoom every Tuesday and Thursday for three hours at a time to learn the various skills needed to provide the service. The first session was...

The fear that COVID-19 could come knocking at our door any moment has created a reality with two rival thought patterns. On one hand, we are critically aware of our mental health. We hear ads for helplines that will aid the loneliness, see exercise regimens that are supposed to combat the anxiety, and bake banana bread to give ourselves a sense of purpose and accomplishment. We understand that we can’t be at our happiest right now, and we...

I still remember filling out my CAO, not having a clue what I was doing, and scared about the uncertainty of the future. I was putting down courses just for the sake of it. Two years later, and this uncertainty has turned into a wonderful experience filled with laughter, stress, cramming, adventure, excitement and memories that will stay with me forever. College so far has been an experience that has taught me so much, and I have yet to learn more....

Being a university student right now isn’t easy. Lately, I have found myself feeling angry, panicked, or disheartened by the opportunities we’ve lost and the uncertainty of what’s to come. It’s hard to listen to celebrities preaching from their million-dollar mansions about how lockdown is a time for self-growth while we’re stuck back in our childhood bedrooms with an abundance of college work. With the surge of Covid cases after Christmas and several deadlines looming, I found myself in an...

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, right? The Christmas lights on Grafton Street, hot chocolate with friends and trying to figure out what to get for your secret Santa. But yet, there seems to be something stopping you from enjoying it to its fullest – exams. We’ve all been there, sitting in a cold exam hall on a dark December evening, trying to write out that five page essay as quickly as possible, or remember that...