I applied to UWI in 2020 because of COVID-19; I decided it would be safer to stay close to home and I heard that my degree (Computer Science) had a good reputation. I’ve always wanted to do Computer Science since I was small, so I thought, “Why not?”

I was able to adapt to the online learning really fast and maintain a steady focus as do well in my subjects. However, later into the semester I started to have difficulty concentrating because there were so many things you could do at home to get distracted. You could go and watch tv, play games, eat, if you have an early class, it would tempt you to just sleep! 

I struggled a lot with time management. There were many days with back-to-back classes with maybe an hour or two between them so, it led to me to rush down my assignments just to send them in. But, even with all my struggles and the intensity of the work, one thing that surprised me was my ability to maintain good grades. I was shocked that I was able to still prosper. My friends helped me to cope, I was able to discuss coursework with them to make sure we were on the same page. My parents also helped me a lot. 

I think, by Semester II, some of the lecturers realised the effect the pandemic was having on students and they helped with the transition by offering support and easing up on us a little bit. If I had to describe my first-year experience, I’d say, overall, it was decent.