Upon UVic’s Green: How I Reconnect With Campus During COVID-19

By Teresa Sammut

I’ve been coming to campus a lot recently. I find that during these uncertain times, I need to reconnect to a place that provides me with some sense of normalcy.

This is the place where I found my true love, my best friends, and most importantly, myself. Throughout my time at UVic, I always knew that saying goodbye would be a truly emotional process.

UVic is my home, the nest where I have come to understand what it means to live with true intention. And soon, I will have to learn to fly and carry these lessons with me onto my next adventure. 

I have been adventuring to campus to cope with my anxieties about the future. I like to walk around the Quad, and the Alumni Chip Trail because of their still beauty. These spaces call on me to truly understand what the poets meant when they describe the natural world as the sublime.

I have learned to come out into these fields and be still. I have learned to breathe with the winds that kiss the wildflowers and the tall grass. Besides the academic pursuits that I have gained through my time here, our beautiful campus has also taught me to understand the purpose of its beauty.  

Sometimes I come to sit under the trees in the Quad and listen to the fountain rumble, pick colourful wildflowers, or even read my favourite poetry aloud. The more that I come here the more that I have noticed how hauntingly beautiful our campus is in our absence. The birds sing their songs a little bit louder, and the trees somehow seem to stand more majestically in a less populated environment. 

Today, I read the news that most classes will not be held in-person during the fall semester. As we continue to follow what is best for our communities, we must not lose our collective spirit.

We must not forget the feeling of waiting in line for textbooks, joining new classes, and sitting in the Quad with our good friends. We must not forget the scent of new notebooks or freshly brewed coffee in Biblio.

We must not forget our amazing conversations in class, our connections with our professors, or most importantly, each other. These small moments of the average student life are the most exciting part of our everyday experience at UVic. Sometime soon, we will be able to return again. We will be able to return to our home.

I encourage everyone in this community to reflect on their most-beloved campus moment and find a way to emulate your gratitude for its benefits to your UVic experience. Whether that be through writing a letter or reflecting by yourself, reflect on your happy memories, there will be more to come.