I took an interview with 5 students who are of different gender, different age, study programs, works and even from different countries. And I asked them “What helps you to go through the lockdown?” These answers might help you to think about what could assist while going through the lockdown, or maybe you will find some motivation to try something new.

ALEX – 23-year-old, studying BA of Multimedia production at FH Kiel

Well, to be honest after lockdown happened not much has changed. I am a kind of home-sitting person, but still, I found some new activities. The first activity that actually one of my favorite hobbies is video games. I was playing before lockdown and during it, so as I said – not much changed. Lockdown more or less hasn’t affected it at all.

In addition, I was watching movies, series, YouTube videos. During the lockdown, I actually became quite a big fan of horror movies. Almost all the movies I watched – was horror. From low-budget films to industries biggest ‘masterpieces’ like “The Conjuring”. I tried to watch some dramas like “Green Book” and other new and old movies. Besides movies, I watched a few series on Netflix.

If we are talking about new activities. I finally started to produce music, which I wanted to start for several years, since school time. Music production right now became my main activity.

However, I wouldn’t survive the lockdown without people. I always try to stay in touch with my friends using different ways of communicating such as messenger and Discord. Talking to people helped me not to feel so alone.

As I said previously lockdown hasn’t affected my life too much. I would say it actually gave me more free time for things I like to do.

Oh, and also almost forgot to mention. My dog!!! Having a dog during lockdown is the key to surviving.

SANDRA – 25-year-old, studying BA of History in VU

I strongly believe, it is vital to adapt to the changes that isolation entails. A healthy mind is one of the keys to feeling balanced, combating stress, and facing the situation with a positive mindset.

Partying, being surrounded by hundreds of people – wasn’t my lifestyle before the lockdown and that helped me not to lose myself in a time of a pandemic. However, the beginning of a lockdown wasn’t easy: as a majority of Lithuanians, my previous workplace decided to reduce the number of employees for the sake to save a company. At first, I felt lost but soon I understood that things cannot be better. Losing a job helped me to get myself together, to re-connect with the most precious people. Finally, I wasn’t always in a rush, I wasn’t always tired or in a bad mood. I had time to be in healthy relationships with others. Finally, I felt like I am starting to find opportunities to clear my own goals and set new resolutions.

As I see things now, seems like nothing have changed. But overall, there were some things that made a huge impact on my mood. They were in a favor of getting me through days, weeks, and even months.

First of all, the lockdown is a little bit easier when you have a good book by your side. I find reading as a great escape that takes me to another world entirely. By all means, books are not only about reading, they are a lot about learning and discovering. Strongly recommended to find a great book that could help you to travel in your own mind.

Another great thing that helped me go through the lockdown was long walks. Firstly, it was a bit challenging to refuse to use a car which takes you from point A to B, but eventually, the new habit was gained and with a bit of proper time management and good music, it was nothing but a pleasure.

The third activity, as I may call it, which made a lockdown easier, was a chance to cook something I’ve never cooked before. Before the pandemic, I was usually so busy, that most of the meals had to be quick and easy. In times of a lockdown, I’ve loved experimenting with different recipes while in lockdown and have made some tasty treats.

ROBERT – 20-year-old, studying BA Aviation Mechanical Engineering in Vilnius TECH

I’m a student, who works on weekends. Job is helping me to go through the lockdown because I am still going there. It means that I am still moving and being physically active. And at work, I talk to people and I am able to catch up with my work buddies. During weekdays I am studying. Lectures occupy the majority of my time. To be honest, I got used to working from home. And it is not that bad. Usually, in the mornings I have classes and after that, in my time off I entertain myself or do my homework.

Video games take a big fraction of my time. I mostly play shooter games and simulations like Squad and Warzone. Or story-driven exploration games like “Red dead redemption 2” and “Death Stranding” or “Kingdom Come: Deliverance”. But lately, I got a game called “For the King” which is a Cooperative turn-based game that takes a lot of time to end the run. As I experienced, games “fast forward” time.

I watch YouTube videos about my hobbies and interests. Also, during the lockdown, a lot of people started to stream/post videos and there’s a lot of new creators and content. That’s probably one of the benefits of the Corona pandemic.

Old good pal, Netflix. Well, I used to watch it more before than I do it now, because I’m trying to watch it with my girlfriend, but she is abroad now and has a lot of work and not so much free time. But still, it is one of the best ways to spend the lockdown.

During pandemic, I also trying to work out. It is hard to do it at home because I feel a lot of distractions such as games, university work or just laying in the bed watching Netflix. But well, I do my best!

I was spending the majority of my time with my girlfriend when she was in Lithuania. But now, as she is abroad, I spent most of my time talking to her through the internet: Messenger or FaceTime. In the current situation, all of my friends are at home too, so we also communicate in the same ways. I’m not that outgoing so I don’t really miss going partying or something else. But I miss my girlfriend and I can’t wait for her to come back! If she would be here, the lockdown would look more like a vacation instead of the consequence of a global pandemic.

MONIKA48-year-old, studying MA of Business and Management in VGTU

The beginning of the quarantine was not like surviving. The beginning was more like a “stop”. A “gift” that the body and the soul needed from a crazy pace and multitasking. From the need to participating everywhere and doing everything, running fast and at the same time even running further from themselves, from peace, from sincerity, love of neighbor or your thoughts.

We with my husband and my daughter decided to make an old dream come true and to search for a homestead or land-plot to build our future home. We wanted to distance ourselves from too many contacts, excess information and to find silence in thoughts, peace in the refuge of nature. So, we were searching for all kinds of information about it and doing rides around the whole country to find that perfect piece of land in which we want to grow old. That was not just a “time spending” that was quite a big job we did there.

Sometimes, I think about that. All of us have our own chores and our own problems to solve, things to do. Even if we live together and see each other every day, but we are so far apart. “When else would we have so much time to spend together, solved the same dilemma, shared info, chatted together and, laughed?”. And I should thank lockdown for the opportunity to feel that closeness with my family again.

During the lockdown, we also were taking care of my mother which is living in a different city. We were buying her food and leaving it behind the door as a gift, “…as if Santa Claus crept through the chimney into the house at night and disappears before she even woke up”. I also started painting

Even if others won’t have the same jobs or activities during the lockdown, but everyone can try to make their dreams come true or finally stop, slow their pace, and rest. Reconnect with people who might be close physically, but also drifted away through time.

LUKAS – 28-year-old, just before lockdown graduated with a BA degree in Electronic Engineering in VTDK

To be honest, I barely felt the lockdown. If it is not about wearing masks, I could not make a statement that it is a rough time.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I decided to take action and start my own business.  So, I was a bit too much into growing my own business and had less time to focus on the lockdown situation in a country.

I also have some friends that are into gaming like myself and we started to play together. We spent such a great time communicating with each other, creating strategies, and, of course, we started to create new plans after the pandemic. Connection with the closest friends helped to get through those lockdown days by much.

Another great way to spend days in isolation was to watch YouTube videos. On the one hand, it may sound silly and vain, but in fact, it was great educational material. I’ve learned how to build (need to mention I did) an electric bicycle, watched a couple of SpaceX launches and I’ve learned a lot about my own field of interests. Probably, without being in a lockdown I could not have a chance to slow my pace and learn something new.

Seeing from my point of view, the lockdown is a great opportunity to make stronger connections with your closest ones, show them that they are not alone, treat yourself with a slower pace of life, get well–deserved time of relaxation, and be in your comfort zone for not pushing yourself to the maximum. I can firmly say that the lockdown gave me a chance to set down and be more in a present.

 Conclusion

I hope that you find it interesting to know about other people’s experiences during the lockdown. And to sum up everything, the lockdown definitely wasn’t the worst thing for humanity, and maybe it just taught people to care more about small details and also about themselves.