Yesterday, I was meant to be in Nottingham walking across the graduation stage to complete my PhD studies journey finally. Of course, this was supposed to have almost two years ago, except that Covid-19 lockdowns meant that this was not possible. The university had sent us our certificates (so, I’m already a doctor, just not robed) back in 2020, with this IOU.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 has hit again and I was unable to attend the ceremony. Of course, as many people have reminded me, there are no official rules stopping me from attending. But I could not in all my conscience attend an event – with family members and good friends, at that – knowingly spreading the virus all around. In any case, I would have been too weak. Monday was probably the worst day of my symptoms so I couldn’t have trained over to Nottingham anyway.
I feel sad that I was not able to join Abi, Dave and Rob, who looked lovely in their robes. I also feel really bad that my tai che and Mizuan – my oldest sister and brother-in-law – had made specific plans to be in the UK on these dates to attend the ceremony.
Hopefully, the university will reply soon to let me know if I can attend the August ceremony instead. I’ve also contacted Ede & Ravencroft about my gown to see if they’ll let me change ceremonies. Ibis Hotel has offered to allow me to change my date, so hopefully it’ll all work out and that catching Covid-19 isn’t going to put me out of pocket.
I’ve abandoned this blog for a while now, what with work and all, but I thought getting Covid (again!) was worth recording. This is especially since I created this to record what life was like living through this particular pandemic. So, here are some facts: I was one of four people who got it during a short getaway last week (not sure which one of us brought it in, but my LFT test the morning I went over was negative). The others had recovered from it fairly recently, so they all didn’t get reinfected.
A couple of my friends didn’t have any symptoms, but I did. And while it’s been certainly milder than when I had it pre-vaccine back in 2020, it’s not been ‘mild’ at all. I can’t say any of the colds (or even flu) I’ve ever had in my life quite compares to this. But I am slightly more functional than I was back during round one.
It’s been about 6-7 days now, and it’s driving me crazy. I can’t wait for a negative test and feeling better so that I can get back to life (and work – marking hell has begun).