Born at the dawn of the 21th Century in the year of the Dragon, Lydia Chen and Vihan Chandiramani are two of Singapore’s top students. This year they expected to start their university life in London; Lydia at UCL and Vihan at Imperial. Instead, they are at home in Singapore, in their bedrooms studying on-line.
We talk about attending lectures in a different time zone; how hard it is to have to reach out in the hope of establishing a friendship, and how much it is appreciated when someone reaches out to them.
How being Gen Z doesn’t mean they don’t suffer from Zoom fatigue.
How they are overcoming their situation, and fighting the growing realisation that they have to go backwards to go forwards.
We also explore the importance of good mental health and how the universities are supporting them. How both have been fundamentally changed by their experience but remain remarkably pragmatic and optimistic that the ‘tarnished’ start will not define the rest of their university career.
References:
Lydia Chen on Instagram: thelidlprince
Vihan Chandiramani on Instagram: vihan55