CHANGE OF SCENE
UNIVERSITY LIFE IN LOCKDOWN lower compared to the same time last year. New York’s levels of pollution have reduced by almost 50 per cent from this time last year, and carbon emissions fell in China by 25 per cent at the start of 2020. And, in Europe, nitrogen dioxide emissions are fading away over northern Italy, shown by satellite images. Spain and the UK are looking to follow a similar pattern as well. Whilst in this short time it looks like COVID-19 restrictions are making our global climate look a little better, could this be a long-term phenomenon, or will it not affect the pathway of global warming in years to come? According to an international study led by the University of Leeds, these short-term restrictions will not massively affect the Earth’s climate. However, we can learn from this event and use it to find new ways to help stem climate change. We would like to thank current St George’s pupil Sofia Toub (Lower Five), for sharing her analysis and observations of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on climate change. This is a topic of extreme importance which must be addressed in our society today to support those of the future.
In our last edition, we shared the extraordinary experiences of our Sixth Form pupils – all preparing for the final year(s) at school and then faced with lockdown, supported home learning and cancelled exams. Their experiences were common to so many other young people across the world, and they, like their peers, faced many challenges. Learning to adapt to a different teaching environment and being away from friends, sports, music, drama and other, previously normal, everyday activities brought a huge range of emotions and reactions. We were very grateful to those who shared their thoughts and experiences willingly and showed optimism and bright spirits as they looked ahead to the future. We were keen to provide an update on those stories and asked one of our contributors, Hannah Monk, to give us a flash forward into the future as she begins her university career. An exciting and daunting prospect, starting out in university life brings a mixture of emotions, but add a pandemic into the mix and it is an experience few of us can imagine. Hannah has started first year at the University of Strathclyde and is studying chemical engineering. We were so pleased that she has taken the time to share her experiences so far.
HANNAH MONK Class of 2020
Since your last contribution to the Dragon you have left U6. How were the last few months for 2020 leavers? All our leavers’ events, including Speech Day, were online. Although this was quite different from the events everyone expected, the staff did well to still give us some events, including different ones such as Taskmaster challenges, which we really enjoyed. It was a difficult transition from seeing friends throughout the school day to being at home and not seeing anyone except on a
Spring 2021 | 23
