The last two years of the pandemic led us to a temporary isolation, and the target group most affected by active social life are precisely students. Suddenly we saw ourselves, found in the middle of a passive life that had almost #stopped. Chair of the EUSA Student Commission and member of the EUSA Executive Committee Flobena Nikolli shares her experiences in the latest edition of the EUSA student column What's up.

While I was studying, in the 2nd year at Faculty of Law and working with Albanian University Sports Federation, I did not think that the pandemic would change my plans radically.



In March 2020, we were preparing for the European University Games in Belgrade, with intensive training for the students who would be competing and also training the volunteer students who would assist throughout the Games. Everything changes within an hour, from simple hand-washing tips to 2-week isolation as a start and untimely follow-up.

So I, like any student started online studies and also online work. People all over the world did their best to adapt to the new normalcy. But what was most amazing was the speed, initiative and innovation that we, as students showed within a few days of the time the pandemic broke out and brought us the blockage.



We adapted. Life is neither static nor immutable. Young people, quickly adapted to distance learning, found new ways to connect with each other, in new circumstances found other ways to be active and do sports other than training in gyms or in teams that could have been taught and instead of withdrawing or giving up out of fear, they intervened to be part of finding the solution, with the #challenges initiative, thus challenging each other to be active even from home.

Despite the new challenges of the pandemics and mutations of the virus, I am happy to see that we continue adapting, people are getting vaccinated and I very much look forward to the European Universities Games in Lodz this summer!

Are you a student with an opinion? We are looking for new contributors for our student column every month. Feel free to contact stc@eusa.eu to offer a piece or propose a topic.