My year: Concordia student faced many challenges during the pandemic

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My Year is a weeklong series in which Montréal residents from all walks of life talk with Brendan Kelly about how they lived through the extraordinary year 2021. Today: Patrick Palmer-Bordeleau, student.

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Patrick Palmer-Bordeleau is living college life pandemic style.

The 25-year-old began studying at Concordia University as a mature student in the fall of 2020, taking courses in math, physics and chemistry in an attempt to qualify for the civil engineering program. All of his courses that first year were online, and he found it quite difficult.

“Especially since I hadn’t been to school for six years, it was a bit difficult to adjust to the Internet,” Palmer-Bordeleau said. “If there were power outages, for example, I couldn’t do any work because everything was online. All recordings. And you lose a lot of power in Montreal. I found it stressful.

“There was a lack of communication with the teachers but also not being able to see my fellow students. Now I have classes in person and I like the aspect of socializing with the other students. “

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That year online became even more difficult for Palmer-Bordeleau because he was in the middle of separating from his wife.

“It was depressing at times,” he said.

During her winter semester, due to her difficulties with online learning and the stress of her separation, her grades suffered and she only passed one in four courses. Focus was an important topic for Palmer-Bordeleau, who prefers to study in a social setting.

“I like to study with other people, even if we are all quiet and do our own things,” he said. “I like to study in a group. It helps me motivate myself to study. Just online and in front of the computer, I didn’t feel as motivated. “

During her first semester, Palmer-Bordeleau took advantage of the Home Room, which is a service where freshmen can socialize with other students, although last year it was all online. This year, he is a student facilitator with Home Room, to help other students.

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He said he hears a lot of distress from students, who are having a hard time going to school in the context of COVID-19.

“It’s part of my job (as a Home Room facilitator) to communicate with my participants, and many of them said that (when they studied) online they felt depressed, very anxious. Some teachers just send tapes and if you don’t watch them, you get late. So it puts a lot of stress on us. Because we have to organize our own time.

“There is a lot of stress and then the anxiety of being alone. I have many friends who have to search for anxiety medications just from learning online. It is a difficult time for the mental health of the students ”.

Going to real life classes has been a great asset for Palmer-Bordeleau.

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“It helped me to be more motivated and to study better,” he said.

He also likes being able to go directly to his teachers and ask them questions after class. At Zoom, he said, teachers used to end the video call as soon as class was over.

This year with Home Room, they can have in-person events, like movie nights, and he said people have really appreciated it. He loves the fact that the service allows students from different programs at the university to interact.

“I really liked Home Room because it allowed me to make connections with other students,” said Palmer-Bordeleau.

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