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"When students got COVID, we made sure food was delivered to their rooms, knocking to ask if they were okay, talking from behind the door until they were out of isolation. It could happen to me and I wouldn't want to be by myself, alone in a room for 14 days. I'd want someone to check on me. I remember the first week of the first lockdown. I was really scared and panicking. We didn't know anything. It felt like war. It was hard – wearing claustrophobic masks, washing our hands every few minutes, trying to keep social distance. It was a very, very hard time. Even for me, but I'm a bit stronger.
"I'm always supporting others, to feel better about myself. It makes me sad to see others sad and I must be doing something about it, to help. Donna, our manager, helps them a lot too. If they come here from far away, it can be hard for them to adapt. I came here from Algeria when I was 28. So I'm always talking to them, making sure they are OK and feel supported. We have 180 students living here and I know most of them by name. They're 18 or 19 years old, their first time away from home. Sometimes they're a bit more aggressive after drinking too much. But even then, we will always be there and have a solution. I want them to come back to study, not forget that that's what they're here to do. I'll go, 'Guys, look, I know it's good to have a good time, but it's good to study while you are here too’. Friday nights before COVID, there could be 70 or 80 who've gone out drinking. They come back at 3, 4 o'clock in the morning and of course they want to continue the party. I calm everybody down, get them back to their own rooms (sometimes they've forgotten where they live), and make sure they are safe and happy. It can feel like a hard job at times like that, but I just say, 'Tomorrow is another day. Let's carry on.' For me, to see people happy is happiness, especially when they are young like this. They don't have experience, so sometimes I'm giving advice, because I was there. I was young one time and doing all this kind of stuff. I'm a people person. I'm nice and polite and always smiling, so no-one has a problem with me. I know they need love."
"When students got COVID, we made sure food was delivered to their rooms, knocking to ask if they were okay, talking from behind the door until they were out of isolation. It could happen to me and I wouldn't want to be by myself, alone in a room for 14 days. I'd want someone to check on me. I remember the first week of the first lockdown. I was really scared and panicking. We didn't know anything. It felt like war. It was hard – wearing claustrophobic masks, washing our hands every few minutes, trying to keep social distance. It was a very, very hard time. Even for me, but I'm a bit stronger.
"I'm always supporting others, to feel better about myself. It makes me sad to see others sad and I must be doing something about it, to help. Donna, our manager, helps them a lot too. If they come here from far away, it can be hard for them to adapt. I came here from Algeria when I was 28. So I'm always talking to them, making sure they are OK and feel supported. We have 180 students living here and I know most of them by name. They're 18 or 19 years old, their first time away from home. Sometimes they're a bit more aggressive after drinking too much. But even then, we will always be there and have a solution. I want them to come back to study, not forget that that's what they're here to do. I'll go, 'Guys, look, I know it's good to have a good time, but it's good to study while you are here too’. Friday nights before COVID, there could be 70 or 80 who've gone out drinking. They come back at 3, 4 o'clock in the morning and of course they want to continue the party. I calm everybody down, get them back to their own rooms (sometimes they've forgotten where they live), and make sure they are safe and happy. It can feel like a hard job at times like that, but I just say, 'Tomorrow is another day. Let's carry on.' For me, to see people happy is happiness, especially when they are young like this. They don't have experience, so sometimes I'm giving advice, because I was there. I was young one time and doing all this kind of stuff. I'm a people person. I'm nice and polite and always smiling, so no-one has a problem with me. I know they need love."
