It has been almost 18 months since COVID-19 touched the Hunter region, and young Novocastrians say they are lonelier than ever.
Common rites of passage such as attending 21st birthday parties, moving out of home and travelling have all been impacted by the pandemic, making it harder than ever for young adults to maintain social connections.
Online learning at the University of Newcastle in 2020 has also meant students feel alienated from their classmates.
Communication student Hayley Ratcliffe, 19, said after two years at university she hadn’t made any friends.
“I know we are paying for the degree, but I expected way more of a social experience, just like the movies I guess,” Ratcliffe said.
“People say that you make friends at uni that last for a lifetime and that your 20s are the best years of your life, but I feel robbed in a way.”
University of Newcastle students are learning remotely amid the Hunter and Greater Sydney lockdowns.
“I feel like it’s really hard to connect with people. You just get out of bed, open the laptop, get on Zoom and that’s it,” Ratcliffe said.
“There’s no initiative from anyone, no one starts a conversation and no one interacts. If they do, it’s with people from high school who they already know.”
It is a sentiment shared publicly by her peers on a popular student Facebook page. The UON Love Letters Revived page, which is not affiliated with University of Newcastle management, is usually home to light-hearted posts about students’ crushes on campus.
Lately, however, the site has morphed into a place students go to anonymously vent feelings of loneliness and sadness.
Crisis support centre Lifeline Australia said it had received last Monday the highest volume of calls in the organisation’s 58-year history: 3345 callers nationally.
A guide to maintaining social connections, prepared by the University of Newcastle’s counselling team, was among a raft of support resources emailed to students by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Mark Hoffman last Wednesday.
“It is not surprising that loneliness at university is common. Friendship is not a straightforward process, and just because you try something once does not mean it will work,” the document said.
“Everyone has their own stuff going on and sometimes not connecting is about the other person. Remember the secret is linking back to your values of making friends and being prepared to try again or try in a different way to make that connection.”
But even young professionals in dynamic workplaces have been feeling disconnected.
NBN television journalist Lauren Kempe, 24, said working full time amid the pandemic has caused her peripheral friendships to fade out.
“During normal circumstances it’s a challenge [to stay in touch] but in the last two years I’ve found I’ve essentially lost contact with some people, including long-term friends I thought I would have for life,” Kempe said.
“I know I’m not in their ‘top five go-to people’ but I still love hanging out with them.
“But events get postponed or just cancelled altogether. Many aren’t motivated to put in the effort any more for the risk that a party or bigger event won’t come off, and who can blame them?
“So yeah, you find yourself getting closer with your close friends but even more distanced, sometimes irreversibly so, with the others. It’s incredibly socially isolating,” she said.
University of Newcastle alumnus Nick Cain moved to Sydney for work in the finance industry a few years ago and said relocating has created a lingering sense of disconnection with old friends and family members.
“I feel more ‘disconnected’ than lonely, partially because I live with someone in lockdown,” Cain said. “But I think this is typical of people who move away for work like we did, and this issue has just been compounded by COVID.”
The 24-year-old said he was putting in effort to grow and maintain social connections.
“I think I’m much more inclined to arrange to call or FaceTime friends during lockdowns than I probably otherwise would have done.
“I’m much more avid about being deliberately social at work when I have a chance to be there in person, whereas before I might have been more introverted.”
Back on the UON Love Letters Revived page, students were finding unique ways to make connections, by advertising their hobbies such as basketball and four-wheel driving that they would like to partake in with newfound friends once restrictions ease.
Albeit unconventional, the posts demonstrate the way young adults are showing resilience and optimism in the face of the Hunter’s growing health crisis.
People aged 12-25 seeking help for mental health issues should contact headspace or Kids Helpline.
Lauren Freemantle