Staying in, online lectures, social distancing. How do students deal with it? In this relay blog, Vox writers who study at Radboud write about their life in times of corona. Tom Hessels, an almost-graduate at management sciences, started his first job in March, but has yet to see the inside of his new office.

Finally! That was my main thought at the beginning of March. The end of my studies were in sight, with only one resit to go and a thesis that was at the second reader’s desk. Halfway through March, I would start my new job as junior researcher and slowly move into the life of a good, grown-up citizen.

Unfortunately, everything did not go according to plan. After the measures that were announced on Thursday the 12th of March, the phone rang: ‘Starting Monday will be hard, because we are all working from home. We will update you about the possibilities to start as soon as possible.’

A pity, but it gave me time to study for my resit on the 6th of April, I thought. It took some searching to find the motivation, but on the Monday after the measures were announced, I opened my laptop to start studying. Halfway through the first video, a messages popped up in the corner of my screen: ‘The exam has been rescheduled to the end of June’.

Life was on hold for a while. I have never seen and spoken to my roommates as much as I have in the past few weeks. My life could be summarised by Netflix, coffee on the balcony and practicing the new national sport: taking walks.

After three weeks, I have started my new job. This was last week. First, my screen showed mostly Netflix shows, now it’s dominates by Skype calls. I haven’t seen the office yet, I do know the insides of my colleague’s kitchens and living rooms. They already know that my wardrobe is unorganised. Before every digital meeting, I check if its doors are closed.

Still, working in corona times has an upside. My commute will be very short in the upcoming months. The walk from my bed to my desk is very short.