It may seem like a long time ago now. The time when the pandemic ravaged and locked us in. But for some, the world was turned upside down in the most formative years when they had to learn to stand on their own two feet, find out who they were and explore life’s possibilities. For four years, news has followed five students who were hit hard by the restrictions. How has it affected their lives going forward? On 12 March 2020, the Prime Minister took to the podium and announced the most drastic measures since the Second World War. All parties, flirting and plans were canceled and replaced with fear of infection, online teaching – and hanging out over Zoom, as this video from the room of the then 21-year-old chemistry student Seb Rishaug Strand shows: Just a stone’s throw away lived Martha Tilrum (26). She was looking forward to exploring life outside space, but the time after the pandemic has not gone quite as planned. Martha is tired of having her life put on hold. First, she had to go back a year after struggling with online teaching in sign language. – It was shit. Then she started working, but the extra year had eaten up the financial buffer. When she was told that she would have to undergo a jaw operation that would make her unable to work and earn money for a period, she felt compelled to give up the apartment and move home with mum and dad in Harstad. Photo: Mari Reisjå / news The only problem is that the operation has been postponed time and time again, so the stay at home has become much longer than planned. – Now I have at least saved up some money, because I work a lot and travel all over the country, she says. She smiles as the regulation seems when she talks about her job as a freelance sign language interpreter. She is happy that she completed the study, but also has a clear recommendation if there is another pandemic: Wait to study until it is over. – My study time still affects me, both at work and as a person. I always have to explain why I didn’t finish at the same time as the others in my cohort. I have been very upset because of the poor follow-up I experienced from the school. If it weren’t for the pandemic, Seb (now 24) might have lived in London. And thank God that the restrictions crushed that dream. Last year, Seb spoke about how being alone during the pandemic meant he had nowhere to escape from thoughts about gender identity. – Only now have I started going to a psychologist, I should have started sooner, says Seb today. Photo: Mari Reisjå / news Hen has started to cultivate a new hobby, namely aquarium. Life has gone from being socially shut down in 12 square meters, to being filled with research into biotechnology, a girlfriend and fifty small fish. – I don’t care what pronoun people use about me, call me an aquarist. There are more people than Seb who have experienced that the restrictions closed doors, but also opened others. Ingjerd Erika Eid Skjerven (22) is one of them. The desire to make up for all that was lost when the country reopened led to things going a little rough. Or “it got a little overdone”, as Ingjerd puts it. Ingjerd is humble, there is a hard-fought battle for the internship position she has now been given. The time has come to put on work clothes and move out of the collective at Grünerløkka. Photo: Mari Reisjå / news One of the questions we ask each year is: “What gives you hope?”. In 2020, everyone answered something pandemic-related: They hoped for a vaccine, to go to physical education, to hug grandma again . After the pandemic, the question has become one of the most difficult to answer, especially for theology student Simon Omsland Zakariassen (24). Photo: Mari Reisjå / news The feeling of loneliness during the pandemic has defined what he wants to use the priesthood for: Creating security and hope for young people. But the pandemic, climate crisis and the attacks on civilians in Gaza put his faith and hope to the test. What gives more hope than seeing dreams come true? Stability and security became two essential things for current school librarian Nora Løkenhagen (25) when freedom was restricted four years ago. The aim was to start a good life together with her boyfriend Sander, who lived in the USA. Photo: Mari Reisjå / news We have followed Nora since she lived alone in a student dormitory, one year in a collective and one on exchange in Denmark. This year, life had taken a new turn – especially when there was a knock on the door during the interview.
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Same interview four years later – Special
