REPORTER 1: "... a very different Britain
that woke up this morning."
REPORTER 2: "The UK is on a three-week lockdown."
BORIS JOHNSON: "The coronavirus is the biggest threat
this country has faced for decades."
REPORTER 3: "Being in lockdown for that length of time
mentally, physically."
[RELAXED MUSIC]
So this isn't quite how I expected
my final university vlog to go,
but... here we are.
At 8:30 last night, Boris Johnson
announced that the UK is now on lockdown.
Well... he kind of did
like, he didn't actually say the word 'lockdown'
but we kind of...
... we read between the lines, you know.
I guess it goes without saying that
lockdown is exactly what we need right now
to get over this virus.
However,
I have a slight issue.
So I am currently at my university house
which is 350 miles away from home.
So I don't really fancy spending
the next three weeks at the very minimum
entirely on my own.
Because I will...
I can't...
No!
Also yesterday, the first case of coronavirus
at my university was confirmed,
which is kind of surprising,
because we all thought it would only come to Durham
once it got rejected from Oxford and Cambridge first.
But there we are!
So it's time for me to go,
but, erm, it's been fun,
it's been real.
All travel aside from essential travel is now banned,
I'm pretty sure that going home for good
is classed as essential travel.
I mean, I bloody hope it is.
It's obviously not an ideal situation,
I would really prefer if
I didn't have to get public transport today,
but I do.
The train that I originally booked
has been cancelled,
but there's a few more throughout the day
so I'm going to try my best
to get onto one of those.
But for now, I need to
pack up my life, I guess,
and... try and transport some of it home.
So, for what is probably the last time, erm...
... My name is Jack Edwards,
and welcome to a Durham University vlog!
In Durham.
[laughs]
RECORDED VOICE: "On tonight's programme,
ladies and gentlemen,
we have something that's gonna make you sick!"
[LO-FI BEATS WITH PIANO]
So my main issue is my books,
'cause I've got all of these...
All of these...
Then over here....
I, erm, have some more.
As well as these...
... these,
these...
these... some over here...
Yeah, it's safe to say that
unlike any restaurant at the moment,
I am fully booked.
So, I essentially need to work out
which books are vital for my exams
because our exams are now take-home exams,
which are being done online,
so I actually need a lot of these books
to take home with me.
Because they're all fiction, obviously,
because I do an English Literature degree,
a lot of these books aren't available online
because they are copyrighted.
So I need to have them with me,
otherwise I actually can't do my exams.
So...
these are my priority for things that I need to get home.
Okay, so I've whittled it down
to just these books that I'm taking back with me.
I think there's about 25 of them, maybe?
Obviously not ideal,
because this is gonna be really heavy, but...
You gotta do what you gotta do.
[SLOW RAP]
# For 24 hours, I got 80 quid #
# I'm washing dishes in a sink, thinking this is it #
# Took a step back, to work out what my time costs #
# I'll take a look at my wrist, now I reply: #
# 'LOTS' #
# So don't ever get it twisted #
# Man I meant twisted, seasick #
# of board games, was never good at battleships #
# When you say you're chef in white #
# Is that true, bro? #
# Claim you're in the kitchen with the knife #
# You've got no clue, though #
# And bro, making videos has changed my life #
# I'll have to pinch myself twice, just to sleep at night #
# When I quit my old job, I wasn't eating right #
# And it wasn't from the stress #
# I've been eating outta bags of rice #
Okay, I am so dumb.
I packed, like, four pairs of shoes.
Why did I pack four pairs of shoes?
I'm not going anywhere,
I can't even leave the house!
This is so stupid!
It's such a bizarre, unprecedented situation
that my brain just can't really even
comprehend the fact that,
when I'm packing,
I'm not... going anywhere after I get to the house
I am, however, going to pack some running shoes
'cause we are allowed,
we *are* allowed our one jog every day.
I've been packing clothes, but it all just feels a bit... silly.
Like, what do you even wear in lockdown?
Do you need to... dress up?
I don't know!
In my head, I do kind of feel like I need to get up
and get dressed in a proper outfit
to like, be productive in the day, but...
It just feels a bit silly bringing multiple...
sets of clothes because, like...
Who am I wearing them for?
I don't even know any more!
So, aside from like...
...existential crisis...
It's going quite well!
You know when there's loads of little jobs
that you have to do to like, pack up a room, that...
I just, I just don't want to do them.
But I mean, I literally have no choice, so...
Unfortunately, though I have been trying
to do some home workouts,
I just don't think that I've got room
for the exercise mat.
So...
Very, *very* sadly
and *reluctantly*
I am going to have to leave this behind.
Ah, man!
It was good while it lasted.
I pretended that I wanted to get fit
and actually work for it,
but I don't.
I want to get fit,
I just don't want to have to work for it,
and, so...
This is staying right here.
The thing about being the last housemate to leave
is that you have to do all of the nitty-gritty jobs
like take the rubbish out,
and clear up all of the random things
that we've accumulated.
For example, why is there a fried egg costume
in our living room?
I... don't know!
I really don't know.
[SLOW RAP]
# They've packed their bags and moved to West #
# I was sick of acting stupid, had to find a meaning #
# Hopped up on the Central Line #
# Two stops and now I'm new to Ealing #
# It's hard to find your feet when you've been down #
# But manifest your dreams #
# I'm never hearing what they say now... #
Okay...
[exhales deeply]
I have been running around like a headless chicken
trying to take the bins out,
tidy the whole house,
hoover everything,
wipe everything down to make sure it's clean
and sanitised...
And I'm now cooking some lunch
and I... am exhausted.
My train is in just under an hour,
and I'm hoping I'll have time to quickly
pop to a foodbank,
'cause I've got some leftover food that
there's no point in me carrying it home,
I might as well go and take it to someone who needs it.
And I just want the house to be nice for when we...
I mean, hopefully we come back!
I'm assuming we will come back at some point,
maybe not to live here again,
but, like... I'm sure we'll come back to get our stuff?
So yeah, everything is happening,
it's just happening in...
a stressful way.
So, gnocchi and some tomato sauce
is my last supper.
And I'm eating it out of the pan
so that there is less washing up!
I actually don't know if I'm ready
to have to start behaving like a normal human being
when I go back to my family home,
where doing things like this...
aren't... acceptable.
But for now, bon appetit.
I'm just trying to get the final bits into my rucksack.
Like I need to take home all my dissertation notes,
revision materials for exams...
Ugh, I didn't do this in the right order.
[screaming internally]
I'm struggling to...
explain how and why I feel such
a profound sense of like... sadness.
And I'm sure there'll be comments on this video
saying that I'm being, like,
super melodramatic-
-I usually am, to be fair,
it's just me being on brand-
But I think the reason that... this...
... feels so major is because this is my home!
Like, this is...
... the house that I live in,
this is the first house that I rented
as... an adult.
You know, I've lived here for two years,
it feels really weird to be leaving it and not knowing...
when I'm coming back to it.
My life up to this point has always had a next step,
there's always been a next thing,
there's always been a next term,
a next institution that I was going to, whereas...
this time around, if I don't come back to Durham...
... then I actually...
This is the last step.
Because as you may know, I didn't get into
the Master's schemes that I applied to.
So, my next step is just...
Life.
So I just feel really weird about it.
It very much feels like my final year at university...
... isn't really going out with a bang,
it's kind of going out with... a bit of whimper.
My final year is just sort of fizzling out,
and it's weird.
It's weird.
So yeah.
It's not a nice feeling.
I don't like it.
I wouldn't recommend to a friend.
[zips up suitcase]
[sigh of relief]
There we go.
Phew!
Okay, I've got layers on.
I've got a rollneck, so that I can kind of
cover my mouth a little bit if I need to.
I've got these antibacterial surface wipes...
I don't even know if I'll need any of this stuff,
but I just want to be extra careful.
God, that smells lemony!
JEEZ!
Got two suitcases, and...
we're ready to go!
Goodbye university room!
[door slams decisively]
Ugh...
[train swooshes past]
[exhales strongly]
Oh my god.
That wasn't my train by the way.
I literally like, ran to the station
and got here 7 minutes early.
Which is classic me, to panic,
but usually I'm 7 minutes late, so.
I'm feeling quite confident about that.
I'm trying to like, not touch anything
and it feels so awful to be treating other human beings
like, 'I can't come near you', but
I guess that's just how we have to be
for our own safety, and also for everyone else's safety.
'Cause, you never know what you,
what you got going on inside ya.
It's all running smoothly... thus far.
I need to touch wood somewhere.
I don't want to touch it, but imagine me touching wood.
'Cause I've definitely just jinxed it.
[nervous laugh]
It's so eerily quiet.
I'm intrigued to see how many people
will be on my train.
[RELAXED VOCAL MUSIC]
# If I lose my mind, make sure I never forget #
# Should I find the time to let it get me upset #
# Must always stay patient on things that're unsure #
# Can't rely on comfort, on things I've been taught #
# And I can't, cartwheeling, and feelings are raw #
# I'd rather be ignored #
So I have made it to Peterborough,
there it is, in case you needed proof for some reason.
I know this is really overdramatic,
but I kind of feel like I'm in, like,
James Bond or like, a Mission Impossible film.
I just feel like I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing.
[laughs]
And the atmosphere...
... everywhere, is just so weird.
It's so weird.
I can't even explain it.
Everyone's like, looking at each other, like...
'Are you... you gonna kill me?
Are you gonna infect me?'
If I change at Peterborough,
it means I don't have to get the London Underground,
which I think is probably preferable,
so that's why I'm changing here.
There we are.
Take me home please.
[SLOW RAP]
# From last year, I didn't recognise myself #
# I lost a friend, was unexpected #
# Hurts me more I didn't help #
# And when I got that news I started sinking #
# I did everything to stop myself from thinking #
# I even turned to other things to help the sleeping #
# But when you're life's online #
# The pressure starts to creep in... #
So, a couple of days have passed since
I filmed the rest of this video.
And in that time, uh, all of third term was cancelled-
-Mate, Archie,
I'm trying to do like,
trying to talk to the...
He doesn't care.
He doesn't care!
So, my entire final term at university has been cancelled.
That includes all of exams being put online,
Summer Ball being cancelled,
College Day being cancelled,
every event in June.
Basically at Durham,
once exams finish,
we all stay in Durham for the whole month of June
and just spend the whole time partying and celebrating.
And so that whole thing has been cancelled.
As well as... graduation.
Graduation was cancelled today.
So, yeah.
It's not good, is it mate?
Nah.
It's a massive bummer.
Erm... I don't... know...
... what to do with myself really,
I feel so ridiculously unmotivated because it's like,
what are we even working for any more?
I don't know!
Obviously I'll still get a degree,
because I've worked for it,
and I've, like, achieved it, technically, but...
it just feels so weird that the final bit,
the final push... has ended in this way.
Hello, mister! You wanna say hello?
To the people?
You playing hard to get?
So it feels really sad that this is potentially...
well, it is my last... ever Durham University vlog.
What?
That's so crazy.
Obviously I am now at home for the forseeable future,
and we are in lockdown.
If you are looking for stuff to do,
go and check out the StudyTube Project
on Instagram and YouTube,
where myself and loads of other people
who make similar videos to me
are uploading every single day, with kind of like
educational content to keep you entertained, occupied,
and just give you somewhere to escape to
if school or university was that escape.
The idea is to create community out of isolation,
so hopefully that's what we're achieving.
Also on Sunday night at 8pm,
I'm going to do a pub quiz live on this YouTube channel,
so if you want to get involved with that
please, please do, be here at 8pm
It won't take long, but I've got a real mix of questions
so it should be really really fun.
For now, erm...
Thanks for watching, I guess,
thank you for watching all of the
Durham University vlogs,
thank you for being there every step of the way.
Obviously I'll still be making YouTube content,
but unfortunately it won't be actually in Durham.
But for now, thank you so much for watching,
give this video a like, if you liked it, if you like,
subscribe for more from me,
and I will see you next time!
Bye-bye!
[LO-FI BEATS WITH PIANO]
ANNOUNCER: In case I don't see ya,
Good afternoon, good evening, and good night.
[static]