Winchester College Quarantine - a reflection

7th September 2020
BY Ben Wen, JP, Furley's

It is truly perplexing how staying at school in quarantine has felt more free than the regular holidays. There is no doubt that COVID-19 has made easy work out of our usual holiday plans, thus we’ve been stuck in this monotonous cycle, with no major stimuli in sight. Quarantine has been a refreshing change from my mundane life, as absurd as it sounds. The fact that I can just walk out of Furley’s was a privilege compared to apartment life. Moreover, the staff have made a tremendous effort to make us feel more at home.      

Before I arrived, one of my biggest fears was the problem of expressing myself. However, from the moment I got here, a wave of realisation dawned over me - everybody here was extraordinarily friendly and the older years have been particularly considerate. My brother and I have spent time playing “Dark Souls the board game” which had an inexplicable 40-page manual, which would have taken hours to grasp at home but was promptly explained to us in no less than 15 minutes.   

Above everything, probably the most substantial factor for the phenomenal week has been the staff. The matron and cleaners, for making us feel at home, as well as keeping hygiene a priority and the chefs, who provided a substantial variety of delectable meals. Last but certainly not least is our housemaster. I think we will all be grateful to Mr Fox for taking his own private time to house us.  

To conclude this first impression, it’s true to say that this time has flashed by. If I could choose one thing to take away from this time, it would be something shared with us first years:  

“You will have approximately 1,000 days at Winchester, please make the most of every opportunity. I guarantee that at your graduation, you will tell me, if I am still here, how quickly those 1,000 days have gone by.” 

If these first two weeks were anything to go by, I would conclude that this statement couldn’t be more true.