Winners or Losers? Two Academic Years in Experiences of COVID-19 Pandemic

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic declared on March 11th, 2020, has had a substantial impact on the lives of all over the world. The student population, being one of the most vulnerable and substile ones, was forced to face specific unexpected circumstances for the first time in their lives. Objective. In this paper, the authors explored the reflections of the COVID-19 experience and basic segments of everyday life of university students after the first academic year under pandemic measures and a follow-up year with their subjective perception of to what extent their lives have changed and how they were able to adapt to COVID-19 emergency measures. Design. The field research was conducted among students in two European countries: Slovenia and Serbia. The qualitative semi-structured interviews with students (N = 20, 50% male) were executed in June-July 2020 and June-July 2021. Results. The basic segments of students' daily lives underwent significant changes, yet they successfully coped and adapted to the COVID-19 emergency measures. Notably, improvements were observed in study strategies, reducing fear and loneliness. Above all, the primary longing was for social contact and gathering with friends. In their private lives, they were more concerned about opportunities but on the other hand, they gained more free time for various non-academic activities. Finally, sports science students have proven better-coping mechanisms with extraordinary circumstances. Conclusion. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the changes in the daily lives of students during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.