Alice Cavanagh was one month into her first year of university at Bathurst when she had to pack up and move back home to Dubbo.
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The 19-year-old is studying a Bachelor of Theatre Media at Charles Sturt University. For the safety of students and staff, they sent everyone home in March, expecting to be back by the end of the first semester.
But, for Ms Cavanagh, her learning is now done via Zoom meetings and email with no known date of when she'll return to face-to-face learning.
"It's been very hard trying to adapt to coming home. I was at uni ad now I'm back home. I love my parents and I love being with them but at the same time I want to start my adult life," she said.
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"You go out and do things, like going to see my boyfriend but it's weird because I'm like 'Mum, are you okay with this?' It's that weird feeling because you're like 'am I a kid again? Is it back to high school when there were all these rules?'"
Leaving the house also brings with it worries about catching COVID-19, or transmitting it to someone else.
"When we found out you could go and visit partners I've been going to visit my boyfriend some days, which has been good to get out of the house. There's still that looming fear of 'what if I bring something home? Or what if I bring something to his family?' which is very scary," Ms Cavanagh said.
Studying via distance has also brought with it challenges. Because the university was expecting classes to resume face-to-face learning for semester two, Ms Cavanagh is among those who left her possessions locked on campus.
It's also required a lot of extra work - and motivation - to adapt to her new theatre classes.
What was supposed to be a live performance for family and friends, is now a television show where everyone has to film themselves at home.
Video conferencing has also played a large role.
"Everything is basically on Zoom. I've got lectures on Zoom and tutorials four to five times a week. Then we've got additional meetings for the TV show I'm doing now," the student said.
"It's a lot more theory-based than what we would have been doing if we were on campus. But it is what it is."
Theatre has been a passion of the Dubbo resident since she was young.
"I was at St John's College and we did Into the Woods and that sent me on the path of loving theatre and wanting to do theatre. At every opportunity I did theatre," Ms Cavanagh said.
By year 12, she knew she wanted to pursue a career in theatre and the Theatre Media degree ticked all the boxes.
A friend was auditioning for the theatre media course at Bathurst, and Ms Cavanagh decided to do the same. The campus felt like the perfect fit.
"The lecturer during my audition went 'yep, you're in'. It was immediate," she said.
When the pandemic is over, Ms Cavanagh said she was looking forward to going to the movies or theatre.
However, she said she'll always be far more conscious of germs.