Harry and Yuyu's stories

Harry’s story

Harry hadn’t been a Christian for very long before he left for university to chase his dream of being a doctor.

He says, ‘I couldn’t wait to start university, and I was also buzzing for the opportunity to share Jesus with people, and for them to experience the relationship with Him that I had just found. When I first arrived I was nervous but I made an effort to put myself out there, and tried to spend as little time in my room as possible. However, shortly after starting my flat became toxic.’

Harry describes a flat where there was conflict, stealing and a filthy kitchen. For someone experiencing anxiety, this was a nightmare and so Harry says, ‘I spent most of my time locked in my bedroom, as it meant I was safe, which resulted in me feeling even more anxious and I started feeling depressed’.

Despite his love for medicine, Harry was overwhelmed by the demands of his degree. Isolated in his flat and so anxious that even finding his university’s Christian Union felt impossible.

He said, ‘I regretted ever wanting to be a doctor, as it landed me here. I felt I was missing out on what are the 'best years of my life'. I found myself living on my own after I’d left the halls, because all my friends had already found houses with other people. I felt entirely alone.’

Like many students, a combination of events outside of Harry’s control led to this point of sadness, anxiety and isolation.

‘But during the first lockdown I felt God tell me to read through 1 Peter, and in 1 Peter 5:10 it says, ‘And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast’. I could trust that God moved through all of these experiences, and He was building me up even stronger for having gone through those trials. I feel like He used my experiences of loneliness and isolation pre-pandemic so I could support those who experienced this mid- and post-pandemic. I realised more than ever that God always comes through, and now I’ve never been happier that I left for university to study medicine!’

Yuyu’s story

Yuyu is an international student from Hong Kong. Like Harry, Yuyu experienced a combination of unpredictable events which had a huge impact on her mental well-being.

When speaking of her experience of mental health struggles at university she says, ‘Back when I first moved to university, everything looked refreshing.’

There was so much Yuyu was excited about. Her course, a new place and being able to meet friends from all around the world as they gathered to study. And yet she says, ‘However, underneath that was the anxiety of feeling lost and not belonging.’

Having lived away a lot since her teens, moving didn’t seem like a big deal. But during her time at university the conflict in Hong Kong deeply affected her. Yuyu said, ‘The confusion of back home struck me hard. There were mass protests and people being charged and put in prison for protecting their home. In the midst of that chaos I am here 9,469km away from home weeping, feeling helpless about what is happening.’

Understandably, for Yuyu this raised huge questions. Like 'Where is God in the midst of injustice?' and 'Does God listen to our cries?' She describes a Christian Union meeting where the news bought her to tears. Then her CU Staff Worker offered to pray with her.

Yuyu describes this moment, ‘We prayed for the people in Hong Kong, the government officials, and peace in my heart and mind. I was calmed. I sensed the Holy Spirit with me, giving me hope.’

Then Yuyu says, ‘Then, as we all know in 2020, the pandemic hit everyone in the world really really hard. I came back to the UK in September 2020, ready for the second year of my studies. That turned out to be one of the worst periods in my life as an international student struggling with identity, homesickness, and feeling like I belong in the UK. I developed depression. Lockdown certainly aided the development of my depression and I was bed-bound for nearly two months. Those two months were absolute darkness, and the only light was Deliveroo. Somehow God still held on to me, even though I was so far away from Him. Slowly as spring made her entrance, I began to recover.

The stories above seem irrelevant and unrelated, but those are points where God planted the seeds and grew my faith. As a response I was baptised in December 2021, to publicly announce my faith as a Christian and to follow God’s path.'