For the past two and a half years of the pandemic, I have stayed relatively safe from this virus. I am completely vaccinated and got boosted over winter break. I come home Sunday the day before school starts and immediately get my life together for the first week of winter term, finally back in person. With a little sniffle and minor itchy throat, the idea of COVID was there but of course, I’m thinking, “You’re so paranoid and crazy, you don’t have it. You cant have it.” Thanks to the University Health Center, I took a small walk to the health office (mask’d up as always), spit in a little tube, and gave it back. My roommate’s results came in negative and my worries faded of any chance of myself having it.
Hard cut to 24 hours later, I am in the cereal aisle in Target and receive a text that my covid results are available. I realized I was positive in a store full of people, after spending a week around a classroom full of students. It was this weird, awful feeling that overtook my mind and I couldn’t stand being out in public. The immediate feeling of being ostracized from everybody came into my head, and then guilt for being positive and not knowing it. I ran home as fast I could and started my 10 days of mental torture.
*I want to create a space where I feel open and vulnerable enough to share my thoughts, opinions, and experiences freely with little to no judegment. So, I do hear the tone deaf tendencies in my writing when saying 10 days in my heated college apartment with wifi and food is “mental torture”. Nevertheless, I do feel the need to vocalize that yes, I am insanley blessed to have this kind of experience with this virus when comparing to this to the wider scale.*
I spent the first few days catching up on laundry, cleaning, and organziing after a crazy winter break. Soon, those tasks were completed and I was left with just myself and my phone. Here are a few thoughts that I have come to terms with while in quarantine.
- Tik Tok is a waste of time and makes you mentally tired. It is so fast pace and constantly changing that your mind is barely able to keep up. The idea of fomo is real in this generation which makes us obsessed with this app but, I am mentally exahusted from tik tok and im not afraid to say it.
- If your space isn’t already your sancutary, create a time for yourself to really invest in your bedding, desk set up, and decor. Being sentenced to 10 days in this room meant that was all I had. Being stuck somewhere that you don’t feel inspired or entirley peaceful in is a waste of god damn space and you deserve more. Make your room something you are proud to hang out in for a few days.
- Romanticize your time walking from class to class because I miss it. Really really miss it. I would love nothing more than to blast my favorite song of the week through my air pods and walk in the brisk afternoon. Don’t take that for granted cause one day you’re gonna graduate and never be a student again. You pay a good amount of money to be here, so pick your head up from your phone or watching your feet when you walk and enjoy your surrondings.
- It’s okay if you test positive. You can be the cleanest, most careful person about covid. Wearing your mask everywhere, keeping your distance, ands sanitizing everything are great habits, but it doesn’t guarantee safety. Getting it and quarantining yourself in the best thing you can do for others and for yourself. Give yourself some grace and show some empathy with this awful pandemic that we are all done with.
- Show empathy to your friends who are currently quarantining. This really sucks and is really affecting people. Mentally and physcially. Tell them it’s okay and that it is only temporary. Don’t make them feel bad. Facetime or call that friend that you know may be stranded in bed. They really need some connection and hearing about your 1pm class means a lot more than you think. ( This only qualifies for our friends that weren’t out at the club on new years unmasked).
- Covid has taken a lot away from each of our lives and it still is. I can only share my experiences and hope to keep others safe with my own quarantine practices. Get boosted and get tested.
University of Oregon has free testing avaliable. Go make an appointment and protect each other.