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Alana Gartenberg
As we approach 10 months of living in a pandemic, some part of me still can’t
comprehend that all of this is real. I remember starting my first spring semester at Springfield
College in January 2020, and people began to discuss the virus. However, at this point, everyone
more or less believed it would stay in China, and no one really took it seriously or thought much
of it. We all just went about our daily lives. When living on a college campus, it’s difficult to
keep up with the news unless you make an active effort to. Almost all of my news about the
virus was coming from Instagram, and most of the posts were memes. The majority of us didn’t
take this seriously until March approached. There were cases in the United States, and rumors of
a lockdown. With campuses shutting down across the country, it seemed that Springfield
College was next. That became official during a large meeting in the Dodge Room on the
second floor of the Union. It felt like the entire student body attended this meeting, with all of us
anxious to find out the fate of our semester. It was ironic to hear President Cooper talk about
how the virus spreads easily when we were all cramped in this room. Students were sharing
seats and many were in the back of the room standing. I was ignorantly happy when I found out
that we would be getting an extra week of spring break. I thought I’d get an extra week at home
with my family, and then I would be able to come back to finish my semester. No one could
have predicted what was to come.
Explaining this pandemic is challenging. I believe it means something different for
everyone. For some, it meant finally having some extra time to workout, spend time with their
family, start a new hobby such as baking, watch Tiger King, or practice self-care. However, for
others, it meant loneliness and sadness being isolated from loved ones. Many lost members of
their families, some not even having the opportunity to say goodbye. People lost their jobs and
businesses. For me, the pandemic meant many things. I was lucky enough to be one of the
people who started working out and took up baking. Although my sadness wasn’t as severe as
those who had monumental losses, there were still challenging times. It was hard not seeing my
friends and my boyfriend. Long distance relationships are hard enough without a global
pandemic going on.
For everyone, the pandemic meant adjusting and adapting to a new normal. Students all across
the country had to start using Zoom and other similar platforms to get their education. Everyone
had to get used to seeing loved ones living outside of their household on a phone or computer
screen. While the pandemic may not have tragically affected everyone, I guarantee that
everyone was affected in some way and had to adapt to a new lifestyle. There is so much gravity
to this pandemic: no matter how much you try to ignore it, as many do, it’s real, and it takes a
toll on everyone sometimes.
When I signed up for a Human Disease colloquium in spring 2020, I had no idea how
relevant it would be to today’s world. The first book we read for this class was COVID-19: The
Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened, and How to Stop the Next One. There were times
when living on campus was stressful and confusing, so it was nice to come to class every week
and not only discuss the book, but also what was happening on campus and around the country.
One of the most valuable things I learned is the importance of listening to scientists and
epidemiologists. The world was extremely underprepared for a coronavirus pandemic despite
epidemiologists saying since the SARS outbreak of 2002 that evidence pointed to a coronavirus
surfacing. Scientists have been warning for decades that this was going to happen, and if
government officials around the world would have listened, COVID-19 likely would have been
much less severe. Reading this book helped me realize that more needs to be done in terms of
preparing for all different kinds of viruses. Experts warned about lack of preparation, and the
few countries that did have pandemic plans focused solely on the flu when there are so many
other viruses, such as coronaviruses, that can and will emerge and put individuals in danger.
Even with these plans in place, many countries failed to stockpile or acquire even the most basic
essentials required to make the plans work. If a worldwide pandemic does not inspire future
preparedness, I don’t know what will. Something needs to be done because the effects could be
catastrophic if we do exactly what has been done in the past. I gained so much knowledge taking
this class, and all I can do is take what I have learned and try to educate those around me and
hope that countries will start taking pandemic precautions sooner rather than later.
As we approach 10 months of living in a pandemic, some part of me still can’t
comprehend that all of this is real. I remember starting my first spring semester at Springfield
College in January 2020, and people began to discuss the virus. However, at this point, everyone
more or less believed it would stay in China, and no one really took it seriously or thought much
of it. We all just went about our daily lives. When living on a college campus, it’s difficult to
keep up with the news unless you make an active effort to. Almost all of my news about the
virus was coming from Instagram, and most of the posts were memes. The majority of us didn’t
take this seriously until March approached. There were cases in the United States, and rumors of
a lockdown. With campuses shutting down across the country, it seemed that Springfield
College was next. That became official during a large meeting in the Dodge Room on the
second floor of the Union. It felt like the entire student body attended this meeting, with all of us
anxious to find out the fate of our semester. It was ironic to hear President Cooper talk about
how the virus spreads easily when we were all cramped in this room. Students were sharing
seats and many were in the back of the room standing. I was ignorantly happy when I found out
that we would be getting an extra week of spring break. I thought I’d get an extra week at home
with my family, and then I would be able to come back to finish my semester. No one could
have predicted what was to come.
Explaining this pandemic is challenging. I believe it means something different for
everyone. For some, it meant finally having some extra time to workout, spend time with their
family, start a new hobby such as baking, watch Tiger King, or practice self-care. However, for
others, it meant loneliness and sadness being isolated from loved ones. Many lost members of
their families, some not even having the opportunity to say goodbye. People lost their jobs and
businesses. For me, the pandemic meant many things. I was lucky enough to be one of the
people who started working out and took up baking. Although my sadness wasn’t as severe as
those who had monumental losses, there were still challenging times. It was hard not seeing my
friends and my boyfriend. Long distance relationships are hard enough without a global
pandemic going on.
For everyone, the pandemic meant adjusting and adapting to a new normal. Students all across
the country had to start using Zoom and other similar platforms to get their education. Everyone
had to get used to seeing loved ones living outside of their household on a phone or computer
screen. While the pandemic may not have tragically affected everyone, I guarantee that
everyone was affected in some way and had to adapt to a new lifestyle. There is so much gravity
to this pandemic: no matter how much you try to ignore it, as many do, it’s real, and it takes a
toll on everyone sometimes.
When I signed up for a Human Disease colloquium in spring 2020, I had no idea how
relevant it would be to today’s world. The first book we read for this class was COVID-19: The
Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened, and How to Stop the Next One. There were times
when living on campus was stressful and confusing, so it was nice to come to class every week
and not only discuss the book, but also what was happening on campus and around the country.
One of the most valuable things I learned is the importance of listening to scientists and
epidemiologists. The world was extremely underprepared for a coronavirus pandemic despite
epidemiologists saying since the SARS outbreak of 2002 that evidence pointed to a coronavirus
surfacing. Scientists have been warning for decades that this was going to happen, and if
government officials around the world would have listened, COVID-19 likely would have been
much less severe. Reading this book helped me realize that more needs to be done in terms of
preparing for all different kinds of viruses. Experts warned about lack of preparation, and the
few countries that did have pandemic plans focused solely on the flu when there are so many
other viruses, such as coronaviruses, that can and will emerge and put individuals in danger.
Even with these plans in place, many countries failed to stockpile or acquire even the most basic
essentials required to make the plans work. If a worldwide pandemic does not inspire future
preparedness, I don’t know what will. Something needs to be done because the effects could be
catastrophic if we do exactly what has been done in the past. I gained so much knowledge taking
this class, and all I can do is take what I have learned and try to educate those around me and
hope that countries will start taking pandemic precautions sooner rather than later.