Fear of COVID-19 as a Freshman dealing with CF

A Saint Joseph’s University freshman discusses his experience of dealing with cystic fibrosis and integrating into the college experience during the current global pandemic. He goes on to discuss his hopes to eventually have a normal college experience. 

Start Talking SJU is a social media impact campaign that encourages members of the Saint Joseph’s University community to engage each other by discussing difficult, yet important topics, that are vital for a healthy, open, inclusive campus. Our current topic is Living in Fear, Striving for Hope.

More videos like this one on the topic of Living in Fear, Striking for Hope in 2020 can be found at http://livinginfear.starttalkingsju.com. You can also see our prior campaigns: Attacked (http://attacked.starttalkingsju.com), Belonging (http://belonging.starttalking.com), and Mental Health (http://mentalhealth.starttalking.com).

This video was co-created with the person depicted and/or represented in a story read by another. All persons reviewed and signed consent forms granting permission to share this story online. 

If you are experiencing any personal or social effects due to fear on or off campus, the university has resources that can help, including:

The Office of Student Outreach and Support (https://sites.sju.edu/sos/); the SJU COVID website (https://www.sju.edu/hawk-hill-ready); if you are experiencing food insecurity, HawkHub (https://clubs.sju.edu/hawkhubclub); The Bias Activity Review Group, which connects to Public Safety (https://sites.sju.edu/oid/bias/); CAPS (610-660-1090); TitleIX titleIX@sju.edu; REPP (*confidential support) 610-733-9650 (24 hr. Peer Helpline); or SJU Public Safety 610-660-1111.

A complete transcript of the video reads as follows:

“I’m a freshman at St. Joe’s. Yeah, there was definitely a lot of anxiety coming to college for the first time knowing you know having CF and you know autoimmune disease and stuff. I mean it was kind of just over time it was better and I kind of just learned to live with it. Being in college and you know you take all the precautionaries that you could do but at the end of the day you know it’s kind of in God’s hands. Yeah so with CF I’ve actually been a very lucky kid. I have CF but I’ve never really had any big problems since I was two years old. You know, overall I’ve kind of really just been like a normal kid. I mean I still have all those precautionary things and I have medications I need to take. I think I probably do have a higher risk as a freshman just because you know, other than the fact that you know you’re in dorms and everyone’s close you know they’re kind of like on top of each other As a freshman you kind of want that freshman experience and right now we don’t have like the full freshman experience. One thing I would really be excited to do is just socialize in, you know, big groups watching basketball or something just like big things that we could all kind of do as a school. You know, overall, the college experience is I think the best it can be in the situation we’re kind of presented with.”