Fear of Being on Campus During the Pandemic

A Saint Joseph’s University Business Intelligence and Analytics double major – Class of 2021 shares her experience of fear when returning to campus during the COVID-19 pandemic. She discusses her worries regarding distancing, gathering, and staying safe in order to keep herself and her family healthy. She also discusses her fears of missing out on a traditional senior year due to the pandemic.

 

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 senior Business Intelligence and Analytics Major at Saint Joe’s. So at my time at Saint Joe’s, I have lived on campus and, um, I really like living on campus because then you really get to be at the center of all things, you get to do extracurricular activities. Back in March, I feel like a lot of us were naive like we didn’t really know what was in store for us,and like, many of us saw COVID as something that just happened in other countries, it didn’t really affect us.Many of us thought that we were just gonna be online for, like, a few weeks and then return back to campus, but obviously that didn’t happen. And I think when we were told that we weren’t going back to campus, that’s when, like, a lot of us-like, that’s when I realized how big of a deal COVID was, and, I mean it was hard transitioning to online because there’s, like, a lot of  distractions at home and for me, like, home is my place of relaxation. That’s where I go for all my breaks, so it was hard to, like, rewire myself. Um, and it was hard motivating myself at home because, you know, I was so used to, like, relaxing there. So, during the summer, I really did not think that we were gonna get our fall semester on campus. I just had a really bad feeling about it. And then, you know, we started seeing, like, other universities. They were saying that they were gonna be in person, and then they did it for two weeks, and then they got shut down. So, once I realized that we were going on campus, um, I honestly didn’t think we were gonna be there long. But we were. And, I was a little nervous, like, at first. You know, going into classes, just cause I know how, you know, our age group is. They’re, you know, not as careful as other people and, I mean it is our senior year. Like, you know, everyone wants to experience their senior year and, you know, we’re all 21, we can go out and do stuff. But, now we can’t really do that safely. Um, so I was definitely scared on how that would translate. Um, but I was also really grateful because I knew so many of my friends that, they weren’t able to go in person for school, and they were really struggling with that. So I’m really grateful that we got the opportunity to be in person. It’s really hard cause you kinda have this fear of missing out, especially with, like, your senior year. You know, everyone has this obligation to our fellow Saint Joe’s students. You know, to stay inside, don’t gather, and be safe. But unfortunately not everyone’s doing that. So it can be hard, sitting inside and seeing that. It’s tough dealing with the fact that I can’t experience my senior year in a traditional way. Um, like, it does feel like I’m missing out, but, in the end, I know that I’m making the right decision by staying away and being safe. As much as I want to go out and experience my senior year and be with my friends, I know that my health and my family’s health comes first. And I just keep reminding myself that, you know, I’m doing the best that I can, I’m doing my part. Even if others aren’t, I’m doing everything I can. And I just remind myself that eventually, things will get better.