Living through the pandemic has taken its toll
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Online Editor
On Tuesday, Aug. 24, I walked back into a classroom on the Meramec campus for the first time in a year and a half. Just after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 12, 2020, Professor Chris Smejkal told our class that he wasn’t sure when he would see us again. I’m sure he thought we’d be back in the classroom in two or three weeks. I’m sure every student thought that.
A year and a half later, I sat in a classroom for the start of a Criminal Justice class led by Professor Ruth Eilerman. In that year-and-a-half, I’ve lost a lot, including my own stepfather from the virus that shut everything down. I talked about that particular topic back in the March issue, but the effects of it continue to resonate.
Sitting in a classroom again, with my circumstances having completely changed, felt extremely surreal. Even now, eight months later, everything just felt off. I’m not entirely sure when those feelings will go away. I’m not entirely sure when I’ll feel like I’m not sleepwalking through my academics (it’s a miracle I got through the last semester, because I can’t recall a single thing I learned).
I’m positive that I’m not the only Meramec student who this pandemic has affected in a major way; I’m just privileged enough to get to write through my feelings. And while I have to remain unbiased when writing other stories for The Montage, I’m not entirely sure about the return to on-campus learning as the Delta variant continues to wreak havoc on the St. Louis area, even if I think STLCC has done a good job handling the pandemic on a surface level.
Remaining unbiased about things I don’t agree with regarding COVID-19 has been a real challenge. It’s extremely frustrating to see people refuse to get vaccinated for whatever reason they choose to give; most of them don’t have good reasons.
And I realize that given what my family and I have been through, I’m probably not going to be a person that a lot of people listen to, no matter what I write or how horrific what I saw was.
But I’ll say this. Everyday, I think about my stepdad and what he went through. I think about his last days on this earth, and the sounds of him struggling to breathe. And I think about how wrong it is that he’s not here, and how avoidable it all was.
If you’re hesitant to get the vaccine because you fear it will make you sick, or don’t trust the science, I’d like to address you directly.
First of all, I can personally assure you, one or two days of feeling awful is absolutely nothing compared to what getting COVID is actually like. It’s not even comparable. I realize some people may have bad reactions to some vaccines, and if you feel like you might, consult a medical doctor. Not your chiropractor, your actual doctor whose job it is to know every medical thing about you. Your chiropractor is an idiot if he tells you not to get the vaccine, just as much of an idiot as every politician or personality who has nothing to do with and no experience in healthcare.
Also, and this is just a little bit biased, but if you work in healthcare and don’t think getting vaccinated is a good idea, then you have no business being in healthcare.
Second of all, the companies making the vaccine have been very transparent about the process of making them. And it is safe to take for most (again, consult your doctor if you’re not sure and, for the love of God, listen to your doctor). “Emergency Authorization” would not have happened if the vaccines were not safe to take; the people making said vaccines are not amateurs.
Thirdly, I would like to remind everyone that getting a vaccine is not only about you. It’s about everyone around you. The federal government is not trying to track you, they’re not trying to infect you with another virus that could only be dreamed up on “The X Files.” They are trying, very hard I might add, to end this pandemic. At the end of the day, that’s what everyone should want. COVID should not be a political issue, and the fact that it still is one is disgraceful.
The day before I returned to in-person classes, the Pfizer vaccine (which, for the sake of full transparency, is the one I personally received) gained full approval from the Food and Drug Administration. While the vaccines have always been safe, this should be the final stamp of approval needed to trust the science.
This pandemic sucks. If you’re not already vaccinated, it’s time for you to do your part to end it.
