My third year at the University of Cincinnati was one of the hardest years of my life. With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting during my spring semester second year, I was itching to get back to Cincinnati and interact with people other than my family. Although, half of that semester was online, it was still an adjustment to make with the new fall semester. There were a lot of challenges academically, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Another challenge this year that was completely new was professionally. In my first two years in college, I did not pick up any jobs as I focused on my studies and adjusting to college. This year, however, I accidentally picked up two jobs around the same time. The first one was as a contact tracer on the UC COVID Check Team and the second was as a peer educator at the Student Wellness Center. The contact tracer position also doubled as a honors experience, so it came in conjunction with a professional development class. Although I definitely learned a lot and was exposed to a component of public health, a discipline I am interested in, it was definitely not my favorite work experience. It was interesting in that it was a completely virtual job, which was new for a lot of people in this past year, but due to the constant change in the knowledge we knew about the pandemic, there was also a constant change in protocol that could be difficult to keep up with. Overall, I managed.
My second job as a peer educator is one of my favorite jobs. My bosses at the Student Wellness Center were so incredible and I loved that I was able to be a part of something that I am really passionate about. In my second year, there was a string of family health issues that really pushed me to think about how I was handling my own health. With this job, I am able to help other college students to make the best choices concerning their own health. I am also able to try out so many things that I have not been able to do before such as planning events, handling social media content, and others. In combination with this job and as a contact tracer, I was also able to land another position in the CoVAC Initiative which is under the American College Health Association and is supported by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Due to my experience around education with COVID and how it can affect people, I was able to apply this further and gained the opportunity to help fight for health equity on a national level.
This was my experience professionally this year, however, I also struggled on a more personal level. Like many other people, I grappled with mental health this year due to the isolating nature of a pandemic and also witnessing the rise of hatred and racism towards people that looked just like me. The hardest thing, however, was in the spring semester when I suffered the sudden loss of one of my closest friends. Dealing with his passing and the grief that followed was incredibly difficult especially since it was near the end of the semester and the high expectations during that time were still there. I would like to believe that going through these emotional and mentally trying times during a pandemic while also trying to balance two part-time jobs and being a full-time student has made me more resilient, but it can also be hard to believe that when I am still grieving and struggling with said burdens. As we move back to a more normal time, I hope that I can look back on this year and all the difficult times that came with it and proceed forward. I will remember my friend, John, dearly and try to press on with him in my heart.
My second job as a peer educator is one of my favorite jobs. My bosses at the Student Wellness Center were so incredible and I loved that I was able to be a part of something that I am really passionate about. In my second year, there was a string of family health issues that really pushed me to think about how I was handling my own health. With this job, I am able to help other college students to make the best choices concerning their own health. I am also able to try out so many things that I have not been able to do before such as planning events, handling social media content, and others. In combination with this job and as a contact tracer, I was also able to land another position in the CoVAC Initiative which is under the American College Health Association and is supported by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Due to my experience around education with COVID and how it can affect people, I was able to apply this further and gained the opportunity to help fight for health equity on a national level.
This was my experience professionally this year, however, I also struggled on a more personal level. Like many other people, I grappled with mental health this year due to the isolating nature of a pandemic and also witnessing the rise of hatred and racism towards people that looked just like me. The hardest thing, however, was in the spring semester when I suffered the sudden loss of one of my closest friends. Dealing with his passing and the grief that followed was incredibly difficult especially since it was near the end of the semester and the high expectations during that time were still there. I would like to believe that going through these emotional and mentally trying times during a pandemic while also trying to balance two part-time jobs and being a full-time student has made me more resilient, but it can also be hard to believe that when I am still grieving and struggling with said burdens. As we move back to a more normal time, I hope that I can look back on this year and all the difficult times that came with it and proceed forward. I will remember my friend, John, dearly and try to press on with him in my heart.