Edi Nixon is a junior on the Salem College tennis team and is majoring in biochemistry and minoring in women's gender and sexuality. Nixon, a native of Mountain Park, N.C., came to Salem College after graduating from Surry Central High School. While in high school, Nixon was a member of National Honor Society and Health Occupations Students of America and after graduating from Salem she intends to pursue a career as a doctor.
~By: Edi Nixon~
About a year ago, Salem made the announcement that we would have an extra week on top of spring break in precaution to the COVID-19 virus. An extra week off during a challenging semester sounded great to me at the time but if I knew then what I knew now I definitely wouldn't have been as excited. I packed a bag and left for home the day of the announcement since I only lived an hour away. I wasn't very worried yet since all I had been hearing about COVID-19 was that it was like a bad flu. The next day, I met up with my friends to celebrate a 20th birthday. That turned out to be one of the last times I would see them for a year.
It didn't take long for the two weeks off to turn into a semester spent remote learning. My organic chemistry labs became online simulations and lectures became zoom calls. On warm sunny days I would do my schoolwork on the front porch and on rainy days I'd sit with my brother and sister who were also remote learning in the living room. As COVID-19 spread and more information became available, I started to worry more for the high-risk people in my life. My mom is immunocompromised, my grandparents were in the high-risk age group, and I worked as a home health CNA for the elderly with other health conditions. My main goal was to keep everyone away from any kind of exposure. This proved to be very challenging living in my hometown where the majority of people chose to believe COVID-19 is a hoax; masks don't work or impede on their freedom; and overall put their community in danger by ignoring CDC precautions.
I made it through the spring semester, but with the lowest GPA of my academic career. By the summer the spread had really picked up so I had new precautions at work. I wore an N95 under a cloth mask along with safety goggles. Before every shift, I had a COVID-19 screening survey to answer about symptoms and who I had been in contact with along with a temperature check. I also started picking up extra shifts where people had called out due to symptoms or exposure. The summer I had planned to spend at the beach or at Carowinds with my friends didn't happen and was instead just me working at least forty hours a week.
The part of me that missed my friends and normal life was begging to go back to Salem in the fall, but the more reasonable part of me knew that it was still too dangerous and worried about the risks. When the announcement came that we weren't coming back I was mixed with disappointment and relief. I was worried about another semester of online learning and I missed my friends that I used to live with and see everyday, but I was glad Salem wouldn't be contributing to the spread. My fall was busier than my spring because I kept my work hours from the summer and added school. On top of that I had responsibilities at home like grocery shopping and helping my siblings with schoolwork.
Even with all the precautions being taken at work, one of my coworkers had been exposed to COVID-19 and gave it to one of my patients. They spent a little over a week in the ICU but thankfully recovered and came home. Even though they didn't have COVID-19 anymore, they still had long term effects like memory loss and difficulty breathing. On top of handling their new physical conditions, as their caregiver I also helped with the anxiety resulting from having a deadly virus and the depression from being isolated for so long. COVID-19 has taken an extreme toll on mental health for a lot of people. We are missing our friends and family, missing major events like graduations, and spending most of our time at home.
I was lucky enough to be in one of the first groups eligible for a vaccine. On December 29th I received my first shot of the Moderna vaccine. It was also around this time I decided to quit my home health job to work in a hospital. This was a really hard decision for me, but with Salem being online again in the spring of 2021 and soon being fully vaccinated I decided now was the best time to make that change. After receiving my second shot I was hired on the stroke/neuro turned COVID floor as a CNA at a hospital in my hometown.
I've worked three years as a CNA, but my first day on the COVID floor was unbelievably overwhelming. Dressed up in full PPE I saw about twenty rooms worth of people sick with COVID-19. It wasn't just older people or immunodeficient people like some believe, it was people of all ages and health histories. People who a week ago were in perfect health were now relying on high flow oxygen to breath. Many are so sick they have to stay in the bed all day everyday, not even getting up to use the bathroom or eat.
Maybe you can imagine how difficult it is for me to leave the hospital after work and see people without a mask, hanging out with their friends, taking vacations all over the country potentially spreading the virus I just saw people suffering and dying from. I am disappointed and angry with my community and with the leaders that aided in this uncontrolled spread. I expected more compassion and respect for others, but I was let down. There are a lot of people in my life I see in a new way after their actions during this pandemic. Even after wearing masks and social distancing is no longer a thing, my opinion on those who did not respect the guidelines will not change.
The amount of cases has decreased, but so has people's patience. We've been in quarantine for a long time and the weather is starting to warm up. I understand people are tired of living like this, but now is not the time to give up on precautions. We have to hold out a little longer. We have to get enough people vaccinated for herd immunity. We have come too far to just throw it all away.