Why so political?

 I have a distinct memory of going through twitter this summer and seeing liked tweets from a friend of mine about how COVID was fake and wearing a mask infringed on his freedom. This person also liked tweets about how stupid people were for being scared of COVID. I was offended because my family was one of those "stupid" people scared of COVID. I was deeply confused about how a worldwide pandemic had become something you could take a political side on. I don't like to blindly side on a topic because I have noticed as I grow up, my opinions change as I do. After seeing that many people thought the same way as my friend, I began to question my views and then educate myself on this opposite view and only came up frustrated. I understood where my friend came from, especially as someone who invests in the stock market but could not grasp my head around certain aspects such as not wearing a mask. I was extra aggravated as I learned the extent a mask could help someone like my dad, who is immune deficient, and , in my opinion, a mask is a small price to pay to help others' safety. As I continue to understand this divide on COVID, it becomes apparent that people use information that supports their opinions, which we see on many politically divided topics. I found it fascinating when someone walked into a store; I was in wearing a mask that stated," I am forced to wear this". They seemed to love the attention it gave them and at least they were following the rules and wearing a mask. It is sad that we are divided instead of united to recover from COVID, but I believe this says a lot about human nature and the United States' political system. I have included an article that discusses how COVID has picked up a liberal bias because it elaborates on this political divide that I believe will be analyzed down the road.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/opinion/trump-covid-experts.html

Social distancing and Greek life

There seems to be a correlation between positive cases and Greek life on campuses. Many people on social media such as Tik Tok have pointed out this theme, and everyone who is not part of it seems to be annoyed by it. I am not in Greek life, so I only have an outside view but am basing this blog off of what I have heard and seen. Included in this blog is a screenshot from The University of Kentucky President explaining Phase 2 of testing only people in greek life because they contained a higher percentage of positive COVID19 cases. There has been a lack of social distancing with people belonging to greek life at the University of Kentucky, especially over the past couple of weeks as they try to recruit others to join. Most of the people in greek life, I believe since a large percentage of people in greek life have had  COVID19 they think they're safe from getting it again. I am not sure if these gatherings will end once they have finished recruiting, but from an outside view, it is interesting to see people believe the rules do not apply to them, which I believe is due to this group mentality. Sororities and Fraternities consist of a large group, and so this creates a crowd behavior that normalizes behaviors an individual would likely restrain from. For example, when they participate in a party for their sorority or fraternity, it's the whole group that mostly gets punished. Meanwhile, other parties that are not associated with a group blame the individual instead of an entire group. It is also acceptable in these groups to have parties further normalizing this behavior because their fellow members are participating in the same actions. I believe this gives them a sense of anonymity and increases the likelihood of participating in large gatherings. Greek life can be an excellent way to get involved on campus but fosters some behaviors that do not coincide with being a responsible adult. 

Staying Informed

 At the beginning of the COVID pandemic in the United States, I would get on my news apps such as The Washington Post, New York Times, The Atlantic, and many others every morning. I was trying to find out as much information from as many sources possible to receive the most unbiased information. I continue to do this, but now, sadly, I keep updated with information directly affecting me besides what I learn in my classes. The University of Kentucky has now released a dashboard updating the number of cases. This is now how I get most of my information while being on campus because it affects me directly. It is beneficial to see how many cases are on campus and how the University of Kentucky handles them. With this said, many people are going untested, and some measures taken by the University of Kentucky, such as the daily wellness screening, seem to go through the motions but lack effectiveness, in my opinion. Now that I am in classes again and have less time, I do not have the time to go on various news platforms to educate myself. All the information we receive has to be analyzed for validity because of contradicting information and different interpretations of the released statistics. The worst part about getting information on COVID19 is that we cannot rely on our President to help us deceiver what is true and not because he is also contributing to the false information and advice. One example of this is when he suggested injecting disinfectants to combat COVID19, which could result in serious health risks. I have included the video because it perfectly shows how careful we need to be about believing the information we receive even from someone who should be a credible source. I am lucky enough to have family members who also comb the internet for the most accurate information, and continuously I receive a link to articles or texts to inform me of things about COVID I should be aware of.

covid-19-data-dashboard

Will we stay on campus?

Since the start of school on August 17th, 2020, my fear/outlook of COVID-19 has changed dramatically. The best way to describe my feelings toward this pandemic, and the rest of this semester is optimistic. After many friends tested positive COVID-19, they all quarantined, so they did not infect others and recovered quickly. The only problem is there is so much unknown. After they have recovered, many students now have a sense of invincibility and no longer choose to take safety measures such as avoid being in large groups. I feel these feelings of invincibility will only increase, and the fear of COVID-19 among young adults will decrease as many students see their friends recover quickly without many implications. With Halloween and other events nearing, I fear it will only get worse. Even though this could be the case, I am still optimistic that the university will stay open until the rest of the semester as it is still socially frowned upon to be in a large gathering and not to wear a mask deterring many students from participating in these behaviors. With this said, I have run into many frustrating situations where I have had to leave a location because of people not socially distancing or wearing a mask in places such as the library and other public areas on campus. There have been multiple instances I know of where a neighbor will anonymously report a large gathering of people not wearing masks on their street. It seems the status quo is still luckily to take the pandemic seriously, which furthers my optimism. The last aspect hindering my complete optimism is greek life and the lack of social distancing in these groups. Measures have been taken to test members of these groups and crackdown on not socially distancing events. I believe the University of Kentucky is handling the situations to the best of their abilities, and we will continue to remain on campus. 

An interesting way to make money during a pandemic

 Do desperate times call for desperate measures? Yes, but I have discovered during this pandemic, desperate times can also lead to new opportunities. For me, this was enrolling in a clinical trial vaccine for COVID19. I found out about this clinical trial through my professor and decided to enroll. I am a healthy twenty-year-old and want to help in the process of making a vaccine, but for complete transparency, I was motivated by the possibility of making some money. It all began when my professor sent an email about the trial, and spontaneously I decided to sign up. I called my dad right after being that he is well educated on such topics. He thought it was a great idea and wished he could do it. On the other hand, my mother and sister begged me not to do it, and my sister even suggested my hair might fall out, which concerned me for a second because I have a very bumpy skull, but I quickly realized she had no evidence to back up this statement. I promptly got a call from someone at AMR(Alliance for Multispecialty Research), and they asked me a multitude of questions about my health and then informed me I was a perfect candidate. I scheduled an appointment and didn't think much of it until the morning of my appointment. Again with the transparency, I was terrified and felt like a lab rat, but when I arrived, I was quickly soothed by a lovely nurse. My calmed nerves were then quickly disrupted when I was given a twenty-four-page contact explaining the trial, possible side effects, and what was expected of me. At this point, they took my vitals, and I was almost kicked out of the trial for having too high of a heartbeat. I explained I was just nervous and eventually got it down. I was further calmed as I read and began to understand the importance of what I was doing and that the side effects were not significantly different than getting a flu vaccine. The doctor in charge of the trial, further explained things, and helped me understand the science behind it, which made me feel even better. The trial is a double-blind, so neither the doctor nor I would know what I received. I could have either been given a placebo or a vaccine at different potencies. The worst part about the whole event was getting my blood drawn and feeling pretty dizzy after. They also tested me for COVID19, which is never a fun process. After all that was done, I was given a debit card with $125 on it, which would increase with each visit and instructions on how to use an app that would track any symptoms I might have. Since this visit, I take my temperature each day and fill out a diary on my symptoms, which has been none. I have another visit in a week and will continue to discuss my experiences with this clinical trial.