My quarantine experience with Virginia Wesleyan was not a pleasant one. I understood that our entire group needed to quarantine because of exposure; however, the school did not handle it properly in the slightest.
I had to almost beg them to put me in a hotel because they wanted to send me home, but that would risk exposing my family to COVID-19.
On the Wednesday that I was instructed to get tested, I spent almost 12 hours driving around Hampton Roads just to find a COVID-19 test. No one would give me a PCR test because I was experiencing no symptoms and I had already been tested when I was first exposed. I was informed by the school that it would be fine to get the rapid test since I couldn’t get the PCR.
I feel like students would have to lie about symptoms to get a PCR test, and COVID-19 tests can cost anywhere between $70 and $250.
The school isn’t completely following the CDC health guidelines, which isn’t illegal, but I feel the health officials on campus aren’t performing their jobs adequately, and that is dangerous. We are trusting the entire safety of the campus to them.
We have been students in a pandemic since the Fall of 2020, and it is now 2022. This school has still not learned how to effectively handle COVID-19. They need to at least learn how to properly handle their students.
If students don’t feel respected and valued in their learning, working and living environments, then how can they expect us to want to stay?
By Jordan Gilliam
jagilliam@vwu.edu
