0/10, would not recommend

Last week, like over 214,000 other college students, I contracted the coronavirus. On Oct. 9, I joined the 37 Chapman students who, at the time, had COVID-19. 

It was due to my own negligence toward social distancing guidelines. As soon as I found out I came into contact with someone who was confirmed positive, I immediately got tested with a friend who had also been exposed. My friend got a rapid test, which has about a 15-minute turnaround time, and I got a rushed Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, a more accurate assessment that would take about 36 hours to deliver results. 

My friend’s test came back negative, so although I didn’t yet receive my own results, I assumed I was negative as well. However, we still chose to quarantine to avoid any possible risk. It was a good thing we did, because less than 36 hours later, my results revealed I was positive for COVID-19. 

The first thing that went through my head was, “Oh (expletive). What am I going to tell my parents?” I chose to use the opportunity to make a “got to stay positive” joke, which my parents did not appreciate. 

After notifying them, I made a private Snapchat story with everyone I had been in contact with in the past month, and I told them they should probably get tested as well. The next few hours were filled with frantic calls from friends and acquaintances inquiring me for details about my whereabouts and actions in the past 72 hours, which I dutifully answered as best I could. The next day, I received a call from a Chapman nurse who asked me questions about my symptoms and informed me of my isolation period restrictions. The urgent care clinic I visited also echoed these when I received my positive results.

I spent my quarantine eating mac and cheese, watching Netflix and getting random gifts left at my front door from friends. Aside from some congestion in the mornings and light fatigue, which could have easily been caused by doing nothing for 10 days straight, I was completely asymptomatic for the duration of my isolation period. 

When I was cleared from isolation Oct. 19, I decided to stay in quarantine until the next day when I received another call Oct. 20 from the California branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, confirming I was clear to reenter society.

I was ecstatic I could finally hang out with friends again, but how could they ever trust me? I had been careless enough to contract the virus that has been gripping our nation for almost a year. How could my friends, who need to stay healthy to protect their families and own well-being, willingly expose themselves to my presence?

I got lucky. Really lucky. My isolation period offered a much-needed break from the unrelenting workload of taking five classes and having a job and an internship. I caught up on a lot of TV shows and books I had been meaning to get to, not to mention catching up on sleep. Although I didn’t have any symptoms, I fully understand that a lot of people do.

So the worst part of having COVID-19, for me, was my friends still being cautious even after I’d come out of isolation. Although I don’t like it, I fully understand it. In fact, I would probably do the same thing if the tables were turned. I can’t take it personally because my carelessness had inadvertently put them at risk. I’m glad they are choosing to keep their distance for the time being, because even though I’m no longer infected, I would never forgive myself if I were to put them at risk again. 

Contracting the coronavirus made me more aware of how selfish and negligent I was toward this pandemic that’s infected over 43 million lives. Going forward, I hope my actions will reflect the lessons I have learned. A lot of people suffered far worse effects from COVID-19 than I did, and over 225,000 in the U.S. have died. 

I know the primary audience of this paper is Chapman University’s student base, and I also know how much that student base regularly chooses to party on weekends and ignore the health risks of vaping because they assume they’re immune. So be careful; just because I or your friend or your mom was asymptomatic when they had COVID-19, it doesn’t mean you will be, and it doesn’t mean anyone you may infect will be either.