Mel Rising Dawn Cordeiro
Managing Editor
Welcome back Anchors. It’s great to be back after what seems like a quick break. My column this week is brought to you by my personal thoughts and opinions. I know that we are not all of us of the same thoughts and opinions. That being said, I welcome your feedback and would love to start a conversation.
As was stated via an email from the school administration before classes resumed, COVID levels are on the rise again. This put all of Rhode Island at risk again, with counties raising their risk levels and statewide hospitalizations being just as crazy, if not crazier, than before. Most professors are requiring students to mask up in the classroom, as required by the new masking policy put in place by the college.
Most of us are probably over everything that has to do with COVID: We are tired of masking, we are tired of hearing about it, we are sick and tired of this being our entire lives. The truth of the matter is that, yes, this is exhausting to go through, but it is not over. We have been dealing with this pandemic and newly adjusted lifestyle for close to three years now. We have all been affected somehow by COVID, whether we have had it ourselves, someone we know has had it or someone we know passed away from it.
COVID will, in some way, shape, or form, be with us for the rest of time, just as it was before COVID-19 became mainstream. Don’t believe me when I say COVID existed before the pandemic? Read a Lysol bottle; the back label will tell you what germs Lysol kills. Yes, COVID is listed. Yes, it has always been listed.
Getting back to the point: With the rates of COVID on the rise yet again, I am asking you to play it smart and safe. Mask up, or don’t, it is not my place to tell you what to do. Though as a healthcare professional, I would strongly suggest it. As a healthcare professional, if you need the shot or the booster shot, I will also strongly suggest it. There is no judgment from me as to your vaccination status, though.
Seek medical care if you need it, and regularly as well. If you are sick, stay home. Communicate with your professors, as no one is unreasonable enough to not tell you what your next steps in class will be. Do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle: Eat properly and eat well. Ensure you get enough sleep and exercise. Take a mental health day if you need it and always build in time for self-care. If you are feeling overwhelmed, seek out a friend or a counselor.
Most importantly, be kind to others. We are not observing social distancing as a rule, though if you prefer to stay back, then do so. Do not judge others for masking, not masking or for other health decisions they make. Be courteous to others, too, and offer help when and if you can.
We may not all be in the same boat, but we are all crossing the same ocean.
Let’s have a great semester, Anchors, and let’s show Rhode Island how resilient, brilliant and incredible this next generation of leaders are.