As of Tuesday, October 6 only 46% of students and 57% of full time faculty and staff have signed up for SHC’s sentinel testing program. These figures include individuals who are working remotely from home.

Getting through the hardships of college is stressful enough under normal circumstances, however, when you add the possibility of spreading COVID-19 to your vulnerable loved ones, it can get downright maddening. Whether or not you are a faculty member, a student resident or a commuter, this semester has been quite strange for all of us on the hill. I know that the changes that have been made on campus are necessary for us to remain healthy, but it seems as if many students at SHC do not agree. 

Before you go and get defensive, take a step back and realize that I know that most people have been trying to follow the rules, however, there seems to be a sizable portion of people on campus who are flat out barely trying at all. People are going out to bars, students are having parties, and people are slowly but surely beginning to let their guards down. As much as I hate to say it, in order for Spring Hill to be safe, things cannot return to normal anytime soon. I am not writing this to call out those breaking pandemic regulations. I am simply trying to appeal to your better nature. 

While about 800 students live on campus, there are approximately 500 of us that live close enough and choose to commute. Many of us go home to family members with comorbidities for the coronavirus and this is something that weighs heavily on our mental health every single day. It’s incredibly easy to say, “people die every day, I’ve got to live for the now” before going out for a bender at O’Daly’s, but a lot more difficult to say the same thing when you’re looking at your loved one in a coffin. While resident students don’t have to worry about the possible infection of their families being traced back to them, commuters face a harsher reality. 

Senior psychology major and commuter Anna Grace Lambert lives with her mother and worries about the possibility of transmitting the coronavirus to her. “She’s in her late 50s,” said Lambert, “It’s extremely stressful commuting to campus and fearing that just being there could give me COVID. I’ve had people tell me to relax, that I’m young and healthy,” “but it’s not me I’m concerned about. It seems most people just don’t quite care or have accepted their fate so to say. I don’t have that choice.”

The first step toward curbing some of this anxiety for commuters would be a greater number of faculty and students signing up for the sentinel testing program at healthy.verily.com. Please stay vigilant, wash your hands frequently, wear a mask in public spaces, and next time you get invited to a big party, think about all the families you could spread your germs to.