Anytime I write on here I really want to say something meaty and interesting, preferably with pictures. Realistically, that means I end up not saying much at all — which is another point on the plot of “things I’m hoping to not do with this blog”.
First semester started, flew by like a seagull nabbing an errant french fry, and is gone. Next week marks the second week of Semester 2, and while at the start of Summer-Session-1 I thought I knew more or less where I’d be for the next 12 months, suddenly I’m not so sure.
The pandemic has derailed life in ways I didn’t expect; I sort of expected more unity on our response to it, and now hearing that there’s offline classes available in the fall, things are significantly more complicated. We are not obligated to take the classes offline, and for our cohort only certain classes (one regular-class meeting, one lab, and in rotating shifts of students to prevent overcrowding) would be available. Cool, I thought. I’ll get to know these people a little bit, at least.
And then I started thinking about knowing these people in person. How important my Chem I teacher is to me, and how he’s basically a 150-year-old Hogwarts teacher* and how I’d feel if I went to class, not realizing I was an asymptomatic COVID carrier from a brief trip to the grocery store the previous week, and then–
Yeah, no.
So I am turning over in my head how much risk I am willing to put the people around me in; this pandemic isn’t over by a long shot, even if we’re acting like it is. And we have a choice on whether we act like it’s over or if we take steps to protect the people around us. Weighing the pros/cons falls on us, as state governments have opened up business — with or without mask requirements in place. Those that choose to not wear masks lay the decision of whether to further isolate on others in the wake of rising numbers.
I thought of Dr. B, and thought: if I can lower the risk to my professors by 1%, can I afford to not take that precaution? Is delaying my education for a year worth diminishing risk to these people that are important to me?
What we are all doing isn’t about completing a postbac, or about getting an A in chemistry, or about nailing the MCAT. Ask yourself the question again: Why do you want to become a doctor? Does your decision fall in line with your values?
Wear a mask. Isolate yourself adequately to prevent spread, taking into account the interactions of your household members with others. Choose your interactions. Do your best, because the lives of others may depend on it.
*Not actually particularly old, but definitely quirky in the best possible way.
Book and Ladder 
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