W
hen
I
returned
from break, after
three
weeks
of
not seeing the people I had
spent every second with for
five months, you can imagine
there was a lot to catch up
on. Besides updates about life
back home and the exchange
of new schedules, there was
one change that stood out
amongst the other news: many
of them had decided to change
their major. I found it very
strange to see so many of my
friends returning to campus
with a newfound change in
the direction that they wanted
to take their lives in. It made
me start to think about all the
people I knew and wonder:
how
many
of
them
had
changed their career paths in
the last few months? Let’s just
say, those who had stuck with
their intended major were in
the minority.
It has always troubled me
how today’s society expects us
to know what we want to do for
the rest of our lives by such a
young age. For instance, there
is no doubt that when applying
to
colleges,
someone
who
can show a constant passion
that they followed through
for four years becomes a very
strong
candidate.
Speaking
from
personal
experience,
my desire to find a consistent
interest led me to choose
environmental
science
as
my
life’s
passion.
Under
pressure from my parents, my
rationale at the time was that
I liked nature and so by the
transitive property, I should
like environmental science.
And that was that. For the next
four years, that one choice
shaped every decision I would
later make.
In
my
sophomore
year
of high school, instead of
applying to the Manhattan
District Attorney internship
like I wanted to, I forced myself
to spend 10 weeks at the Salt
Marsh Nature Center building
bat houses and creating urban
gardens. Instead of taking the
senior year elective, “Western
Political Theory,” that I had
my eye on since freshman
year, I signed up for “Urban
Ecology.” In fear of not being
able to show one constant
interest, I gave up the chance
to pursue the varying interests
I had and wound up sticking
with environmentalism for my
entire high school career. The
one thing that provided me
some comfort was college and,
specifically, the opportunity
it would provide me to truly
explore and delve into all my
interests. And that’s exactly
what I have been doing.
With high school still fresh
in my mind, I have been
intentionally selfish at the
University. Instead of making
decisions based on what I
think I should be doing for
graduate school or my parents,
I have been making decisions
based on what I want and it
has been incredible. However,
I have quickly realized that
not everyone has the same
mindset. Entering college, I
was very transparent about
my lack of direction. Though
I had some idea of the path I
wanted to take, things were
still very up in the air, and
honestly, they still are. When
I was meeting dozens of new
people throughout the first
few weeks, I was so impressed
with how confident each of
them were in their primary
interests. It made me feel like
I was doing something wrong.
But then, after those initial
weeks passed and I really got
to know my friends, I realized
the truth: there are very few
freshmen who actually know
what they are doing or what
they want, but not many who
can admit it.
I
have
had
countless
conversations
with
people
who all have had crises over
a lack of direction and every
time all I have wanted to do
was to scream in their face: it’s
okay to not know! One of my
pre-medicine friends switched
to
business
and
another
future doctor is considering
app design layouts; I wish
everyone could realize that
there is time to figure out
what you truly want to do. I
will concede that the looming
presence of declaring a major
and finishing its prerequisite
courses
is
definitely
a
legitimate concern. However,
hearing yet another of my
friends
complaining
about
her solely pre-med guided
schedule and the fact that she
is unable to take other classes
that interest her makes it
clear how important it is to
experiment a bit.
I know that being undecided
can feel scary and like you are
losing some sort of lifetime
race, but I can assure you
that is not the case. If in
the beginning of semester
icebreakers people revealed
how they actually felt about
their future, it would be
clear
that
the
community
of undecided or uncertain
undergraduates is much larger
than it appears. At the end of
the day, the stigma around
being undecided is completely
unfounded.
College
is
such a unique and special
opportunity to finally delve
into all the interests you have.
Don’t waste it.
T
he day will eventually
come. It’s not a matter of if
— but when — the COVID-
19 pandemic will be formally
declared over. Unfortunately, those
of us who have continued to take
the appropriate steps to mitigate
the virus’ spread are still subject
to some of the same restrictions
in place since early 2020. A seven-
day, nationwide average of nearly
500,000 COVID-19 cases almost
two years after the start of the
pandemic is clearly a testament to
the failures of two administrations.
However, it is well beyond dispute
that the Republican Party and
its supporters do not believe in
science. It would be generous to say
that only some of the GOP’s voting
base wears its abject ignorance as a
sort of perverse badge of honor.
It is not arguable in good faith
that all Americans share equal
blame for our present predicament.
Young and old, north and south, east
and west, conservative Republicans
are the reason the pandemic is still
raging in the U.S. They are, to quote
former President Donald Trump,
why “the world is laughing at us.”
Indeed, the pandemic is equally a
matter of politics as it is a matter
of science. There are numerous
documented stories of patients,
thoroughly gaslit and laying on
their
deathbeds,
regurgitating
the
same
baseless
COVID-19
conspiracy theories being spread
by Republican leaders. To put it
simply, Republican politicians are
killing their own voters.
Much of this is settled in (the
attached-to-reality portion of)
the public square. To rehash how
we’ve arrived at such a patently
preposterous moment in world
history would be fruitless. The
only worthwhile course of action
this late into the pandemic is
to discuss how best to move
forward with this virus as an
inevitable part of life, as has been
the case with the flu for the last
century.
It might be jarring to hear that
sentiment coming from a bleeding-
heart liberal, especially one who
has
repeatedly
lambasted
the
American Conservative movement
over
COVID-19.
However,
Republicans have won their war
on medicine at least to the extent
that this virus becoming endemic
appears a logical, if not foregone,
conclusion. As such, waiting for
the virus to be eradicated before
proceeding with a return to pre-
pandemic life is akin to asking
Santa for a pet unicorn this year.
My proposal for Americans to be
able to live with COVID-19 while
still living our lives might seem a bit
draconian at first glance. However,
I would argue that it is exactly as
nihilistic and petty as the nonsense
to which we sane, sentient human
beings have been subjected to by
the COVID-19 denial class for
almost two years. This proposal,
though, makes scientific — and
cathartic — sense, especially in a
city such as Ann Arbor, of which
young people are its lifeblood. We,
as University of Michigan students,
are the engine which drives our
city and our institution. We are
also required by our school to be
fully vaccinated and to receive a
booster dose, which is known to
substantially reduce the risk of
severe illness. Why, then, should we
bear responsibility for the public
health risks being taken by the 37%
of Washtenaw County residents
who remain unvaccinated? It is
with that in mind that the city of
Ann Arbor should take steps that
will both encourage those holdouts
to get vaccinated while removing
the burden of their stupidity from
those who have followed the advice
of public health professionals.
As it stands now, University
students are expected to wear
masks, limit the size of social
gatherings,
limit
travel
and
quarantine for an extended time
with a positive COVID-19 test. That
all sounded great in 2020, but now,
the student body is vaccinated, and
likely to show only minor symptoms
for only a short number of days, if
we were to show any symptoms
at all. All of that is to say that U-M
students face a low risk if they
contract COVID-19, but we are still
behaving as if it is the monumental,
universal public health threat it was
nearly two years ago.
U-M students, who have suffered
the loss of much of our college
experience for it, must no longer be
responsible for the choices of the
unvaccinated. Provided that it can
be done so legally – and given the
emergency powers of the executive
at the state and federal levels, that
shouldn’t be a problem – hospitals
nationwide must begin a triage
process for access to COVID care.
Hospitals nationwide are facing
capacity and equipment shortages
nearly two full years into the
pandemic, and almost a year after
vaccines became available. At this
point, some burden of responsibility
must be on the individual who has
refused to be vaccinated.
Given that there are finite
resources to be dedicated to
COVID patients, there must be
some form of hierarchy in place to
ensure that those who continue to
place the whole of society at risk
are accounted for only after life-
saving treatment has been directed
to all vaccinated patients in need
of care. As hospitals are plagued
by the unrelenting stupidity of the
Republican–led anti-vax crusade, it
is only fair to exercise discretion in
the distribution of care. None of this
is to say the unvaccinated should
be
altogether
denied
medical
care.
However,
by
permitting
doctors and hospitals to exercise
discretion as to who receives
prioritized COVID-19-related care,
federal, state and local authorities
(depending on the level at which
such a policy is instituted) would be
rewarding two of the demographics
most adversely affected by COVID-
19: youth and medical professionals.
Doing so is both a logical and moral
imperative.
Such a policy would also not
fall outside the scope of standard
medical practices, even before the
pandemic. It is a longstanding, and
eminently sensible, procedure in
the medical community to triage
patients based on chances of
survival when faced with limited
space, resources, equipment or
personnel; those with a higher
chance of survival are prioritized,
so as to most efficiently and
effectively allocate finite materials.
Suffice to say, the COVID situation
has placed all of those limitations
on hospitals across the country. It
doesn’t take an epidemiologist to
know that the patients most likely to
survive hospitalization are the ones
who are vaccinated. Therefore, in
addition to the moral imperative of
prioritizing those who have taken
steps to protect those around them,
a triage system would also make for
the best solution to the constraints
faced by hospitals nationwide.
While it is true that this will likely
never come to pass, it is well past
time for young Americans — all
vaccinated
Americans,
really
— to ask that the burden of the
pandemic be placed on those too
self-righteous to help end it. The
sane 63% must not suffer for the
ignorance of the insufferable 37%.
We, as college students, have lost
so much since March 2020. It’s not
just the tangible losses of COVID-
19 deaths that have cost people
our age recently. Adolescents and
young adults have been deprived of
opportunities and life experiences,
which, uniquely to us, we will
never be able to get back. Whether
it was the inability to study abroad,
to celebrate or congregate in large
groups or simply to interact with
our professors and peers in person
or unmasked, none of these things
are replaceable in later life. College
students continue to be deprived
of
their
once-in-a-lifetime
college experience because of
older people who believe their
“personal freedoms” trump —
pun intended — the public good.
Adults who lost their jobs are now
faced with the best job market in a
generation. Those who had to work
remotely were able to experience
a traditional work environment
before — and will be able to
again at some point. Experiences
associated
with
youth
and
adolescence are nearly impossible
to replicate, while more “adult”
milestones can still be achieved
later on. It is time for young people
to take some agency in our lives,
and stop allowing the older, and
dumber, among us to dictate which
formative experiences we deserve
to enjoy. We won’t get these years
back.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Opinion
10 — Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Design by Anya Singh, Opinion Cartoonist
College students are
proof: it’s time to learn to
live with COVID-19
JACK ROSHCO
Opinion Columnist
Individual 0
Design by Ambika Tripathi, Opinion Cartoonist
PALAK SRIVASTAVA
Opinion Columnist
Undecided major = failure?
lonely -m