Yeah, Don....like most people, I'm just fed up with the whole thing so I'm doing what I can do and will let others worry about themselves. I have toed the line, so to speak, from the beginning, washing hands, masking, got vaccinated and boostered as soon as I was able. I did all that not because I was told by anyone or because I'm a "sheeple" or because I feared for my job, but because I read and believed the science behind it and was willing to do my part. I am still toeing that line, not because my job requires it (though they do require masks indoors on campus), but because I feel like as one of the adults on campus that if campus authorities put a mask mandate in place then I should model the behavior that campus expects of students. Vaccines are not required, nor is regular testing, but if a student asked me about vaccines, I would be honest and say that I was vaccinated, explain why I chose that for myself, then refer them to the student health center for more reliable, fact-based information. Will we all get it? Maybe...who knows? It certainly is a possibility. Will this thing just up and "die out" all of a sudden? Not nearly as likely, if you follow the basic science. I know people who were vaxed who got it and people who aren't vaxed who haven't. I know several healthcare professionals and not one of them has gotten it, despite some exposure.
I know our campus plans to remain open as long as there are enough non-covid faculty and staff here to safely and efficiently provide the necessary services for our students and I think that is a wise decision for sure. We are returning to a semblance of normalcy like we had in early 2020 and it is much-needed for our students.
The sad reality is mental health is suffering in many professions (likely highest in medical and educational fields, but that is just based on my own interactions with those professionals as I know a higher than usual percentage of both). This whole thing has really divided an already heavily-divided nation and it is so very sad to watch and so I have just resigned myself to do the best I can to take care of me and mine and not worry about anyone else. I will offer honest answers to questions that students ask, but I will also make them aware that mine is just one opinion and I will urge them to seek out more information from various sources to make the decisions that best suit them. It is not my place to tell them what they have to do. After all, aren't educators in the business to help students learn to grow, plan, think for themselves?
Most of my family is vaxed, but the ones who aren't have made that choice and I respect their choice, just like I expect them to respect mine. I'm just ready for all the struggling and the ugliness to go away. Sparky and I were just talking about this last night...how if you have an opposite viewpoint to someone else, you both are likely going to very vehemently defend your own position instead of trying to understand the other person's. To me, that is part of all of the horrible divisiveness that we are all subject to from various avenues of late.
That's really all I care to say about it because I'm just tired of the whole thing. Make your choice, do your thing, and move on. I just hope that there comes a point in the very near future where we don't have to start conversations with such phrases as "when the pandemic is over" or "after this wave dies down" or some other variation of what we've been doing in putting our lives on hold. My mental health needs a break from it all.
