By Mia Goldstein
The Communicator
Ann Arbor Community HS
1st Place
Division 4, News Writing
It was 12:06 p.m. on Sept. 10 when the email from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Health Services finally loaded into Ben Goldstein’s inbox.
It read: “You were recently tested for the virus that causes Covid-19. Your test was POSITIVE. You should immediately isolate yourself from others.”
After a couple hours, Goldstein would be collected from his room carrying a duffel bag and his backpack — filled only with a few changes of clothes, his toiletries, bed sheets and computer — and hurried to the Turner Dorms – the university’s quarantine dorms – across town. There, he would spend ten days in isolation.
Goldstein, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin, had spent a mere two weeks on campus before he contracted the virus. It didn’t come as a shock, though; he was going out to bars and staying out late with groups of friends.
The days prior to his diagnosis consisted of attending classes virtually, going to the gym, doing homework and partaking in the nightlife downtown.
“College students will be college students,” Goldstein said. “I don’t really think you can blame us for wanting to go out and have a good time.”
At the time Goldstein’s test came back positive, the University Health System only required the students to be tested every two weeks. It was sheer luck that Goldstein had scheduled his test for Sept. 10, when he first arrived on campus in August; he would not have otherwise gotten tested. Goldstein felt healthy on Sept. 9, when he was tested and would remain asymptomatic throughout his time being viral.
Besides getting tested biweekly and wearing masks in public, the University of Wisconsin had no strictly enforced social distancing guidelines. In Goldstein’s opinion, they were completely lenient. Student dorm rooms exceeded the four-person limit, fraternity houses were throwing large parties and students were not practicing social distancing.
Goldstein’s roommate tested positive the day after him. He was stuck in their dorm for seven days without hearing from Health Services. Even after Goldstein alerted the university’s contact tracer, his roommate was left in the dark with no plan to be moved out of his dorm.
Goldstein had been assured by Health Services that everything was under control when it was not. The thought that the situation was getting out of hand raised concern for Goldstein, and he was unsure if the university was transparent with the students.
Eventually, his roommate’s mom posted on Facebook, which brought attention to her son’s neglected situation, and he was quickly moved to a quarantine dorm.
The area surrounding Turner Dorms was restricted by yellow gates and police officers patrolling the perimeters.
His room was bleak. There were two beds — one for him and his new roommate — a TV with cable, two dressers and two desks. The brick walls were bare and there was one small window concealed by shades. The overhead lights were a harsh fluorescence that made Goldstein feel cold.
“We couldn’t really go outside because we were in this tiny fenced off area,” Goldstein said. “Cops would walk up and down the fence, telling us off.”
A white food tent was pitched on the front lawn of the dorm. The students picked up their meals they ordered the day before at 5:45 p.m. sharp.
From the outside, it looked a lot like a jail.
It was a slightly different story on the inside.
Students were allowed to go into any dorm and walk around maskless. There were no resident advisors to watch over the students, so they had free rein.
Parties were being thrown nightly. It was uncontrollable.
“The second night I was there, I wasn’t having a good day,” Goldstein said. “I had a ton of homework and an early class the next day, so I wanted to get some rest. Upstairs, there were probably 60 people having a full-fledged party. It was until two in the morning that I heard them jumping and running down the hallway.”
An intoxicated student tried to sleep in Goldstein’s bed, thinking it was his own.
Communal water fountains had been broken, trash was overflowing, the hallway carpet reeked of throw up and the bathrooms were becoming grimy and moldy.
Although there were police officers monitoring the perimeters, they were unwilling to enter the building to enforce guidelines in fear of putting their own health at risk.
One night, someone pulled the fire alarm. The entire dorm was evacuated, and the fire department was forced to enter. The next day, the students received an email saying their behavior was completely unacceptable. The social area or “den” where the students hung out was locked shut.
“The health system was incredibly disorganized, unprepared and irresponsible with the whole situation,” Goldstein said. “There was no one checking in on our physical health or our mental health. One girl had to check herself into the emergency room because she got so sick.”
Goldstein struggled with his mental wellbeing the most during his time in isolation. When he wasn’t in class or doing homework, he was scrolling through his social feed and staying to himself. But mostly, he was just left to his thoughts.
“The amount of time I had to just fester in my own thoughts made the whole experience incredibly hard,” Goldstein said. “All I could do was think. After an hour of going through social media you start seeing the same things.”
He rarely went outside and couldn’t get any physical activity because police officers were constantly patrolling the area. It made him feel uneasy and unwelcome.
He was released from Turner after ten days and re-situated in his old dorm where he continued to self-isolate. He returned feeling exhausted and in a worse mental and physical state than before.
Goldstein wishes the university had acted sooner.
“The health system only started mandating things when the cases spiked; at that point, it is too late,” Goldstein said. “Universities across the country should learn by example and really see the effects neglectful behavior from the university has on its students.”
NW-17. Environmental, Health or Science
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- Sharp, attention-getting lead grabs reader and arouses curiosity
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