UNC senior finds the positives in a positive COVID test

Insert the swab one inch into your right nostril, rotate it five times, then repeat on the left side. Place the swab in the specimen tube, seal the lid tight, zip it in the plastic bag and deposit the bag into the red container on your left.

I have taken more COVID-19 tests than I can count. I am not a doctor, or nurse, or teacher. I am a student at UNC-Chapel Hill.

All UNC students are required to take a COVID-19 test each week. Those who have in-person classes or live on campus must take two tests per week. This method of mandatory testing has been effective at containing the spread of coronavirus, and it is how UNC has avoided a repeat of the meltdown that occurred at the onset of the Fall 2020 semester.

Despite all precautions, my weekly test returned positive on March 3. I was mad.

I had kept my bubble tight, spending time with fewer than five people per week, I wore N-95 masks when in public, and I always dined outdoors. Despite a year of adhering to safety guidelines, I caught it. My life as I knew it and my final semester at UNC ground to a halt.

My anger at the virus and at myself has dissipated a bit with each passing day of my required 10-day quarantine. Gorging Indian food and tossing in my bed while watching Netflix is pretty lovely at times.

In all seriousness, quarantine ignited a sense of gratitude within me; we have come so far that I am able to be a functional part of society from the confines of my bedroom. I can attend class in realtime. My friends are just a click away on FaceTime, and any cuisine in Chapel Hill can be delivered to my doorstep in 30 minutes. The efficiency with which our society had adapted to the demands of COVID-19 is incredible.

Contracting the coronavirus will forever define the spring semester of my senior year in college.

Pondering life from beneath my duvet, I have recognized how this year of havoc has provided me the time to make my cherished friendships more durable and to adapt so that I am a more resilient worker and learner.

Now, after contracting COVID-19, I do not have to take another test for 90 days. I will kind of miss the weekly routine and sense of relief. Still, eliminating this procedure from my routine (until I am able to be vaccinated), signifies, to some extent, a return to normalcy.

As springtime rolls around and the trees begin to bud, our society is once again blossoming, too.

After more than a year of remote learning, separated from my peers, I will be able to attend an in-person graduation ceremony. But until then, I am now actually looking forward to what my senior semester spring may entail.