What Life is Like as a Quarantined College Student

A bottle of water, chips and a prepackaged salad—the first meal of the day delivered at 4 p.m. to students in quarantine at New York University. Cornell University students from coronavirus hotspots promised a place to quarantine on campus then forced to find their own. These are just two of the countless stories being told by students across the country right now.

Colleges open, cases arise, and we are forced to ask ourselves, “How will my institution treat me if I have to quarantine?”

With colleges everywhere gaining news coverage and students posting quarantine horror stories on social media, this is a seriously scary issue for many. At Elon University, these fears are just as prevalent, but Kelly Simonson '22 wants Elon students to know this is not something to worry about just yet.

Students fear that being in quarantine might feel like being in jail. Kelly says otherwise. Photo from Pexels.com.

The last thing Kelly expected when beginning her junior year was to test positive for COVID-19.

“I was surprised,” she told us. “I did the recommended social distancing all summer, so it was surreal to hear that I had tested positive, but I’m glad that my case was caught before I ever went to an in-person class.”

“I got a phone call from Dr. Archinal at Student Health, and she told me I’d have to quarantine,” Kelly said, mentioning how wonderful Dr. Archinal has been about answering her questions.

Currently in isolation with her roommates in their off-campus apartment, Kelly said she is “genuinely impressed” with how Elon has handled her situation. “I’ve had a really great quarantine experience.”

From mental and physical check-ins to purchasing extra micro-fridges for their apartment to limit sharing spaces—it seems Elon has gone above and beyond in making their quarantine go as smoothly as possible.

“Student Care and Outreach have texted me every day to make sure I have everything I need,” she explained. “Everyone I’ve talked to from the school has been very interested in my wellbeing, and I’m grateful for that!”

Several days into her quarantine, Kelly came to realize that she and her roommates were not included in Elon’s COVID dashboard on their website. Kelly took to TikTok to share with the Elon community that the number of students in quarantine was not being reported accurately, as they were not accounting for the students living in off-campus housing.

“I put six people in quarantine myself, and I’m not even counted in Elon’s student numbers,” she told us in the video. “This is misreporting what is going on.”

The accurate count was quickly updated and posted to Elon’s website following the video.

“I was concerned when it looked like my quarantine and those of other students weren’t showing up on the dashboard, but that’s since been changed,” Kelly said. “I’m glad to know that Elon is doing its best to respond to student concerns and make the data available to those who want to see it.”

While reassuring to hear that Elon is helping students through this rough period, only time will tell if Elon can keep up with the number of quarantined students as cases continue to rise.

With 62 students currently in quarantine (according to the website Ready & Resilient / COVID-19 Dashboard), it is unlikely that every student is receiving the same amount of help and support as Kelly.

On the first page of Elon University’s ready and resilient website, created for the 2020 fall semester, they write, “Elon is committed to providing on-going support for students in quarantine on and off-campus,”—a promise they can only continue to live up to through their actions. Hopefully, Elon is as ready and resilient as it claims to be and continues to prove to students, staff and community members alike that everyone’s safety and health are the highest priority.

Everyone at The Edge wishes Kelly and everyone else in isolation a safe and healthy recovery.