The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated many other long-standing issues within our society. As the son of first-generation Chinese immigrants, I’ve spent most of my life, especially the past few months, helping my family’s restaurant stay afloat as many small businesses nationwide teeter on the edge of collapse. The various crises our nation faces have forced many students and their families to make sacrifices that have affected their health, their career prospects, and their financial stability. In light of this, it is simply untenable for more instability to be injected into our lives by Yale.
Before you set foot on campus, Yale promises you the world. For someone like me, limited by economic and class constraints, the resources Yale advertises are priceless. However, in reality, these resources (especially Yale Mental Health), which are pushed as resources for all, become resources for a very select few. Instead of support and assistance, students get months-long wait times and cancellations. In the end, I, and many other students, simply forwent using this resource in the hopes that at least someone could get the help they needed. The fact that I, and many others, *ration* the resources that Yale provides is testament to the dire situation that we’re already in. When caring about students falls to the students themselves, there is clear failure on the part of the institution.
