In many ways, COVID affected me a lot less than many other people. I was able to stay home after spring break and was also able to take in two friends of mine who didn’t have anywhere else to go and were turned away by Yale from staying on campus. While it was nice to be together, classes were sometimes hard to follow because my house already has bad WiFi, and having 5 people in the house meant that large parts of our classes would cut in and out. Also, my extracurriculars and social life are crucial to me in terms of mental health, and so being without those made me depressed. For a while, I didn’t know if I was going to have access to my Yale Health therapist, which added to the stress of the situation. But then, on the other hand, I didn’t have to take on family responsibilities like an extra job, except for cooking dinner for my family a couple of nights a week. Because I’m in a stable financial situation, I didn’t have the struggles that some of my friends did. It’s essential that Yale provides accessible mental health care to everyone so that everyone can get the support and care that they need.
“Because of the continuing existence of the SIC, I am constantly stressed about applying to medical school, for I know that my wealthier peers have taken full advantage of their time here at Yale in volunteering, taking unpaid lab positions, and making studying for the MCAT their full time job.”
In order to cover my SIC, I have had to work between 17 and 19 hours every week for each of my three years attending Yale University both on and off campus. I had to Read more…
