If you don’t know anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 at Smith this academic year, I’m here to tell you what to expect if you, too, end up in The Ellery.
When I first arrived at The Ellery, I was a sick and anxious mess. Smith’s system did well that night; the nurse who called me to let me know I tested positive was kind and patient with my questions; and Smith had a bag filled with acetaminophen, cough drops and candy waiting for me. Although I was assured that it wasn’t my fault, I felt pretty guilty for getting COVID-19 and exposing others. I was extremely anxious that a contact tracer would somehow get me in trouble for breaking COVID-19 protocol, even though every Smithie on campus has in one way or another. To my surprise, my contact tracer assured me that everything I told her was confidential. My room at The Ellery was perfectly adequate: hot shower, queen bed and good heating. The meals, along with an excess of snacks and flavored seltzers, were a little better than the dining halls.
Of course, I had to laugh at a fair amount of the policies. In a generous gesture, guests at The Ellery were allowed to socialize or exercise in the parking lot between 3 and 5 p.m. every day — this was the only time the staircase doors were unlocked. Apart from a brief visit by a nurse on day four, after my worst symptoms had subsided, no one was there to supervise or check on us. This concerned my parents, who called me twice a day to make sure I was still alive, since no one else was there to make sure I was okay throughout the first days of my fairly bad symptoms. The Schacht Center had provided me with a list of phone numbers to call if I needed help, but not much more direct support than that. One night, I heard music playing loudly on the second floor. Apparently, a group of friends who had all gotten COVID-19 together threw a party, which prompted an email the next day from Smith informing us that The Ellery had quiet hours starting at 11p.m.
Staying on top of my academics was my first concern when I went into isolation, so I was the most disappointed with my professors’ response to my situation. Although all of them responded to my email explaining what had happened with kindness and empathy, all but one failed to have a working system that would allow me to have access to the in-class lectures. One professor told me that they “didn’t do” Zoom or class recordings, and that I would have to just look at the posted notes. Another set me up on Zoom for each class, but had the camera pointed away from the board and stood too far away from the computer for me to properly hear them. A third did try, but was unable to figure out how to get Zoom working. While my isolation ended up not hurting my academics, I was shocked that after a whole semester of students isolating at The Ellery, as well as being discouraged from coming to class with any symptoms resembling COVID-19, professors hadn’t figured out how to make their classroom experience accessible to students unable to attend in person.
When a professor assigns a paper due in 10 days, I’m not stressed about doing it for another five, but 10 days of isolation is a long time. Smith provides students with two antigen tests at the beginning of isolation, to be used on days five and six. If those tests are both negative, you’re free to go but if either of those tests are positive, you’re condemned to staying the full 10 days. This rule confused me then, and it confuses me now. What if you’re negative on days six and seven, but not day five? Is this the policy because Smith College, with its two billion dollar endowment, doesn’t want to buy more antigen tests? I didn’t want to stay at The Ellery longer than I had to, so I asked a friend to buy me some antigen tests and bring them to me. I took one of those on day five instead of the school-provided tests and saw the faintest of positive lines. So, I told Schacht Center that I was still feeling symptomatic and had decided to wait to take my first test (they thought I only had the original two) until I felt better. Another store-bought antigen test came up negative on the morning of day six, so I took the first official test immediately afterwards and sent it in as my first result. After sending in the second official negative the next morning, I was free by the afternoon on day seven.
All in all, my experience isolating at The Ellery wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Yes, I was lonely and bored, but it wasn’t that bad. And hey, now my dorm room is stocked for a good month with all the extra snacks they gave me.
