As an MS4, my last semester has not been what I had hoped it would be. While I feel incredibly privileged to be helping with the crisis soon, I also fear that I will not see my friends and family for a long time. Even if social distancing is lifted, I fear that as a healthcare worker, I will continue to pose a risk to loved ones. Going to a far, new city for residency during this time, I fear loneliness.

– Medical student

I am most afraid of my mom, who has ovarian cancer, contracting this virus. I worry about the ability for me to get a job when I graduate this summer. I worry about all the people who have lost their jobs. They are about to face so much instability, which has so many health consequences. I fear we will not have the resources to keep up with making sure everyone is secure.

– Student, College of Professional Health

My biggest fear is that I might bring it home or hearing that my friends or family member has it and I am not be able to be there for them. I worry everyday that the nurse who is swabbing the patient that came for testing ends up getting it and brings it home to their family who don't have the accommodations like I do.

– MA, TJUH Pool Team

This situation added on top of the already difficult life situations…Family getting sick…Not getting a job because my industry is shut down…Boredom…Running out of food and toilet paper…Not being able to trust anyone I don’t know well…Not knowing when it’s going to end…

– Architecture student

I fear for my best friend Darby. She has type 1 diabetes and fears to go to different places to get essentials. I also fear for my Meem who has auto-immune diseases, she’s 73, and my dad, he’s 64, who has a heart disease. I fear that people aren’t taking this seriously and because of their actions they can hurt the people I love without even knowing it. I worry so much about everyone and I hate seeing so many people losing loved ones.

– Communications student 

 So many! I fear my daughter-in-law, a nurse at Vanderbilt Hospital, will get sick. I fear my 89-year-old mother in Florida will get sick. I fear my family members with depression will be derailed by this prolonged crisis. I have dreams that I'm at the airport waiting forever and the plane backs away from the gate while I'm on hold on an 800 number trying to get a seat. All my fears are about the people I love and my own powerlessness.

– Writer, Department of Professional Writing