{"id":18821,"date":"2021-05-24T22:41:33","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T02:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/?p=18821"},"modified":"2022-02-13T18:48:25","modified_gmt":"2022-02-13T23:48:25","slug":"niamh-mcauliffe-photo-j-photo-article-2021-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/niamh-mcauliffe-photo-j-photo-article-2021-may\/","title":{"rendered":"Quarantined Until Further Notice: A Photo Journalism Piece by a WORD<\/i><\/strong> Reporter Getting Ready for the Light at the end of the Tunnel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another in a Series of Articles About Hunter Students Dealing with the Shutdown at Their Campus<\/h2>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

I woke up at 9 a.m. the morning of St. Patrick\u2019s Day, May 17<\/a>, for my art class \u2013 ZOOMING in my bedroom. Hunter went remote after Governor Cuomo put New York State on PAUSE<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

While I was eating breakfast \u2014 and, honestly, only half paying attention to class \u2014 I went to the New York State\u2019s Covid Vaccine website<\/a> to check if I could get an earlier appointment. I already had one but it was for the end of April and I was anxious to get the vaccine as soon as possible. So, I thought why not see if there are any new appointments available, and when I refreshed my page for the second time, multiple appointments appeared for vaccination sites that had just opened up on Long Island.<\/p>\n

They were all quickly becoming unavailable, taken by other vaccine hopefuls, but I thankfully moved fast enough and got an appointment for that Sunday, March 21.<\/p>\n

However, the appointment I managed to get was for a site all the way out east at Stony Brook University\u2019s Southampton campus<\/a>. I was so excited that I did not care that It was 65 miles away from my hometown of Hicksville.<\/p>\n

That Sunday, I woke up early and got myself together and headed out the door at 10:30 a.m. My appointment was not until 12:45 p.m., but according to Google Maps it was going to take me an hour and a half to drive there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photos by Niamh McAuliffe<\/h3>\n
\"\"

I arrived at the campus to be greeted with a large presence of the local police and the National Guard. Picture by Niamh McAuliffe<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

I went through several checkpoints till I was able to enter the site, the first at the entrance where I was asked by the National Guard to prove that I had an appointment. Once directed to drive through, I followed National Guard directions that were spread throughout the campus pointing where I needed to go and I eventually reached the parking lot. Picture by Picture by Niamh McAuliffe<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

I then put my two masks on and walked over to the site, which was actually a gymnasium. I was met by a person wearing an orange vest at the entrance where my temperature was taken and I was asked if I had tested positive for COVID recently, or, if I was in contact with anyone with COVID. Once I answered all of their questions, I walked in and was greeted by more people in orange vests and there were several more stations to go through. Picture by Niamh McAuliffe<\/p><\/div>\n

Niamh McAuliffe and the Two Masks <\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

The check in began at a large row of desks where I confirmed all of my medical information, then I followed up with a doctor for a medical evaluation and I was finally put into line to receive my vaccine. I was called over to the last station behind a partition where I excitedly chatted with the doctor and an assistant about the vaccine until all of a sudden it was time \u2013 and it was over in a flash.<\/p>\n

\"\"

A band-aid was placed on my left shoulder and I was given a sticker memorializing the moment. Picture by Niamh McAuliffe<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Afterwards I made my way to one of the many black fold-able chairs and waited 15 minutes to make sure I felt alright. I was so happy at that moment. I texted all of my friends and family that I got it.\u00a0 I was the first of everyone I knew to be vaccinated. Picture by Niamh McAuliffe<\/p><\/div>\n

At the time, the vaccine was still restricted to a small group of people: The elderly and people with special conditions, like myself. Today, it is available to everyone in New York and is offered in pharmacies everywhere.<\/a><\/p>\n

What’s Next<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It is now late May as I am finishing up my assignment. A little less than two weeks ago Governor Cuomo announced that SUNY and CUNY will require vaccinations for all students attending in-person classes in the fall. [Chronicle of Higher Ed article about vaccinations whether we like them or not.<\/a>] I was hoping this was coming because I will be a senior in the fall, and I want to finish my education in-person, the traditional way of an open campus that was the promise before the Pandemic unleashed havoc on America.<\/p>\n

Hunter hasn’t decided, as I’m wrapping up this article, about how classes are to be taught in fall, 2021, nevertheless, I see this as the step in the right direction and a real sign that I and other students could be returning to what student life was like, or might have been like, before we ever heard of the Coronavirus.<\/p>\n

\"\"

View of the 68th Street Lexington Avenue stop of the Number 6 IRT Train. Picture taken from third-floor corridor. Stock photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Niamh McAuliffe can be reached at NIAMH.MCAULIFFE78@myhunter.cuny.edu<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WORD<\/i><\/strong> reporter Niamh McAuliffe writes: Hunter hasn’t decided, as I’m wrapping up this article, about how classes are to be taught in fall, 2021; yet, I see this as the step in the right direction and a real sign that I and other students could be returning to what student life was like before we ever heard of the Coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":18819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[1765,1576,201,680,1814],"class_list":["post-18821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-students","tag-covid-19","tag-hunter-students","tag-pandemic","tag-vaccines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18821"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18998,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18821\/revisions\/18998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}