Interview with Jada Berg, 12/03/2021

ZM: This is Zoe Malone alongside Professor Grace Lim interviewing Jada Berg

on December 3, 2021. For Campus COVID stories, campus COVID stories is a

collection of oral stories from students and staff at the University of

Wisconsin Oshkosh about their experiences in the time of COVID. Thank you for

sharing your stories with us. So first, could you please pronounce your name and

spell it out for Us?

JB: My name is Jada. So that's J-A-D-A

ZM: And can you also spell your last name for us?

JB: Of course my last name is Berg and that's B-E-R-G.

ZM: Perfect. Thank you. And what is your year and major?

JB: I am a senior here at UW Oshkosh and I am a nursing major.

ZM: And for the purposes of obtaining a good audio recording, can you please

tell us who you are again?

JB: My name is Jada Berg, and I am a senior at the University of Wisconsin

Oshkosh. And I am a nursing major.

ZM: Perfect. So just to get us started. So we would like to get to 00:01:00know you a

little bit. So where did you grow up? And can you tell me a little bit about it?

JB: Of course, I grew up in a town about 15 minutes away from Green Bay,

Wisconsin. It is kind of like a small rural town. It's about 15,000. And then we

have another town right next to us. It's also about 15,000. And we're kind of

one collective community. I grew up there. I did a lot of; I grew up as a

dancer. I did a lot of sports. I'm an only child. So yeah, exciting. I grew up

in a neighborhood that actually didn't have a lot of kids. So it was very, when

I went to school for the first time, it was like the first time I ever really

met other kids.

ZM: Oh, wow.

JB: That yeah, so I, it's a little bit about me.

ZM: So because you came from such a small rural town. When did you first start

thinking about college? And was it always in your plan to attend college?

JB: Of course, yeah. It was always a huge plan of mine to go to college. My

family was a huge pusher of it. And I was 00:02:00a lot higher achieving academics as a

young kid. So it was always pushed for me from the very start. I would say like

I started thinking about college pretty young. But I started considering

nursing, when I was about 15-16 years old. I took a class in high school called

Intro to Health Science and learned a little bit more about nursing. And that's

also when I took my CNA class. So I've been a CNA since I was 17. Now, I've been

in the healthcare field for a little bit for reference, I'm 22. Now I've been in

the healthcare field for a little bit. So it was definitely jumping into that

was a huge, like, benefit of me wanting to go to school for sure. I was also

very highly pushed from my counselors because I was in a lot of college level

classes from a young high school age.

ZM: Yeah. So going off of that, why did you choose to come to the University of

Wisconsin Oshkosh?

JB: So at first, it's not that I didn't know that 00:03:00UW Oshkosh didn't exist. But I

was highly thinking about Belen College up in Green Bay. And then I was working

at Maurices with my one of my coworkers, and she was a little bit older than me,

and she was going to UW Oshkosh, and she came home for the summers and would

work with us at Maurices, and I was telling her how he wanted to go into

nursing. And she told me one day, why don't you look at UW Oshkosh, they have a

really good program. And I Googled it. I'm like, okay, all right. And then I

realized, oh, they have a very good program. So probably since my junior year, I

knew I wanted to go to Oshkosh, I applied like the first day the application

opened up. I knew by September 2018 that I was going to go to Oshkosh. And that

was my like, first month of my senior year. So I was very understanding of what

college I wanted to go to.

ZM: Yeah. And I am a nursing major too, and I am 00:04:00from pretty far away,

Pennsylvania. So, you know, that decision was a pretty big one. But after seeing

the nursing program, I was like, this is it. This is where I want to be.

JB: Exactly.

ZM: All right. So now let's move on to the early days of COVID at UW Oshkosh. So

at the beginning of the spring semester and 2020 You know, where were you in

your college career? Did you have a full class load and where were you living at

the time?

JB: So I had just started the nursing program. I remember it so vividly. It was

week six. It was week six because we were almost at midterms and doing like our

midterm checkoff. And I remember sitting in my health assessment class, which is

where you learn how to do physicals and stuff like that in the basics of

nursing. I remember sitting there and I was on my phone, I was checking and

checking. And I was seeing tweets from all the other universities saying that

they were going to be extending winter, or not winter break, extending spring

break or sending everyone home a week earlier that kind of stuff. 00:05:00And I remember

sitting there next to my friends I'm still friends with and we're all like, "oh,

boy, oh no,". And then I remember getting back to my dorm. And I received an

email from the chancellor. And I was kind of, "Oh boy," kind of moment, because

I am also a health advocate or an HH here on campus, I was living in South Scott

at the time, and that is a very large dorm. It is 10 floors, and there's about

50 people on every floor. And I think that year, we were two floors short. So we

had about eight floors, about 50 each. So a lot of students. And I remember

sitting there, and I knew students were going to come and ask me questions, but

I did not know how to answer any of their questions.

ZM: Yeah.

JB: Because the university sprung on the news to me at the same time as they

sprung it to them. So it is very like, Oh, boy. Everyone just packs up 00:06:00for two

weeks. That kind of stuff. We'll be back. Yeah, trying to be optimistic with my

students. But no, yeah, it was very challenging because all my coworkers were

talking and like wondering what we're gonna do. So yeah, that was very I

remember, this is before masks and everything. I remember all of my students

piling out into the hallways and like listening to me, as I talked about, like,

"Hey, this is what we need to do. Like everyone, pack out what you need for two

weeks. We'll be back. It'll be fine."

ZM: Yeah. Do you think you can kind of describe your job as a health advocate

for those who probably don't know what a health advocate is and what your role

was kind of prior to COVID? So people have a better idea.

JB: Yeah. So UW Oshkosh is a little bit unique. And they have the health

advocates in the dorm. So most universities in the dormitories have what's

called a resident assistant or an RA. At Oshkosh, we call them community

advisors. So as a health advocate, I'm kind of a CA, but not 00:07:00quite. So as a

health advocate, I'm more concerned about residents' overall health in the

dorms. I like to call myself kind of the CVS of the dorm, or kind of that nurse

of the dorm, where students can come to me for like, kind of like minor ailments

and minor kinds of situations of health. And I can help them through that kind

of stuff. So like, for reference, I have like, band aids, I have like Tylenol, I

do a lot of on sexual education as well. So I have pregnancy tests, condoms, and

emergency contraceptives in my dorm. So I'm kind of like, again on that CVS, I'm

that sweet spot of, you know, students can come to me instead of going to CVS or

going to the convenience store. Because a lot of times it's easier to go through

these health things, if it's here, instead of like, you know, a stranger,

cashier and store.

ZM: Sure. So after you got the initial email from the chancellor, did you get

any more kind of 00:08:00just anything else? From anybody outside of, you know, the

chance? Or did your bosses really email you? And were like, "Hey, this is what

we're gonna do,". Did you have to stay back once everybody else ended up going

home? Did that end up happening to you?

JB: So they were kind of concerned about that in the first place, because we all

have contracts here at UW-Oshkosh. So I'm a contracted University employee. So I

am contracted to live on campus, from I think it's like August, like sometime

between halfway through August until winter break. And then I have to be back on

campus for the interim. And then once the second semester starts, again, I have

to be on campus from like, once campus starts to the end of the semester. So

contractually, I have to be on campus. And contractually, I could lose my job, I

can lose my payments and all that kind of stuff. So we were concerned that they

were going to make us stay. 00:09:00Because we were like we were staying until everyone

left at least. And that we were very concerned because that's a health risk on

us. Which I know, we really didn't know anything about COVID in March of 2020.

We didn't really know anything. We didn't have masks yet. Yeah, it was just kind

of a free for all. So I remember my boss, they finally sent us the message like,

"hey, go home, like, go home. Your contract has been like not dissolved, but

you're okay. You just go home, take care of yourself,". That kind of stuff. And

then I remember it was two weeks, like two weeks later, three weeks later, maybe

or even two days later. It was the email of "Actually, could you come back and

take all of your stuff out of your room, please,". And I was just very like,

"oh, okay, well, we're not coming back,". And I remember they gave us 00:10:00two hours;

we had two hour allotted time to take our stuff out of our room. And for

reference, I lived in a double room at that time. So I lived as one person in

space, which two people could hold. And I filled that room very much. It was

very comfortable because I live on campus full time. So I want to make it

comfortable for myself. And then I heard I felt so bad because they told us, "We

don't care how messy Your room is, just take your stuff and leave,". Yeah. So I

felt so bad for custodial work. And I was like, I'm so sorry. I want to vacuum

and clean before I leave, but they're like, "no, just go," Alright, okay, I can

do that.

ZM: Yeah. So being a health advocate, you obviously talked to a lot of students,

probably male and female and everything in between. So, you know, how were they

reacting? When everything kind of started unfolding. I know that you said that.

You really didn't have all the answers for them. So you know, what kind of

advice 00:11:00or just you know, support? Did you offer them or try to offer them at

that time,

JB: I tried to offer them a kind of optimism of like, "hey, like, this isn't the

first disease that humanity has ever had, this is not the first one, and it's

not going to be the last one,". So I tried to be optimistic and tell my students

to try to take advantage of this time. Actually, if you have a home to go to,

maybe try to take advantage of the time to be with your family. Because like, I

mean, it was pure, like a lockdown being with your family. So that's what I

experienced at least. I was very fortunate that I had a good home to go to.

Yeah, and I had a good home life. And it was very, it was nice. It was like, I

do have fond memories of the early COVID. Like, I'll touch on it a little bit

later. But I was working as a CNA at the time, too. But it was very fun to be

home like that. And be like with my family in the sense, I got 00:12:00to focus on me a

lot and not like anything else. And which was a very unique aspect. I remember,

I used to take like three mile walks every day. Like just doing what I wanted to

do on top of my schoolwork. Like it was great.

ZM: Yeah, no, that sounds really nice. I know, whenever I was at home, I was

still a high school senior. So I was with my family a lot, but it was just a lot

of time to myself. Yeah, just really nice. So you know, when did your students

come to you and everything? Obviously, you weren't the only ones going through

something you were going through stuff too. Can you walk me through a little

bit? You know, your feelings when COVID kind of first hit?

JB: It really just hit us quick. It wasn't one of those things. It was like

yeah, maybe this is gonna like it was full force like yeah, we're going into lockdown.

ZM: Can you kind of talk about your feelings at that time?

JB: Yeah. So I think for me, it was very UW Oshkosh we were sent home. Oh, we

were sent home a week early before our spring break. So they just refer to it as

extended spring break. It was scary. 00:13:00The COVID kind of stuff, but it wasn't

quite scary, scary. Complete lockdown, so I remember coming home and like, "Oh,

this is kind of just gonna be like an extended spring break,". This will be

nice, because I did not touch my schoolwork for two weeks. And it was great. it

was fun being home and like doing things, but I like it was definitely like, oh,

this has never happened before. I think it was because I was in such a unique,

like, part of my life. I wasn't a freshman in college anymore. I wasn't a

senior, smack dab in the middle, like smack dab in the middle. And like I was

like, "Oh, I mean, this kind of this kind of sucks, but I think it'll be okay,".

But yeah, I remember thinking it'll be okay. That kind of feeling. I remember

the first few times I went back to work at my nursing home. And it was kind of

scary because we didn't have masks yet. And obviously, like 00:14:00we were trying to

preserve masks like the hospitals. I remember we all wore cloth masks for a

significant long amount of time until we could finally get PPE. I remember that.

ZM: So can you talk to me a little about your CNA job, obviously, it's a pretty

hands-on you're, you're hiring around high-risk people you're at risk to get

COVID You know, were you nervous at all kind of going back and working?

JB: Absolutely. Um, I have a very immunocompromised mother. And it was a very

hard thing for me because I wanted to help at the nursing home. I work at CBRF

which is a community-based residence facility. So I work with a variety of I

worked with a variety of adults with I've worked with Down syndrome I've worked

with dissociative identity disorder, Alzheimer's, dementia, depression, anxiety,

I've worked with it all a lot. So I wanted to be there because I 00:15:00was a familiar

face. They were shut down, and no visitors were allowed. So it was one of those

things that like I was their only visitor for a very long time. And I really

wanted to be there for them because I had been taking care of a lot of them for

over a year, so, or over two years almost. So I just wanted to be there for

them. But it was also very scary because I did not want to contract it myself of

course. And the thought of giving my mother COVID was just terrifying. I

remember, my stepdad, also was working while my mom was not. But I remember my

stepdad and I would put clothes that we were wearing, we would take them off in

the garage, because we have a garage that goes into the house. We take them off

in the garage, leave them there for like a week. And then we would wash them to

quarantine our clothes. So just in case something got on them 00:16:00or you know. So

that was definitely like a scary time for me. But yeah, it was just it was I was

very fortunate, and I have not gotten COVID, And I still have not. So I've

dodged a lot of bullets. But I mean, I've been very thankful for that.

ZM: Yeah, no. So I know that you said when you went back to work at the nursing

home and everything, they didn't immediately have, you know, the PPE masks or

anything like that, how long approximately, do you think it took them to get the

proper equipment for you and the other workers and even the residents living there?

JB: I would say it took till May for us to switch to we finally had like more

disposable masks, but from March to May we, I remember, I actually, it was me

and another one of my coworkers, we made cloth masks for everyone. Because we

were just so nervous, we wanted everyone to be protected from it. And we 00:17:00 wanted

something to prevent ourselves from getting it. So I remember my coworkers and I

were the ones who made them for the facility for all of us to have one. So that

was definitely scary. And then I would say May, June is when we started

switching to disposables and being able to actually have PPE again. Very

fortunately, my facility did not have COVID

ZM: Oh, that's very fortunate!

JB: Yeah. Um, during that big first scary spike, I would say it was like August

of 2020 is when I first started actually working with people with COVID. And

then as a student nurse, I worked with some people with COVID. And then this

last summer, I was working with COVID. And this last Thanksgiving break,

actually I was working with COVID. So but very fortunately, we were all 00:18:00 very

like us as coworkers, were really diligent about maintaining quarantining and

social distancing, to try to help our residents as much as we could.

ZM: Of course, and so you know, compared to pre-COVID versus during COVID how

did you go about caring for your residents and everything? Did it change? Or did

it kind of remain the same? I know that you were working with very high-risk

immunocompromised individuals, so did your kind of course of action change when

you were caring for them? Or did it kind of remain the same? Did you have more

COVID protocols to help protect you and them?

JB: I would say that I actually got to spend more time with them. You know what

I mean? Yeah, I got to spend more time with them. And I wanted to spend more

time with them. Because I mentioned, our facility was on lockdown. So there was

nobody, nobody besides hospice and us coming in. So that's scary. That's like,

you know, that's got to be hard for people not to see their family. 00:19:00I tried to

spend as much time as I could with them. I really tried to do that for my

residents. I would say, because we were so fortunate, and then we didn't have

any numbers, it was like it was nice. But also, we did have those COVID

protocols where we had to feed people in their rooms. They couldn't eat in the

dining room. But then there were only so many staff members that could go into

people's rooms, because there's more people who needed to be fed then staff

workers. So it was kind of the difficult thing of like, during mealtimes it was

kind of hard to navigate.

ZM Yeah and how did your residents kind of react to everything? I know that

there's like you said, there's a whole bunch of different people there. So how

did they, you know, for the most part and a general reaction before, when it

first happened and kind of during and as it kind of dragged on?

JB: I would say a lot of them were more in the sense confused why they couldn't

see their family out of anything. I think that was the main 00:20:00thing. I work with a

lot of people with late onset Alzheimer's and late-stage Alzheimer's, so a lot

of them, sadly didn't know, but they weren't really aware of what was going on.

And the ones that were very, they just wanted to see their family, of course,

you could tell that they just wanted to see their family and be with people that

they loved. So it was definitely hard, you know?

ZM: Yeah. And, you know, you're going through all of this, how was, you know,

your mental health through all of this? You know, did you have any moments where

you were really struggling? Or, you know, were you kind of just trying to

maintain a positive attitude? Were you kind of, like, you know, it's gonna be

okay. Or, you know, was COVID really hard? I know, for some people, it really,

it was kind of like a, it's here, you know, it's frustrating that I can't go

back to school. I know, for others, they really did struggle with being locked

up. And even in your case, being around people who couldn't see their families

and that type of thing.

JB: I think, for me, 00:21:00the beginning of COVID was pretty pleasant, because I was

home and I was able to be with my parents at least, but I didn't see any of my

friends, any of my extended family for months. So that was hard in the sense of

like, I missed them. I didn't see my boyfriend for two months, for a period. And

I think, yeah, for two months, I didn't see him. And it was difficult because he

and I are long distance, but I was used to seeing him like every other weekend

or something like that. So yeah, it was difficult not seeing my friends and all

kinds of stuff. But we had some pretty fun times. We like we were on zoom all

the time; we would do like PowerPoint nights. And we would like you know, have

game nights together. So we're like, still very close, just obviously not

physically. Yeah, it was the beginnings of COVID were like, you know, 00:22:00definitely, like more pleasant. But I would say November 2020 to January 2021

was just like, I think the combination of oh, it's winter, and like things are

getting bad. And no one seems to be listening to the CDC. That was definitely a

hard time for me. But I tried to stay optimistic throughout all of it. In the

sense of like, I'm optimistic because I still had a job in the beginnings of

COVID. So many people got fired, laid off. I still had a job. I had a job. I was

still in school. Like that was a fortunate thing for me.

ZM Yeah, so kind of backtracking back to your spring semester. Obviously, you

were home. Did you have a lot of in person classes, I'm assuming being a nursing

major, you had a lot of hands-on in person classes.

JB: So the nursing program, how it works basically is every semester, for your

first three 00:23:00semesters you have a lab and clinical. So your lab is where you're

learning those kinds of nursing hands on skills. In your clinical, it's like

where you're going into the hospitals, nursing homes, different facilities, and

you're doing nursing stuff. So it was definitely very, I remember, I had one

online, two online classes. They were like seven-week courses. So those were

online, that didn't change at all. But I do remember how difficult it was to

switch over to purely online for all of them. That was definitely difficult. And

professors trying to figure out what they want to do with the online course. I

had a lot of them that were like, watch this three-hour podcast and then come to

class, which was very, like, how do we navigate, like, you still getting your

class time, but me still having my time. I remember I had to do check offs. So

check offs 00:24:00in nursing school are like little, basically tests to see if you're

doing your skills correctly. And I remember I had to do them with my parents.

And once it was towards the end of the semester, I did them on my boyfriend. And

I would have to do physicals on my parents, and I'd have to record myself with

my computer. So they have to learn how to utilize the technology. The

professors, I remember, said, "If you give us flexibility, we will also give you

flexibility,". That was a huge, really good thing. I think Oshkosh is very

unique with the nursing program in the sense that they have an online nursing

program. So they have the like, understanding the technology of how to format

it. So that was very like, I think beneficial in the sense. Yeah, some of my

classmates or some of my like friends told me that their classes were absolute

disasters once they switched online. Luckily, the College of Nursing has that

Background already. 00:25:00ZM: Yeah, I actually didn't know that at all online.

JB: Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's an associate degree or a bachelor's degree RN.

But they have that option.

ZM: Yeah. And that I'm sure, like you said, made the transition just so that

much easier. So kind of going into August of 2020. You know, Oshkosh said that

they were going to return for in person classes. How did you feel about that?

JB: Very excited. I was very excited, because first of all, I got to go back

into the residence halls, I got to do my job again, I got to be with my friends.

And then I got to go back to classes, which is what I really wanted. I was of

the mind that they could have every single one of my classes online, except I

just want to go to the lab, and I want to go to clinical. Those are the two

classes that I'm like, I just need these two to be in person and I will be set.

So I was very excited. So those two were in person and that was so nice. It was

very nice. 00:26:00I will say it was condensed, it was, it was shortened. Like the lab

is supposed to be like three hours. It was only maybe an hour. It was very like;

you watch all of this stuff beforehand. You do your checkoff go, like, very

brief, but it was just so good to be in person to do it at least Yeah, and like

touch those like materials. And during that clinical semester, I was at St.

Elizabeth's Hospital in Appleton. So I was there. It's a neuro oncology,

orthopedics floor. And it was kind of scary, though, because there were three

units technically on our floor. And then two of them got shut down. So all of us

were in only one little unit together. And we had to share patients and

everything. I was so glad to be there at least Yeah. Like I was so glad to at

least be in 00:27:00the hospital. I was glad to be doing things hands on observing things.

ZM: Yeah. And I know that you mentioned before you had seen some COVID patients,

you know, how was kind of, you know, your initial reaction when you got your

first patient with COVID? You know, are you nervous? Were you like, let's do

this, you

Know,

JB: I was very nervous. Luckily, I was partnered up with someone because it was

a lot more like higher risk and more advanced things, that I was used to being,

so glad that I had someone with me. So this person was like, fresh off of their

quarantine and we're still having a lot of COVID symptoms and COVID

complications. And it was very, 00:28:00very hard, because that person had been there

for a month in a hospital. But it was so rewarding because that one week, they

were there COVID made their Alzheimer's, like so much worse, this person before

was able to do almost everything by themselves. But when I saw them, I had to

give them feedings through a nasogastric tube. I had to do almost everything to

help take care of them. They couldn't walk, they can turn themselves, they could

do nothing. And then the next week when I came back, they were not completely

healed or anything, but they were so much better. They were more cognitively

there, they were able to respond to me, they were able to sit up they were able

to feed themselves. So it was rewarding in the sense of I saw this person

recover like I saw them back from this. It was a great moment of optimism, I

think yeah, 00:29:00because they were not very old. They were old. And they were kind of

like, they probably won't recover. But they did. So it was a big piece of optimism.

ZM: Yeah, that's an amazing story. So kind of going back to campus life and

everything. You said that you were still working in your on-campus job. So

you're still a health advocate. So how did you know they kind of changed your

role? If at all, was it you know, COVID friendly was a COVID safe, you know, it was?

JB: So the job. I remember coming back from training or coming back to campus

and we were doing a two weeks training in Residence Life before like all the

students move in. And I remember what it was like, so we don't know anything. We

don't know what you can do. We don't know what you can't do but bring up

suggestions and we'll see what you can do. 00:30:00So for reference, the health advocate

and community advisors, they host programs. So it's a huge part of our job. So,

once a month, I have to host a program of sorts. I've done like sex ed bingo,

I've done. I've done things like cookies and consent; I've done a ton of

different events where students can come to and they're free. And they're meant

for our students in the dorm. Traditionally, you had $200 for every event that

you hosted, that you can spend up to, without having to ask the university for

more money. I remember they told us they're like, so we've got bad news $10, I

was like, what, like $10 Is your budget. So $10, when we first moved back on the

campus was the budget for every event that you hosted, had to be attempted to be

under $10. And then it was 00:31:00can't have your door open for your open-door hours.

So unless you want to wear your mask while your doors open. So in years past

their open-door hours is when I would sit in my room with my door open to be

inviting for residents to come and visit me. So there wasn't there was none of

that. And then it was like you know there are masks. That was I think the

biggest and honestly, the worst aspect of my life for COVID. I was the one who

had to confront people with masks, I was the one who had to write them up. I was

the one who had to be the mask police. And that was very difficult, asking. So I

would say the age range of my job is probably 19 to 22. Asking a bunch of 19- to

22-year-olds to be the mask police to kids their own age is very difficult.

Yeah. It was so tiring, I just got so tired of reminding people to put the mask

on, 00:32:00it'd be like 5, 6, 7 months in and people still would not. And it was just

so difficult, because I was just so fatigued from reminding people. Like it

wasn't that hard. Like the rules were very stated. You just have to wear them in

the hallways, and in the common areas. You didn't have to wear them in your

room, obviously. But in the hallways and common areas, you had to wear your

mask. And students just could not get that through their heads. And that was the

worst part of my job, I think is like constantly reminding students Yeah. And

then we also realized how many students you could have in your room. So two

roommates in a room together, maximum, both of them can have one guest over at

the time. So maximum four people in a room at a time. In years past it was like

the traditional dorms. You can have 10 people in your room in horizon village,

which is our upperclassmen dorm, which is where I work 00:33:00right now. You can have

up to 16. So telling people who potentially have lived on campus before, yeah,

hey, you can't have 10 people, you can only have four, that's including your

roommate. That's like only the maximum amount you can have. And it was just so

hard to police. And so the rules changed so often. This rule just started? Can I

have enough time to remind my students about it? Like, do I have to enforce it?

Can I give them some more time to understand the rule? Like it was very like, do

the rules have to change so often?

ZM: When we came back in the Fall 2020, you were still working in South Scott, correct?

JB: Yup, I was.

ZM: Okay, so approximately you know on each floor at that time, how many

students were you kind of overseeing at that point?

JB: So the unique part of the Health Advocate is there is one health advocate

for every dorm.

ZM: Oh, wow.

JB: So I'd take care of the whole dorm. So I oversee the entire dorm. But 00:34:00on my

specific floor, I lived on the third floor, I probably oversaw 50 students. And

it was kind of rough, because traditionally there's two community advisors on

the floor, and then there's me, and then- but that year we only had one

community advisor and she was brand new to the job.

ZM: Oh my god.

JB: So I felt so very bad. And I actually remember scolding all of the freshmen,

they're first years. I remember scolding all of them and I said, "if you make

her cry, I will come after you. I was a second-year staff member. I knew the

rules, I knew games, sometimes, the first year's play, so I was very like this

like I'm here to be your supplemental community advisor alongside your health

advocate. So that was a unique role for me that I had to take up. There were a

lot of- that second year, so 00:35:00last school year, there were only three other

returner staff on my entire staff, we were staff members made up of 16. So it

was four of us that had to kind of mentor a ton of students, about 14 other

students who had never done this job before. So it was definitely like a alright

let's all put in our handwork together we've got this, we can do this. Just

gotta get through it.

ZM: That sounds insane.

JB: Yeah.

ZM: So I know that you said that some students still 5, 6, 7 months in, they

still weren't listening and just following the rules, but did you have some that

were kind of responsive and like okay, if we want things to get back to normal,

we have to do this and we'll do it?

JB: Yes. There were so many students that were just so good about it and so

compliant and wanting things to get better and understanding the reason why we

have to wear masks and understanding the science behind it. I remember I 00:36:00 made

signs in the dorm that said mask up or pack up. And that really got to a lot of

students like all. Yeah, we can be sent back again. Yeah, you could. I mean,

look at UW Madison, they had two of their residence halls that are very similar

in size to north and south Scott here at UW Oshkosh had a quarantine for two

weeks. We remember being scared about that, actually. I don't want to be stuck

in this dorm for two weeks, I got to go to clinicals. I would say it was like

60/40. 60% of students were really good about it. And then 40% were very, like,

why do we have to wear masks in the halls? Yeah, five seconds of mask time. It's okay.

ZM: Yeah, it's really not that, like, I remember when I first got to campus, I

was like, I have to wear my mask everywhere. I don't want to get- like I was so nervous. 00:37:00But I remember I knew a lot of people were [unclear]

JB: I think a lot of students, how I got through to them was, they would be

like, oh, I hate wearing a mask. Like, you know, it's such a long time,". And

like, I wore a mask for 12 hours straight. Yeah, I like as a health care worker,

my empathy for them kind of grew thin. Because like, I had to wear a mask for 20

minutes in the store. I had to wear a mask for 12 hours. I had to wear an N- 95

for 12 hours. Yeah. Yeah, no, I was like, no, I just wear your mask, please.

ZM: Yeah, it's not that hard. So you know, kind of going more talking more about

you, you know, how are you handling classes that fall of 2020? And even that

whole school year? You know, you were kind of that hybrid? You had some in

person, some online. Did you like doing that? Did you prefer it? You know, going

online? Did you prefer going all in person? Did you like that mix?

JB: I kind of liked that mix. Because famously, your junior 00:38:00year of nursing

school is very difficult. Very, very, very difficult. So it was nice to have my

pharmacology online. That was really nice. I had my pharmacology online. And

then I had one semester of my med surgery online, and in one semester, my

pathophysiology online. So how the College Nursing arranges their classes is

that you have to have one theory class in person, the rest online, and then you

can have your lab and clinical. That's how they compromise with the university

to get us in our clinicals for time. So that was very interesting. I think it

honestly went as well as it was in person fully. Like I truly think it did,

because it was really nice. So I had a class at 7:30 in the morning. And then

instead of having to go on campus, I just got to be at my desk in my room in my

pajamas. 00:39:00So that was nice. I would say that was really beneficial because I have

a 7:20 class this semester. And I have to go in person. And it is not a fun time

for me personally.

ZM: No, I would hate that.

JB: Yes, it's just too early.

ZM: So you know, how do you think that the faculty handled everything? You know,

they kind of had now kind of half a semester under their belt of this hybrid

learning online. And now they're coming, like students are actually coming back

on campus, you know, do you think that they did a good job at you know, really

enforcing everything and just giving you a quality education, given the

circumstances that we were in?

JB: Personally, I think the College of Nursing did a very good job. Like I

mentioned, they kind of have their toes in the sand of online education prior.

So for me, I felt like it was very well organized. My professors are very, very

well-organized people when it comes to nursing. But I remember in the Canvas

pages. 00:40:00They would upload everything, and you'd have all of your assignments from

day one of the semester. They would go week by week, so it'd be week one through

14, and it would show you exactly what you needed to do. It was very well

organized; I could tell my professors understood what they needed to do. And

they were very good with technology. My professors are very good with that and

sense. But they were also very flexible because of technology.

ZM: So you know, being a healthcare worker during the time of COVID, you know,

how did you feel about Oshkosh COVID protocols? Did you kind of appreciate what

they were trying to do? Are they at any time frustrating, like, oh my gosh, I

just wish I didn't have to wear a mask or you're like, no, this is what we need

to do. 00:41:00JB: I was very, I'm very lucky that Oshkosh did such a good job, in my opinion

with the protocols, our numbers consistently stayed low. There was a very, very,

very small spike in September of 2020. But I'm a really big data analyst with

all these COVID numbers. And I think our university did such a really, really

good job with trying to keep numbers low and trying to organize everything. So

as a student, of course, I don't want to wear a mask in class, but I know why I

have to protect myself and others. So like, of course, in my most ideal world, I

wouldn't have to wear it. But the circumstances were given. And we need to adapt

to that.

ZM: So kind of let's fast forward a little bit, you know, into the spring

semester, and kind of fast forwarding into even fall of 2021. So now, vaccines

are available. I know I got mine in April, 00:42:00just because that's when it was

available to me. As soon as the campus was like, oh, you can get vaccines. I was

like, Alright, I'm on it. Yeah. So did you get your vaccine pretty quickly?

JB: Yeah, I got mine in February. So I got mine in February because I'm a health

care worker. I was at Aurora Medical Center in Oshkosh for my clinical okay. So

because I was there, I was offered the vaccine because they wanted all their

staff to be vaccinated. I got Moderna personally, and I was vaccinated, and I

was very happy that I was. I will say, my arm hurt really bad the day after. I

remember it was the second dose. And I was in the OR that day. It was my

clinical. I got it on Wednesday. Thursday was my clinical and I was in the

operation room. And I was helping the surgeon and I was holding the light for

them. And I had to keep switching with my arms because it was a very long

surgery. And my arms hurt so bad, but I'm so lucky that I have the vaccine. 00:43:00 I

have been exposed to COVID a lot. And I have not gotten it. Kind of recently, it

literally very recently my mom was admitted to the hospital with COVID double

pneumonia. I was with her all Thanksgiving. I did not get it. So very fortunate

for the vaccine, like very, very fortunate to have that. I just got the booster

three weeks ago. So very fortunate and seeing that that science really does

work. I've been around COVID a lot with people with PPE without PPE, and I have

not gotten it. And I'm just so glad that health care workers like myself were

given this vaccine and it helps me protect others still.

ZM: Yeah. And my mom, she is actually a nurse, she never worked like frontlines,

but she did get the vaccine early. My dad got COVID He was pretty sick. And she

has not gotten COVID one time and I'm like good. 00:44:00I got the Moderna booster and

everything because I got the short end of the stick, and I got Johnson and

Johnson. I was like, "Oh, great," And she was like, "Get your booster and get

Moderna,". I was like, "Okay, mom. Okay, like, I'll trust you," because she

knows a thing or two. So speaking more kind of on the vaccine, you know, how do

you think Oshkosh did that Vax Up campaign? Do you think that was a pretty good

initiative to start getting students to vaccinate

JB: Honestly, our campus had some pretty low numbers before that initiative

became a thing. Because if you look at other campuses, like you do, Madison,

their vaccination rate is like 94%. Ours is probably I mean, the last time I

checked, it was sitting around like 78%. Yeah. Which is like, we're almost

there. The concept of herd immunity requires 80%. So most idealistically, we'd

want that 80% for sure. Anything's better than nothing. I thought the initiative

was really cool, honestly. They actually did a lot of 00:45:00initiatives; they gave out

MacBooks they gave out like scholarships. So that was really cool, in my

opinion. Like, rewarding people for doing the right thing, honestly. I did it

because I am a health care worker. I want to protect myself and others, but the

common lay person who doesn't interact with COVID like I do. Yeah. You know,

that's a good little booster. I remember like they did that. Or they gave out

like ice cream, and they did the ice cream thing. And like that was fun. That's

a little thing like campus life, which is like the thing that we've been

severely lacking. I'm one of those rare breeds that remembers college UW Oshkosh

before. And I miss it dearly. I do. I remember what it used to be like working

in Residence Life before COVID. I have missed it dearly. I remember being in

South Scott on my big staff that had 18 staff members. We'd hang out all the

time and we'd go get dinner. And then with COVID, 00:46:00it was just like, do not

interact with anyone, basically. So I miss Campus Life dearly.

ZM: Yeah. So kind of building off of that. Do you think things now here we are

in fall 2021 COVID has been a thing for like a year and a half now and almost

two years. Do you feel like things are starting to kind of move towards that

normal? See, do you feel like we're taking steps in the right direction to

become a little bit more normal?

JB: You see, I almost thought that and then there's another variant, Omicron So

we were almost there. But I do see the campus kind of returning a little bit. I

also work at the Starbucks on campus. So it's been getting really busy again. I

was working on Thursday. It's Friday for reference. I was working yesterday. And

it was the busiest it had been in two years. It was great. Yeah, it was just

great to see so many students. And like seeing students studying on campus

again, it's great. 00:47:00In the gym currently, on December 3, you do not have to wear

a mask. Yeah. Which a lot of students really like. And there's like in the

residence halls, you don't have to wear masks in the hallways anymore. You still

have to get tested weekly on campus, if you're not vaccinated. It's no longer an

off-campus requirement to get vaccinated or get tested if you're not vaccinated.

But it's definitely seeing little improvements, which is what we need. There's

no way that we can just go snap one day. Yeah, it's little steps that need to be

taken in order to progress.

ZM: And so, you know, what does normal feel like for you, you know, for school

to return to normal? What would that look like in your eyes? All in person

classes besides the traditionally online classes?

JB: Let's see. No masks, I think that would be like the huge Yeah, 00:48:00big thing.

That would be like the big, big thing, we would need to be normal again. Like

that kind of stuff. I think those are like my big, "What would be back to

normal" kind of requirements or like what I would feel. Obviously, I graduated

in May. So I'm very, very excited. And I am hoping that maybe we don't have to

wear masks at graduation. But we'll see about that.

ZM: So do you think that there are any aspects about COVID life on campus at

school that you don't think won't change back? Do you think we're going to have

to wear masks for, you know, a really long time? Do you think that online

classes are going to remain prominent, you know, moving forward?

JB: I think that the online class aspect, a lot of students have realized that

they don't need to be in person in a lot of their classes. And I honestly think

that it's very valuable for students to know that their time is very valuable.

And I think that it is 00:49:00so important for students to advocate for themselves and

not waste my time. Yeah, I'm an adult, you are an adult. We both are here. Try

not to waste each other's time. In that sense. I think that classes will be more

hybrid forever, honestly. Because it's so easy for professors just to lecture in

person and have their computer up and lecture. It is so convenient. And I also

think that common flus and illnesses are going to be treated a lot better.

Because it used to be one of those things that like you better not, or, like the

only time you can't come to classes if you're like dead. And I think it is going

to be treated with a lot more respect, as a human being that I am sick, and I do

not feel well, please just give me the power. Give me the lecture. And I think

that is obviously going to be better for productivity, and there's going to be

better for like, yeah, like 00:50:00productivity and just honestly, humanity really,

like there's a lot of good that did come out of COVID In my opinion, one of my

favorites, the campus. You can take food to go from Blackhawk. That is my

favorite. Yeah, that is honestly like a great thing, in my opinion, of like, we

are busy, busy people. And I think that knowing that your time is valuable and

where your time should be placed is like a huge thing that a lot of people learn

during COVID.

ZM: Yeah, I would agree with that, too. And so, you know, living and learning

during the time of COVID You know, what did you learn about yourself? What did

COVID teach you? What did you kind of come out of this whole thing? We're not,

you know, out of the woods totally. But, you know, we're, we're moving forward.

I feel like yes, in some sense. It's not where it was before. So, you know, kind

of reflecting back on your time. What did you kind of take away from it? What

did you learn about yourself?

JB: I learned about myself. 00:51:00I mean, I've always known that I have strong

opinions. But I've learned about myself that I do not need to keep people in my

life that keep arguing with my opinions about certain things, especially with

the whole conversation of masks, or no masks or vaccines or no vaccines. I have

blocked and unfriended and just gotten rid of so many people in my life, that

I'm like, I don't want you in my life. If you're going to argue about something

like this, yeah, if you don't care about humanity, if you don't care about what

I do, as a health care worker, I don't need you. So learning to stand up for

yourself. And that has been a huge thing for me. When COVID started, I was 20.

I'm 22. Now, I've learned a lot. I've had a lot of learning experiences within

these two years, madly for me. And I do think that I am a different person from

when I started COVID. I've been toughened by healthcare. I've been tough on my

health care quite a bit. And 00:52:00any like, it's just one of those things of like,

you learn a lot about yourself. I've learned my hobbies. I knew what my hobbies

were before but spending time with my hobbies and finding out what I like and

prioritizing spending time with myself. Like, that's been a huge thing for me,

like, you know what, no, I need time for myself. I need time to decompress from

a shift, I need time to relax a little bit after an exam like that. That's okay,

too. Yeah, like that is going to be that's what's going to help me in the

healthcare field of taking care of myself, and understanding that like I need

to, or I won't be able to survive in healthcare. So like, the advocacy of

standing up for myself is a huge thing I learned to like. That was a huge part

of like, you can't let people walk over you accordingly. You just got to be

there for yourself. You're your biggest advocate.

ZM: Yeah. All right. So do you have anything else that you would like to add?

JB: I do 00:53:00not think so. Your questions were nice and in depth.

ZM: All right. So thank you for sharing your stories with us. We appreciate your

contribution to the campus COVID stories at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh,

JB: Thank you for your time.

ZM: Thank you

End of Part 1

Beginning of Part 2

BS: Hi. This is Bri Storino interviewing Jada Berg on Friday, April 22, 2022.

Please tell us your name and what year in major you are here.

JB: Hi, my name is Jada Berg, and I am a senior here at UW Oshkosh. I am a

nursing major.

BS: Can you please tell us how you decided on the field of nursing?

JB: Kind of a Funny Story? Originally, I didn't really want to go into nursing,

I wanted to go into fashion design or interior design. And I come from a

Vietnamese family. And I was told, no, you gotta pick something in the medical

field. So I started kind of looking into 00:54:00nursing, a PA, which is a physician's

assistant, a variety of different like fields in the healthcare field. And I

talked to some nurses in my life when I was around the age of 15. And it just

really seemed like a good fit for me. I thought nursing was kind of the best of

both worlds when it comes into the healthcare. I get to be very knowledgeable,

and I get to educate my patients and I get to take care of people who are

critically ill. But I get to be there for them on a different level from a

provider can a provider can have really good bedside manner, but it could never

really be what a nurse can do. You can really have that connection.

BS: When did you become a CNA?

JB: I was 17 years old when I became a CNA.

BS: And where were you a CNA?

JB: My first CNA job was at a facility called Tender Hearts Assisted Living.

It's where I currently still work. 00:55:00It is an assisted living, but we specialize

in hospice, rehab care and end of life care. And Alzheimer's actually too

BS: where was this?

JB: This is in Howard, Wisconsin.

BS: And can you describe what your first experiences as a CNA was like?

JB: So my first experiences as a CNA go way back when I was actually taking my

class, and I was in the hospital doing my clinical for my CNA, and I was kind of

just getting the hang of learning how to talk to patients and learning how to

enter that room by yourself. For the first time. It was very scary. I will admit

I'm a people person. But entering that room for the first time by yourself is

very scary. I would say my first day on the job. I vividly remember this lady

that I still take care of she came up to me and she said, aren't you a little

too old or too little too young to work here? And I said, well, 00:56:00I don't think

so. And she said, aren't you 12 And she really thought that I was a 12-year-old.

And to be fair, I was 17. Me I look pretty young. But I would say that those

experiences of introducing myself into healthcare are the first big things.

BS: Describe some of your tasks.

JB: Some of my tasks as a CNA, they are primarily assisting people in their

daily activities. So I'm helping them get up in the morning, I'm helping them

getting dressed, I'm helping them feed themselves if they need if they need that

assistance. I'm redirecting them throughout their day if they have Alzheimer's

or dementia. A lot of those little like assistance of daily activities I'm

taking vitals as well taking weights being a support system for them to for a

lot of their critical illnesses, their long-term illnesses that can be kind of

hard on the psyche. So being just another support person 00:57:00there. And then I also

help the nurse a lot I'll pass medications because I am a med certified CNA, I

will also do some wound care like you know, cleaning that kind of stuff, but

basically just helping them with their daily loo daily living activities.

BS: And did you ever think when you're doing these tasks that this isn't

something that you want to do?

JB: I'm not really, I have really enjoyed my job as a CNA since I became one.

There are some days where when I come home, like oh my god, no, no, no, I'm

done. I can't do this anymore. But then I have another really good day and then

it resets. So I would say that it's been pretty consistent of I like my job and

especially because I'm continuing education become a nurse. It makes it

worthwhile to just make letting me know that all of these little experiences as

a CNA will really aid in 00:58:00my success as a nurse.

BS: Did you have any like specific days where it was like, Oh God, no.

JB: Oh my goodness. It was a shift during no Oh, it was August. It was August.

And it was one of my last shifts before I was coming back here to Oshkosh. And

all of my fellow second shifters quit, except for me. So I was training like 10

people at a time. So I was very tired. I was working like 60 hours that week,

because I was trying to train people. And it was just a very exhausting shift.

And I remember I had to stay late to, or I came in early that day. So I came in

at 10am. And I was staying till 10pm. And it was just a long, long day. And we

had a bunch of people fall, there was just so much misdirection with all of my

fellow employees, because they were still on training. So I was trying to 00:59:00 make

sure everything got done, but also trying to make sure that these employees were

getting trained properly. So that was a very stressful day That day, I was

considering just like, Okay, I think we gotta we gotta put the towel down on

this one. I can't do that anymore.

BS: Was this august of fall? 2021?

JB: Yes, this is the August of summer 2021. Okay. 2021 or 2020 2021?

BS: So this past, why did people quit?

JB: Um, actually, they quit because I'm the assistant director that both of our

assistant directors got fired by new management. So we got a new management

team, and they fired our two assistant directors so they could put in their own

assistant directors. So a lot of people were not very happy with that. So I

didn't quit because I was going back to school soon, so I thought we'd be fine.

But yeah, everyone quit. I was on vacation, and I got a bunch of text from all

my coworkers being like, 01:00:00sorry, girl. We're peacing out no, two weeks' notice.

It was great.

BS: All right. So moving on. What did your parents think about your interest in nursing?

JB: Like I kind of mentioned before, my mom was a big I got to work in health

care kind of thing. She used to work as a receptionist in a cardiologist's

office. And she also be used to be a receptionist at a chiropractor's office. So

she's dabbled in healthcare a little bit, or she's been immersed in it before.

So she was very, Nursing is a really good career. There's always going to be

jobs. It's very stable. It pays well, you're smart enough for it. So that was a

huge push. My dad, I would say he's pretty indifferent about it. He just, he

knew that I was going to do something good for the people kind of thing. And

then my stepdad was very, alongside my mom, very, it's a good career path. It's

stable, those kinds of things. 01:01:00BS: All right, and tell us about your first year

JB: at UW Oshkosh. So I was lucky enough at UW Oshkosh, when I got a non-COVID

freshman year, which is not many can say that I think I am the last class

actually, that has had a non-COVID freshman year. So I started here in fall of

2018. Right after I graduated high school in June of 2018. So I've been here

right away, and I will be in and out in four years. But my first year, I lived

in Webster Hall, which is now closed, which is kind of sad. I actually hit a

note card behind the mirror in Webster in room 101. So if anyone ever finds

that, please get back to me. I had that three years ago. But I lived in Webster

had a roommate she moved out after the first semester so the second semester I

was alone. I was a good first year I took a lot of my 01:02:00gen Ed's for nursing

school. Not a lot to write home about I will say I did miss it, because it was

non COVID. It was nice having that college atmosphere and I will say this last.

Oh, there was a really nice day in March. It's April now and cold. But in March,

there was a really nice day and it reminded me of freshman year that feeling of

that college campus feeling so I was on hold government in Donner Webster. So I

did a lot of like programming for events and such for Residence Life, which

ended up leading me a job in Residence Life, which I've worked for three years

now as a health advocate. So I would say it was a really good bridging year. It

was a fun year. I'll admit that.

BS: So sorry. When did you start working as an health advocate? your sophomore

JB: year, I started working as a health advocate my sophomore year in South

Scott. So that would have been I started in August 01:03:00of 2019.

BS: And can you talk about that job kind of the responsibilities of course.

JB: Yeah. So a health advocate is a staff member in the residence halls. Each

residence hall has one or in years former the Scots both used to the Scots

towers used to have two so there'd be two in South Scott, two in North Scott.

But with attendance being down, there's only one in each dorm now. So I was in

South Scott, I was in Scott for two school years. So I was in South Scott. And I

would say the health advocate is kind of like the kind of the CVS of the dorm,

they have Tylenol, they have Benadryl, they have band-aids. And then they have

the more common thing that people come for, which is going to be your plan B,

pregnancy tests and condoms. Most of the things that I have in my room are free

for students. It's a resource through the Titan Well, which is 01:04:00in the rec

center. And the things like pregnancy tests and Plan B, are severely cut in

price, because they're directly we're not making any profit off of it, would

they buy it from the supplier, and we sell at the same price that they buy it.

So we like to be affordable and there for the residents. I would say a lot of

people do come with me with health concerns, because it's more of that

peer-to-peer kind of contact. Because sometimes it can be difficult to want to

talk about these things with health care people, because they're embarrassing or

other things. So I've also found that people, especially in the freshman dorms,

it's really helpful to have that kind of that peer educator, because a lot of

them are moving out of the moving out of their home for the first time. So they

don't have that mother or father figure in their life anymore. So it's nice to

have someone who was kind of 01:05:00educated on that stuff. Kind of educated of like,

Yeah, you should probably go to urgent care for that, or now you're probably

fine, that kind of thing. So that's what I would describe it as, and then I also

host monthly events every month regarding health. And then I make a bulletin

board every month about a different topic. So I do a little bit a lot of

education, a health advocate, you could say,

BS: all right, and now going on to the early days of COVID in spring of 2022 or

2020. Were you still working as a CNA?

JB: Yes and no. So I work as a CNA only when I go home for like breaks. So

that's going to be Christmas break spring breaks the odd weekend. And then

summer. That's when I go back to work. I do not have a CNA job here in Oshkosh,

I only have my CNA job up in Howard, Wisconsin. So yes, I was a CNA still. No 01:06:00wasn't actively working. I worked that Christmas break before we were sent home.

BS: All right. And were you aware of COVID-19 before the university to decide to

send everyone home?

JB: I was I remember receiving a few emails from the chancellor in like December

2019 talking about it. I will admit, I immediately deleted them. But I do

remember getting them.

BS: Alright, and can you tell us how you found out about the university shutting

its doors because of COVID? Did you have any prior knowledge since you were a

health advocate or

JB: I did not. And they did not tell Residence Life at all before they told

everybody else. So I found out because I had a friend who is in the athletics

department. And the athletics department always finds out about things first, it

seems so she had told me and then I got the email from the university. So I

we've told Residence Life time and time again, that we wish they would have 01:07:00 told

us that because we kind of would able to be prepare. Because I remember that day

that I had, like 15 Students come to my door all at once asking me questions.

And I'm like, hey, I got the email the same exact time you did? I do not know.

BS: Alright, can you go into a little bit more about what was happening in the dorm?

JB: Yeah. So at first it was, hey, everyone, we're gonna go on a little extra

spring break everyone. We're going to be home for two weeks. So bring home close

for two weeks and any medicine clean out your fridge. Yay, extra week of spring

break. And that's what it wasn't like school in my classes and everything. And

my professors were really diligent. And they created an online like, two-week

thing, but they thought we were gonna come back. So I would say it was very

like, oh, we're coming back. Yeah, we're gonna be we're gonna be back in two

weeks, everyone, it'll be fun. And then I remember going home. 01:08:00That was a Friday

and I remember going home. And then like, four days later, we got the email of

like, oh, yeah, we're not coming home. Come to your dorm ASAP. Take your stuff

leave. I'm like what, just and it was alphabetically, you have two hours to take

everything out of your room. And Residence Life is super particular, when we

move out, they want you to put everything back to normal where it was like

originally put residents who life was like, we do not care if you do not put

your bed away. We don't care if you don't clean your microwave, just take your

stuff and leave. So it was very Oh, okay. We're not coming back for the school

year. Maybe ever. Who knows?

BS: How were the students during that time?

JB: very confused. Very, very, very, like, I don't want to go home and like,

Well, me neither. I don't want to either I, my parents were fine. But I they

were very, like, I don't want to go home. Like, what are we going to do about

class? Like, 01:09:00what's going to happen? Or like, my professor doesn't understand

technology? How are they going to move things online? I'm like, I don't know.

I'm riding that train with Yeah, it'll be okay. So you went home living with

your parents? Yep. Did you work when you went home? Yes, I did. I worked as a

CNA at a different facility that I currently work at, because I worked at that

facility called Tender Hearts for a year, worked at another place called Alpha

Senior Concepts for two years. And then I'm back at this place. I'm coming up on

my two-year anniversary again, working at Tender Heart. So at the time, I worked

at a place called Alpha Senior Concepts. Again, that was in Howard, Wisconsin.

BS: Alright, and this is, you know, COVID is fresh. Yes. We don't know much

about it. Why did you decide to work? During that time where we didn't have

vaccines, like, with the unknown risks? What was kind of what were you thinking?

JB: So two things I was thinking, well, 01:10:00I'm not doing anything else. My stepdad

was working, and my mom was home, but I wasn't doing anything else. I was doing

class. And then what was I going to do to sit at home? My facility, you

definitely needed people to work. And it was also a huge thing of it was for my

residents. Because I needed to take care of them. I someone needed to be there

for them. So the facility was close to visitors like absolutely no one was

allowed in except for doctors. And like hospice nurses, nobody else was allowed

him. So I did it as a socialization thing for them to just another face to see.

Like I said, I specialize in Alzheimer's care. It were very confused of why

can't I see my kids, where's my husband, it was sad to see and being a person

who could come in every day if I wanted to. And just to visit with them even 01:11:00 for

a little bit, even if it worked for four hours, just to have them see another

face was enough for me. And like I said, the money wasn't bad.

BS: How worried were you about working during that time?

JB: It was definitely a worrisome. But very luckily, when I first started

working there, when I, we didn't have COVID there, we were really diligent about

locking down our doors, we were really diligent as staff members where we didn't

go to big parties or anything, we only saw our immediate households. And then we

would come to work. So we were really diligent, and very luckily, none of our

people got COVID in that first wave. So that was very, very warming of my heart

to see that like all of our hard work in our heart effects, make sure to protect

each other and our residents. 01:12:00BS: This new facility that you're working in.

JB: So, alphas in your concepts is same kind of idea. They it's a little bit

more of an advanced care. So we do a lot more with like Hoyer lifts. And a Hoyer

lift is like how you can lift someone out of bed who isn't able to move

themselves. We do a lot more with advanced cares. So I'm really taking care of

them doing basically all of their daily needs for them, washing them up. Making

sure that they're clean. toileting them, feeding them, all of those things. So

it's a little bit more of advanced care but very specialized in memory care,

Alzheimer's. Use of advanced cure, I mean, all these people who are in hospital

Yep. Um, yes. So I have worked with hospice CNAs nurses, I've 01:13:00lost quite a few

people. Most of them were of old age or as expected, but I've had a few people

unexpectedly pass. So that's been hard to watch people like that. But after a

while you don't get used to it. But you understand the passing phases a little

bit more. But yeah, I've definitely don't know, I haven't counted recently, but

I definitely have seen quite a few people pass.

BS: So earlier, you were talking about kind of the precautions you took, like

not, you know, going out, you're going to work just with your coworkers and

everything like that. So you're taking the precautions, and you're seeing that

it works. The people in your facility aren't getting sick. COVID is not here, in

that specific, excuse me, that specific facility. So being a nursing student

seeing that this works, being a health advocate, 01:14:00was it ever frustrating to you,

when people are denying COVID being real or debates around the vaccine mask

mandates? That sort of thing?

JB: Absolutely. It was, I had a saying for a little bit of, if you haven't taken

care of someone with COVID, you don't get to talk. It's it was really

disheartening. Seeing people argue with doctors and scientists and like you've

trust them for so long. And right now is when you say no, this is the line. A

lot of people would be like, oh, we've never had something like this. And then

you would bring up a topic of like, the 1918, influenza, Spanish flu, you'd

bring up the bubonic plague, you'd bring up lots of examples. And they would say

it's not the same. I remember the polio. They used to have polio vaccines, and

they just have a polio vaccine card. And if you talk to some people, they still

have their polio vaccine card. It still 01:15:00exists. This isn't new, like having

masks. And having vaccines is not new. And I don't understand why it was very

politicized. I mean, it probably wasn't helpful that we had an election season

for the presidential election in 2020. But it was really disheartening to see

people just argue about it and be so blatantly disrespectful. I remember in

South Scott, there was a group of girls that there were probably about eight of

them in the elevator, and they stopped on my floor because I was trying to go

down. And I didn't go in because there was eight of them. There's only supposed

to be four. And I said, oh, remember, supposed to be only four people in the

elevator. This was this was October of 2020. So no vaccines yet. So nothing.

They were wearing their masks, I think hopefully. And they close the elevator

door and pardon my French, but they said 01:16:00that fucking bitch. And I was like,

Okay, I reported them to like the university and they got like a slap on the

wrist for not being COVID compliance. I actually not helped kick out, but I had

helped kick out someone of the university. Because she was being very blatantly

not COVID compliant. She was COVID positive, and she went to the gym, and hung

out with friends instead of packing up her dorm, to go move to the quarantine

dorm. And she was expelled from the university. Because her roommate who was

brave enough to say something, told me about it. And then I was able to get that

person out of machine out of the EU not at the university but out of the public

and quarantining and then out of the university What did you say to students who

would just say you know; the mask is just uncomfortable? I don't like wearing

it. 01:17:00Yeah, so I went students would be like, oh, the mask is so uncomfortable.

And like, I wear them for 12 hours. I wear them for 8 12-hour shifts. Do not

complain to me about this. Like until you are giving someone a shower and they

are wrestling you because you're giving them a shower and they're confused about

it. You do not get to complain about it. Yes, it is kind of hot and

uncomfortable. But it is protecting others is protecting you like I don't I just

I would immediately like kind of snap at them and be like, hey, like you're

wearing yours for 10 minutes in the hallway, Max. I have to wear it eight hours

in the hospital in these facilities. This isn't you're not going to win this

game against me.

BS: And I know your as a health advocate, you're talking about students, but

were there any people kind of close in your life who weren't really COVID

complainer thing and kind of what how did you kind of, I don't know, react to them.

JB: So at 01:18:00first my dad was very, he didn't think that he thought the mask

weren't working and he thought that they were just a ploy and everything. And I

expressed to him my feelings about it, and he thought it was phooey. But then

he, his pastor because he's religious, explained to him that it's protecting,

it's protecting the neighbors. It's protecting yourself. So, especially

protecting the neighbors was a huge point for him. So he was able to finally get

it across his head and wear a mask. But there, I think that was like the biggest

example of people not wanting to wear masks in my life. Luckily, the people I

surround myself were pretty, pretty COVID to compliance. And if they weren't,

honestly, I just cut them out. I was like, I don't want to get anything from

you. Sorry. I take care of very sick people.

BS: Alright, did you or anyone close to you get COVID

JB: as of this time, I have not gotten COVID I'm one of those healthcare workers

was very 01:19:00lucky that I have not gotten COVID I've been exposed many, many, many,

many, many times. And I have not gotten it. I'm crossing my fingers.

Unfortunately, my mom and just my mom got COVID, and my boyfriend just got COVID

BS: Can you explain what the experience was like?

JB: My boyfriend? He's 21 he's healthy. He's fine. I'm going to the store later

to go get him some stuff. Go get him some vitamin C, that kind of stuff. He's

double vaccinated and has his booster so I'm in great faith that he'll be okay.

My mom on the other hand, very sad. And unfortunate. She passed away because of COVID.

BS: Did you and your family get the vaccine?

JB: Yes, we did. I got the COVID vaccine pretty early because I'm a health care

worker. My stepdad got the vaccine to protect my mom, and then a bunch of other

all of my other family members also got the vaccine. 01:20:00BS: Did your mom get the vaccine?

JB: She was unable to get the vaccine because she was so severely

immunocompromised. My mom had end stage renal disease, and her nephrologist,

which is someone who studies kidneys or like a doctor who specializes in kidneys

was not sure of the effects of the COVID vaccine on someone with very, very,

very low kidney function. A little bit of medical background for you a GFR rate

is called the glomerular filtration rate. Supposed to be 90. My mom's was about

16, which is very bad.

BS: Can you recount the moment that you found out your mom was in the hospital

with COVID?

JB: Yes, it was December 3. I was sitting in my dorm I was studying for a labor

and delivery as my final. I was studying for my final in labor and delivery. And

I 01:21:00remember her texting me because she had labs that day just routine for her

kidney disease. And she said she I knew she was sick. And she wasn't feeling

well. But this kind of happened not often but because of her mean

immunocompromised state. She was pretty sick a lot. She got tested for COVID

right before Thanksgiving, because we were all meeting up and having a big

Thanksgiving together. She was negative then. So I knew she was sick. And then

she texted to me. "I have COVID." And then she texts me "I'm being admitted to

the hospital." So that one was hard. Like I cried a lot. I remember that day

because it was, I tried to have faith because I know the health care system is

great. And so many people have recovered from COVID. And I had faith in it, but

I was still very scared. This is my mom after all. And then I kind of like

worried myself more because you know, I knew all of her. 01:22:00All of her risks, but

she was diabetic. She had high blood pressure. She was had renal disease. She

just kind of had things stacking on top of it made me scared but I tried to have

good faith.

BS: Did you end up visiting your mom?

JB: Very luckily my mom was in the hospital from December 3 to December 27. So

my mom made it past 21 days. And I was able to visit her along with my stepdad

we were her only two visitors. But we were the only ones up in Green Bay really,

that could visit her, so I was able to visit her. I think who December 23 was

when I could visit her so yeah, so December 23 through the 27th. I visited her

every day.

BS: So how was she doing?

JB: She was my mom. December 19 I and my stepdad had to make the 01:23:00decision to put

my mom on a ventilator. And it was a very hard decision because my mom did not

want it. But my mom was not breathing well. She was very, very very, very sick

and needed it and we can convinced her to go on it or she would have died

without it before. So we told her, it's not going to be fun, but there's a

possibility that you could live. But if you don't do this, you will die. So we

had her on the ventilator. And then the 23rd I was able to visit her, and she

was on the ventilator. She was sedated. She was sleeping. She was breathing. But

the thing about the ventilator is they're sleeping, but they can still hear you.

They're still there. So it was very nice because I was able to go in and I

always joked about with my mom that if she ever got sick, I would take care of

her. So I went in there, I braided her hair, I put lotion on her, I did her

nails for her. I gave her a bath; you know those little things 01:24:00that as a CNA I

do every day and they were it made me feel. It made me feel good. It made me

feel like I was helping. Like I was taking care of my mom. I knew that.

Obviously, I wasn't her nurse. So I couldn't take care of her in that way. But

she always was a big proponent of making yourself pretty for yourself. So

putting lotion on making your hair look nice putting makeup on. You do that for

yourself. And you don't do it for others. You make yourself feel good. So I was

told her I'd make her pretty.

BS: What happened after?

JB: Yeah, I was there on December 23. I went there on Christmas Eve. I went

there on Christmas. So she was sedated. But I was able I brought some Christmas

decorations and for her. And I was there for her. And we played Christmas music.

And we sang I sang with her, and we opened presents without her which was very

weird. But that's what she would have wanted. 01:25:00I know, I know that she wouldn't

have wanted us to dwell and wait for her. So we opened some Christmas presents,

we kept a few, just in case of when she was ready. We could open presents with

her. I actually still have her presents that were for her. That's kind of sad.

But I have her present still wrapped. Actually, the more I think about that

they're up in my bedroom. But yeah, so we celebrated Christmas a little bit with

her, and I had some extra food for her. Yeah, so the little things and then was

there on the 26th. On the 27th. I just I got I went in there. My mom's had high

blood pressure for like all of my conscious life. And I looked at her blood

pressure cuff reading and I'm like, it was like not it was low. It wasn't

critically low, but it was low for her. And I was like, Okay, this is there's

this thing that you get as a nurse your nursing intuition your 01:26:00spidey sense,

some may say, and I had at that day, I was like, God, something something's in

the air. So I spent my entire day at the hospital with her. Because I just felt

like something was a little off. And I was right. My mom ended up developing

right sided heart failure from COVID. So there's kind of waves of COVID, that

first wave is from the virus. The second stage is called COVID psychosis, which

she had also had, sometimes you can get a little loopy, you can do things that

you're not normally doing, my mom threw a meatball at a nurse. So you can get

kind of a little loopy. And then there's a pulmonary issue. So that's gonna be

your lungs. That's why we had to put her on the ventilator. And the fourth stage

is cardiac related. So right sided heart failure has no treatment. right sided

heart failure is a death sentence, unfortunately. So I 01:27:00remember when the doctor

said that to me. I knew what it was. My stepdad didn't know what it was. So I

had to kind of go through a grieving process of Holy shit, my mom's gonna die

and but have to explain it to a man of Holy shit. Your wife's gonna die. So it's

kind of hard. And I remember, I went up my stepdad and I took like, kind of like

a lunch break. We went on to get lunch. And I remember I went up to the room.

And then I, the moment I put my purse down, I heard dun dun. And I look up and I

can read EKGs because of my nursing school, and she was in ST elevation. So she

was having a cardiac crisis. And I knew immediately that they were going to call

it a code blue, which is a medical emergency. So I ran out of the room because I

was like, okay, they need their space. If anything good is gonna happen. They

need their space. 01:28:00I call my stepdad my stepdad comes running up the door, they

do the code, the doctor comes up to me, and she gives me this look that I've

seen from a ton of doctors and a ton of nurses. It's the- we can't do anything

else like this. Is it and I remember like, honestly, like, when people say they

let out like an animalistic like scream I did. I didn't like I didn't realize

that that could come out of me. But I was in the hallway of the hospital. And I

just knew that it was I knew that we just couldn't keep doing CPR, keep

shocking, her keep giving her medicine. That's all that was keeping her alive.

So that was hard. That was definitely my hardest day of my life so far. And it

was hard being 22 and telling the doctor to stop doing like those life. Life

Extending measures, so it was difficult, but 01:29:00I know that I did the right thing.

My mom, if we hypothetically could have saved her, she would have had to go to a

facility, she would have had to get a trach, which is like a hole in your neck

to breathe. So she wouldn't be able to talk, she would have a low quality of

life for her. So I have faith in that the nurses and doctors did to the best of

their ability. And I have faith that my stepdad and I made the right choice that

day. I mean, what happened after you realize that, so I went into the room one

last moment, or kind of not one last moment, but my stepdad and I went into the

room. And we held her hand, and we said our goodbyes, it was very difficult. I,

I've never seen my stepdad cry, except for that day. And he was sobbing,

absolutely. sobbing. I mean, so it was I so I can't blame him. But it 01:30:00 was

definitely very hard moment of just holding your hand. And I put lotion on her

hands one last time and got to just hold her hand. And yeah, it was very

difficult. And then I told the nurse and the doctor that we had said our

goodbyes, and they withdrew the ventilator. And they stopped the medicine called

a pressors, which is what helps elevate the blood pressure, which keeps a person

alive. And then they gave her morphine to make her comfortable. And she passed

very, very quickly after that. So I remember, it was so difficult because I was

22. And I was the one making the call to people. I was the one who called my

aunt and my uncles. And that was really hard. I remember my aunt, she could not

respond to me, she dropped her phone on she was crying on her knees. And it was

definitely a very difficult 01:31:00day of being being an adult, I would say, having to

be an adult and not being so much of a kid. And then I made a lot of the funeral

decisions. And I'm glad I did. I'm glad I got to be there in that process. But I

would say that it's very hard watching your mom die. And it's really hard

watching people still deny COVID When I look at them, and I'm like my mom died

because of this. I watched my mom honestly die a pretty bad death. Because of

this. She was 45 years old. Like, I have no sympathy anymore. I have no patience

with people anymore. As soon as they're like, oh, this COVID junk No, my mom

died because of this. Like I lost my best friend, my absolute rock of my life.

Because of this. I don't have patience anymore. 01:32:00BS: So how has the pandemic, excuse me, the pen pandemic, and the passing of

your mom changed you and your desire to be a nurse.

JB: I would say it really has made me want to be a nurse more. My mom was in the

ICU, and I just have so much grateful so much joy and so much like respect for

ICU nurses because that nurse watched a 22-year-old and my dad my stepdads 47

lose their mom and their wife that day. That's a hard thing to watch someone go

through. She watched someone who's 45 die that day and her patient and I just

have so much respect for these nurses and I just can't wait to be one of those

nurses that can assist someone in 01:33:00their most difficult day of their life, making

it a little bit easier, a little bit harder.

BS: Healthcare workers were deemed essential workers in Heroes during this

pandemic. What are your thoughts on that?

JB: I do not like to be called a hero. I'm just working my job. I do enjoy my

job very much. But I think it puts too much pressure on nurses and doctors. We

are humans, we make errors. And it is a really high, really, really high bar to

call us heroes, like we're doing a good thing. That's, honestly, that's what our

job is based on as good things. It's based on benefits. It's based on doing good

and altruism. But saying that we're heroes, honestly probably makes it harder

for the public to understand our job. Because we have to do some difficult

things. We have to do some really tough 01:34:00calls; we have to do some things that

aren't going to always lead in life. But that's our job. We're there to make the

best call for the situation that we're given. I love seeing the heroes work here

sign I'm like, Okay, well, I just got called that I was a shrill of a human

because I told someone that they should probably get vaccinated as a nurse. So

yeah, I don't like being called a hero. It was nice for the first month when

like when like Chipotle gave me a free burrito for being a healthcare worker.

That was nice. Or crocs. Crocs did free crocs for nurses. That was nice that

that first month of COVID that like March and April, that was real nice. And

then it went real downhill.

BS: What are your plans after graduation?

JB: Very Luckily, I have a job already. I've had a job. Since February, I've

been one of those 01:35:00fortunate nurses. I have been sent with my dream job at UW

Health down in Madison. I will be working in the cardiac ICU, which I'm very,

very excited for him. I start in August after I take my boards. So I'm very,

very excited. It's my dream job. And it's honestly like, things are going

turning up roses.

BS: So you landed your dream job. What do you think your mom would have said to you?

JB: So my mom would have said I told you so? Because first of all, it's in

cardiology, my mom always told me from a young or like when I started nursing,

she's like, you're gonna go into cardiology, I'm like, no, I'm not. I wanted to

go into like women's health, you're not going to do that you're gonna want to

work cardiology, and here I am working as a cardiac ICU. Nurse, so she'd be so

incredibly proud, honestly, I know. She was she would remind me constantly of

how proud she was just me being in nursing school. 01:36:00Me getting this far in

school, she was always telling me how proud of a young or how proud I was

becoming as a young woman and how proud of like all of my actions were.

BS: What has living and working in the time of COVID taught you about yourself.

JB: It's taught me I have a lot of resilience. I've already known that about

myself, I'm a pretty resilient person. But life has done me a lot of hard cards

so far in life. And life has dealt me really hard cards in this last six months

of my life. And it's taught me that things will be okay. Things change. Things

are indefinite, but things will be okay. I've had anxiety for a lot of my life,

and honestly, not gonna lie. I think that my mom dying didn't make it better.

But I haven't been as anxious lately. And I think it's because I learned a

really valuable 01:37:00lesson of, I cannot control things. And I cannot. I can't even

go into the hypothetical of controlling things. Because one moment everything is

fine, and you're set to graduate in May. And the next moment your mom is dead.

So you learn a lot of things of oh my goodness, like you can't, you can't sit

and spiral and worry about things because honestly, life is just gonna happen,

whether you like it or not. And I think it taught me a really valuable lesson to

try to understand that.

BS: And what has it taught you about other people?

JB: It has taught me that people are very bad. I'm not gonna lie. People are not

the best in the world and people, people will do what they want. And people

sometimes don't care about others. They will do what's best for their agenda.

And until they have something affect their agenda, they do not care. 01:38:00BS: Would you like to add anything else?

JB: I would say that COVID has impacted all of us in very different ways. I was

very lucky for so long to not have COVID affected my life. at all. But this

battle isn't over. I checked the numbers today there was like 800 cases in

Wisconsin. And this battle is not over a really isn't. It's going to lessen

eventually it's going to become like a flu, but it's not flu yet. It's not. I

kind of get jaded when people say that, Oh, it's just a flu. It's not yet it

will become it eventually. But we didn't think of a time. It's not over. It's

real. That's my main thing to add. It's very real. It impacts our life. And it

just doesn't impact the people that are old. It impacted a 45-year-old woman who

had much live life to live still. So 01:39:00I think that's my thing to add.

BS: Great. Well, thank you for sharing your story. Thank you.