THE LAST WEEK OF CLASSES AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY MEANS PREPARING FOR FINALS WEEK. WHILE PROJECTS AND EXAMS NORMALLY VARY BY MAJOR, THERE’S ONE TEST THAT ALL STUDENTS WILL BE TAKING THIS YEAR.
ANOTHER COVID-19 TEST.
FOR THE PAST SEMESTER, STUDENTS HAVE BEEN COMING INTO THE STADIUM, GETTING A TESTING TUBE…
THANK YOU SO MUCH…
… AND GOING BETWEEN CURTAINS TO TAKE THEIR SPIT TEST. WHEN THEY’RE DONE, THEY STACK THEIR TEST IN A TRAY AND CAN LEAVE THE STADIUM
HUMISTON: FOR STUDENTS, THE TEST ENDS HERE. THEY LEAVE FROM GATE H, GO ABOUT THE REST OF THEIR DAY AND WAIT FOR RESULTS. BUT FOR THE TESTS, THE PROCESS IS JUST BEGINNING.
HUMISTON 2: THE NEXT STEP HAPPENS IN THE LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING, WHERE THE TESTS ARE DUMPED, SCANNED, AND THROWN TO THE NEXT STATION. STUDENT TESTERS LIKE CAMILLE JULIANO THEN TAKE OVER TO POOL THE TESTS, AND THINK ABOUT HER OWN EXPERIENCES WITH COVID WHILE ON THE JOB
CAMILLE: THE DAY AFTER I GOT HERE, I TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID. I LOST MY TASTE AND SMELL FOR A LITTLE WHILE I STILL DON’T HAVE A SENSE OF SMELL. IT’S BEEN LIKE, FOUR MONTHS ALMOST.
HUMISTON 3: AFTER CAMILLE AND HER TEAM POOL THE TESTS TOGETHER, THEY GET COLLECTED IN A BIN AND PLACED ON A CART. THEY THEN LEAVE FOR THEIR THIRD AND FINAL DESTINATION: THE FOURTH FLOOR OF THE LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING.
ONCE THE TESTS REACH THE FOURTH FLOOR, THEY GET TAKEN AND PUT IN TO A PCR MACHINE. DEEPA THEN FOLLOWS PROTOCOL, AND REALIZES HER JOB IS PRETTY IMPORTANT FOR THIS SEMESTER.
DEEPA: IT IS IMPORTANT ROLE IN SUCH SCARY SITUATION. AND IF YOU COULD DO A LITTLE BIT ALSO FOR THIS UNIVERSITY AND THIS WORLD, IT’S ALWAYS GOOD
HUMISTON 4: ONCE THE PCR PROTOCOL IS OVER, STUDENTS GET EMAILED RESULTS OF THEIR TESTS. CAMILLE IS HOPING THAT MORE NEGATIVE TESTS LEAD TO A MORE
CAMILLE 2: SO I THINK THE FACT THAT THEY EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT THAT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD THAT MAYBE THERE WON’T BE TESTING IN THE FALL. I’LL BE OUT OF JOB BUT I WON’T HAVE TO HANDLE SPIT EVERY DAY.
REPORTING FROM SYRACUSE, MORIAH HUMISTON N-C-C NEWS.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — The last week of classes at Syracuse University means preparing for finals week. While projects and exams normally vary by major, all students will take another COVID-19 test, just like they have been doing all semester.
For student workers like Camille Juliano, working in the testing center is not just a job. It’s also a time for reflecting about her own experience with COVID-19.
“The day after I got here, I tested positive for covid. I lost my taste and smell for a little while I still don’t have a sense of smell,” Juliano said. “It’s been like, four months almost.”
Juliano and her team of student workers pool the tests together after students go to the stadium testing center. Once they are checked by the team on the third floor of Syracuse’s life sciences complex, they get collected in a bin and placed on a cart. They then leave for their third and final destination: the fourth floor of the life sciences building.
Once the tests reach the fourth floor, they get taken and put in to a PCR machine and put through protocol to see which results are positive. Students are then informed by email of their test results.
Juliano is hoping that the more negative tests she sees at work will lead to a more positive future for the university.
“I think the fact that they even thought about that makes me feel good that maybe there won’t be testing in the fall. I’ll be out of job but I won’t have to handle spit every day.”
University testing in the Fall of 2021 is no longer mandatory, but is still provided at the same center.
