Great start to the new year. Managed to find myself with COVID within a day of arriving on campus. Sadly am in search of a new rooming situation. Forgot to make a New Years resolution. Well, I usually don't do the last one, but thought it would at least be a good thinking exercise.

COVID Palace

So our dental school made us take PCR tests prior to arrival. I ended up taking the PCR test Thursday and I came back to campus late Saturday night. The Thursday test was negative. All is clear - or so I thought. I was unable to book a second PCR test which we needed to get once we arrived on Monday, but managed to get one for the Tuesday. As I awoke that morning, I had a text from my roommate saying he was positive. Oh no, oh no. Knowing that we were in the same apartment and unmasked my fate was practically sealed.

It was a long day but I finally got a text message saying my results were ready to be viewed. Nothing. Weird. I kept checking throughout the night but it was if the same page kept popping up, laughing at me. I finally went to bed, saying I would check it in the morning. When I awoke, by instinct I logged into the page, and by no dumb luck - "positive". Ah shoot.

The class was supposed to be working on class II preps that week in lab as well learning how to do restorations. Pretty important progression. Unfortunately, this new result sealed the deal putting me in a minimum 5 day quarantine. Will have to see how to make this up in the future.

As for getting COVID itself I didn't really feel anything coming. I guess that morning my throat was a bit off, but nothing crazy. I had been sicker before. Luckily, I got that testing result, because I could have been carrying the virus and walking around as a carrier.

Since then, it hasn't been all too bad.

• Day 1: The day I got tested - not bad just a weird feeling in my throat
• Day 2: Same as day 1 throughout the morning and afternoon; by night though I started to feel cold and had to study in bed. That night was sweating while sleeping.
• Day 3: Woke up to a headache that was kind of throbbing. Took ibuprofen at noon which helped. Throat started to get worse, developed a slight cough.
• Day 4: Headache went away, cough still persisting. Was told voice sounded different.
• Day 5: Symptoms mostly gone except congestion and a straggly voice.

I am honestly truly happy that the worst didn't happen where I would need to be in the hospital and that I did not transmit it to anyone that I was in contact with. How I got the virus is still a mystery, as I can't place if I got it between Thursday and Saturday or after then. It really doesn't matter in the long scheme of things it was just a small window where all went south.

While in quarantine we named our group chat the "COVID palace" which was later on adopted to the "COVID paradise" once we all knew we were positive. We were able to relax for a bit near the end of the week and the weekend which was a nice change.

As for quarantining, it definitely helps to have others in your company. It was quite sad to miss out in walking around for the first Philly snowfall, lab, and seeing friends, but I will be out soon. The five days still is a bit skeptical to me so I will be masked and careful where I go to prevent the spread.

Potential Moves

Well sadly life has its ways and due to certain circumstances my roommate and I will be saying farewell at the end of the summer. Due to this I now have a few months to find a roommate and potentially a new place. After some thinking, I do think having a roommate is the best option over a studio or 1B/1Ba for many reasons. I may even move out of this apartment, if there are enough factors to be willing to move all this furniture (that was so difficult to set-up and bring up in the first place).

Not much else to say, but if I do leave, there will be a farewell post to honor the 1st year home.

Classes

This week we started Dental Materials, BS1 Health Promotion, and FSIII. Dental materials is a little less chemical than I thought it would be, but makes sense as it's being taught at a dental school. The health promotion class is a change of pace, as we are focusing on how to think about patients needs and products. Lastly, FSIII stays the course of good ol' scientific learning - so far it is mostly about pathology and cells.

A lighter workload for sure, especially given everything is online right now. Being gone and having time to study Wednesday instead of lab definitely helped, but this is a lot nicer than the end of last semester. It will ramp up soon, so I will enjoy what free time I have while I can.

That will be it for this first week. Glad I could start this semester strong with the posting. See you next time in better health! Ta-Ta