The first time I heard about the coronavirus was during a lecture of last spring semester in my Biology 152 course with Dr. Seth Jones. He gave the students in the class an in-depth run down of what scientists knew about the disease at the time. Of course, when reports of the coming pandemic occurred, we did not know much and I had no desire to learn more because I thought the virus would pass over the United States. That was clearly an incorrect statement both then and now. When I discovered the severity of the disease and after learning that we would be sent home for spring break plus the additional two weeks, I decided to do some of my own research. I used what I would consider trusted sources. My initial search brought up information from the World Health Organization. I wanted what I learned to be true and trustworthy.
Throughout quarantine and the beginning stages of the pandemic I also used information from trusted large media companies such as CNN and MSNBC. While these sources could be biased, the information and stories these sources provided had no reason to considering everyone is affected by a global pandemic. I wanted the information I shared to be true for when I shared the information with others. I wanted myself to be properly educated. I had a hard time trusting information posted on social media because so much of that can be doctored. I had multiple older family and church members sending me information from Facebook posts that seemed suspect. My cousin from Michigan even messaged me a video of a man ranting and cussing about the government's intent to kill off part of the population.
I choose to use official sources so that I am not spreading rumors or false information to others because that makes me look like I'm not a credible source, and I want them to be properly educated too. For example, I had a friend tell me that on campus cases were currently on the rise and are at 500 cases. When I went to check, the university had around 400 active cases, which is less than 2% of the school's population. Now, I only choose to believe the information provided on the official testing site for the University of Kentucky.
This pandemic has become a very politically-related issue. My family unanimously agrees that Donald Trump is easily the worst leader for our country during something like this. His decisions to downplay the affects of this virus has left many people infected and dead. I think those numbers definitely explains the seriousness and danger it presents. People have gotten into multiple arguments and fights in public places over masks and distancing. I think if we had a president who had a political background instead of a business background this country would be in a better place right now. For most people, these statements can be seen as a source of contention with some of my peers and their parents, but I don't say them because I choose not to rock the boat and I already have the BLM movement to deal with right now.
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