Welcome back to my long and complicated journey to be allowed back on campus. If you are here then chances are that you are sitting in the safety of your home and wondering what people who decided to torture themselves with Sodexo food (and come back to campus) have to go through twice a week. Last week, I wrote about my experiences with doing all the “pre-arrival” work, and this week, I am here to bring you along on my journey of taking my first ever COVID-19 test. 
I have to start off by saying that just like with the passport portal and daily health assessment, I am very impressed with how well testing at Brandeis actually works. Knowing Brandeis and how things are usually done, I was expecting a sh*tshow, but it was actually very well organized and quick. Though take into account that I went to get tested in Heller (the less popular testing site) in the middle of the day on a Friday, so only 17 people were signed up for that time slot; but even without that, the process was very quick and efficient. The whole trip only took 20 minutes of my day, 10 of which were spent on driving to and from campus. 

You walk into the testing site and go to registration, where a student worker asks for your name and hands you a test tube and a cotton swab inside. You then go outside, where there are separate booths for each person who is taking the test, so you at least have privacy from the other people taking the test. On the topic of privacy, that is something that is definitely not present during the test. You have multiple workers watching you, making sure that you are doing the test correctly. I understand that this is necessary but that does not make it any less weird to me. There are people there who are literally getting paid to watch you pick your nose. The test itself is uncomfortable enough physically and then having a group of peers watching you just makes it even worse. 

Anyway, when I arrived the workers asked me if I had ever taken it before, and after I said I hadn’t, they were very nice and explained what I should do. Not to sound ungrateful, but it did not make me feel any more comfortable picking my nose with a cotton swab in front of a bunch of people. But what can you do. After you’re done with the test, you go to check out, hand the worker your test tube and are free to go. As someone who has not left the house or interacted with people in months, the minimal interaction with people was very much appreciated. 
As someone who has never gotten tested before, I was very nervous about not knowing what to do or doing something wrong. However, everyone at the testing site was very friendly and willing to help, which really put me at ease. This was largely what made getting testing as pleasant of an experience as it could be given the circumstances, so if any test site workers are reading this, thank you for making this nasty process better. The whole place has arrows that tell you where you should go, which is something extremely helpful to someone who has no idea what they are supposed to be doing. 

I do have a few concerns about the students who actually work at the testing sites. Do they get tested more frequently than the rest of the student body? Are they really, truly, adequately protected in case someone who comes in to get tested actually is infected? Although they do stay at least six feet away from people who are taking their masks off, it still seems a little worrisome. Also it is not clear what will happen when it gets extremely cold outside (this is New England after all)—will people still have to be tested outdoors? Or will there be inside spaces? How will the test site workers be provided for? Hopefully, these are all concerns that the Brandeis administration will take into account. 

My journey will continue next week, where I will describe my experience of being on campus for the first time since all the new changes because of the coronavirus.