Why Me?

Everyone said that college would be a wild ride, but I had no idea how wild that ride would be. An innocent trip for ice cream would mark one of the top 10 worst nights of my life, and shape my impression of college forever.

It all started the night before. As a member of the university swim and dive team, it was expected that I attend the “get to know the team scavenger hunt.” In all honesty, I was very hesitant about going out because I didn't want to get kicked off the team before the first day of practice. Our coaches warned us that one party could end our season.

Nonetheless, a few hours later I found myself in a musty LED lit apartment with no furniture, surrounded by teens in UD Swim and Dive paraphernalia. My anxiety lessened as the night progressed because the groups were small, and my teammates wore their masks.

I woke up Sunday morning to blue skies and birds chirping - entirely oblivious to the consequences from the night before. After a day of getting settled into the dorms, a group of freshmen decided to go to UDairy for a treat. In the car, BigBootie mix was blasting and the wind was whipping against my face. This is living I thought at that moment. All that I had worked for over the past four years was finally paying off.

Just then, I got a phone call from Caroline, the athletic trainer.

“Hello Caroline” I said. Anxiety began to fill my chest. Why was Caroline calling me at 8:00 pm on a Sunday?

“Hi Ella. So you have been contact traced for covid and need to pack your bags immediately and prepare for isolation,” answered Caroline.

“What? What do you mean? Are there any other freshmen going into quarantine that I can go with?” I responded. My heart sank. Of course, with my luck this was happening right now.

“No, you are the only freshmen,” said Caroline. The chatter around me stopped and all eyes were on me, as the other freshmen at UDairy began to overhear the conversation. Who tested positive? Why was I the only freshmen getting this call? My mind raced at a thousand miles per hour.

“Okay, am I in trouble? Will I get kicked off the team?” I asked. I could sense my division I diving career ending before it even began - a feeling nobody should ever experience.

“No Ella, you are okay,” laughed Caroline, “I just need you to pack your bags because a car is being sent to the dorms right now to take you into isolation.”

I was so embarrassed and ashamed. All I wanted to do was get on the next flight back to Denver and start over.

“I'm so sorry,” I said “I am heading back to the dorm now,” I told Caroline.

“Sounds good. Try to stay away from the other freshmen and just go straight to your room.” said Caroline before hanging up the phone. At this point, we had already started driving back to the dorms in silence.

“What is going on?” asked Andrew.

“I got contact traced and need to go into isolation right now” I responded. It took every ounce of strength to push down the tears that were forming in my eyes.

A car picked me up an hour or so later and took me to the quarantine dorms. As I sat in isolation, I called my parents and coaches in a panic. Little did I know that within the next 24 hours, the rest of the freshmen team would be sent into quarantine for two weeks.

In the end, it brought the team closer and taught us the power of resilience when our world was flipped upside down. If I could do it over, I probably wouldn't change this experience. In some ways, it was a loss of innocence that I needed in order to grow up and take responsibility for my own actions. While I was a naive freshman, it was my decision to go to the party. I can't lie: in the moment we were all a bit traumatized. But a semester later, it brought the team closer and now we can laugh together about the mess of the first week of school.