Community health plea

Some of you will know me for my mediocre skills on the volleyball/cheer/softball teams, or as the girl driving combine on the family farm or as the kid rolling her eyes in the grocery store because her dad won’t stop talking to everyone. But this is who I am today—a third year medical student, who is shocked at how her community has handled the pandemic. I grew up in Davenport and while applying to medical school, one of the things I emphasized during the admission process was how proud I was to come from a rural community. I remember describing my hometown as a close-knit community where everyone looked out for one another. Unfortunately, it appears we have lost sight of this mentality during the pandemic.

Stopping the spread of COVID has become an argument over “individual freedoms” instead of a chance for us to come together to look after one another as we so fervently proclaimed to do in the past. I once envisioned myself coming back to Davenport to work as a doctor because I was excited to give back to my community. But now I find myself questioning that vision and the values my community holds as a virus was all it took for us to turn our backs on one another in the name of freedom and individuality.

I didn’t write this to argue with anyone, as I am painfully aware that some people are unreachable, I wrote this for those of you who are on the fence. Those of you that want the best for our community. So as a fellow member of this community, I am asking you to please mask up and get vaccinated.

– Carlie Sorensen