Roadrunner DiariesRoadrunner Diaries: I’m Working From Home With Peace of Mind

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Amanda Moriels4 years ago9544 min

“I never imagined I’d have the chance to work from home, especially this early in my life. I always thought it was geared toward “stay-at-home” moms or entrepreneurs, people who didn’t need or have the desire to work in a brick and mortar kind of business.

COVID-19 has completely changed my beliefs on this topic and the entire world.
​I’m privileged to have a job that is not only allowing me to work from home, and even if there are no tasks at hand I’m still guaranteed pay. MSU Denver’s promise to ensure I’ll have income has given me peace of mind, but unfortunately that’s not the case for everyone, especially marginalized communities. In one of many press conferences held by President Trump over the past couple of weeks, he and his team discussed how COVID-19 has become more detrimental to communities of color.

​My mother, a black 53-year-old woman employed by King Soopers, is a stark contrast to the privilege I’ve been granted. She does, however, confirm the statistics put out by our current administration. While I’ve been home, she’s been taking public transportation five days a week to and from her store to make sure our communities are stocked with essential items. Never late, always in uniform, but unfortunately dealing with being sick herself.

​Her primary care doctors said it’s bronchitis, but when that treatment didn’t work it became a pneumonia diagnosis. Even that is still up in the air because maybe the COVID-19 test she received that came out negative doesn’t equate to there not being “remnants” of it in her system. Never once being told to quarantine, she continued to do her job. Recently, she obtained a doctor’s note, and along with her employer’s approving her sick pay, now she can recover comfortably in her home.

​I’m grateful that I work for MSU Denver, specifically CMEI (Center for Multicultural Equity and Inclusion), but there are hundreds of people like my mother who are also serving a purpose, a purpose all essential workers are carrying out to make sure we can continue living in the privilege that so many of us now have. Support is at the forefront of everyone’s mind, and now is the time to not hold any back.

Amanda Moriels

Amanda Moriels is a junior student at MSU Denver majoring in Journalism. She currently is on Met Medias Social Media Marketing Team as a content contributor.

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