Here is what real students have to say about our campaign:
Many students wish to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation or being ostracized by friends and family. Please do not hold this against them.
"I unfortunately am not able to attend the [UMD Student Association] meeting tonight [2/7/22]. I really wish I could be there. But this campaign has been a great experience for me. I am glad to know that other people share my thoughts. I read the resolution and I can't believe the things that they said about us. I don't believe having and expressing an opinion is in any way wrong or negative. It is normal for people to have different views and there's nothing wrong with sharing them. I do believe that it is discriminating, and wrong how fast they dismiss our reasonings and thoughts. They do not have to agree, but should at least respect that our thoughts and beliefs are as valid as their own. I believe that people should have a choice, and that they shouldn't be denied education, or employment over their choice. It was very nice to meet you and to be involved in this campaign. I wish you luck in the meeting!"
-Anonymous
"The reason I'm against the mandates is because I'm just tired of people trying to control my life. At the beginning of the summer, I decided that I didn't want to get vaccinated for personal reasons. That was my own decision. I let my parents know what I'd decided, and even though they didn't like it, they accepted it because I'm an adult, and they know I'm old enough to make those decisions for myself, in their own words. It wasn't easy being the only unvaccinated person in my family. I got a lot of hate for it. Some relatives would try to argue with me. A lot of them would make snide remarks degrading unvaccinated people while I was within earshot. At one point, I asked my mom "even though I make things difficult for you, I know you still love me." And she responded "Sometimes you make it difficult".
That was really hard to hear, but at the very least, I knew what I was doing was my own choice and that I was in control of my own life. Then, UMD mandated the vaccines. It felt like everything I went through before was all for nothing. I was forced to make a very difficult choice, to chose between continuing to pursue my education or standing by my convictions and risk being disowned by my family for dropping out. In the end, I was forced to make a choice. Even now, I still don't know if it was the right choice, and I have so many regrets because of it.
Long story short, I am strongly against the mandates, and I hope the incoming freshman for next year won't have to face the same difficult decision that I did.
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-Anonymous
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Thank you again for everything you are doing. It means a lot to know that I'm not the only one & that there's someone out there speaking up for people like me.
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-Anonymous
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I will not be at the Student Association meeting tonight but I would like to say thank you for standing up for many of us in these hard times and especially for people like me, who struggle to find the courage to stand up for what we believe when we are the minority. I attended the Student Association meeting last week and was impressed how you, and the others that spoke, carried yourselves and the respect for others while trying to convince them that the covid mandate is morally unjust. It’s hard to convince a whole student association that something is wrong when a very minimum may agree with you, but even if nothing is changed, I believe that you and others made our voices known especially for those that don’t have the courage to stand up.
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-Anonymous
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Thanks for getting us all together! I think it was a good thing we had conversations with them [Student Association]. Hopefully it'll open up some minds. Keep me in the loop for future events. "
-Anonymous
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I'm very interested in this topic as I think the vaccine should not be required for school. If the vaccine is for you then that's great. I myself have gotten 2 doses last March but as I've gotten more info since my initial doses. I do not want to be forced into getting a booster due to possible risks of irreversible heart inflammation in young men. I also believe the vaccines don't help stop the spread of the omicron variant either so that's another reason to not force the vaccine. Another aspect of the pandemic that really bugs me is the mask mandate. It has created a really really weird social environment of caution and inability to see fellow humans emotions for so long now. I'd say it really gets to me and doesn't feel good to think how weird it's been. The studies for mask effectiveness I feel like haven't been necessarily 100% proven to be beneficial. I appreciate you hosting this meeting as it doesn't feel very socially welcoming to have these opinions around school, hope to meet other like minded individuals and get our voices out.
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