The Article below was published in Vol. 136, Issue 2 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on October 16, 2020.
Kacie Whitman ’21
Features Editor
Photo Credit: Mariah Khan ’21
While coronavirus has impeded on the majority of students’ careers, for Lake Forest College student Mariah Khan ’21, it is another day of diligent work at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois. The fourth-year student continued remote learning in the spring semester and worked during the nation’s quarantine period. Khan provided insight to the Stentor as to how her life has been shaped as a frontline worker amidst a pandemic.
Involved with Lutheran General Hospital since her senior year of high school, Khan sought to contribute in a hospital setting by meeting the dietary needs of its patients. Khan affirms her love for her Food Department job stating, “through it I noticed how I love (by) caring for patients and bringing them food…the ultimate comfort I’m able to provide in their pain.” The responsibility Khan has cherished to impact hospital patients’ lives directly has adjusted under the times of COVID-19. Because of the dangers associated with potential exposure to the virus, many of the workers at Lutheran General Hospital are not currently able to be in close proximity with COVID-19 positive patients. Limits on hospital worker and patient contact has extended into what Khan wears, and how she prepares and delivers meals. Nonetheless, Khan’s desire to provide the utmost comfort and support to Lutheran General’s patients remains stronger than ever.
Outside of the hospital, the interruption of the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed Khan, like everyone else. Khan’s predominant concern about continuing her hospital employment during the pandemic was due to having members within her family who are immunocompromised. However, the rising senior’s family has been understanding and supportive of her career endeavors. As Khan heads out the door for her shifts, her dad sends her off with the same line: “be careful, be smart, wash your hands.”
With coronavirus continuing to spread throughout the country, Khan is among the frontline workers making a difference in hospital patients’ lives and her hospital community’s attentiveness to serving its members has remained the same. Khan recommends for all to take the preventative measures of “masking, avoiding crowded areas, and practicing proper hand-washing hygiene.” These tasks may seem insignificant, but they are what Khan says means a great deal to frontline workers. “Help the people at the frontline keep our loved ones safe,” Khan says. “We all want to be there for our loved ones…but it is incredibly important not to put others at risk.”
To the students responding to the needs of hospital patients across the nation amidst this pandemic like Mariah Khan, thank you.
