April 14, 2020

Guest Post Written by Ben Murray

The first week of my co-op with the UHC as a communications assistant was surprisingly great, even with all the confusion surrounding COVID-19. The norm for starting almost any new job would be to go in the first week and meet your coworkers and boss, but I missed out on most of that. I was able to meet some of my coworkers through online meetings and chats. There are a lot of differences with how we interact online versus in person, with one of the most notable differences being able to sporadically converse with my coworkers face-to-face. Even though I have missed this interaction, we are all making the best of working remotely. I am also thankful to have the opportunity to work from home and that I get to work for the UHC during this time.

I never had a job where I worked remotely, so it was a unique change of pace for me. I am happy to admit that working remote is not as odd as I had thought it would be! I would have preferred being able to come in to work with my coworkers in-person, but everybody’s safety is the priority!

Working with UHC during the COVID-19 pandemic has truly brought everything into perspective for me. I realized how important collaboration is to both urban health and keeping populations safe. It is a privilege to be able to work in such an important field for my co-op, and I look forward to what I will learn about communications and urban health.