It’s finally time for the University of Arizona’s “COVID-class” to move on

A public health major is inspired

By Alli Burgess, El

Inde Arizona

After Emily Forysiak realized she would never be a rock star like Hannah Montana, the then 5-year-old Surprise, Arizona, native set her sights on being a doctor.

When she was in high school, Forysiak said she was shocked and angered and inspired to study public health by the Flint, Michigan, water crisis.

Bringing it full circle: her freshmen honor’s college seminar was all about Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician who took a stand for the citizens of Flint.

When the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to her freshman year, Forysiak said her field of study seemed more important than ever.

“Within our generation I’ve seen a lot more people caring about public health and kind of understanding it and listening to the science,” the 22-year-old said.

Forsyiak will graduate with a B.S. in public health with a global health emphasis and minors in biochemistry, government and public policy.

She will attend Columbia University this fall to get her master’s degree in public health with an emphasis on infectious disease epidemiology.

A championship through her screen

By Joseph Flores, El Inde Arizona

Lila Gelband should have been in San Antonio helping the Arizona women’s basketball team at the NCAA tournament in 2021.

Instead, she watched the game on the screen of her laptop.

That tournament in 2021 would have been Gelband’s first as a women’s basketball manager, but because of COVID-19, she was not allowed to travel with the team after the NCAA capped the amount of support staff allowed to attend.

Adding salt to her wounds: she and other managers who were left behind were still receiving texts from those who were working the game.

“We got all the text messages of who has this, are you bringing that,” Gelband said.

COVID-19 impacted Gelband’s travel plans but not her love of the job.

When classes went virtual after spring break 2020, Gelband stayed in Tucson hoping to keep helping the team. Arizona was expected to host the 2020 women’s

NCAA tournament, but it was canceled. “I was kind of frustrated and nervous,” Gelband said. “I was really wanting to be involved. It was fun.”