Outsports is asking LGBTQ people in sports how they are impacted by the coronavirus crisis and its effects on all aspects of daily life. Today: Former Franklin Pierce University track and field athlete CeCé Telfer. In 2019, Telfer became the first out transgender NCAA student-athlete to win an individual national championship competing in the gender in which they identify with a win in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Division II track and field national championships.
It’s been insane working in the nursing home during this pandemic because everybody is taking extra precautions.
At the same time, allergy season is upon and people are getting sick along with the coronavirus in which people are suffering from. It hasn’t reached my nursing home yet as far as I know, but nursing homes across the nation are being affected.
My New Hampshire nursing home is on shutdown. No family members can come visit and no individuals who are not working at the facility can visit.
I’m depressed because I dedicated this year for training and competing towards a chance at the Olympics. I put my whole life on pause with a leap of faith hoping and praying. I even put off nursing school.
With everything being pushed back next year, it’s going to be a little harder. I had planned to go to nursing school next to get my degree, start working and earning money, and start paying back my school loans.
For now, I am a little sad and the situation is mind-boggling, but the changed schedule is also a blessing. I have more time to work on gaining U.S. citizenship, and have a chance to compete for the United States when it’s time to do so. That’s is what is keeping me motivated.
What also motivates me is my community. We just had Transgender Day of Visibility, and to me it not only means awareness, but also the idea of the word “present.” The world is constantly changing, evolving and transforming.
We are all people and as people we adjust and cope with change. Coping is a skill innate to humans. The world is changing again, and the people need to catch up.
CeCé Telfer is a hurdler for 2019 NCAA Champion from Lebanon, N.H. She can be reached on Instagram (@cecetelfer).
If you are an out LGBTQ person in sports and want to tell us how the coronavirus crisis has affected your life, email Jim Buzinski ([email protected]).
