Jake Laurent’s call to Head Men’s Soccer Coach Derek Marie wasn’t an easy one to make. After a successful rookie campaign, Laurent was poised to work hard over the offseason for his team. However, like with most people, everything changed when COVID-19 hit.
Laurent, a sophomore nursing major, made the difficult decision to focus all his energy into helping COVID-19 patients at his local Froedtert hospitals in Kenosha. Kenosha county soon became one of the hardest hit counties in the state during the pandemic.
“It was a good opportunity to chose learning during the pandemic,” spoke Laurent, on how the experience changed him. “There were a lot of uncertainties going into it. It was an actual day by day situation.”
“I was happy when he reached out to me that he didn’t want to train for a non-soccer related reason,” said Marie. “At this point in the Pandemic, everything was still super up in the air, there was still a lot we didn’t know. He wasn’t scared. He was self-confident and willing to do what’s best no matter the cost.”
Laurent has worked as a CNA for Froedtert since he was 17 years old as a seasonal employee. Once Carroll University moved to all online in the spring, he had no choice but to go back to work. The city of Kenosha has two Froedetert hospitals, and the positive COVID-19 patients stayed in one building on one level to keep the spread minimal. Laurent floated from hospital to hospital, working Monday – Friday on the COVID-19 wing, before quarantining for two days before returning to work at the other hospital.
