'The Virus Is Real:' College Student Who Survived COVID-19 Warns Others To Take It Seriously

When Justin Rowland graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with honors last year, he knew he had a story to tell.

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One of his high school, teachers had warned him that he would never make it in college.

Today, he's in grad school studying counseling.

Rowland's experience prompted him to start a YouTube channel to guide and inspire first-year college students.

He didn't realize at the time he would have another story to tell -- surviving coronavirus.

Rowland's ordeal began with a four-day spring break in Miami Beach with five of his fraternity brothers. The trip started out good, but by the third day, something started bothering him.

"Every time I’d breathe in, I felt like I was breathing in something toxic," Rowland said.

When Rowland returned to his apartment in Pennsylvania, school was closed because of COVID-19 and he started worrying about his own health.

"I had a little tickle in my throat. I had a pounding headache. Every time I moved my eyes would hurt," Rowland said. "I would have really bad night sweats."

The situation continued to deteriorate.

"I didn’t want to do my schoolwork—all my classes were online. I had no motivation to do schoolwork," Rowland said. "The whole time I was walking around it was like a blur. I didn’t know what was going on. I felt like I was going to pass out."

Rowland tried, but failed, to get tested for coronavirus.

It would take Rowland a week for him to recover.

The time he spent in quarantine gave Rowland plenty of time to think about the family he couldn't see, grandparents who had begged him not to travel to Miami, and his mother who recently completed bone marrow treatments.

Now, Rowland knows what he suspected all along -- he had COVID-19. He said the worst part was the anxiety.

"There was never that point that I thought I was going to die, but always that what if I wake up and I can’t breathe," he said.

Having now gone through the experience, Rowland said he's learned to listen to his grandmother and mother when they tell him not to do something.

Rowland said the videos that surface of people partying, failing to wear masks and practice social distancing, are disturbing to watch. He cautions everyone to take COVID-19 seriously.

"No. 1, you're being inconsiderate because you could give it to somebody else. No. 2, you’re risking yourself," Rowland said. "You might not have symptoms, but you could still be putting other people at risk. I learned my lesson the hard way. The virus is real."

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