Explore the Archives
A Journal of the Plague Year Arizona Collection Australia Boston Bronx Community College New York Brooklyn College New York Canada Las Americas Lockdown Staten Island New Orleans Oral Histories Philippines Sacramento Community Based Organizations Southwest Stories Teaching the Pandemic The City College of New York

Collected Item: “Fear of the Unknown”

Give your story a title.

Fear of the Unknown

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

text story; personal experience

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

Although I have been fortunate enough to say that no one in my family has contracted the virus thus far, that's not to say that it hasn't had an impact. Since the discovery of the virus, there has been an abundance of mixed information, terrifying rumors, and confusing data. There have been times when one could think there was nothing to worry about, and other times when one could feel uncomfortable leaving his/her home. Overall, the most terrifying part for me is all the things we don't know about what's going on. Along with that, is not knowing when you or a family member might have it. I'm sure we have all had our scares during this crisis, but one in particular really frightened me.
My dad has been in and out of hospitals for over 5 years now, and it has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me and my twin sister. The most recent time he was in the hospital, he was transferred from my small hometown to a hospital here in Phoenix. In his condition, and after everything he has lived through, we knew that he would not survive if he contracted the virus. It sounds pessimistic, but if I were to go in-depth about his medical history, anyone would agree. With that being said, we were terrified about him being in a major phoenix hospital at the peak of the pandemic. Not to mention the medical facilities he would have to regularly go to after the fact. So far, he has not contracted the virus, but the stress remains present even more so than it has been in the past. Sometimes the stress and concern that these types of disaster causes are just as impactful as the disaster itself, and COVID-19 has proved that to be true.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#REL101

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

Teresa Anderson

Give this story a date.

2020-10-08
Click here to view the corresponding item.