Item
Anonymous Northeastern University Student Oral History, 2020/12/03
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
Anonymous Northeastern University Student Oral History, 2020/12/03
Description (Dublin Core)
This is an interview with a classmate. In the interview we discuss the handling of the pandemic and we also discuss previous pandemics as well as what we can learn from them going forward.
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
Creator (Dublin Core)
Type (Dublin Core)
oral history
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
Contributor's Tags (a true folksonomy) (Friend of a Friend)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
12/08/2021
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
07/08/2021
07/14/2021
04/27/2022
05/25/2022
01/19/2024
Date Created (Dublin Core)
12/03/2020
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
Jahaan Saini
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
Anonymous Northeastern University Student
Format (Dublin Core)
audio
Coverage (Dublin Core)
December 2020
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:06:52
abstract (Bibliographic Ontology)
December 2020 interview with a Northwestern University student, discussing the pandemic, past pandemics, and what they learned during a class regarding pandemics.
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Jahann Saini 0:00
Hello all, this is Jahann. And tonight I will be interviewing [Northeastern University Student] for the COVID-19 archive project part two. Hi, how are you today?
Northeastern University Student 0:10
Hello, I'm good. How are you?
Jahann Saini 0:13
I'm good. So before starting the interview, I just wanted to say the time and the date. It is 7:09pm, and it is the third of December. And I also wanted to ask for your consent before we started recording.
Northeastern University Student 0:30
Oh, yeah. I do give my consent to interview.
Jahann Saini 0:34
Perfect. So let's get started. My first question to you would be, do you think we were prepared for the current pandemic?
Northeastern University Student 0:44
Um, to be honest, I think it really depends on like, which countries but like, socially and considering, like how the people are acting, I don't think we were prepared. The healthcare system, the remote working, and like general, the general public, we were just not prepared for this kind of pandemic in our life. And we were just, we just didn't know and didn't expect anything in this measure of seriousness. So- and politically also, we were not prepare. So it’s unfortunately, we are kind of panicking. Everyone is panicking, and it's not- we're not in a great like time, I don't think, definitely.
Jahann Saini 1:32
My second question to you is, has learning from past pandemics allowed you to broaden your knowledge about the current pandemic?
Northeastern University Student 1:41
Um, yeah, definitely. I learned a lot through this class, about through like learning from the past that how the development and the advancement of responses like we advanced, like throughout and through different pandemics. And also I learned that how they are really, those responses and those experience really affect how we're doing in the current pandemic. And it's really interesting, but like, how I also learned that we- there are like existing discriminations that are so reflective, like with the responses and with how we are dealing and handling the pandemic. So that was really- that really broadened my perspective and learning about it.
Jahann Saini 2:34
Yeah, definitely. Um, my third question to you is, has your perception about the virus change now from what it was a few months ago? Based on what we've learned in this class regarding pandemics and its effects on society right now?
Northeastern University Student 2:53
Definitely, yes. It's changed quite a bit, actually. So in the beginning, I think I mentioned in like in the previous interview, that I thought that this COVID-19 and Coronavirus is going to be just like a little more contagious flu virus. But now learning and having all these lessons and topics we talked about, and just like seeing all the news like pass, I don't know how long, like nine or eight months. Now I am starting- now I am- I really realizing that this is a disease that although it's not as deadly as other diseases, but it is still as dangerous to us. And it will be something that will totally change our life and society. And I think it'll be the event of our generation. And also, yeah, and also like outside of like, just like the health issues is like, the time I think the Coronavirus is really triggering us to change like socially and culturally. So it's like different issues are being brought up. So just the precession of virus and the health issues really changed; it's affecting our basis, standard of life and just our everyday life and everything.
Jahann Saini 4:22
For sure, I also think that it's just so refreshing to get all this information from like different sources that are provided to us instead of like, the media and everything we're exposed to that we're not really sure what is true and what's not. So it's really nice to have like a refined list of material to go through and read knowing that we're actually reading the truth and we're reading different perspectives. So yeah, I totally agree with you there.
Northeastern University Student 4:50
Yeah.
Jahann Saini 4:51
So my last and final question for you is what do you think has been a learning moment for humanity from the past pandemics?
Northeastern University Student 5:00
So I think from the past, we really learned that international cooperation and communication is the key and is the- is what- is like one of the critical thing that we really have to focus on. Because like, since the past, like we have learned and seen that there were no communication and which led to more widespread and harsh impact. So I think we really have to focus on that. And I think the health is really something that we are so connected now. And since the past, so just being ignorant of something happening on the other side of the world doesn't help us at all. Just like ignoring of it and thinking it’s not going to affect this doesn't work anymore. And I think we really learn quicker the action, the better for our life and the betterment of us.
Jahann Saini 6:06
For sure. I remember when back in February, everybody was talking about being something that was just so far away, and it would never get to us or even if it would get to us, it wouldn't be as drastic. And look at us now. So yeah, definitely. I agree with the with that aspect that you brought up. So those were all of my questions. Thank you so much for answering all of my questions. It was very interesting to hear your perspective and know that you have gotten a lot out of this class and the material that we've gone through just because we- I guess we can’t ever stop learning. So yeah, thank you.
Northwestern University Student 6:52
Thank you.
Hello all, this is Jahann. And tonight I will be interviewing [Northeastern University Student] for the COVID-19 archive project part two. Hi, how are you today?
Northeastern University Student 0:10
Hello, I'm good. How are you?
Jahann Saini 0:13
I'm good. So before starting the interview, I just wanted to say the time and the date. It is 7:09pm, and it is the third of December. And I also wanted to ask for your consent before we started recording.
Northeastern University Student 0:30
Oh, yeah. I do give my consent to interview.
Jahann Saini 0:34
Perfect. So let's get started. My first question to you would be, do you think we were prepared for the current pandemic?
Northeastern University Student 0:44
Um, to be honest, I think it really depends on like, which countries but like, socially and considering, like how the people are acting, I don't think we were prepared. The healthcare system, the remote working, and like general, the general public, we were just not prepared for this kind of pandemic in our life. And we were just, we just didn't know and didn't expect anything in this measure of seriousness. So- and politically also, we were not prepare. So it’s unfortunately, we are kind of panicking. Everyone is panicking, and it's not- we're not in a great like time, I don't think, definitely.
Jahann Saini 1:32
My second question to you is, has learning from past pandemics allowed you to broaden your knowledge about the current pandemic?
Northeastern University Student 1:41
Um, yeah, definitely. I learned a lot through this class, about through like learning from the past that how the development and the advancement of responses like we advanced, like throughout and through different pandemics. And also I learned that how they are really, those responses and those experience really affect how we're doing in the current pandemic. And it's really interesting, but like, how I also learned that we- there are like existing discriminations that are so reflective, like with the responses and with how we are dealing and handling the pandemic. So that was really- that really broadened my perspective and learning about it.
Jahann Saini 2:34
Yeah, definitely. Um, my third question to you is, has your perception about the virus change now from what it was a few months ago? Based on what we've learned in this class regarding pandemics and its effects on society right now?
Northeastern University Student 2:53
Definitely, yes. It's changed quite a bit, actually. So in the beginning, I think I mentioned in like in the previous interview, that I thought that this COVID-19 and Coronavirus is going to be just like a little more contagious flu virus. But now learning and having all these lessons and topics we talked about, and just like seeing all the news like pass, I don't know how long, like nine or eight months. Now I am starting- now I am- I really realizing that this is a disease that although it's not as deadly as other diseases, but it is still as dangerous to us. And it will be something that will totally change our life and society. And I think it'll be the event of our generation. And also, yeah, and also like outside of like, just like the health issues is like, the time I think the Coronavirus is really triggering us to change like socially and culturally. So it's like different issues are being brought up. So just the precession of virus and the health issues really changed; it's affecting our basis, standard of life and just our everyday life and everything.
Jahann Saini 4:22
For sure, I also think that it's just so refreshing to get all this information from like different sources that are provided to us instead of like, the media and everything we're exposed to that we're not really sure what is true and what's not. So it's really nice to have like a refined list of material to go through and read knowing that we're actually reading the truth and we're reading different perspectives. So yeah, I totally agree with you there.
Northeastern University Student 4:50
Yeah.
Jahann Saini 4:51
So my last and final question for you is what do you think has been a learning moment for humanity from the past pandemics?
Northeastern University Student 5:00
So I think from the past, we really learned that international cooperation and communication is the key and is the- is what- is like one of the critical thing that we really have to focus on. Because like, since the past, like we have learned and seen that there were no communication and which led to more widespread and harsh impact. So I think we really have to focus on that. And I think the health is really something that we are so connected now. And since the past, so just being ignorant of something happening on the other side of the world doesn't help us at all. Just like ignoring of it and thinking it’s not going to affect this doesn't work anymore. And I think we really learn quicker the action, the better for our life and the betterment of us.
Jahann Saini 6:06
For sure. I remember when back in February, everybody was talking about being something that was just so far away, and it would never get to us or even if it would get to us, it wouldn't be as drastic. And look at us now. So yeah, definitely. I agree with the with that aspect that you brought up. So those were all of my questions. Thank you so much for answering all of my questions. It was very interesting to hear your perspective and know that you have gotten a lot out of this class and the material that we've gone through just because we- I guess we can’t ever stop learning. So yeah, thank you.
Northwestern University Student 6:52
Thank you.
Item sets
This item was submitted on December 8, 2020 by Jahaan Saini using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive
Click here to view the collected data.