Items
topic_interest is exactly
#turning21duringpandemic
-
2020-12-08
One day I'll...
A huge theme of this pandemic has been having hope. Since COVID came about, professionals have been thrown threw a loop with what works and what the best things to do are, never mind the public being even more lost and clueless. We have had to kind of just follow what professionals tell us is best to do, do our part, and have hope for brighter and healthier days. Despite varying beliefs, most people have seemed to be able to unite through hope. Hoping for the health and safety of ourselves and others, hope for things to return to semi-normal feeling, and just hoping to feel comfort. This tweet shows a playful side of hope. Making the right choices so that you can make other choices later on. By Katelyn not going out and celebrating her 21st how she wanted to and dreamed of doing, she's doing her part in stopping the spread and ensuring that there is a future in which we get to go out to crowded bars and get shots from strangers to celebrate. -
2020-12-03
Don't Touch ANYTHING
One of the biggest things throughout this pandemic was washing your hands and using hand sanitizer. If you touch something in public or that isn’t yours, it’s like your hands are on fire and you need to immediately put them out. I open the door to a store and I immediately grab one of the five hand sanitizers in my purse and drown my hands in it. This object pokes a little fun at the coinciding of the pandemic and those who’s 21st birthday was during COVID restrictions. Joking that this is the best alcohol someone could receive this year as they are finally legal to drink, when most people would probably be thrilled with hand sanitizer as a gift. This item would be of interest to future historians because it illustrates something particularly significant about 2020, the importance and use of hand sanitizer and all those who had makeshift 21st birthdays. -
2020-09-18
Isabella's Story
In this article, Isabella Simonetti discusses how she never imagined little things in her life not going as planned before March, but now her life has been totally flipped upside-down. Along with changes in her school life and work life, Isabella was also one of the people who had their 21st birthday look a little different because of the pandemic. She mentions how she felt as though celebrating at all was a betrayal in itself. Towards the end of her article, she makes what I believe to be a very important observation about the pandemic. Isabella says, “Since March, my life has become less about managing expectations and more about not knowing what to expect at all. While I loathe uncertainty, I’ve found comfort in taking a step back, being grateful for what I have, and knowing that things are so crazy and ever-evolving that I just can’t expect anything at all.” The idea of living in the moment and being grateful for what you have is one of the most important lessons we can all take away from this pandemic experience, 21st birthday edition or not. This collection item demonstrates something significant about my generation under COVID. Learning that unexpected changes are not the end of the world and making the right decisions for the safety of you and others was a huge thing 1999 babies were faced with this year. -
2020-05-28
#PauseAgingOut Awareness
CHAMPS-NY is a statewide group of providers, advocates and thought partners, who work to promote state policy and practice changes to ensure children entering foster care are placed into family-based settings whenever possible. In this press release, Kate Breslin, CHAMPS-NY co-chair, talks about how a safe and stable home are vital to both individuals and public health during a global health crisis. This press conference is a call to action for the state of NY to provide foster children with the option to remain in foster care for at least 180 extra days after they “age out”. Nine other states have made this adjustment as sort of a form of a COVID relief plan for foster children and CHAMPS-NY believes that NY should offer this as well, especially since NY has been hit so hard by this crisis. This press conference and including it as a collection item is another attempt to fill an archival silence and to amplify the voices of marginalized groups. Those who speak in this press release are advocating for foster children who struggle to have their voices be heard. These people are fighting for these kids who know one else has or will fight for. This collection item displays and spreads awareness about a group of people who have been silently suffering and who have been subjected to the detrimental impacts of this pandemic just like everyone else, if not more. -
2020-12-08
My Personal Experience Turning 21 During a Pandemic
This collection item not only symbolizes my personal experience of turning 21 during a pandemic but it also demonstrates something significant about my generation under COVID. I was one of the many 1999 babies that experienced this milestone birthday during the pandemic. This photo is to remind that I was not the only one who had to celebrate this birthday in my kitchen and that I was not the only one who couldn’t go out to a bar and take shots with random people. This pandemic has brought about a lot of unexpected things to many people. Turning 21 during COVID times and having an impromptu celebration during it is something that I think is important to document and remember, not only for my generation but for everyone. Looking back on the unexpected and homemade 21st birthday celebrations that people had this year will be something to cherish one day. These kinds of stories are also important in documenting how many people, although there were far worse things going on around them, chose to be selfless and sacrifice this very special birthday for the safety of themselves and others. -
2020-12-03
Aging out of the Foster Care System During a Pandemic
Deshala’s story is one that not only teaches us the struggles of being a foster child turning 21 and aging out of the system during a pandemic but is also a collection item that attempts to fill an archival silence and amplify the voice of a marginalized group. Her story exemplifies how this already anxiety inducing time in foster children’s lives was significantly intensified by the COVID19 pandemic. There are certain groups of people that many of us think of when we hear “marginalized group” but one most people don’t think of is foster children, especially those who are close to aging out. Kids in the foster system normally struggle to have their voices heard and are a group that experiences arguably the most emotional distress and inconsistency in their lives out of anyone in our country. This pandemic not only made them, kids who were about to age out of the system, more stressed and fearful for their future than ever but there was also hardly anything they could do about it either. The inclusion of this collection item is meant to spread and educate people on the strain that this pandemic has put on kids aging out of the foster care system. No one should ever have to worry about losing a safe and stable home, especially not during a global health crisis and Deshala’s story amplifies this issue and calls for action for others in similar situations due to the pandemic.