Items

• 2020-04-10

  How COVID-19 Physically and Mentally Drain Me

  When the pandemic started, I was starting my second year of high school, while my sister was in middle school. In order to continue my education, I had to use Zoom meetings for over a year. As a result, I was forced to stare at my laptop screen all day, causing strain in my eyes and pain in my lower back from sitting all day. Furthermore, doing Zoom meetings for all my classes made doing homework much more difficult as not only my teachers gave us so much homework due in a short amount of time (believing that being home all day give us more than enough time to complete it), but I felt drained after staring at my laptop all day so I avoid using it any longer, basically procrastinating until the last minute. Since I wasn't employed during high school, the pandemic didn't affect me in that aspect. However, that only meant that I was trapped in my apartment 24/7, unable to even go out for even a short walk. As a result, I was completely bored out my mind, only having books, music, videos, and sleep to temporarily starve off my boredom. But even that eventually became tedious, which led me to binge eat in a desperate attempt to entertain myself, leading me to gain weight. Honestly, if it wasn't for my sister being with me throughout the entire pandemic, the lockdown would've honestly felt like torture. Even after the pandemic ended, it still affect me as it made me appreciate my family and I want to be outside longer. And I believe that society shares that sentiment as a lot of people after the pandemic went on to do lots of outdoor activities with their friends and family to make up for the isolation and quarantine caused by COVID-19. As for if the pandemic will affect my future, I don't think so as I was fortunate enough for it to only affect my junior year of high school (so I was still able to enjoy prom and in person graduation), so in just a few years, it will be just be a normal memory.
• 2024-07-23

  Ashley's Pandemic Adventures

  During the pandemic I learned that I am not the type of person to sit still especially after being laid off from work. I did things from kayaking for the first time in my life (not pictured), to renovating my house, building a garden and buying ducks and taking care of them. I also was still in school (online), so I did my homework when I wasn't doing anything else. Despite the pandemic stopping the world, I didn't let it stop me from doing things that were important. During the kayak trip, I came face-to-face with a water moccasin that I never saw (not even after I got out of the brush), then later down found out I paddled over a gator that I never noticed was in the water. I did see the one snake that I paddled under though and was terrified it was going to fall into my kayak *shudder*. Renovating my house was both cathartic and rejuvenating because it felt like I gave the house a new lease on life. We bought ducks out of fear that groceries would be harder to come by (we were going to eat the eggs don't worry). Unfortunately, a pack of coyotes got to them a few months later which was a bit traumatizing. This was about a week before I blew my tire on my way to work. These were signs that I should have quit the job I managed to get, but I never listened. My dog and cats helped me with my homework during all of this because study time is important to keep the brain active. I painted actual paintings, fixed one of them that needed to be updated. I planted a garden, and somehow grew a pumpkin patch that sadly never grew pumpkins. Later, towards the end of the year I saw a full rainbow, and the end of one landed in my backyard. I felt that this was a sign that things would be alright even if it seemed like it wouldn't be. No, I never went to the end of the rainbow because you should never trust leprechauns. I will say...the one thing I never got used to was wearing masks. I get claustrophobic if I can't feel like I have air...and the masks were quite suffocating. I still wore them, but definitely never like them.
• 2021-02-08

  Tweets that reflected life during online school

  These tweets reflect how I felt while doing my senior year from behind a computer screen in my room. I would put my zoom class on and then spend time on my phone. Life was really boring, I had school everyday and couldn't see many of my friends. My school used Microsoft Teams for class, and it was really bad compared to Zoom.
• 
  2021-09-29

  HIST30060: Lockdown Musings

  This poem was written in May of 2020 during Melbourne's first official lockdown. This poem was written for a University assignment and was published in an anthology in September 2021. I wasn't deliberately trying to write about the pandemic in this piece, however the long days at home spent with housemates, playing board games and watching reality tv, crept into the piece. This medication on the beauty of domestic mundanity reflects how people had to adjust their perspectives on constantly being home. Unless there was a way to find joy and beauty in the everyday it would have been impossible to get through the tough, lengthy restrictions.
• 
  2020-08-01

  Guessing the Numbers

  As Melbourne’s second wave crested and fell in mid-2020, “the presser” was appointment viewing; “the number” could bring hope or despair. Sometime in the dreary days of lockdown, my family started guessing how many cases would be reported each day. Keeping a running tally of who was closest to the pin. Perhaps it was a way of taking control of the uncontrollable. Dealing with the apparent randomness of the numbers that controlled every aspect of our lives. Some of the scraps of paper we used to write on were time capsules of a vanished world: a rough sketch of enrolments for the second half of my BA; an invoice from a tradesman; a reminder note to pick someone up from hospital. Plans, visitors, outings – all overwritten by inexorable quotidian sameness. Submitted for University of Melbourne HIST30060, Semester 2 2021.
• 
  2020

  Humorous Memes About Quarantine and Covid

  During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.
• 
  2020

  Humorous Memes About Quarantine

  During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredome, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.
• 
  2021-02-25

  Longing to go Outside

  Like people, my dog seems to miss going out to public spaces (like an out door mall, hiking, the patio of a restaurant, even the Pima Air and Space Museum) and getting attention from all the humans that pass by. He too is missing out on the social experiences that he used to enjoy before the pandemic.
• 
  2021-02-24

  School in the Era of the Pandemic

  Going around the school, there are signs and posters scattered around the entire vicinity, requiring masks and social distancing. Prior to any of these events, people were constantly together, with no masks, crowded rooms, etc. Now it is crazy to even fathom that I've been to a concert with thousands of people bumping into each other. Although this seems like a generic topic to discuss, I'm sure in the future it will seem so inconceivable.
• 
  2021-02-17

  Pandemic Hobbies

  With all of the free time suddenly on my hands due to the pandemic, I was forced to find new hobbies that would occupy the time. Some of the hobbies that I developed over the course of the pandemic and specifically during the quarantine are following along to Bob Ross videos, fiber arts including latch hook and cross-stitch, and I have rediscovered my love for reading mysteries. These hobbies have helped keep my mind off of and cope with COVID and everything else that is going on in the world these days. Despite the negative effects that COVID has had on the world and individuals, it has allowed me and many others to delve deeper into new and old passions due to the amount of time that we have on our hands that we never had before.
• 
  2020-06-26

  My new hobby

  During the summer of 2020, not a lot was going on in my life. I had just recently finished my undergraduate degree and had little to do on a daily basis, there were no jobs, no friends, not even family. Gradually, I got sick of just playing video games day in and out; however I wasn’t getting sick of the music of these games, many of which used the banjo. Some of these songs seemed pretty simple, and with my previous experience rudimentary experience with the guitar I figured I’d be able to some of these tunes. I started picking up my dad’s banjo, which is in the photo I provided on a daily basis; using YouTube tutorials I started to pick up the basics. In all honesty it was pretty easy to pick up, and just a relaxing experience, I even grew to like the feeling of developing callouses on my fingers? That’s a little weird but it felt like they were physical reminders of how much work I was putting into learning this new instrument. Recently I’ve kind of stopped playing, but I still love just plucking at it every now and then. My friends online similarly liked hearing me play every now and then, so in a sense it was a great coping mechanism to boredom and loneliness. However, I’ve really stopped even plucking at it, I don’t feel a drive to do much anymore; so I just kind of stare at it now every now and again, which is incredibly weird. This item maters to me as it helped me through the initial stages of the pandemic, and helped me stay mentally active during quarantine. However, as the pandemic has dragged on I kind of have lost the desire to play it, or do much of anything else really. I’d like to add this item to the collection of performing arts as it is a musical instrument, and I would perform for my friends on Discord every now and then (but then again I’m not a professional artist or performer so I don’t think it’d be appropriate for me to be in that collection) Mental health on the other hand is a way more accurate collection for this item, as it really helped me stay mentally active during the pandemic.
• 
  2020-11-12

  "How the pandemic got people smoking again" - Vox

  With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have been pressured to develop bad habits such as overeating, alcoholism, doom scrolling, and impulse shopping. But one pandemic indulgence that stands out to medical officials and journalists is smoking, which damages lungs and puts one at an increased risk from dying of COVID-19. In an article for Vox, journalist Melinda Fakuade provides readers with an overview of the reasons why more people have taken up smoking during the COVID-19 pandemic in spite of the increased risk of death. According to Fakuade, a major factor that explains the increased prevalence of smoking during the COVID-19 pandemic is the sheer boredom that comes with being unable to leave home without risking contracting COVID-19. Not being able to leave home and spend money on other amenities also increases one's access to discretionary spending, which can be used to fund cigarette smoking and other bad habits. Fakuade also emphasizes the role of stress, which induces people to take up bad habits such as smoking as a coping mechanism. According to her, smoking functions as a way of maintaining a routine and sense of control in a time of extreme instability. Finally, Fakuade considers whether or not the increased prevalence of smoking during the COVID-19 pandemic constitutes a reflection of an internal "death wish," on the part of smokers.
• 
  2020-08-29

  Building of the house next door: progression

  These are two images of the house being built on the block behind us. Due to us being home all of the time, we have been able to see the slow progress of the house being built. I was looking at this house being built so often, to the point where it wasn’t until two months later that I actually noticed just how much progress had been made. To me, these photos signify the daily repetition of our lives during the pandemic, especially during the lockdown periods. The picture showing the least amount of progress was taken on August 29, 2020 and the one showing more progress was taken on October 30, 2020. HIST30060
• 
  2020-06-03

  The Ribbon Handkerchief

  At the beginning of the pandemic my family was afraid to go out because mom works at a retirement. We were afraid of unknowing contract COVID-19, passing it on to her and then her passing it on to the elderly residents at her work. Most of our weekend activities involved going out: shopping, hiking, visiting friends. Since we couldn't go out save for a few exceptions we needed to find new activities to fill our spare time. Which led us to old hobbies. When I was younger, my mom and I would do needlecraft together but when I entered high school I decided I was too busy for that. We packed all the supplies up and stowed them away in the closet. Since we had nothing else to do, we got out our old supplies and dusted them off. We didn't have many patterns or other supplies left but we did have a few things. One of the few things we had was an old handkerchief embroidery kit, an old gift to my mom from one of my aunts. This particular kit involved ribbons, something I had never worked with before. The handkerchief took longer to complete than it probably should have, especially since it was such a small area, but I got it done even if it wasn't perfect. Although it was such a small thing, working on this handkerchief helped take my mind off of things and alleviate my boredom for at least a little while.
• 
  2020-07-01

  Quarantine

  I submitted a pile of packages in my room as my photo because with nothing to do and preparing for college, I found myself ordering a lot more items and clothing online than I ever had before in my life. Mostly all of the online stores were also having huge sales, which did not help my shopping addiction especially while I was bored with no where to go and nothing to do.
• 
  2020-06-11

  Changing Times for Athletes and Fans

  The social distancing rules enforced to slow the spread of the coronavirus has many negative externalities associated with it. For myself and many others alike, sports have and always will be an outlet from the daily stresses of work and life. Fans, players, coaches, and everyone associated with professional and recreational athletics has been heavily effected in these current times. Losing athletics not only hurts in a mental sense but also in a financial way as well. It was said by ESPN that approximations suggest a total 12 billion dollar loss due to the suspension of sports. Professional athletes have been renegotiating contracts now and the structure of the games have been changed greatly. Being stuck inside seemed alright at first but without live entertainment or the ability to go out and exercise, time seems to move slower and slower in a period that everyone is seeking a way out of.
• 
  2020-05-29

  Humorous Schedule in Quarantine

  At first, people in quarantine didn't know what to do with themselves. This is one person's humorous schedule of his or her day. It shows the boredom and emotional toll of being isolated.