Items

• 
  2020-08-24

  First Day of School Picture

  The picture I chose to add to the archive is my first day of school on August 24, 2020. In this picture, I was laying in bed with my laptop because everything was online. If you were lucky, you got a professor that taught class on Zoom. That is the closest to being in a regular classroom as it got. You were able to see your classmates (if they turned their camera on), you could have discussions with everyone, ask the professor questions and get immediate answers. On the other hand, you could get stuck with a professor who chose to use youtube videos and websites instead of teaching. These were the worst, poor to almost no teacher-student interaction, just discussion boards and Google. It was impossible for me to learn like this, I felt like I was not being taught! It was always stressful when trying to do assignments for classes like this because I did not understand the curriculum. If I needed to contact my professor, I just had to send an email and hope they would email me back soon with answers. Sometimes, I would not get a response until days later, a few times I never got a response. After a while of this, I started to feel miserable, stressed, and depressed. My grades started getting lower and lower and knowing how much school costs, knowing that I was going to lose my grants and scholarships because I was failing, I started having anxiety attacks. In my head, I kept saying, “I cannot learn like this, I know I am going to fail, so why keep trying?” Things got to a point where I would open my laptop, look at my assignments, cry, and then just close my laptop back up. I lost all my motivation and I lost sight of my dreams to be an optometrist. I remember the day that I dropped out, the defeat that I felt, feeling like a complete failure.
• 
  2023-03-30

  Dancing In The Face Of Uncertainty

  My family and I were shown immense grace as the world endured the heart wrenching sorrow of the COVID-19 pandemic. May those whose lives were stolen by the coronavirus live forever in memory, and rest in eternal peace. At the onset of my second Freshman semester, the chatter among friends included ignorant musings such as: "what would happen if we got it?”, and my favorite, “the virus would NEVER come to the island.” Before Costco lines evoked Walmart on Black Friday, and up-to-the-minute death tolls became the linchpin of our media diet, the Bayonne Bridge signified a seemingly impenetrable chasm safeguarding Staten Island from a quarantined cruise ship in February 2020; because obviously airborne particles don’t pay tolls, right? A strange sense of wonder and excitement overtook the CSI campus on March 11, 2020: the day Gov. Cuomo announced CUNY & SUNY schools would “pause” in-person instruction. I'll never forget hearing the announcement on radio before walking to class for the last time until September 20, 2021. As I drove down Loop Road, a group of students (presumably upperclassman) cheered while blasting music on the Great Lawn. If those students truly were upperclassman, their dancing in the face of uncertainty would spite the commencement celebration they would never receive. I suspect a webpage and some pre-recorded speeches is an inutile stand-in for sitting among thousands of graduates on that very lawn. In tandem with devastation, panic, and uncertainty, the pandemic thrust society into a hard reset. So much of life is spent planning, yearning, and working towards the future - all of which are meaningless novelties to a hellacious virus. To survive the pandemic, besides evading COVID by way of masks, social distancing, and grace from above, each of us had to sift the remnants of our livelihoods to make out what our “new” present would look like. I thrived through the pandemic with music blasting, self-reflection, and a sense of liberation. Family bonds grew stronger, passion projects were completed, and for the first time in a decade, my life felt tranquil. I am repulsed by the fact that while millions took their final breath, businesses shuttered for good, and anxiety tormented the world, I found inner peace reminiscent of my childhood summers. Eerily, I vividly recall sitting in the basement of 2N during a 8am Geology class wishing for, “all this crap to end”, and lamenting, “why didn’t I go to SNHU or some college online?” I guess someone got their wish, and dragged humanity down with him. My father was the only non-essential worker in the house; he didn’t get that fancy paper from the state which supposedly let you free if cops pulled you over. We spent the first full day of lockdown scouring local stores for the coveted (and effective) N95 masks. At a time when the CDC told people to not wear masks so medical professionals had supplies, we were on a mission to guarantee we had protection for the long haul. My family recognized that the “pause” would not be a 1 to 2 month patty cake. My father was adamant his Window Cleaning & Power Washing business would collapse from the indefinite closures of his commercial clients. Our first purchase was the last 3-pack of Milwaukee N95s with those gaudy exterior respirators from homespun Garber’s Hardware. The ever-jovial gentlemen behind the counter adamantly said something to the effect of, “we’re gonna be here ’till they tell us to shut them doors.” 3 masks wouldn’t cut it, so we continued down the way to ye olde Sherwin Williams; where the employee had no suspicion we needed a 20-count box of 3M's finest for anything other than some recreational spray painting. Mask wearing wasn’t en vogue just yet. Those masks were needed when my Uncle could not get out of bed at 1:30pm the following Saturday. He worked the night prior, Friday the 13th, at his second job as a bouncer in Manhattan. On Saturdays he would saunter out of bed by 10:45 the latest; but here he was: frozen in bed, voice hoarse, and coughing like a smoker. I threw on the 95 and nitrile gloves just to speak to him from the hallway. That day was also the first time I ventured out in full biohazard regalia. I still remember the condescending scowls at my neighborhood’s second rate deli counter. The treatment advice the CDC hotline provided was to load up on Extra Strength Tylenol and guzzle water like there was no tomorrow. Thankfully my Uncle did see tomorrow and recovered in about 5 days. While my Dad and I kept our distance as my mother tended to the patient, we realized there must be a fruitful pastime besides burying our eyes in CNN coverage all day. My father, perpetually seeking the next project, came to the realization that, in plain english: we needed a pool table. When I was 6 years old, my father built a pool table out of wood when he was working for a contracting firm that operated in what is now Brooklyn’s Industry City. At 9 feet It conveniently sat atop our giant dinning room table. It was a gorgeous deep blue with every authentic accoutrement short of nicotine-reeking cloth. The table lasted about 8 months until my mom wanted her dining room back, fair enough. For a long time that table felt like a fever dream. After the it departure it was seldom mentioned; the balls and commemorative Coca-Cola cuestick sat dormant in the far reaches of our old home. The biggest hurdle to this project was space. The only feasible location was the unfurnished room in the back of our basement. The room experienced iterations as a screen-print emulsion lab, woodshop, actual chocolate factory, punching bag area, and video recording studio. After countless YouTube tutorials, including a Filipino gentleman building an unleveled table where all balls rolled to one side, we ventured to Lowe’s “Indoor Lumber Yard” to rekindle the magic of 2007. We sourced only the finest un-warped 2x4s and the purest synthetic wood crafted by the hands of man: Unfinished MDF Board. The 97 inch composite wouldn't fit down the basement stairwell, so we asked the one employee not running from us to cut it down the middle. Our makeshift table now presented two unique considerations: first, the board had to be precisely glued back together, and second, did you know commercial lumber dimensions are several inches off the actual product size? And in case you were not aware, “real” pool tables are made of slate. Breaking ground on March 19th, we used our decommissioned 20-year-old kitchen table as legs for our new creation. The board’s overhang allowed pockets to sit freely (no ball return system needed). On the days I had online class, my father intended to go downstairs “for about an hour” in the morning, before getting stuck in a jam by lunch, and working until dinner. I would assist in between classes, and when I was free, we’d get caught up in the room for hours on end. With Music Choice and MTV Classic the soundtrack of our toil, my Dad and I measured “tournament standard” dimensions - only to be slightly off, argued about what the heck a 142 degree cut really is, and savored the aromatics of wood glue and contact cement. The room was coated in sawdust, with scrap wood scattered neatly about. I was finally involved in my dad’s carpentry prowess after years of staring at his convoluted tools. Have you heard a Mitter saw in action? The grinding of the spiraling blades drown your ears with the screams of a motorcycle whizzing through a tunnel. I’d wince in fear that the time would come when the blade’s “SHING” would be followed by an agonized scream. My dad made mention of how woodshop teachers were always missing an appendage. He even shared horror stories like the time the blade guard failed to engage on a circular saw, skid free, peeled the side of his boot, cut through floor tiles, and sputtered wildly until it sliced the power cord. When I did schoolwork upstairs while listening to SiriusXM (another pandemic coping tool) I regularly heard my dad belt obscenities en español louder than both of our blaring radios. The table was declared playable at 8pm on Monday March 30th. I know this because the music on tv tuned to a channel recording CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE (I DVR’d many movies during lockdown). The table is not 100% complete, and has some quirks which challenge you to be a better player. We practiced and played on that table at least an hour a day everyday until in-person classes began to cloud my schedule. Under lockdown, my family spent days and nights hanging out in the backyard, barbecuing and laughing loudly, before we capped the night with rounds of pool. In homage to the California Spring Break shelved by the obvious, I burned a best of California Hip-Hop Mix CD to play on our old stereo that found new life in the pool room. As New York overcame the epicenter phase, the laid back qualities of spring carried into the summer and fall. Everyday felt like a celebration of life. People were out in parks and open spaces, roads were traffic free, and in my case, I was able to hold the people I love closer. I wish everyone could have experienced the “new normal” as I did - with their own sense of peace. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved ones who no longer walk this earth because of the pandemic, and myself and my entire family experienced onset and lingering side effects from both the vaccine and the coronavirus. I do not think I would have survived contracting COVID as I did in May 2022 if I was not vaccinated. I look back at my lockdown experience so fondly because I choose to focus on the joyous moments in the midst of global tragedy. Perspective is key. Perhaps I was forsaken the “true college experience”. I know for sure I was afraid of COVID. I only stoped wearing my N95s after having them for 12 hours straight while coughing phlegm from the virus. I feel a sense of sorrow and shame when people tell me the lockdown screwed them mentally; regardless of whether or not they lost someone. But what did I get out of the pandemic? A furnished room, an unbroken streak of Straight A’s, an endless summer with those close to me - and at what cost? I’m still the same shoddy pool player after three years of practice. What the lockdown gave me, more than anything, was the one thing that is unequivocally fleeting in this life: time. Maybe in hindsight, those revelers on the Great Lawn had the right idea.
• 
  2020-05-11

  Desert Plague

  Once summer hit Arizona and all the clubs and pools remained closed due to the pandemic, my friends and I were forced to get creative. We managed to find several hiking trails outside of Phoenix that led to glorious water (a treasure out here). We would spend hours at the little pools and waterfalls, talking about what we missed from our previous lives. Sometimes we would bring packs of White Claws- a COVID hit, and pretend we were in Vegas at the dayclubs. Back then, everything was a big ‘what if.’ We all thought that by September of 2020 we would be back in classes, moving on with our lives and not giving a second thought to the mayhem the pandemic brought on. We had no idea what the future held, but we were able to escape to our desert oasis and enjoy one another the way we deserved.
• 
  2020-07-21

  I think I want to start a garden with you

  I decided to start a garden during the pandemic with my girlfriend at the time (now wife). It was my senior year of college and life changed drastically in the spring when the pandemic hit. My wife and I had somewhat recently started dating at this point and suddenly we had to go on lockdown together to avoid any potential spread to her family since we both were required to go in person for our jobs. We went from dating to living together in an instant and it made us grow even closer. Together we tried to find quarantine hobbies to bide our time originally thinking that quarantine would only last a few months. I remember one day suggesting we start a garden in the backyard. My yard in Lubbock got so much sun it was just perfect for a garden. We slowly built a garden adding various plants from cactus and aloe vera to hot peppers, bean sprouts, and sunflowers. I loved going out there and caring for all the plants with my wife it was a real bonding experience. It was beautiful watching the whole process of our plants transform from little seeds to baby sprouts. I remember the way the new sprouts smelled crisp as they became verdant green and leafy. When we would water them on a particularly hot day it had a scent that reminded me of rainy summer days in Dallas when it got humid. I enjoyed getting to start this hobby that I most likely wouldn't have picked up at the time if I kept to my usual college routine. It was also a good distraction for both of us from the worries and anxieties of the pandemic.
• 
  2022-07-06T10:19

  Adulting On Lockdown

  I was 17 and a freshman in college when lockdown started. At the beginning of the year, COVID was just a blip on the news; the first time I'd heard of it, my mother was sharing an article on how the flu was deadlier and telling me I should get vaccinated. That February I got my first flu vaccine. A month later, I was packing up my dorm in a day and getting sent home. We went to McDonald's for lunch as fuel for the two-hour drive back to my small hometown. I wouldn't step foot in another business for a year. I spent the fall of my sophomore year away from all my newfound friends, too scared to risk infection on campus and too disappointed with the idea of spending the semester locked in a dorm room. I didn't return until the spring, now a legal adult. It would take another year for the mask mandate to be lifted; by then I'd been accepted into my school's Masters program and had moved out of my parent's place permanently. I haven't hit my 20s yet and the world still seems to be falling apart. A new variant, another mass shooting, the world burning... it's hard to believe it's ever going to end. But I keep working. Right now I'm doing research on the parallel's between Marvel's "Blip" and COVID. People ask me how I got a grant to do that, but to me it's the only way to make sense of the event that's marked my whole adult life. Superheroes make sense. They at least had control over their plague.
• 
  2021-08-10

  Get vaccinated so I can communicate again.

  Caption to post: As I’m sure you’ve seen and experienced, mask mandates are starting to come back. In stores, offices, and on my college campus as well. As a person with hearing loss, masks make it so difficult me for me to communicate. I rely so heavily on lipreading, seeing how the mouth moves when speaking, to understand what is said. Without lipreading, my speech recognition is around 16%. This means with masks, I can only absorb 16% of all interactions - that is incredibly isolating. When I go back to the classroom in September, it’s going to be so difficult to navigate the classroom setting when I can’t understand anyone. My teachers will have clear masks provided, but what about during group work or when students ask questions that I might also have? I’m going to completely miss out on the college experience I’ve been longing for for a year and a half because people won’t get vaccinated. I’m tired of disclosing my hearing loss to check out at a store. I’m tired of constantly fighting for closed captioning for online lectures. I’m tired of living in a pandemic where we have a solution to end it. Vaccines work. Vaccines save lives. Getting the vaccine means you’re helping deaf and hard of hearing people get back to a place where they can communicate again. SAVE this post and SHARE to spread awareness. This topic is NOT talked about enough and it’s something that affects the deaf and hard of hearing community every single day. ID IN COMMENTS
• 2022-05-07

  Covid

  I have never been one who went out and played or had activities. I like to play video games. However, during the past couple years everything has been pretty tough on everyone. I find myself getting frustrated that many places are closed to me and how boring college life is. I started college two years ago and it was miserable. All there was to do was just to sit in my dorm and play games, watch movies, and do homework. There wasn't any fun in college anymore with the effects of covid. As of now I feel drained in almost every way possible, I am usually an A student and now I am becoming a more C student and it frustrates me and angers me yet I still can't find any motivation to try harder. With the past couple of years all I would like to do is just take a break from everything and just work for a year or so then jump back into it.
• 
  2022-04-29

  For Those Most at Risk, COVID-19 Is Not Over

  This is a news story from Inside Higher ED by Josh Moody. As schools begin to resume to pre-COVID standards, not all are happy with this change. Those with disabilities worry about the loosening guidelines and how it would affect their health. COVID rates vary across the country, but many colleges are starting to drop protocols. Some disability advocates claim that this is a wrong decision from the colleges doing this, as it is putting people at high risk in more danger. COVID Safe Campus, a group of high-risk academics and activists with disabilities, recently launched a report card grading college coronavirus policies. The effort, they say, grew out of concerns that high-risk individuals are being left behind as colleges return to pre-pandemic normalcy. Colleges are graded on masking, COVID-19 testing and vaccination policies, and access to remote learning. Of the 90 institutions graded from this organization, majority have received a D or an F, and none earned an A.
• 2020-03-13

  Pandemic's Struggles and Benefits

  I was a college senior at Boston College from 2019-2020. I remember having a job opportunity lined up, an apartment lined up, and the rest of my school year lined up as well. Upon return from spring break, we were all told to go home and that we had 3 days to gather our things and say goodbye... Upon losing my job, my friends, and my school, I did not know what to do, especially with a deadly virus in the air. Out of this journey, though, I applied to grad school and ended up achieving my dreams of getting a Master's in History. So, the pandemic had its struggles but it also had its benefits and I am a prime example.
• 
  2022-04-19

  GB Oral History, 2022/04/19

  The interviewee discusses vaccine hesitancy and life during the pandemic without having received the vaccine.
• 
  2022-04-18

  Canceled

  How many experiences were altered/lost due to the pandemic and why they mattered.
• 
  2022-04-15

  The Years of Covid 2020-2022

  How covid affected my transition from high school to college
• 
  2021-01-05

  The Covid Pandemic as a Senior in Highschool

  The website that I am linking describes what happened to students all over the world in March of 2020 when all students in schools and universities had to go on lockdown and switch abruptly to complete online learning. This is an important covid-19 related topic to me because I was a senior in high school during that time, and I really struggled with my mental health, academic achievements, responsibilities, body image, and just overall my whole life. This article isn't as personal as it could get, but it gives a good historical and general idea of what student experience during the pandemic was like.
• 
  2022-02-06

  Covid: College Edition

  In March of 2020, all SUNY schools were sent home because of the Covid pandemic. It was unknown how long I was going to be home for, little did I know it would be over 11 months and a year and a half to go to in person classes. Almost half of my college experience was spent virtual. This is a time that you will never get to live again and it was cut short by almost half. I am very grateful to be in person again and seeing my friend's even thought things aren't 100% back to normal, I am very happy to be back. I am praying that this never happens again for future college students or any students in that matter. Enjoy the time you have because you never know what the future holds.
• 
  2021-12-08

  End of Semester Covid-19 Interview Oral History 2021/12/08

  This interview is about our thoughts and understandings of the Covid-19 pandemic after having taken a semester-long course about the history of pandemics spanning from the black plague until the Spanish flu. We've discussed how we think the world could have handled this pandemic differently, the similarities and differences between this pandemic and previous pandemics, and how this pandemic affected our personal lives.
• 
  2021-12-03

  Christian Sandoval Oral History, 2021/12/03

  An interview with Christian Sandoval, a UTSA senior who graduated during the pandemic, on how the pandemic affected his graduation and career options.
• 
  2021-12-03

  Juliana Marston and Sydney Champagne Oral History, 2021/12/03

  We are both students in college. In our History of Pandemics class, we learned about past pandemics (namely the Bubonic Plague, Smallpox, Cholera, and Influenza pandemics) and how they impacted society. This course also challenged us to compare and contrast the current pandemic to those of the past, while considering how mankind may fare in pandemics moving forward. We discuss these things and more in the interview recording.
• 
  2021-12-03

  Kaitlin Teniente Oral History, 2021/12/03

  An interview with the Director of Esports at St. Mary's University, Kaitlin Teniente, discussing how the pandemic affected interacting with the students through esports and other casual videogame events.
• 
  2020-03-12

  An Online University

  Choosing a university to go to is a life-changing choice. For most it is also a difficult one. With coronavirus restrictions in place, many students could not tour the schools they wanted to in person. It was because of this many schools began offering virtual tours. St. Mary's was one of these schools. I personally toured St. Mary's virtually. I didn't mind this option because I was already pretty sure I wanted to go there. The virtual tour was eye catching and easily accessible. I could see though how a virtual tour could be impersonal for others who were struggling to make a choice. It's not easy to capture an experience through a computer screen.
• 
  2020-05-13

  The Little Things

  The pandemic hit and many new college students were forced to enjoy their admission celebrations from their homes through their computer screen and Zoom. Still, St. Mary's University pushed forward to make this event memorable and celebrate future incoming Rattlers to their new school. This screenshot is a still shot of the emotions and celebrations early freshmen experienced during the pandemic. Being accepted into university is no small thing, but a Zoom celebration is a small gesture of congratulations that feels very big.
• 
  2021-08-17

  Last Minute Changes in Teaching

  For Fall 2021, some teachers gave the option to zoom into class for students who were not comfortable being present in person. Out of my five classes, only two had this option specifically stated. I planned to attend all classes in person but the day before class was due to start one teacher switched to remote only. Initially, I was okay with it. It was the first class of the day so maybe I wouldn't have to get up so early. Then I realized I would have to wake up early anyway. The class after the remote one was ten minutes after. I would of had to rush even if the class was on campus. Situations like these showed that things were even unexpectedly changing for teachers. While the situation may have slightly inconvenienced me, I'm sure it wasn't ideal for the teacher either.
• 
  2021-03-03

  Conditions of Residency – HIST30060

  This three-page document is an agreement that all residents of Ormond College had to sign upon their move in at the commencement of 2021. It details a number of expectations of behaviour of all students living on campus– including testing and self isolating when experiencing flu-like symptoms, ensuring social distancing is maintained, and acknowledging that any breach of said conditions could result in being asked to leave the college. Such a document indicates the changing nature of residential institutions, and the systems needed in order to limit the chances of an outbreak. While many of these conditions would have been unimaginable in early 2019, in 2021, many of them were simply seen as the norm for a communal living institution. HIST30060.
• 
  2020-08-11

  Fresh Look at the Outdated Classroom

  Online was the new way of providing lessons, assigning classroom activities, and laying out information for students across all ages. Sites like google classroom, canvas, blackboard, and seesaw suddenly became teachers and professors only way of providing students with a "classroom". In the first picture we see an example of an elementary school platform, in the next image is a middle school layout, and the final image is of the new college format. All three platforms provided students with a visual way to remain in contact with their educators in a time where we couldn't meet. They were our way of adjusting to the new situation we were all stuck in. However, despite providing us with the benefits of being connected without having to meet in person, there were still a few shortcomings. Because of the lack of in person class we couldn’t form connection with each other. That was a struggle for kids and teachers/professors alike. There remained a barrier between each other.
• 
  2020-03-12

  A Permanent Break

  This image shows how much almost everyone underestimated the pandemic. It also highlights the uncertainty it brought. Most thought we were just getting one extra week of staying home. We would be heading back to campus after that so we were grateful for the extra vacation time. Little did we know that there would be no end in sight for this pandemic for almost two years. No one knew how long it would last or exactly how much it would affect our everyday lives. Procedures constantly changed as institutions tried to figure out the best way to respond to this unprecedented situation. I think this image would spark student memories of the reaction they had to similar school announcements. Many people were on vacation and came home to a total shift in society like panic buying. My family was in Mexico at the time and in the middle of the vacation the hotel switched from open buffet and people roaming to encouraging people not to interact with others. Before my family left my stepdad had bought some nonperishables to store. I didn't know why he did this and thought this was silly and just a habit from his Red Cross responder days. It turns out he was correct in predicting people would flock to the stores once institutions started practicing preventive measures. This image is just one of the many that demonstrate how people's lives began to change during this time.
• 
  2021-10-06

  Reflecting on life. Life has been hard.

  It was August 25th, 2019. I had finally reached my parents’ house, all of our belongings* (all that could fit in one car*) in tow, back in my home state of New York. I didn’t want to be here – I grew up in NY, and until two years ago, never intended on coming back. I like to call it the “tectonic plates of life” moving, that moment when you feel something big on the horizon and suddenly, oh hey, here’s a big life decision you didn’t plan on having to make, have fun! Circumstances change, yeah. Life is a pretty unpredictable time warp, and global warming is such a serious issue; it was already sorta tough to not focus on the negatives before 2020. Relationship issues, financial issues, family issues – so many volumes of problems. I already felt like I had lost everything, pride included. Nothing could have prepared me for the pure stress that inevitably comes from a worldwide pandemic. Moving back into my parents’ house as a single parent in her 30’s was just about the biggest pill I could swallow that autumn. Since I had decided to work at Starbucks again, I finally made up my mind to go to college for the first time. In February, I enrolled in summer classes to start at ASU. I was hearing something about a coronavirus, but I wasn’t paying much attention to the news with taking placement tests for college in between working. In March, my daughter’s school closed, and so did Starbucks. It’s hard. It’s hard to not focus on the bad, and it’s so odd to think fondly of the not-so-bad before it. Life just feels a little bit harder. A lot bit, with the increasing violence, hatred and misinformation being spread on a daily basis. Everyone’s experiencing repercussions in one way or another; but something I cannot deny – the something I’m most grateful for: how much I’ve grown, emotionally and mentally. Maybe I can’t credit the stress from the pandemic completely, but it has certainly put all of my other stress in a different perspective. It turned my attention to world issues – I stopped being so wrapped up with myself and my own country, started learning about other cultures after starting college – falling so deeply for that education that I decided to major in Anthropology, with a Minor in Religious Studies. I watched a Ted Talk once that described the good effects of stress.. I feel as if I’m a better human, or at least, a more knowledgeable one. A lot has changed in the past two years. I started college, moved into my own place, moved back into parents’ (hi, tectonic plates!), went from being faithfully Christian to super agnostic/atheist (that was mentally difficult and I’m still processing it) and although I am quite bitter with life in general, I’m also much happier with it, and with myself. I'm a better mom for it. Life has felt like a constant challenge for years now, but I appreciate how easy it is to appreciate the simple things. I may find it annoying that everyone is more on edge, but honestly, who can blame them? Good on everyone for putting up with life! All we can do is learn and grow. And treat the planet well, guys. Let’s do that, too.
• 
  2021-08-19

  UArizona Football Team 100% Vaccinated

  The University of Arizona football achieved 100% vaccination rate at the beginning of the 2021 season, the highest in the Pac-12. TEXT OF NEWS ARTICLE: The Arizona football program is 100% vaccinated against COVID-19, the team announced Thursday. The rate includes players, coaches and other staffers. First-year coach Jedd Fisch had made that a goal, and the team has achieved it. The UA is believed to be the only team in the Pac-12 to have reached 100%, with UCLA in second place at 98%. During Arizona's media day earlier this month, Fisch revealed 115 of the Wildcats' 118 players were vaccinated — a 97.4% rate and a five-player improvement from the team's mark in July. Other teams in the Pac-12 that are above the 90% threshold include Washington, Colorado, Utah, USC and Oregon. Oregon State (88%), Stanford (85%) and Washington State (80%) are behind the other Pac-12 programs, while Arizona State and Cal haven't disclosed their vaccination rates. Ole Miss is another college football program with all of its personnel 100% vaccinated. “We are proud to say our football program is 100% vaccinated,” the program posted via Twitter. “Our players, our staff and all who are affiliated with our program have worked very hard to accomplish this goal. “We take our health very seriously, and we are committed to a 12-game season and beyond. We are also committed to staying healthy and are hopeful that campus can follow our lead.”
• 
  2021-09-27

  COVID-19, College and a Pandemic Puppy

  I was attending Estrella Mountain Community College at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. When we found out that we were going to have an extended spring break it seemed like a much-needed break at the time. Nobody knew it would change our lives forever and it especially changed mine. During the beginning of the pandemic, I completed my Associate Degree completely online and it would convince me to continue my bachelor’s degree completely online through ASU. I was able to experience this new way of learning in college and I really liked it. A lot of my peers in college have said how much they dislike online learning, but during the pandemic I learned how much I prefer online learning to in person learning. This pandemic has been one of the worst experiences I have had in my life, but it also taught me so much about myself. Another milestone during the pandemic was my family got a new puppy named Loki. She was really the highlight of our days during quarantine and gave us something to look forward to everyday. I work at an elementary school in the after-school care program, so at the beginning of the pandemic I was able to stay home and still be paid. When August 2020 came around, we had to go back to work, and it was terrifying at first. All the adults and kids were wearing masks, so it felt a little safer, but it was still very scary. The feeling of so many unknown things during this pandemic was really the worst and it just brought anxiety with every day. This pandemic also highlighted some issues that we have within our society. Things like access to covid tests and vaccines were highlighted within our society as issues. People living in less wealthy areas of the world did not have the same access to covid tests and vaccines as everyone else in the rest of the world did. This allowed the virus to spread even more than it should have already. Another big issue in our society during the pandemic was the mask debate. The virus continued to spread due to people refusing to wear masks and infecting people when they were not wearing masks. The mask debate is still ongoing because the pandemic is still not over. A huge issue we have in our society right now is the argument about whether vaccines are safe and if masks are effective. The only way we are going to end this pandemic is if everyone gets the vaccine and people continue to wear masks. This pandemic has been ongoing for almost a year and a half, it is time that we try as a society to end this pandemic.
• 
  2021-09-22

  EM Oral History, 2021/09/22

  It is important to strengthen the amount of first hand accounts of the pandemics for future reference and historical purposes.
• 
  2020-03

  Life of a College Student During a Pandemic

  The COVID-19 pandemic has affected so many people all across the globe in many different ways. One of the big groups of people that have been affected in the United States is college students. I was a semester and a half into my freshman year here at Duquesne when everything began to take a turn for the worse. Looking back to then, I was still finding my way and learning what it was like to be a college student at the time, just beginning to become familiar with the lifestyle. The past year and a half as a college student has been a long and hard process of transitioning into life as a college student during a global pandemic. Simple things like going to class in person, to eating with my friends in the dining hall were not as simple as they once seemed. Many students, like myself, struggled with being as involved in online classes like we were during in person classes. Along with that, I struggled with retaining a lot of the information given to me by my professors during class time, communication between student and professor was not as easy as it used to be. But not only has the education aspect of college changed drastically, there has been a huge change in the social aspect of college as well. Simple things like meeting with some friends to go get dinner after a long week of classes was not as easy as it once was. Looking back, freshman year now feels like an eternity ago, a lot about my life as a college student has changed due to this pandemic. Certainly, things are becoming better, and we are getting closer to normality, but the pandemic still affects me as a college student till this day. Still having to wear masks on campus as well as getting a COVID test when feeling a little bit sick are some things I have had to deal with recently. Life as a college student is ever changing during the pandemic, it has been very hard at times, but it is certainly something I will never forget.
• 
  2021-09-16T13:00:00

  Tiffany Lam and Daniel Berry Oral History, 2021/09/16

  This is a quick interview between two freshmen in college, recapping our overall thoughts throughout the pandemic.
• 
  2021-09

  Appreciating Family

  When reflecting back on my own experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic, there are a lot of things that come to mind: how my freshmen year of college was completely upended, how I did not feel safe to return to my part-tine job, and especially how nerve-wracking it was to watch world leaders navigate through a crisis we had yet to see in our lifetime. Acknowledging these difficulties that I personally faced, along with the challenges people across the world faced, is crucial because, unfortunately, fear is apart of this story that history will tell; however, I have always found myself someone who tries to remain rather optimistic, which I find myself doing as I share my story. Though I hesitate to call the COVID-19 pandemic a ‘blessing in disguise,’ it did open my eyes and help me to become much more grateful for one huge aspect of my life: my family. I have been very privileged to have a close and loving family my entire life, though it took me a while to realize what a privilege this was. Sitting down each night to dinner and having a lively conversation with my mom, dad, and younger brother was the norm to me, so I rarely considered the notion that that wasn’t the same for everybody else. When the pandemic first struck and shut down life as we knew it, I – a 19-year-old college student – suddenly found myself back at home living every single day with my family. This was a very jarring shift for me after experiencing the freedom that college granted me, but I quicky began to see how lucky I was to have a loving and accepting family to get through this difficult time with. Of course, this is not to say I never got frustrated with constantly being around my family, but it made me appreciate all the good moments that we had together. Together, we formed a stronger bond as a family that helped us to get through the physical and mental toll the pandemic had brought. From trying new meals together, watching new shows/movies together, to creating wacky videos to share with our friends and family, and so much more, I began to appreciate all the little moments we had together. As things somewhat begin to return to a state of ‘normalcy,’ I continue to reflect on this time I spent with my family, and I cannot help but feel a huge sense of gratitude. I truly have learned to appreciate everything they have done for me (and continue to do), as well as learned to appreciate many more facets of my life. Nowadays, I find myself much more cognizant of the seemingly simple things and not taking them for granted. It is strange to think that something such as a global pandemic can be the thing that really cements an idea or feeling in our minds, but that is what COVID-19 did for me and my appreciation for my wonderful family.
• 
  2021-08-05

  Recovery Justice Mail Art

  I See Dedication I See Hope I See Love We are all suffering illness, sadness, loss of the way we think life should be– Using the cool patterns on the panels of tissue boxes, I thought that material appropriate. Most of these collaged images appropriate an eye form, much like the Turkish Evil Eye, when given as a gift it offers protection. In this project many 18th St. artists participated and a single art piece was sent out with mental health support materials for anyone who signed-up on our website. This has been an artist-driven 18th St. Arts supported and produced project also supported by Recovery Justice, Santa Monica and We Rise LA. Special thanks to Sara Daleiden and Sue Bell Yank at 18th St. –Melinda Smith Altshuler P.S. Honestly it has been an honor and a blessing to produce work for this project and also support our friends and neighbors who are suffering more than us.
• 
  2021-08-04

  SUNY Brockport reinstates mask mandate

  Today, my college, SUNY Brockport reinstated the mask mandate, now requiring all individuals on campus to wear masks again. I am sure many have mixed feelings about this. I want to protect myself and my community by I am soooo over wearing masks.
• 
  2021

  HST 515 ASU assignment prompt

  screenshot, pdf, and doc of ASU HST 515 prompt given to students by instructor Katy Kole de Peralta
• 
  2020

  HUM 402 assignment prompt, University of Tasmania

  Assignment prompt given to University of Tasmania students in HUM 402 by instructor Nicole Tarulevicz
• 
  2020-04

  MUSE 360 Assingment Juliee Decker RIT

  Assignment prompt given to MUSE 360 students of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) by instructor Juliee Decker, Spring 2020
• 
  2021-05

  Bronx Community College ART 89 Syllabus Spring 2021

  Syllabus for partner class ART 89 from Bronx Community College. Instructor Lisa Amowitz. Spring 2021
• 
  2020-03-19

  Early Moveout

  Had to move out of my dorm 2 months early, a few weeks after classes were cancelled. The roommate was from Colombia, had to leave behind half of his stuff to get on a flight home.
• 
  2020-03-13

  My UC SmashBubble

  I was a college freshman only a few weeks into my spring semester when COVID got real. On March 13th, the entire school received an email that academics would be halted and that no guests would be allowed in any of the dorms. In essence, Columbia College Chicago was on lockdown. There was no leaving the dorms because there was no reason to leave. Any comedy gigs that I had were cancelled as theatres began to shut down, school assignments were postponed as schools struggled to find solutions, and most of my friends living in the other dorm buildings were far away. I had washed and sanitized my hands so manically that they were chapped and burning. I was too afraid to go to the pharmacy across the street because I didn't have a mask. The grey walls of a dorm feel a lot more grey when they're the only things you see. I was scared and alone when I heard a ruckus coming from the dorm I shared a bathroom with. One of my suitemates had gathered some friends to play Super Smash Brothers. I had played with him and my roommate in the past, but he was entertaining a group of people I had only seen in passing glances in the hall. I picked up a controller and, for the next two weeks, they were my only friends. We did everything together, played games, ate together, watched TV (turns out they like to watch Wheel Of Fortune, a game that I've won many times from the comfort of my couch), they even persuaded me to watch a little of the anime they all enjoyed. After a few terrible days of thinking only about my problems and what this pandemic meant for my future, a fun, tight-knit group of friends was just what the doctor ordered. I made a lot of fantastic memories with them and, if it wasn't for COVID, they would have remained passing faces in the hallway.
• 
  2021-04-22

  CA Colleges to Require Vaccine

  Numerous times in the past couple of months, we’ve been wondering if CA colleges would require the vaccine. Today it’s official - the answer is yes. To be transparent, this Californian who has friends and family employed by the UC system is extremely happy. I realize there is vaccine hesitation but I am relieved for the safety of students and staff that the universities are taking this step. And it’s not just the UC system, the Cal State system and Stanford are also instituting the same requirement (actually Stanford announced first). The UC system is often a trend setter - if it does something, other universities follow. I’m hoping this will begin a trend, not only in higher education but at the K-12 level. I know, super controversial, but schools already require other immunizations, why not this one? Public health, people!
• 
  2021-04-02

  The Lost Year: How the Pandemic Changed a Generation of Students

  Time magazine explores the effects COVID-19 has had on students, especially those who spent their last year in High School dealing with quarantine and virtual learning.
• 
  2020-03-20

  COVID kicked me off of my campus

  Around mid-March, all of the students of my college received an email that on-ground instruction had been suspended and that we all had 48 hours to leave campus.
• 
  2021-03-28

  COVID-19, Social Distancing, and College Theater in Thatcher, Arizona

  By Lori Dugan/EAC THATCHER — Eastern Arizona College’s Fine Arts Division proudly presents “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” from April 7 – 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Auditorium, with the understudy performance taking place on April 8. General admission tickets are $5 for adults and are on sale now at the EAC Ticket Office. Call (928) 428-8228 for more information. EAC employees and students can attend for free. Due to COVID-19, social distancing is in place to accommodate safe spacing. Masks are required. You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown synopsis The musical, based on the wildly popular Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz, is probably best described as an average day in the life of Charlie Brown. It is made up of little moments, from Valentine’s Day to baseball season, from wild optimism to utter despair. The familiar cast of characters is there, from Lucy and Linus to Schroeder, Sally, and, of course, Snoopy. The production explores what it means to be a good person, prompted by affirmations from Charlie Brown’s friends. These compliments set Charlie Brown on a journey of self-discovery as the audience follows him and his friends through a day of adventure and trials. Musical numbers include “My Blanket and Me,” “The Kite,” “The Baseball Game,” “Little Known Facts,” “Suppertime,” and “Happiness.” The play spans the months between Valentine’s Day and Beethoven Day, following the characters in their optimism and utter despair. “’You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’ is a crowd-pleasing classic for all ages,” said Chase Moore, EAC Musical Theatre director. “Anybody who’s a Peanuts fan will relive lots of fun memories from the comic strip.” Behind the production The production is directed by Dr. Dale J. Young, and features set designs by Greg Owen, both EAC associate professors of theater arts. Music is under the direction of Chase Moore. The production is choreographed by Rena De La Cruz, with costumes designed by Timilee McNair. Clark Gesner created the book, music, and lyrics for “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”, with additional dialogue by Michael Mayer and additional music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. Winner of two Tony Awards, five Drama Desk Awards, and an Outer Critic Circle Award, this production’s musing on life’s ironies and delights continues to resonate with audiences’ hearts. Theatre Arts at EAC You can shine in the spotlight at EAC! In the Department of Theatre Arts, students take part in dynamic shows and emerge as artists for the next step in their careers. “Our graduates are successful all across the country,” said Dr. Dale J. Young. “Some of the roles they hold are teachers, managers, actors, playwrights, directors, administrators, MFA graduate students, and the list goes on.” Students interested in this area of study at Eastern Arizona College enter the Associate of Arts Program in Theatre Arts www.eac.edu/Academics/Programs_of_Study/Theatre/. This program offers dynamic learning opportunities in acting, stagecraft, scene design, stage make-up, costume design, play analysis, and more. This curriculum meets the targeted requirements for the first two years of a bachelor’s degree program at a college or university.
• 
  2021-03-21

  A Year Into COVID-19's Impact on California's Education

  A comprehensive timeline of all the major events that occurred related to California's education; K-12 to college-level. It starts on March 4, 2020 with the latest entry at March 11, 2021.
• 
  2020-06-20

  Racial Equity Gaps

  When we think about racial equity gaps in higher education it typically centers on how BIPOC students face much lower odds of earning a college degree. This is definitely true, but those who do make it to graduation also face inequities in college and in the job market post-degree.⠀ ⠀ A study of 2016 BIPOC college graduates found Black and Latinx students experience the longest time to completion, borrow significantly more than other students, and receive the lowest pay after graduation. This means Black and Latinx graduates spend less time earning wages and are more likely to have higher debt when graduating. It took me five years to earn my degree, while I also worked a full time job to pay tuition. The racial wealth gap we have doesn't just occur while employed but long before it.
• 
  2021-02-23

  Republican senators to Tennessee's public colleges: Stop athletes from kneeling during national anthem

  In a virtual interview, Rennia Davis explains why the Lady Vols knelt during the national anthem. From the article: Tennessee Republicans are up in arms over a state college basketball team's decision to kneel last week during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner," prompting legislators to warn the public university system not to allow student athletes to do so again.
• 
  2021-02-28

  Surviving the pandemic

  It is my personal experience of the pandemic. It's important to me as I've fought my inner insecurities and battles. I'm still coping with the stress caused by this pandemic, but it is getting better and I hope it gets better for everyone else too.
• 2020-01-01

  Surviving 2020 & COVID-19 Pandemic: Life As A College Student

  As the ball dropped on New Year’s Day I embraced and kissed my boyfriend in excitement of what would await us in 2020, if only I knew. As we said our goodbyes to our friends we drove home on a side road to avoid the frantic traffic of drunk drivers and people rushing to get home. All I remember is driving in front of my boyfriend’s car and then waking up to him sobbing over me. My car lights were on, sunroof open, glass shattered everywhere, my blood stained on my wheel and purple bruises on ribs. Long story short I was smashed into by a drunk driver, my car flipped, rolled, and was finally crushed into a tree with me inside while my significant other watched it unravel before his eyes. This was my beginning to 2020 and I wished and hoped that it would only be better from there on but I was horribly wrong. On March 11th of 2020 I received an email from my university stating that it would be closed and urged all students to return home for the remainder of the semester. As many college students saw this as an extended spring break at the time we were all happy since it basically meant more partying. After week one passed of receiving the email I quickly realized that being isolated would be my downfall and it sure was. By the end of the Spring semester I had failed a couple classes and was desperately trying to crawl out of a depressive episode. Since I am, or rather struggling to be a nursing student still, failing my Anatomy and Physiology I class sent me into a spiral of what ifs and how my GPA would recover from these failed courses. The realization of retaking these courses in order to save my future and using my only two chances of “erasing” my unsatisfactory grades crushed me. I was shattered by this reality but continued to push myself through Summer term to ace these courses, I studied day and night sacrificing friendships and days out for an A. As Summer came to an end Fall came and I barely passed the classes online because I struggled to adapt and truly retain the material meanwhile peers in my class were either completely giving up or cheating their way through the online, remote exams. To add the cherry on top, I was battling my university’s Housing Board in order to cancel my dorm agreement because many COVID cases had been recorded in my building and my roommates still went out to clubs while not wearing masks. As the months passed and semesters came and went, I felt my sanity slipping and today I still sit in fear of my future. I struggle leaving my apartment due to the fear of exposure to COVID and accidentally passing it onto my only parent who suffers from lupus. This pandemic has truly crushed me and unfortunately it seems that I will be spending the remainder of my college life and 20s in this chaotic, barren, and lonely society where we only see each other screen to screen.
• 2021-02-18

  My Keys to a Year in Isolation

  Starting on March 9, one university email followed another; the rapidly spreading pandemic meant that campus residents like me had to immediately find new housing. Unhappy and depressed with my dorm, I was actually glad at this chance to move. As soon as March 11th, I was already searching for a new place to live. Though I was relieved, I basically had to abandon my end-of-term schoolwork to secure an apartment. This came with consequences and I ended up taking three incomplete grades. I signed a lease on March 21, 2020. A year later, COVID-19 continued to spread and I recently renewed my lease. From top, these are my mailbox, unit, and building keys to my ~220 sq. ft. Chicago studio.
• 
  2020-03-12

  Such is life in Covid Time

  On February 21st, 2021, one of my professors—while on an exceedingly off-topic tangent during a lecture about Medival Spain—flippantly remarked that in the age that we currently live in, there is now such a thing as “BCT” (“Before Covid Time”) and “CT” (“Covid Time”). According to him, we are currently living in both the year 2021 AD (or CE) and the year 1 CT. Our life as we know it, in the eyes of my professor and Julius Ceaser, is measured and marked by the birth of Jesus Christ and the contagious disease known as Covid-19. And just as it was for the birth of Jesus Christ, it exceedingly easy to pinpoint the exact moment when such a shift in time, from BCT to CT (at least in the United States), had occurred. It was the second week of March. Or, to be more exact, the 12th of March, the day when everything changed for a college student such as myself. On March 8th, 2020 (both AD and BCT), I had awoken as an average American college student in my dorm room. I had just gotten back from a spring break study abroad trip to the country of Cuba, and I was excited for classes to start back up the following day (and continue for the rest of the semester). Nothing was out of the ordinary. Life was continuing as we knew it. Covid-19 was an intangible construct at that point in time, some unseen nightmare way off in the distance that could not reach us. Nothing we needed to worry about, especially as young college students. There were hardly any reported cases yet if any in the United States. Everyone used to say, “oh, that Covid thing? Yeah, it’s just in China. Or Spain. Or Italy,” and then they would go about their day, not giving it any more thought. It was hardly even anything newsworthy. When I was in Cuba that first week of March, the only news we ever received (when we got signal or wifi, which was not often) was about the election, nothing Covid related. People even made jokes about it. That was just how life was in BCT, even a week before everything changed. Hell, even a few days before. On Monday that week, everything was normal, college life as I knew it continued—I saw my friends, got my meals in the ever so crowded dining hall, and went to classes with the max capacity of students. On Wednesday, the college Instagram meme page had posted a Covid update for the first time—there was a confirmed case not too far from campus—yet things continued as usual. However, on Friday, March 12th, 2020, almost a week after I had been partying it up in a packed club in Cuba with absolutely no awareness of the elusive plague that thrived halfway across the world, the shoe suddenly, and finally, dropped. I had shown up to my “Basics of Math” class to find that there were only five people (other than me) in attendance, and not even six hours later, we were given three hours to pack up and leave campus (pictured, me in the midst of packing up). I did not know it then, but we would not be allowed back on campus for another five months, almost 160 days in total. It is no exaggeration when I say that from that moment on, I felt as if I were a Depression Era family, evicted from their home, with all their belonging out on their lawn, with no knowledge of where to go from there. Even though I had my childhood home to go to, I felt, for lack of a better term, “out on my butt.” It was as if I was displaced, uprooted, cut adrift, and lost. I had not even unpacked any of my belongings when I arrived back home. I lived out of my haphazardly packed—and it was haphazard; I had packed up my dorm room in a sweat-inducing and crazed rush—suitcase until it was time once more to pack up and go back to college five months later. And my physical being was not the only thing that felt disoriented. Just as I imagine it was with most other college students during this time, the 2020 spring semester was one of my worst academically performing semesters to date. Although now, almost a full year later (entirely in Covid time), I am most adept at zoom life and the socially-distanced way classes are held, at the time, absolutely not. With every single one of my classes now on Zoom or some virtual variant, it became most difficult for me to adjust to the new way of things. Not even the professors knew what they were doing. Everyone was struggling. And it certainly did not help that my house had now taken on the most distracting nature ever to date. My sister, my mother, and my father were quarantined with me at home. That particular combination of people and location was about as conducive for my studies as it would be if I were studying amid an active circus. Not even when I was in class could I be completely unbothered. With no desk in my room, which I shared with my sister at the time, I was forced to partake in class and do my assignments while sitting next to my mother taking business calls, my sister playing on her Nintendo switch or watching a tv show, and my dad listening in on his own classes or playing the drums. It was a breeding ground for distraction. I would go as far as to say that I was lucky I even got the grades I ended up with that semester. It truly was an abysmal time. Although I certainly do not have to tell anyone that. Life as a college student during CT had proved most difficult. And it still has not entirely let up. Although for the 2020 to 2021 academic year we have thankfully been allowed back on campus, student life has not yet reverted to how it once was (for better or worse). Classes now have a capacity limit (with socially distanced desks, six feet apart), the dining hall tables now only sit two, we have to make reservations for every meal (to limit how many people there are at a certain time), you are not able to frequent any dorms other than your own, masks must be worn at all times, some classes are held over zoom, or even outside, off-campus travel is prohibited, and there are only specific entrances and exits you can use for every college building. College life—a time which was always regarded as the free-est time of one’s whole life—is now the most massively regulated. And all I can say to that is, “c’est la vie.” Such is life in “Covid time.”