Items
topic_interest is exactly
kansas
-
2020-09-11
Teaching during the Pandemic in Rural Kansas
As a history teacher in rural Kansas, I thought I would bring a little humor to my hallway as I monitored the temperature scanners. My world history students were currently studying the Middle Ages and in our small school, I had taught every single sophomore, junior, and senior the same lessons, so I knew they would understand my outfit and think it was funny. This was a nice way to bring humor to a new situation during the first few weeks of an uncertain school year. -
2020-10-21
Spend time doing what matters to you most.
During the COVID-19 pandemic I have had to surmount multiple extremely challenging situations that were only made even more difficult by the pandemic, including the death of my last grandparent. As someone with pre-existing conditions, I usually have to be very careful about not just protecting myself when I leave my house in Chandler, Arizona, but making sure I don't spread any disease to my family. When I got the news that my Grandmother probably didn't have much time left due to her cancer, it was extremely distressing for several reasons. The main reason was the fact that I was losing my grandmother, but one factor that was just as, if not more distressing, was the question of how to be able to best safely spend time with her. After a long discussion with my family, I made it clear that just being on video chat or on the phone with my grandmother was not enough; I wanted to find a way to travel to her house in Kansas, and physically be there for her. It was not an easy decision to make, especially when one takes into account that my method of transportation was to fly, which made me very nervous as someone with pre-existing conditions. Fortunately, I was able to take a safe flight to Kansas, but I was shocked to find family visiting my grandmother from out of state that not only refused to wear masks around her, even though she had virtually no immune system left. Despite such stressful conditions, I was able to spend a week with my grandmother just before she passed away, even though COVID-19 made it very hard. The fact that I was able to do such a thing is striking to me, especially when compared to the vast amount of people around the world who aren't able to spend time with loved ones infected with COVID-19 before they pass away. Looking back, I am very lucky I did not get sick, and I was even more lucky that flights were beginning to become regularly available again after they had been shut down earlier in the year. Most of all, I feel very grateful that I was able to spend time with my grandmother, especially when so many people are dying alone all over the world, leaving families distraught, and without closure. -
2020-07
Finding Beauty in a COVID World
In this series my goal was to share how I found beauty this summer, despite everything happening right now in the United States. This collection of photos serves as a reminder for me that although things are not normal and probably won't be for a long time, there is such immense beauty that exists in this world. If it weren't for COVID and losing my job I would not have experienced many of these moments that I captured in these pictures. Perhaps the silver lining of COVID is that for a lot of us, it has forced us to literally sit back and reflect and these photos illustrate the "COVID-friendly" activities I chose to do this summer with all my free time. Some of these photos are some scenic landscapes in NYC, where I live. The rest of these images are from various scenic places throughout the country, mostly in the West, where I began my road trip back to New York City a few weeks ago. -
2020-07
Finding Beauty in a COVID World
I thought I would upload these photos to share how I found beauty this summer despite everything happening right now in the US. It serves as a reminder that although things are not normal and probably won't be for a long time, there is such immense beauty that exists in this world. If it weren't for COVID and losing my job I would not have experienced many of these moments that I captured in these pictures. Perhaps the silver lining of COVID is that for a lot of us, it has forced us to literally sit back and reflect and these photos illustrate the "COVID -friendly" activities I chose to do this summer with all my free time. Some of these photos are some scenic landscapes in NYC, where I live. The rest of these images are from various scenic places throughout the country, mostly in the west, where I began my roadtrip back to NYC a few weeks ago. -
2020-08-03
Staying active during corona
As someone who is very active I found it hard to sit at home and do nothing, therefore I decided to pick up my tennis racquet and go hit. -
2020-05-19
Drive-Thru Testing Ramps Up in Kansas
The Healthcore Clinic's mobile COVID-19 drive-thru testing station at the Wichita State Metroplex in east Wichita, Kansas, on the afternoon of May 19, 2020. One of three stations in the city, the Metroplex site had only been in operation for eight days at the time of this photo's creation, thus reflecting the slow implementation of available testing since the beginning of the outbreak, and the absolute necessity for it to contain the coronavirus's spread. Moreover, those being tested are doing so by their own volition, as there was no mandate from government authorities requiring compulsory testing. Aaron Peterka, Northeastern University