Items

• 2021-07-01

  Falling In Love With Chicago

  As the world slowly emerged from the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, life began to regain a semblance of normalcy. With restrictions lifting and vaccinations becoming widely available, my family eagerly embraced the opportunity to reunite with loved ones and explore the world beyond the confines of our home. After our children became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, my husband and I decided to embark on a memorable journey to visit family in Chicago. The decision was influenced by the fact that Illinois had taken the pandemic seriously, and the situation seemed relatively stable. The excitement in the air was palpable as we packed our bags and set off on the adventure. The journey itself became a testament to newfound hope and optimism, a stark contrast to the anxiety-ridden days of lockdown. The rhythmic hum of the Amtrak train and the gentle swaying of the carriages created a soothing backdrop to our anticipation. After almost three days on the train, we finally reached our destination. As we settled into the rhythm of Chicago life, we found ourselves enchanted by the city's rich history and vibrant culture. The streets echoed with the footsteps of generations past, and the architecture told stories of resilience and progress. Our children's eyes widened with each new discovery, absorbing the lessons of the past and the beauty of the present. The museums became classrooms, and the parks transformed into playgrounds of learning and exploration. From the towering skyscrapers to the serene shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago opened its arms wide, inviting our family to immerse ourselves in its tapestry of experiences. Over the course of two weeks, we marveled at the diversity of the city, the pulsating energy of its neighborhoods, and the friendliness of its people. The world-class museums, the iconic Millennium Park, and the deep-dish pizzas became integral parts of our family's collective memory. The reluctance to leave grew with each passing day, as Chicago had become more than a destination; it had become a second home. The connections made, the lessons learned, and the memories forged painted a picture of a city that had welcomed our family with open arms. As we boarded the Amtrak train to return home, a mixture of gratitude and nostalgia-filled our hearts. Chicago had been a beacon of joy and discovery during a time when the world needed it most. The journey had not just been about a visit; it had been a transformative experience, a reminder that even in the face of adversity, there was always the possibility of finding beauty, connection, and a sense of belonging. The trip to Chicago amid the COVID-19 pandemic symbolizes a shift from a period of uncertainty and isolation to one of hope, reconnection, and exploration. That being said, the nervousness still set the undertone to the trip. The eligibility and administration of COVID-19 vaccinations mark a significant turning point in our family's ability to travel. It really shows the importance of vaccines as a tool for regaining a sense of freedom and the ability to engage in activities that were restricted during the height of the pandemic. The exploration of Chicago's history, culture, and landmarks communicates our desire for new experiences and rediscovery of the beauty in the world. The trip became almost like a metaphor for the broader human experience of seeking joy, adventure, and learning, even after enduring a period of hardship. As we chose to travel to a location where the pandemic was taken seriously, it is clear the new considerations the pandemic has led families to consider. This almost suggests that communities and regions that take the pandemic seriously create an environment that fosters a sense of safety and encourages responsible travel. We were so grateful to get to travel to Chicago, and it is undeniably one that we will remember forever.
• 
  2020

  Life of a Trini during the Covid 19 Pandemic

  My story talks about difficulty I experienced during the pandemic
• 2022-02-26

  My Personal Experience with COVID-19

  It was Christmas of 2020, and my eighty-four-year-old Dad was really sick. Up until then he had been healthy. He worked out at the gym every day and always went for coffee at Starbucks afterwards. I call him every day, and I could tell he was under the weather, but he didn’t want to admit he had COVID-19. He was sick for several weeks but came over on Christmas Eve to have dinner with our family. I remember being slightly irritated that he did come over because we could have brought him dinner at his house and minimized exposure to everyone else. Fortunately, our family and my sister’s family did not catch it that year. Oddly enough, we wouldn’t catch it until the following year. I remember being sort of surprised that we didn’t catch it because everyone around us had it. When the gyms and restaurants and grocery stores all closed, I would walk around our subdivision everyday to continue my exercise routine and I noticed I was tired and had shortness of breath. I remember going in for my annual physical with a face mask on and telling my doctor my symptoms. I remember him saying that those symptoms were too early to be COVID-19 and was probably a milder version of the flu. I was doubtful due to being heavily exposed by my dad, as well as so many others who had no idea they had it but were technically “super-spreaders.” My sister’s family and our family caught Covid within a week or two of each other despite not having any contact and being vaccinated the prior year. My husband and I both opted for the Johnson& Johnson vaccination because it was traditional with just the one shot. Our friend, who worked with my husband also got the same vaccination. My husband and I were sick after the shot, but we knew from friends that we would be. It lasted maybe a night and then we felt better the next day. Our friend wound up in the hospital after her vaccination with a small intestinal blockage which she blamed on the shot. She stayed in the hospital for about a week, but other than some follow-up monitoring, she is ok. Shortly after that, we read in the news that several women had died from embolisms after receiving the vaccination. Our daughter, who has special needs, sees many doctors and I remember telling him that I just gotten vaccinated and now there was this complication. He was very reassuring and said that the women who had passed away probably had a serious and pre-existing condition. He told me to stay active for the next week or two and drink lots of water which I did, but it was the longest two weeks until we were cleared from the risk. We did end up catching Covid in February-March 2022. It had been a normal week. I went to the store, gym, did carpool, walked the greenway, but I felt slightly off all week long. I remember coming home and making dinner, but I was exhausted and told my husband that I was unable to have dinner with everyone that evening. Sure enough, I was running a low fever. I took an at-home COVID test, and my results showed I was positive within a few seconds. I immediately quarantined in our bedroom for the next several days. My husband caught it about a week later, but his symptoms were different than mine. He had a bad sore throat and was cold and shivering for a couple of days, and had a cough that lingered. Our daughter, who has severe Cerebral Palsy, caught it next but thankfully she only had mild symptoms for two days and recovered almost immediately. Our son caught it last, and he had a very bad sore throat for a week. We made it through, and consider ourselves fortunate that we recovered without long-term issues.
• 2022-06-01

  Covid Europe

  My family and I really like to travel, like a lot. We usually do a big vacation every year, and Covid-19 really threw a wrench in our annual plans (as it did to every single person alive). March of 2020, my family and I had traveled to Washington D.C. When we got back home to Utah, not even 24 hours later, Washington D.C. had shut down entirely. We felt lucky we got to go, but hopeful this shut down would only be two weeks. Fast forward two years, and we (again, like the rest of the world) were unable to go anywhere. My sister and I had gotten Covid-19 in November of 2020, and then the vaccines started to roll out. We had heard that if you were fully vaccinated, places were starting to slowly open for those individuals. We thought since we already had Covid-19, why not get vaccinated so we could travel? So, my mom, myself, and my sister all got vaccinated. Solely to travel. We are by no means 'anti-vaccination' people, actually quite the opposite. But we did have the normal hesitations of getting this vaccine just to such little prior research. Regardless, we got the vaccine. We started looking at places where we could go, from cruises to domestic travel to international. And then, the booster comes out. The rules are now that you have to have all three shots. And then, I get Covid-19 again in November of 2021, after having been fully vaccinated. Finally, we start to plan a Europe trip for the summer of 2022. Every plane, train, and automobile that would take us to and around Europe required a valid Covid-19 vaccination card. There were so many Covid-19 tests we had to take prior to departure from the US, then when we got to Europe, and then when we were getting ready to return home to the US. We had to fill out numerous forms verifying that we were not sick and had not been sick in the previous 14 days. While we were in Europe, the mask mandate had lifted for everywhere but Austria, but we didn't know that. We went to board an Austrian airlines flight without a mask, and we were then told we could not fly without a mask. We had to beg the flight attendant to give us one, as we didn't know (they were not nice about it). Keeping up with everyone's different rules and regulations and testing and forms definitely made our trip more difficult than it would be now.
• 
  2023-05-15

  Unique Patterns of Behaviors Observed from Endless Masking in Japan in this "Post-Pandemic"

  Although the world is approaching the post-pandemic, many people are still wearing masks in Japan. It can be attributed to unique conformity to others who still wear a mask and the establishment of masking as a habit after 3 years of masking.
• 
  2020-07-27

  Empty Rockefeller Center

  During the height of Covid, when New York City first went into lockdown, it was surreal to say the least. I think the last time the city was so empty and void of life was 9/11, so to see it again in 2020 really highlighted just how severe the situation was. Two of my sisters, who are a nurse and hospital manager, talked about being in the city for work, and practically being the only ones working in person, and it feeling like some kind of post apocalyptic movie. I remember around May of 2020, I helped my other sister move out of her dorms at #NYU, and it took about 15-20 mins to get to the bottom of Manhattan (Union Square) from The Bronx, due to the lack of fellow cars on the road. To see such a highly populated and lively city such as NYC turn into a ghost town almost overnight was something of a shock. It was one thing to see photos, and speak on how insane the situation was, but to actually be in the heart of Manhattan at this time was… well scary. So, seeing such a busy area such as Rockefeller center be completely empty is insane to say the least, and brings up a sad reminder of just how bad things were in the initial stages of the pandemic.
• 
  April 2020

  Cin 211

  the daily life of Matthew Torres during the height of the pandemic
• 
  April 8, 2020

  Find the positive in the negative

  a look at the everyday life of Gabriella Bartley during the height of the 2020 pandemic
• 
  2020-04-06

  The New Plague

  Life in Self-isolation, "Love in the Time of COVID-19" Project, CIN 211 College of Staten Island
• 
  April 5, 2020

  Jessica comoletti project cin 211

  a video of an empty/near empty park during the pandemic
• 
  April 5, 2020

  Cin 211 project

  a look at the pandemic through the eyes of youtuber @user-hm9gs8by5i
• 
  April 5, 2020

  Rheana Galloway project2

  a look at the early stages of the pandemic through the eyes of Rheana Galloway.
• 
  April 5, 2020

  LOVE in the pandemic

  showing both the sad and happy parts of the pandemic; showing the stereotypical lonely images that oversaturated social media, and then showing a loving family to counteract these images
• 
  2020-10-20

  How covid affected NYC?

  Covid has affected everyone by the way you live your everyday life. Covid has affected New york city in many different ways , For example covid affected business to close down months including schools . Schools having to go remote . Another way New york city has been affected by the transit , The transit systems like the trains ,buses and commuter rail and ferries as a result to this the transportation has plummeted . For the subways in New York City it went down 90 percent and the buses went down 75 percent. The reason for this happening is people in quarantine and not going to work since some are working from home . Covid has affected health care workers. For example health care workers like doctors and nurses are around people who have it so they are more prone to get it. .This pandemic caused a lot of changes in the world. It caused everyone to be less social and not go out as much as it caused us to wear masks everywhere. It also caused a lot of people mental and emotional health to go down. For example there’s been a lot of social isolation which caused families to not be able to see each other as often. COVID-19 has impacted social mobility on child care cost and for families school dropout rate has increased due to fear of getting Covid. COVID-19 especially affected families due to not having jobs or working from home or being put on unemployment there’s been a big impact of Covid on families and family relationships creating a lot of tension and feeling depressed or not being united together. These pandemic parts of the population in different situations continue to affect people living in poverty situations with older people and disabilities. A lot of people have been put on unemployment and not being able to pay the rent. Covid has caused a lot of deaths and people could not be able to bury their loved ones. During The beginning of the year when the Pandemic was occurring depending on the situation of others some people were probably affected mentally Health care was provided to those who really needed it due to people not being able to pay for it and The state of new york lost money as well , It affected relationships and people got help by going therapy and staying connected to people . This pandemic affected many people personally. Covid has affected everyone's plan including travel because there's been travel bans and going to the airport has a lot of restrictions. A Lot of businesses are closing down to this pandemic by not giving income . Due to health care a lot of pregnant women had very high dress levels that affected their pregnancy . Which caused health care workers to be very aware of what was going on . Their risking their own lives to help us and young teens and kids were not able to fully able to enjoy the success of completing in graduating either high school such as prom or etc.it affected everyone's life and still is . This has caused a lot of stress and tension but has allowed people to be stronger in a sense and to appreciate the little things in life . Covid 19 has caused many hardships including loss of jobs . Some questions that still remain on this subject would be , When are things going back to normal ?, When is the vaccine coming out to prevent this ? When will this end ?. A message of hope i would say is everything will get better with time. The productivity has been slow due to employment going down ,People losing jobs . my personal experience with covid has become a learning experience . For example this pandemic has showed me to not take things for granted .
• 
  March 13, 2020

  unbeknownst emptiness

  I worked/attended CUNY Hunter College during the start of the pandemic. On March 13, 2020, we were informed that we would not be returning to work until further notice, and I believe that a majority of late-night classes/activities were cancelled. As a result, my friend/coworker and I walked around the near-empty campus. We ended up sneaking into an empty lecture hall, ate some snacks, and chatted about the future. I took a photo of our feet up on the seats as a sort of fun memento, to show how crazy it looked to see ourselves amongst the empty hall, and when a coworker asked where we are, we sent them that. The photo meant almost nothing at the time and was just a casual photo I took amongst many in my every day. Looking back now, it holds nostalgia as well as dread. I think the emptiness shows what was to come, and how terrifying it would be, and just how impactful the pandemic was on our lives. I have not stepped foot in Hunter since then, so that was truly my last time being in that school. It makes me sad and makes me think what the future would have held had these events not happened.
• 
  2021-08-21

  HIST30060: Family Texts

  This is a screenshot of a family text conversation in August 2021. The mother, nicknamed “mrs matriarch” on the Facebook Messenger application, is relaying rumours of an intensification of the lockdown restrictions, including the involvement of the military. She also encourages the popular practice of hoarding or panic buying. This conversation encapsulates popular anxiety around the suddenness of government responses to the pandemic. The user alerts their family based on a rumour that the 8pm Victorian curfew would be moved earlier to 5pm. In hindsight, the 5pm curfew never eventuated. Instead, the 8pm curfew became 9pm, before it was later removed. The user’s fear that the military would be involved further shows the anxiety felt by Victorian residents and the sense of entrapment. The conversation also indicates the popular phenomenon of panic buying and hoarding. The text reads, “get whatever you need for today now” and “buy a bunch – we are heading for tighter restrictions in lockdowns,” even for a perishable item like strawberries. Rumours had a very real effect on the population, prompting atypical economic behaviours, including the infamous toilet paper hoarding. The low price of strawberries reported by the user also illustrates the strange supply and demand for groceries during the pandemic and excess of fruit that year.
• 
  2022-07-13

  Moving During the 2020 Pandemic

  During the 2020 pandemic, my family had to move to a different state. I remember the virus specifically affecting too much, though that might be because I wasn't too involved in the logistics. I just had to stay out of the way of the movers and keep all my stuff together, both of which I would have done anyway. It would have been a different story if we had to take an airplane instead of driving, as I was fortunate enough to have been able to do.
• 
  -2020-09-29

  My feelings on the Coronavirus Pandemic

  I have come to this platform as the stay-at-home mom of 2 adorable little girls, Emily 8 and Sara 11, who are simply the loves of my life, during the gut-wrenching time, last year, of the Coronavirus Pandemic! I also teach Part-time at Concordia University in the Department of Women's Studies and Journalism! :) I could never have done this without the genuine love and kind-support of my loving husband Dennis, throughout our 43 years together! :)
• 
  2022-05-15

  Mikayla Augustine Oral History, 2022/05/22

  I asked the interviewee how the pandemic affected her experience at UB
• 
  2022-05-15

  The Great Reset Pandemic Skeptic

  This double-sided A4 leaflet provides an extended summary overview of the supposedly 12-step plan behind the COVID. This leaflet was taken from the dissidentsignposts.org, and they hope to inform people about the “real” reason behind the COVID pandemic. This leaflet says that the billionaires want to impose new ways for global corporations but for their plan to work, they need to acquire everyone to be tagged with a unique digital identity number and surrender their privacy. As this leaflet points out, the “New Normal” that billionaires want to accomplish is to be depopulated, cleaned-up, high-tech, dehumanized, totalitarian dictatorship, genetically modified, digitally tagged, nano-chipped, etc. this leaflet tries to persuade the audience by pointing out that the COVID pandemic is just a big scheme in hopes of taking control of the total population. The 12 step that is mentioned explains the different reasons why the government is pushing for people to take COVID and the vaccines seriously. I have heard of this idea before from my friends. They were talking about it, but to me, I believe that COVID is real. I have seen my family members getting infected by the virus. I will never believe things like this and I will never let anybody put a chip or something within me. Although our world is getting more and more highly advanced, I believe that this so-called “Great Reset” will not take place.
• 
  2021-09-08

  How the Pandemic Has Changed Teachers' Commitment to Staying in the Classroom

  According to the article, there was a 16% national turnover rate for teachers before the pandemic. A survey given in January 2021 shows that almost 25% of teachers stated that they wanted to leave teaching. Pre-pandemic surveys and surveys given during the pandemic also show that less teachers believe that they will stay in education until retirement. The pandemic has required that teachers maintain the same responsibilities, while also piling on constant communication with parents (even without a response), social-emotional lessons, plans for asynchronous and synchronous learning, teaching students virtually and in-person at the same time, keeping up with changing health and safety regulations, and having to deal with increasing behavior issues.
• 
  2022-05-10

  Anasitasia Viatele Oral History, 2022/05/15

  Anasitasia Viatele is from Kent, Washington. She recounts her life during the pandemic and the struggles she has faced during that time. She discusses her family in American Samoa and touches on their struggles as well.
• 
  2022-05-15

  The Nature of the Covid Skeptic

  This is an interesting article I have found detailing 20 "facts" about the Covid-19 pandemic. This article largely attempts to refute the "overreaction" of the world when it came to the covid-19 pandemic. While criticism of conduct and policy is valuable and necessary for an open and clear discussion, attitudes of pandemic skeptics largely negate the vulnerable populations of the world and feed on the ignorance of the global population. This is one such article. 1. This article claims the lethality of covid is generally less than 1% of the population. While I seriously question that number, it still does not negate the extreme death seen by the world. The United States of America has roughly 331 million people living within their boarders. 1% of 331 million is still 3.31 million deaths. Is this a number in which it is appropriate to have an "it is what it is" attitude? Particularly when the people most impacted by the pandemic are those with health issues and the elderly? This attitude, which is shared by many skeptics borders on ageism and ableism. 2. This article claims that those most adversely impacted by covid are those over the age of 80 (78 in the US). But I ask again: is this a valid reason to not take the pandemic seriously? Are we supposed to let the elderly population simply waste away under the boot of covid? 3. This article claims that the covid-19 vaccine is ultimately ineffective in protecting against infection or transmission. The plain truth is that nothing is 100% effective. Seatbelts are not 100% effective in preventing deaths in the event of car accidents, so should we stop wearing them? Additionally, once the vaccines began rolling out, we have seen a decline in covid cases. Indeed, that is not to say vaccinated people don't get covid, I myself being one of them, but it has certainly made covid much more manageable, particularly on the already strapped healthcare industry. 4. This article claims that the vaccine can cause fatal reactions. As can the flu vaccine, or the polio vaccine, or any vaccine. It varies from person to person. 5. This article lays blame for increased mortality on the feet of covid lockdown procedure. I would simply say that correlation does not equal causation and I am certain the increased mortality rate can more accurately be attributed to the millions who have died from covid-19 across the globe. 6. This article mentions that in most cases, individuals were asymptomatic or only had mild to moderate symptoms and that obesity played a major part in whether or not symptoms were severe. While I doubt the validity of this, even so it does not negate the precautions the world took. Should asymptomatic people not take precautions and isolate? Should they be free to wander and infect those who could be vulnerable and perpetuate death? I feel this attitude, again, negates the vulnerable population. 7. This article claims that early treatment of the disease prevented hospitalizations. I feel this point negates the rapidity of covid's effect on people. Indeed, it also assumes that everyone has equal access to early-stage treatment. 8. This article claims that 10% of symptomatic people may experience long-term health related issues following covid. This appears to be about the only accurate point of this article, the only thing i question is the percentage of the population. 9. This article claims that the ability of transmission is very limited. This is very inaccurate, particularly when one looks at the extensive number of the population who received a positive test. 10. This article claims that masks had zero impact on limiting transmission. There are countless studies disproving this point. Often times this attitude is held by individuals who care only about their own comfort rather than the people around them. 11. This article claims that lockdown's were ineffective and only perpetuated economic issues across the globe. I think New Zealand is a prime example of why this is a moot point. New Zealand locked down early in the pandemic and did not have a single case of covid for nearly a year. It was only when their borders reopened that new Zealand began to experience covid. 12. This article claims that the impact of the virus on children is miniscule and that school lockdowns did nothing to help stop the spread. It is idiotic to think that children cannot contract covid. Indeed it is further selfish to not factor in teachers and staff and their health. 13. The article claims that PCR tests often returned false positives which artificially increased the number of cases. This is deeply inaccurate as there are numerous studies highlighting the effectiveness of PCR tests. 14. This article claims that contact tracing is ineffective and cites a WHO 2019 paper on influenza tracing. Contract tracing is valuable in informing the population that they have been exposed so that they may get tested and limit their contact with others to limit the spread, it is most certainly effective. As for the 2019 WHO paper on the ineffectiveness of contact tracing for the influenza: different disease, different way of managing it. 15. The article claims that vaccine passports are ineffective as the vaccine is ineffective and are used for tracking the population. Again, the vaccine has proven to be effective. And if the government wanted to track the population, it can be far more easily be done via phones and computers than via vaccinations. 16. This article claims that mutations of covid occur frequently and that new variants decline in lethality. While I agree that the virus mutates, I seriously doubt the decline in lethality. Indeed, I think because the virus can mutate so effectively, it is another justification in taking the pandemic seriously. 17. This article cites Sweden as a case where a full lockdown did not occur, a small number of deaths, and deaths being largely attributed to the elderly population. I think the primary effectiveness of Sweden this article cites is due to the Swedish taking the pandemic seriously, wearing masks, rapid vaccinations, social distancing, and not perpetuating misinformation. 18. This article claims that seasonal influenza largely disappeared during the pandemic and that covid has displaced it as the seasonal virus. Seasonal viruses aren't displaced. Indeed, the reason for the decline in flu cases is due to the population wearing masks and social distancing. Seasonal flu returned to pre-pandemic numbers in fall and winter 2021 when many of the covid protocols had been removed. 19. This article claims the media blew the pandemic out of proportion, spread fear, and distorted information. I disagree. It is the job of the media to make the population aware of global issues such as this. Indeed, the only distortion of facts that I found during the pandemic were from pandemic skeptics who were too selfish and uncomfortable to consider their fellow humans. 20. This article claims that the virus was lab-created. Whether or not the virus was lab-created is irrelevant. The point is: it exists, it is here, and it is vital that it be taken seriously.
• 
  2022-05-09

  Brett Reinert Oral History, 2022/05/09

  Brett Reinert is from Springdale, Arkansas. He works at a toner company as a deliverer. He delivers copier toner for a small business in Northwest, Arkansas. Brett talks about his home state of Arkansas and how the state government reacts differently to the pandemic. Brett and his family take the pandemic very seriously and made sure that his two grandmothers are not exposed to it. Brett also talked about his observation of the changes around him as many restaurants in the state started to require a proof of vaccination to eat in. And the changes with the requirement of masks felt weird to him. Although there were changes, he has seen what the pandemic brought to his life and the people around him, he hopes that people will take the pandemic seriously if we experience another one in the future
• 2020-03-18

  Moving & Religion

  These pieces of media were made during the very start of the pandemic on March 18, 2020. They capture the moment when my family moved to a new house in Chandler, Arizona from Tucson, Arizona. This was the beginning of a completely new life in a different place. From that moment onwards, I had no more connection to the outside world and was locked inside this house for the rest of 2020 and half of 2021. I did not have any form of in-person social interaction and only stayed inside this house. This made 2020 and 2021 a miserable experience. The photo is of my mom, who is the one that initiated our move here from Tucson, AZ. She did not like Tucson and wanted to move here as quickly to a more urban area like Phoenix and Chandler as soon as possible, but I really wanted to stay in Tucson. Tucson was a place that I developed a deep connection with. Tucson was the place where I attended high school and made many friends. To have those connections ripped from me for the rest of 2020 and basically the rest of my life was a very difficult experience. The video depicts a ceremony that Hindu families perform every time a family moves to a new residence. The question of whether I should partake in religion is something that I personally struggle with a lot in my life and especially in 2020. My parents forced me to partake in religious festivals and celebrations that I did not enjoy. This is another thing that made 2020 a very miserable experience. Over time, I have turned into an agnostic and a very secular person (something that my parents would probably be very unhappy to know).
• 2022-04-29

  Depression during a Pandemic

  The COVID-19 pandemic has been one the hardest things for me to deal with. I suffer from depression and often combat this by spending time with friends and family. Before the pandemic I would often spend my weekends with friends and visit my family after work on half of the weekdays. Throughout the pandemic, until recently it has been rather unacceptable to spend time in close contact with others. In the being of the pandemic during the first shutdowns and mandates I struggled deeply with having to stay home all the time. I became quite depressed and would often just sleep through my days off. I tried to do virtual hangouts with my friends and family, but it just wasn’t the same. I ended up planning socially distanced hangouts with my friends, often picnics/lunch in the park 6 feet apart. This really helped me because I was able to socialize with them in person. As the pandemic progressed, and I wasn’t able to see friends nearly as often as before I became more comfortable with being alone. I started to find the things I enjoyed doing on my own. I took time to really work on some of the issues I had been avoiding. I used the time I was forced to be alone in a productive way. Although the pandemic challenged my way of living, I still found a way to grow. Now that we are starting to get a better handle on the virus, life is slowly starting to return to what it was before. With the release of vaccines I have been able to start seeing my friends and family again. With the lower rate of cases a lot of the business I used to visit are reopening. As we start to return to “normal” I’ve found my new normal and I quite enjoy my alone time, just as much as the time I spend with others.
• 2020-03-13

  Living through A Pandemic

  I can clearly remember when the pandemic began and as it progressed. I was in my senior year of high school. Before we understood the magnitude of what was going on there was a general consensus that it would be over in a few weeks. There is a culture with the media that trends only last a short time and we move on as a society. We all thought this would be another trend. A few months later and many things were still shut down. I finished school online and got my diploma in my car. We wore masks everywhere to stop the spread and everyone kept hand sanitizer on them. I also worked in food service at the time which was considered an essential business. We got extra pay and had extra precautions to follow. A few steps that were put into place were timers to wash hands at least once every 30 minutes. When masks started to be required they were sold out. I made a makeshift mask out of hair ties and a bandana. Soon Covid-19 tests became widely available and that created individual quarantines. People would test every time they came in contact. In the beginning, people were worried about paying their bills. Both of my parents owned small businesses. We had to sell our home to scrape by. As time passed the country made accommodations to open businesses up again. Two years later and we are still majorly affected. Now we are affected by product and labor shortages. Often grocery stores are out of certain products. However many businesses created contactless services such as grocery pick up, and delivery became more widely common.
• 
  2020-04-26

  A World Apart

  Nearly a decade ago, I immigrated to South Africa. At the time of the start of the pandemic, my partner and I had been struggling with our visa papers and it had been 7 years of fighting with Home Affairs. March 2020 saw the closure of Home Affairs, a national state of emergency with nearly a year of stay-at-home orders from the government, curfew, and limited access to the public sphere, and for the first time, a reprieve from the nightmares of the immigration process. Just like that, in a single memo to the public, Home Affairs resolved all of its bureaucracy, in favour of public safety, and my partner and I were able to stay in the same place together for over 18 months. The longest we'd been able to stay together since immigrating. In a situation that saw so much upheaval, pain, uncertainty, and widespread panic, I found precious moments of peace and safety. I felt lucky and guilty all at once. Living in a rural forest community in the mountains, with my nearest neighbour over a mile away, stay-at-home orders had little impact on my daily life and I was able to relish time at home with the people who mean the most to me. All the while, stories of social and political dissent and unrest played a continual reminder that not all was right with the world, that my experience was unique and world's apart from the collective pandemic experience. I was made painfully aware that this global phenomenon, one that connected people so thoroughly and completely, was a deeply and fundamentally separate experience for myself. I have a privileged, unique, and unusual story of joy and peace experiencing the pandemic. As an American in another country, I was able to see first hand what a nation with limited resources could do when it decided to put public health and safety above all else. The pandemic provided me with my very first experience of feeling wholly communally supported, safe, and protected. This is a story I want to share because so many people were deeply traumatised by their government's response to covid and the subsequent fallout of the lack of support, and for them to know that it was no failing on their part for feeling like they were put through a meat grinder. Every single person on this planet deserved to experience the ease and simple joy that I was granted, and in a world with such immense wealth, there is honestly no excuse for why my experience was so unique.
• 2022-04-28

  A New Normal

  It's been over two years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and I’m beginning to doubt that life will ever go back to what we once knew. Even with restrictions lightened, things are far from “normal”. A lot has changed in my life during this time and the pandemic has come with many struggles. One of the biggest of these for me has been raising young children in our new modern world. My kids are at a curious age where they’d like to explore their world and see new things, an age where social interaction is especially crucial. When COVID first struck I had a young son so I found myself with the concern of not only my health but his as well. In June of 2021 I had my second child, and while I am so grateful for this new addition to our family, having a baby mid-pandemic is tough. I experienced the same obvious concerns for my child's health once again. No parent wants to imagine their child with any illness. I remember feeling so paranoid that they would end up getting sick, or that myself or my fiance would catch it and eventually pass it along to them. It took two years for us all to catch it, but we did, and it sucked. In the beginning it was scary, most people had no idea what we were dealing with. The idea of a life threatening virus was horrifying and caused mass confusion. I found myself with a mask on my face and a bottle of hand sanitizer as well as some Lysol wipes in my pocket at all times. I was afraid to take my son in public because I didn’t want him to be exposed. With time, the paranoia has died down while remaining vigilant to combat germs but still I wonder if this is the new “normal”.
• 
  2022-01-10

  Journal from an NAU student

  My journal is a week by week deptiction of my everyday life going to college during an pandemic
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-09-23

  Iran: The double jeopardy of sanctions and COVID-19

  This article discusses the effects of Covid-19 on Iran and how the sanctions imposed on Iran by the Trump administration exacerbated Covid’s effect on Iran’s already weak economy. It highlights Iran’s attempts to reduce the fatality rate despite a shortage of medical supplies. Additionally, the article posits that lifting sanctions during the pandemic might have reduced the death toll by thousands. While there is speculation that the true number of Covid deaths in Iran has been reduced and even misreported, this article highlights the connection between U.S. politics and the effects of sanctions imposed on countries during a public health crisis.
• 
  2022-03-26

  Coping with the Pandemic--A Personal Look at Mental Health and COVID-19

  According to the Center of Disease Control, in June of 2022, US adults reported considerably elevated adverse mental health conditions associated with COVID-19. Out of a survey they did on 5,412 people, 40.9 percent of respondents reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health conditions, including symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorder which were around 31 percent. One of the causes of this is due to increase sedentary behaviors and low levels of physical activity due to quarantines and lack of business operation. Over the past two years, government mandated quarantine, work from home, and online schooling has caused me to stay at home for longer periods of time than what I use to. Because of this sedentary behavior, I had dealt with the negative effects of isolation, stress, and anxiety on both my mental and physical health. According to the World Health Organization, 150 minutes of moderate exercise or physical activity is usually recommended per week, however, with working a full-time job and being in school, the question that remains is how that is possible? I have learned to accommodate these physical needs indoors, by taking active breaks during the day and exercising at home. While this does not necessarily help with isolation and loneliness sometimes, I have learned to take these matters one day at a time and not shun myself for feelings them. CDC argues that from a recent comprehensive review that the impact of COVID-19 on mental health particularly seems to affect more young women disproportionally than any other group. Therefore, I recommend any young adult or women facing severe mental health to take advantage of online support or mental health services through telehealth such as ZocDoc. It is important to highlight COVID-19's impact on mental health in the United States and my personal life because it shows how the pandemic changed the means and the ways we received mental health services in the past. As the pandemic ventures on, people like myself will continue to have to find ways to cope and receive services for our problems. Thanks to the pandemic, much of our mental health problems have come more to the forefront due to us having ample amounts of time now to navigate and deal these issues unlike never before.
• 
  2022-03-26

  Locked In and Locked Down: Surviving COVID-19 in FCI Edgefield BOP

  The COVID-19 crisis has impacted mass incarcerated facilities at an exceeding rate, exacerbating existing staffing shortage and leaving those housed in large numbers increasingly vulnerable to COVID-19. The Federal Correctional Institution in Edgefield, South Carolina is no exception to this hardship. FCI Edgefield has be forced to expand its use of a practice called "augmentation" or allowing those in non-correctional roles at the prison to work in correctional officer roles. This is because staff members are getting sick an exceedingly high rate, causing some staff to have quarantine for several days while others have chosen to retire early out of the fear of high exposure and incentives losing way due to the crisis. Since the pandemic has taken off, only a small number of inmates have died from COVID-19, about 50 in total. Yet, due to less experienced staff on site due to shortages, one inmate died due to undermined symptoms on January 27, 2021. Overall, stories like these are important because they show how state officials, lawmakers, and policymakers have made little strides in reducing and slowing down the spread of the coronavirus in state and national prison systems. People like my mother, who works at FCI Edgefield, have preexisting medical conditions that put them at a heightened risk for complications if they were to catch COVID-19. Thus, we should make aware that these state officials have waited too long to make strides towards reducing the prison population, routinely rotating staff, and increasing social distance measures in the jail populations. As the pandemic wears on, much is still needed to be done in prioritizing staff and prison populations for vaccination matters. While this idea has generated some wide societal debate, I find it hard to argue that people who work and live in correctional facilities are at a major disadvantage in this crisis. Therefore, it is only fair to consider these high-risk groups first when prioritizing phases and measures of the vaccines and health and well-being.
• 
  2020-09-08

  Remote Learning

  This was my son on his first days of remote learning in Kindergarten. He was a great trooper and worked hard to have the sense of being in school. Some days were more difficult than others, but overall we made it through and we continue to prosper through this pandemic.
• 
  2020-08-26

  Working From Home

  When my son started Kindergarten remotely in August of 2020, I was required to work remotely for the first time ever. It was the hardest year for both myself and my son. Being that it was his first school year, I needed to split my time between fulfilling my job requirements and helping him learn how to use the computer properly.
• 
  2022-02-07T10:00:00

  Taking Covid-19 Step by Step

  My story describes the cycle of emotions I went through during the past two years of the pandemic. I try to make sense of the situation, especially with high school, and find some negative and positive outcomes from my quarantine experience.
• 2021-10

  The Division of Covid-19

  Since the pandemic started life has definitely changed in plenty of ways, not just for me but for everyone. From the way we learn in school and work jobs to the way we interact in public and meet people. One thing covid brought that I saw prevalent in a few different aspects of my life was a new reason for division amongst people. This new reason for division is almost a political thing, where there are people that are nervous and scared that covid is harmful and then the people who do not care and believe covid is blown out of proportion. I see this division in things like media, politics, family, and friends. It makes a lot of things confusing for me because I never know which side to listen to. The crazy thing to see for me is how a pandemic can come around and cause so much separation. At a point it started to seem like it was the only thing I heard people talking about and it would drive me crazy. If I put on the news, it was always someone saying everyone needs masks, then I flip the channel and the next station is saying mask are bad and should not be on all day. Then it came to my family, my dad would tell me I needed all the vaccines and booster but my mom on the other hand told me to do whatever I wanted and did not care. Seeing all of this back a fourth throughout this time would frustrate me because it made making my mind up so difficult. This eventually even got to my friends, and I saw friends that would argue about whether people should get the booster or not, and I thought it was so ridiculous. The reason I bring up this point of division is because I believe it is interesting how everyone has reacted to covid. I also feel like it has made people feel the need to push their opinions and ideas onto other people, it is something I have seen first-hand in my life. Similar to the way Hitler or Stalin pushed their ideas on everyone, but on a very different level. Maybe one day people will just let each other choose for themselves.
• 
  2020-03

  Suffering from Anxiety

  As most young adults my age, I suffer from severe anxiety. Dealing with anxiety daily, can be very challenging at times, especially during a pandemic. I have been fighting a battle with anxiety most of my life. At this point, I am really used to the extra thoughts in my head. I have learned to help manage it, but not completely get rid of it. I believe that anxiety has made me who I am, in a way, because I do not remember a time where I was not struggling. In 2020, a pandemic instantly flooded the world. This completely impacted my entire life. I was not able to experience my last year in high school, I was not able to be around the one person that helped me with my anxiety, etc. I was forced to wear a mask that I could barely breathe in. I lost touch with most of my friends that I developed over my lifetime. This instant wave of depression suddenly hit me. I was so nervous on what would happen next, and how long will this last. People were dying from this pandemic. I constantly worried about if the sickness would hurt one of my family members or someone important to me. Over the time of being in quarantine, I thought to myself ways on how I could relax and not worry so much about the pandemic. I told myself every day, “Everything happens for a reason”. This is what I truly believe and for some reason it really does calm me down. I am Catholic. I am a very deep believer in God. To me, trusting in the Lord is the best anxiety reliever around. Covid-19 is still around today. Without Covid-19, I would not be where I am today. Although this pandemic has an abundance of negative impacts on my life, it also had some positive ones, too. I would not have attended Duquesne University, met so many amazing people, and made a plethora of memories that I would not trade in for. I believe talking about my anxiety, especially during the pandemic, is very critical because I am not the only one who is suffering, too. Everyone is nervous about what is going to happen next. To me, this is HUGE on helping me with my anxiety. I can finally think to myself that I am not alone. I believe that people who suffer from anxiety, especially from the pandemic started in 2020, can have a place to go if they are nervous. When I was struggling, I felt alone, and I was the only person who felt this way. My story will allow people to realize that they are not alone. Everyone is dealing with this stress and anxiety that I suffered from. My story tells people that I have worries and doubts, too. The pandemic not only had negative impacts, but they also had positive impacts. Focusing on the positives, will distract you from the anxiety and worrying. My story should help prove that. My story should allow people to see and find new ways to cope with the stress. I hope my story leaves a positive impact on people who did or are struggling. Everyone is in this together, and nobody will be alone in this major impact on the world.
• 
  2020-03-17

  An abundance of shortages

  On March 17, 2020, I went shopping for the first time since schools and facilities closed nationwide just four days earlier. Much to my dismay, upon entering my local Target, I noticed that shelves in every part of the store were empty, however, I specifically remember shortages of canned goods, paper towels, and tissue paper. I continued to shop and collect what I could, all the while wondering what else would be in short supply in the coming days. During this time, families across the nation (including mine) began to ration food and focus on purchasing essential items when they became available. In retrospect, the mass shortage not only demonstrated how the pandemic impacted all parts of life, but it also revealed how accustomed Americans are to having various items available in abundance, which I believe is sometimes taken for granted.
• 
  2022-02-03

  Zero attendance sports games

  As a lifelong hockey fan, specifically for the New York Rangers, it was highly disappointing to find out that the rest of the 2019-2020 season would continue without the attendance of fans at Madison Square Garden due to lockdown restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Watching every hockey game at home simply did not compare to being able to witness the firsthand action of rocket slapshots, massive hits, and gruesome fights seen up close in person. Although, I am fortunate that the rest of the season continued, and I was able to see the Rangers compete in the playoffs despite them being eliminated in the first round. Yet, the beginning of lockdown was indeed a scary time for most people. There was no anticipated end to quarantine restrictions nor an end in sight to the highly contagious virus itself. Writing this excerpt two years later, thankfully, the vaccine and the use of masks has allowed for regular attendance to return to most sports arenas and stadiums nationwide. Hopefully, we will find a permanent solution to the virus itself in the future and continue normal sports activities restriction-free!
• 2020-07-13

  Running to Have a Feeling of Escaping Pandemic

  With no long commute time to and from school, running became something I did often. I would go to the park and look at the lake after my run to see the sunset. I got to appreciate being outside more and getting fresh air. To feel the breeze by my sides as I ran. was relieving.
• 
  2020-03-24

  Sample Virtual Learning Schedule for Middle Schoolers

  When we returned from spring break in 2020, we were sent a PDF of a sample schedule. Online school was mostly asynchronous (async) for a few weeks before we switched to a live virtual format. We would usually have one or two synchronous advisories per day and the rest of the day would be independent work. I had just returned early from a family vacation and we had only just begun quarantining. When we received this schedule, we still thought that the shutdown would only last a few weeks before life would return to normal and this schedule marks the very beginning of my pandemic experience.
• 
  2021-12-16

  Connecting With Nature

  Throughout the pandemic, I've found myself connecting more with nature through hiking as a way to relax while still exercising. This photograph is a picture of a waterfall I saw that was particularly beautiful.
• 2021-12-16

  Cats

  Throughout the pandemic, the one thing that got me through it was my cats. Sure that sounds silly but they helped me when it felt like no one else did so I used this photo to show how much they mean to me and how much they helped during the pandemic.
• 
  2021-12

  How My Life Has Changed

  My life feels weird. I feel like everything almost moved too fast, but not fast enough. I think due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we all have a weird feeling of how time works. It seems almost as if the days pass by faster than I can imagine, let alone each month. I blink and the semester is practically at a close. My life feels busy. My days are consumed with school work and nannying, as almost every week feels the same. I try to incorporate different aspects of my daily life into each day to have a feeling of change, yet also normalcy. I personally have faced academic and personal challenges. I feel as though I do not have the same energy I did when in the classroom. I felt like I have lost my passion for learning, as it almost feels more forced than it did before. To do all your work through a computer screen is not easy, let alone to do it for years on end. Personally, I have had a hard time with a lack of communication with family and friends. Some of my peers and I discussed the difficulty with just talking to people now! It just feels so strange. The sudden change to college was weird. I started off at a University and hated it. I think due to COVID, I had a hard time picking out what I needed in a school, as I also didn't know how the upcoming school year would look with the pandemic. I feel as though I have adapted, but I wish things could go back to the way they were. Nothing feels the same anymore and I feel as if my life is slipping through my fingers. Therefore, I try to embrace the time I do have, even though we are still living through the midst of a pandemic.
• 
  2021-12-05

  Five Pandemic 2021 Edition by Sebastian Delgado, dps

• 
  2021-09-05

  EPITAPH an excerpt from an epistle by Sebastian Delgado, dps

  [CURATOR'S NOTE] This is an piece of fiction submitted to the archive by the author.
• 2021-12-10

  An Instructional Aid's Unusual Everyday Life at an Elementary School in 2021

  12/10/21 Once I enter the school, I must be wearing a mask and have cleaned/sanitized my hands. Once I reach my classroom, I see a clean and disinfected classroom. It is part of my job to make sure the students stay in a safe, risk-free environment where they can learn without the fear of transmitting diseases such as COVID. I use special wipes that were given to eveery classroom that is specifically designed to kill germs found in COVID-19 strains when I wipe desks, chairs, toys, books, ect. Pencils have always been kept in the classroom and now, so are lysol spray bottles! When the kids get to class, they must keep their masks on, or they atleast try to. I work with SPED, so it's hard for them to follow this rule consistently for various reasons, i.e., the feeling of the mask might be too much stimulation for them at times. They sanitize their hands before and after each recess, as well as lunch, and when they need to use the restrooms, only two students are permitted in the bathroom at a time. This is to reduce traffic, therefore keeping the children safer from germs and contamination. Lastly, before the students go home, I clean and disinfect everything all over again, for their safety, as well as mine. Being an instructional aid also means being a cleaning nanny!
• 2020-04-29

  Giving Birth During The Pandemic

  My name is Niki, I'm 38 and live in Clovis CA. In March of 2020, I was about 8 and a half months pregnant with my son, Tate. I went to school part time, majoring in Early Childhood Development. I was also a stay at home Mom to my then 3 year old daughter, Quinn. She’s my driving force in school because she is on the autism spectrum. In March she was just beginning to talk and have real words,and her brother was coming, it was an exciting time. My husband Mike, is what they call an over the road trucker. Meaning he was gone all week and home for 30 hours over the weekend. The situation was not ideal for us, but it worked to give me the freedom to be with Quinn to take her to the therapies she needed. Then Covid came to the US. Everyone was forced inside. School shut down. The daycare closed. All therapies were put on hold. Everyone was told to wear a mask and sanitize everything. My baby shower was canceled too many people, myself included, were too scared to get together. Mike was not allowed to come home, in fear of being exposed or exposing us. He had to stay on the truck and keep delivering supplies. Then the hospital called and said I needed to prepare that the beds might fill up in the maternity wards with Covid cases and I might need to do a home birth. Could I find someone to assist me ? I had no one! We had only lived here for a year and I haven't made many friends. I had my Mom but she’s older, not able to deliver a baby and quarantined for her health. My sister lived kinda close but she was with her family and was quarantined like everyone else.I had my three-year-old who only had 4 real words !! Then the hospitals call and say “ Don’t worry you can give birth here, no one can be with you and we might take your baby from you right away and keep them from you for about two weeks to make sure they dont have Covid '' Um No ! Home birth sounds good right about now. I had the worst dreams up until my son’s birth. Thankfully, there were beds open in the maternity ward. Thankfully my husband's dispatch got him home just in time for Tate’s arrival. The hospitals allowed one support person in the room for the birth, so he was there. It was the scariest experience. I begged everyone to not take my baby. The hospital didn’t look like a hospital. Everything was covered in white plastic from ceiling to floors. Everyone had on masks and face coverings. It was a scene from a scifi movie.It was one of the scariest times of my life. Amidst all the chaos and stress my beautiful chunky completely healthy son made his entrance into this world on April 29th, 2020. We stayed in the hospital for two days and no one took him from me. I made sure of that. We went home and adjusted to life with a newborn and living with Covid like everyone else. Its been a year and a half and the hospitals have not changed the rules about only allowing one support person in the delivery room. I try to share as much information to expecting mothers as I can. There are no in and out privileges anymore.Once you are in the hospital, you have to stay there. You need to pack snacks! Or you can have food delivered to the hospital. Still can't have visitors. Have an extensive “go bag” ready for when it’s time to go. I hope with all the advances with the vaccine and lowering cases and people being more conscious of their health the hospitals will relax a little on the support team numbers for expecting moms soon. That’s my Covid19 share.