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  2020-05-01

  Humanizing the heroes

  Below is a photograph of Brian Sarkisian. An Auburn Mass. hometown hero, state champion baseball player, and now an essential medical worker at UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester Massachusetts. Brian is a kind and gentle man whose only goal has ever been to help those in need. He is a nursing student at Worcester State University who previously picked up shifts at UMass Memorial as a student nurse to help people and gain experience for his practice. Now he works tirelessly around the clock handling non COVID-19 patients so that the doctors can focus their efforts. Brian speaks often about the business of the hospital and his constant fear of contracting the virus, but still he says that he would never trade or give up what he’s doing for the world. In a quote he gave me Mr. Sarkisian states “This is what I’ve always wanted to do. I’m in this field and in school for it because I want to make the worst times in people’s lives bearable”. Thank you for everything you do Brian Sarkisian.
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  2020-05-01

  Personal Entry 2

  I don’t get to see my grandparents anymore, it’s sad and it hurts because they were hugely important in raising me, but they are safe and that’s what matters. My grandparents are in their 70’s and my grandfather has underlying medical issues so it is vital he not be infected. In order to see them we zoom or Skype, and sometimes they come over and stay in their car with the window rolled down as we talk 10 feet apart. I don’t know when I can hug them or even go within a six foot distance of them again. I don’t know when I can go to the house I was raised in again. That’s okay because we make do with what we have, we’re keeping everyone safe. Last night we Skyped for Easter Dinner, and even though that was a first, we do what we must during these times. Here’s a photo of their visit a few weeks ago.
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  2020-04-29

  My Personal Entry

  It has been three weeks now since I've been home from school. Three weeks since my friends, girlfriend, dorm room, and the rest of my sophomore year was stripped from me. Before it happened we prayed that it wouldn’t. That we’d be able to finish our school year out. That after we left for spring break we’d be able to see each other again. Now instead of wishing my senior friends, and girlfriend, goodbye with hugs and a wave as they cross the stage at commencement, the best I could do was a “good luck” post on social media. We are all doing our best to stay strong during this hard time. However, it’s okay to be sad. Just because collectively bad things are happening to everyone, doesn’t make you or I selfish for being sad about our own personal troubles. I’ve had too many friends so far start to slip and breakdown because they ignore their feelings of loss and sadness. Here is the last photo I took with my girlfriend before the quarantine. We’ve been together for six months. I don’t know when I’ll see her again.