Items

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  2020-11-12

  Oral History Interview with student Chris Vazquez at St. Mary's University

  This oral history interview was conducted on Thursday, November 12, 2020, with Chris Vazquez, a student and Residential Assistant at St. Mary's University. In the interview, the narrator discusses how life on campus has changed during the pandemic, how he has adapted to virtual learning and his hopes for campus life after the pandemic.
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  2020-11-08

  Mom and Aunt's new plan for Christmas shopping in the era of COVID19

  This is a text my aunt sent to my cousins and me after she and my mom devised a new way to do Christmas shopping during the era of COVID19. They decided to forgo their usual Christmas shopping tradition because of the pandemic. Usually, the entire family spends a whole day going shopping together at various stores like Barnes and Noble or Kohls. My family makes a real day of it! However, this year my mother and aunt chose to do their Christmas shopping from home. To maintain as traditional a shopping experience as possible, they decided to ask my cousins, sister, and I to put together a list of items available on Amazon from which they would choose our gifts. This way, no one would have to leave their homes, and what we got for Christmas could still be a bit of a surprise!
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  10/28/2020

  Mona Lopez Oral History, 2020/10/28

  This is an oral history interview conducted with narrator Professor Mona Lopez of St. Mary's University by interviewer Christopher Hohman on October 28, 2020. The narrator discusses the challenges and benefits of online teaching and how the COVID19 pandemic necessitated changes in her teaching style.
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  2020-11-06

  Making Adjustments

  One thing that everyone and everything shared in common during this pandemic is the ability to being forced to adapt to the situation or fail in its path. The most important thing that was forced to have to adjust was all schooling. It made all schooling forced to have to figure out how to get their students the education they have been paying for. many schools sent out emails to their students giving them options on how to access their classes and educational resources. Of course online being really the only option for college courses universities that were not comfortable with the online process were forced to learn how to adapt to their students needs. It was just on thing that they had to get comfortable with and eventually everyone was up to speed on the process and things began to smooth out.
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  2020-10-27

  Adapting the DiamondBack Café on campus

  These are photographs taken of the DiamondBack Cafe at St. Mary's University-San Antonio in the era of COVID19. The DiamondBack Cafe was one of St. Mary's busiest student spaces prior to the onset of the COVID19 pandemic. However, much has changed at the DiamondBack Cafe since March 2020 As a resident student at St. Mary's University I have eaten in the DiamondBack Cafe almost every day, and I can attest to just how different it is to eat a meal there. The seats are now all socially distanced six feet apart, and there are signs sitting on the tables and taped to the tables reminding students to keep their social distance. Along with the changes implemented because of social distancing, getting meals has also changed drastically. Meal protocols have changed because of the pandemic. Students have the option of taking their meals back to their doors in styrofoam to-go boxes, or they may eat in the Cafe at one of the socially distanced tables. Also, students are no longer allowed to handle their food themselves, rather they are served by employees of the Cafe. Also, some food where that had previously been open food has been changed. For example, the sandwich station which used to be made to order, was for the majority of the semester, replaced by premade sandwiches in to-go boxes. Much has changed in the Diamond Cafe, and it feels different to eat there too. There have been a few times when I have been the only student in the Cafe, which is especially weird. However, everything that has been done is necessary to protect the health of students and faculty.
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  2020-10-26

  Inside an In-Person Virtual classroom

  These are six photographs I took of objects in my education classroom at St. Mary's University-San Antonio. My education course is the only course that I am taking in person. The classroom environment is very different from that of a pre-pandemic classroom. The biggest differences are the number of students present in the classroom and the seating layout. I am one of two, sometimes three, students who attend the class in person. We are only allowed to sit in socially distanced seats marked by a brown paper rectangle; all other seats are required to be empty. Most of the cleaning takes place both before and after students arrive and leave class. My professor uses the disinfectant spray and wipes pictured here to clean the tables. Included also in these photographs are the instructions for using the disinfectant in both English and Spanish.
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  2020-10-17

  Meet Ellie! The Pandemic Pup!

  This is my beautiful pup, Ellie! Ellie’s story with my family and I begun on March 19, 2020, when my mother and I picked her up from my dad’s fire station. March 19th was an important date for my family. Not only did this beautiful girl enter our lives then, but it was also the first full day of restaurant closures during the pandemic, my school had announced its intention to continue virtually for the remainder of the semester, my birthday had just passed, and COVID-19 loomed over our daily lives, its shadow growing with each passing day. And then, there was Ellie! Ellie is such a joy in my family’s life! She is beyond sweet, unbelievably adorable, incredibly fun, and an awesome companion. It has been a real joy to watch Ellie grow up during this difficult time for our world. Her life has been like a ray of sunshine in an overcast world. I enjoy going on walks with her and my mother at the park, visiting with her on the couch and floor, watching her jump in the pool during a hot day, and of course playing fetch in the backyard with her favorite orange tennis balls. Watching Ellie grow and mature into such a beautiful dog has been a true gift to my family and me during the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter what's going on in the world, Ellie always makes my day better.
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  2020-07-16

  COVID19 Meals and Supplies Drop off TV Table

  This TV table is where my mother left supplies for my father during his quarantine after he contracted COVID19 in July 2020. My mother set this table up outside their bedroom door. When she left something on the table my dad did not come and get it until she had left the hallway completely. I was not allowed to go near the table or get anything for my dad because my mom was afraid that I would get sick. She left a variety of items there for him including Gatorade and other drinks, meals, desserts, and utensils, and sticky notes. I think that this item demonstrates the type of adaptation necessary when a loved one has COVID19. My family and I could not be together, so we had to find ways to safely be apart. This table is one of the ways my parents and I did that.
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  2020-07-16

  Staged COVID Dinner Sticky Notes

  This is a photograph I took of staged post-it notes my mother wrote to my father during his quarantine after he contracted COVID19 in July 2020. When my father tested positive for COVID19 he quarantined in my parents’ bedroom. His illness required my mother and I to make adjustments to our daily lives. My mother began taking care of my father, primarily by bringing him supplies and delivering food during meal times. While she did this, she wrote sticky notes to him which can be seen in the photograph above. Some of the sticky notes are just simple reminders or questions, nevertheless, I believe they are all significant. These sticky notes were a creative way that my mother used to communicate with my father while he was in quarantine. Some of them are also quite heartfelt and silly. And I think that’s why the notes are so important because they show that we can still be creative, silly, and funny during very stressful times. Also, these sticky notes are important to me because they represent my parents’ commitment to each other; even when things got tough.