Items

• 
  2020-03-01

  Increase of Outdoor Participants since the Pandemic's Onset

  Since the start of the pandemic, I've begun to both run and hike when I get the chance. After talking with people who have done the same since before the pandemic, they've noted how there is absolutely an increase of people outdoors. For me, it's a great way to escape and improve mental health, and I think it's worth noting how many are trying to find ways to improve themselves and keep going through various ways during such a tough time.
• 
  2020-03-01

  COVID through the eyes of others

  Going through the pandemic myself has had a lot of highs and lows. Despite having to be relatively locked down and isolated from most people until vaccinated, I was able to pick up a lot of hobbies and overall just learn a lot more about myself. As I look back, I can't help but think about how this experience has been different for others, with one of these groups being the elderly especially. There's one couple that is friends with my family who are both just over sixty years old and starting from March 2020 has been on complete lockdown. They order their groceries, don't see anyone outside their immediate family, and rarely leave the house. While COVID for me has its positives and negatives, I can't imagine how different the experience has been for them, both out of isolation and fear of getting sick. Thankfully, they have been vaccinated and have extended the bubble of people they see slightly. I just can't get over how while some who are skeptics of the pandemic run around carefree, others are locked away in their homes fearing for their health.
• 
  2020-10-31

  Connecting through Climbing in the Pandemic

  Just prior to the pandemic, I got seriously into rock climbing. For me, not only it was a much more fun way to work out, but it is absolutely a social sport. Everyone at the climbing gym was and continues to be extremely friendly, and you can simply strike up a conversation with anyone by simply asking what routes they are working on so that you can help one another find the most efficient way to reach the top. As all the routes are graded, just watching yourself improve and working on harder routes is an amazing feeling. With the outbreak of the pandemic, however, the gym closed until September, and I felt like such an important piece of my life went missing. While it was hard losing an activity and social outlet like that, I like trying to find silver linings in the difficult times. Even though it took me a while to come to this conclusion, I realized that it took the pandemic and losing it to truly appreciate the people there and sport itself. Ironically, I can almost contribute the pandemic to my continued obsession with climbing, even if it did rip it away from me for a few months. Attached is a picture of the first event back at the climbing gym, which was a lights-out event for Halloween where you could only use headlamps to see where you were going.
• 2020-06

  A Community Coming Together for High School Seniors

  As COVID began taking effect and schools started switching to virtual classes from home, one of my siblings became extremely upset. This was to be their senior year, and suddenly senior trip, prom, and graduation were being taken away from them. Such sentiments were shared throughout their entire class, and even gained attention through high school seniors at a national level. Inspired by similar movements across the country, however, parents and leaders across the community decided to act for these seniors. Out of nowhere an "Adopt a Child" movement began, and nearly a thousand of those within the community all contributed to giving these students gift baskets full of gift cards, apparel, and so forth. Businesses were even a major part of this movement; for example, a few pizza places offered to give out hundreds of free pies to students at extremely reduced prices for the parents sponsoring them. While nothing could likely make up for all that they had lost, this situation not only alleviated some of the sorrow amongst my own family members, but it demonstrated to me how strongly we can come together when those in our community need it.