Items

• 2020-06-05

  What is Zoom Fatigue and what it means for students

  This article gives some context as to what "zoom fatigue" or "tech fatigue" is. It's not something I've really considered before this year. My previous years of having mainly online classes, were still broken up by at least one or two in-person classes, along with the other distractions of going the store or visiting family, and doing something fun or interesting, without the anxiety of getting severely sick, or getting my loved ones sick. The article also includes some basic "how to fight tech fatigue" tips which I think could be useful, however, this type of advice can easily fall into the one-size-fits-all category. This needs to be avoided, because there is a wider range of diversity and accessibility, and for some people the "20,20,20" rule, simply doesn't work.
• 
  2020-08-17

  St. Mary's University's History Club Welcomes Back Members Virtually for Fall 2020

  St. Mary's University clubs had to move online during the Covid-19 pandemic. As the semester started the History Club sent out a welcome letter to members with information on how to connect to the zoom meeting which would host the club's meetings for the semester.
• 
  2020-11-16

  Crazy Semester for St. Mary's University

  This email that I provided goes to show the crazy semester we had at St. Mary's University. The Dean is sympathizing with the student and faculty for how hard everyone worked during the pandemic and how we were still able to come together whether it be through zoom or safe social distancing events. It also states struggles that everyone has been through such as Zoom glitches, dropped internet connections, etc. This shows that the dean is able to see all the hard-work that the students and faculty went through to finish the semester.
• 
  2020-11-12

  University experience during COVID-19

  I am NUin student at Northeastern University, and I was supposed to spend my first semester in London. Still, due to the current circumstances, I ended up spending my first semester in Boston. At first, I thought it would be challenging for me to study via zoom classrooms, but as the semester progresses, I find it a useful experience. First of all, it was always interesting for me to learn how to study online since it can be a useful skill/experience, especially during the 21st century. I think that the zoom class experience and remote learning experience helps me to adapt to modern communicational technologies and explore new ways of learning. I think it was not a mistake to come to Boston during the COVID-19 outbreak since I am fully engaged in college education, and at the same time, during a free time, I can explore the beautiful city of Boston. So, even though I spend the majority of my time in the hotel studying, I feel integrated into college education, and I found it exciting to explore a new city. I am also excited to come back to normal and find out how the actual college experience feels in contrast to what I have right now.
• 
  2020-11-10

  Life in a Digital World

  For millions of people, the blue and white logo of the digital video meeting service, Zoom, has become a familiar sight. I am sure that many of us, like myself, had to abruptly learn about Zoom in March 2020 when our lives entered a digital phase due to the pandemic. I’m sure that I am also similar to many others when I can now say that (in November 2020) I am more than proficient in my Zoom skills. Everything from school to work to social meetings are now conducted by sending Zoom invitation links. Zoom has become the classroom, the office, and the cafe…..possibly without even changing the room you are sitting in. This year has not been easy but, as I look back over these past months, I have realized that the technological world has become a surprising lifesaver. Technology has allowed people to stay connected to the world without even stepping outside their homes. Phone calls, emails, texts, Zoom meetings….they have all played a part in keeping us close to our family and friends. Even my college graduation in May was conducted over Zoom. We moved our tassels as one graduating department, even as we sat in front of our separate computers in different locations! I have started my first semester at graduate school this fall at a Pittsburgh university. My classes are conducted through Zoom, so I am not actually on campus or living in the city! While I miss in-person social interactions, I am also incredibly grateful that, thanks to digital tools and dedicated professors, I have been able to continue my education despite this year’s difficult circumstances. Interestingly, despite global lockdowns, I have been able to “visit” parts of the world I would not normally be able to, due to institutions’ and organizations’ commitment to providing virtual experiences. From our home, my family and I have watched theatrical performances, concerts, and other events occurring in different geographical areas because of the ability to livestream. We have also been exploring various museums by taking virtual tours and looking through virtual collections. Through technology, I have been able to learn about and experience events and places that I would not have been able to otherwise! Eventually, this pandemic will be over. I hope, however, that institutions and organizations continue to reach out digitally even when it is safe to resume in-person group activities. Digital programs and projects allow people to participate in events and experiences that might have been too costly in travel expenses or time commitments had they only been offered in traditional, in-person formats. Regardless, I am grateful for what digital programming and technology have already given me. This year has been incredibly stressful and filled with anxiety. Sometimes, it has made all the difference to be able to connect with a few people over a Zoom meeting. In the end, the Zoom logo has come to signify many things to me: pandemic, prevalence of digital technology, and, when it comes down to it, the importance of human connectivity and relationships.
• 2020-11-09

  University in the Pandemic

  This is a picture I took in my hotel room in Boston of the zoom call I was on for my communications class at Northeastern University. I'm a freshman at Northeastern University and I've been able to experience college during the COVID-19 pandemic right on the front line. Unlike many of my friends who have been forced to stay at home because their colleges can't support in-person classes, I have been living in a hotel room in Boston for two months and attending classes regularly. Although I'm "in person", 3 out of my 4 major classes are entirely online and I spend most of my days sitting in my room tuning in to zoom calls. I would call this semester anything but the typical college experience, with most of my days spent in near isolation as my motivation ebbs away. In the age of the pandemic, it's harder than ever to find friends and the few freshmen who have found large groups have broken nearly every rule our university has set to try and keep us safe. It can be hard to stay positive, but I've done my best to keep my grades up and talk to my friends whenever possible.
• 
  2020-11-07

  Graduation in 2020

  This is a meme about how COVID has affect the graduation of the class of 2020. As a member of the class of 2020, I can definitely relate to this. I was really looking forward to my high school graduation. Even though we had somewhat of a very small ceremony only a few members of our family could come and it wasn’t how I dreamed of it. A big reason we couldn’t have the normal ceremony was the cause of the rules and restrictions put in place by our government. Gatherings of a certain number were not allowed and masks had become mandatory because of our government.
• 
  2020-08

  Puzzles at home

  I was very fortunate to have been able to stay at home in Sydney this year, remotely attending my university in Melbourne via zoom classes and pre-recorded lectures. While I was grateful for this form of continuity I desperately missed Melbourne and the friends I’d made there. Spending days slowly working on this puzzle was both a way to pass the increasing amount of time I spent at home as well as way to feel a little more connected to the city I was missing.
• 
  2020-04-29

  Distance Learning with her BFF

  My daughter cannot sit still for long therefore did not do well with distance learning. Every morning she had a Zoom meeting with her teacher and classmates to check in. I snapped this photograph as she Zoomed with her class and laid against her dog. She finds comfort with our golden retriever who loves her dearly.
• 
  2020-11-03

  Career Virtual Fair

  This email was sent to me to set up an appointment to do a career virtual fair. This email shows who's is going to be at the career fair and who you can set up an appointment to meet with them. It also shows all the set ups you need such as making sure you have proper internet connection, using the right internet function such as Chrome or FireFox and making sure you set up appointments. This goes to show what the new way of trying to get a job during a pandemic is like. To get interviews, you need zoom and you are not able to meet face to face with the employers. It affects the students by not being able to meet face to face with the interviewer.
• 
  2020-08-02

  New rules in The Rattler Newsroom

  These rules have really altered the way the newsroom operates. It is significant because it shows how the operations of the office have had to change so that we all stay safe. Although we- the editors, pretty much all have our own computers we still share the space and desks. Typically we bounce from each other desks to help with one another speeds and ideas, but these practices have had to change. These changes have made it hard to have press weekend, but we still find ways to abide by these rules and put the paper together as a team. Other clubs and groups on campus must also preform all their activities via Zoom, and cannot share a creative space. These rules epitomize the standards we all have to function under and still manage to get our goals completed.
• 
  2020

  Zoom: Grad School in Quarantine

  This meme is a visual representation of the feelings of many online students this school year. Professors have been doing their best in a situation that was handled so improperly by those in charge. However, many students feel resentment for their universities due to a lack of accommodation in such a tumultuous time. Zoom learning was offered as an alternative to in person learning but no one could say that the two are equal in comparison. The fact that many universities are charging the same amount for both types of learning is not lost on students and adds to the frustration that online learners face during COVID19. Many wonder where their money is going and if the universities actually care about their students and staff. It's important to remember that all of us in grad school are struggling with the same things, being flexible and empathetic is so important, now more than ever.
• 
  2020-07-07

  Learning Auslan during Covid-19, via Zoom

  HIST30060
• 
  2020-10-19

  jeffrey toobin took his dick out on a zoom call

  Someone who worked with the New York Times left his camera on and decided to masturbate, thinking his camera was off, showing a gross act of sexual misconduct and misunderstanding about when it is appropriate to wank off at work. Key Note: it should really be never, even if you are muted and your camera is off during a meeting, please do not pleasure yourself in the Zoom call.
• 2020-10-23

  My not-so-fun Freshman year of college

  My experience with COVID-19 is, I'm sure as basic as most other individuals my age. I vividly remember being at the library studying for finals later in the day upset that DePaul hadn't sent out regard giving us 2 weeks off for spring break like seemingly every other school in the United States. I felt left out and redundantly did my homework. It wasn't long after that I heard a roar of cheering on the 2nd floor of the library that was supposed to stay at a whisper. I knew this could only mean one thing... DePaul had come to their senses and had given us our well-deserved two-weeks off. Although, this wasn't the case. My joyful celebration came to an end when I read the email they sent out to their student body in March, telling everyone that they would be moving out and not returning until possibly September of the next academic year. I WAS SHOCKED. Moreover dumbfounded, and not ready to have my freshman year come to a halt. Even more, I didn't feel making students move out was necessary... The virus wasn't that serious and would be gone soon. I didn't know of any other colleges that were taking measures as drastic as DePaul... because of this, you could say I was pretty annoyed at the inconvenience DePaul was putting their students through, as all of my friends on other campuses got to enjoy their extra week of spring break. March 13th has a known reputation of being the last "normal" day before everything changed due to COVID. This was the last day that many people remember not having to worry about the pandemic, the last day before everything changed forever. After this day the country took on a very dark path, and many people believed it was the end of the world. With news reports at all-time high reporting cases growing day-by-day in our country, and spreading like wildfire: it's safe to say that our entire country was in a state of panic. Throughout the next few weeks, almost all of my friends at other schools had to drive back down to their campuses and move out since the "two-week spring break" was anticipated to last much longer. After this, I felt less left out, and almost grateful that DePaul had taken the time to look ahead and save us the hassle of separate trips to move out. Being at home for the first month was honestly in my opinion pretty fun. I got to sleep in every day, and I didn't have FOMO (fear of missing out) because the country was on a somewhat strict lock-down and I knew that everyone around me was doing the same thing. Zoom phone video-calls became the next big thing in my personal and school life. I had new normals such as washing my hands every 30 seconds, wearing a mask whenever in public, and not touching my face with my hands... These were all habits that I thought would be short-lived, although here I am writing this in October of 2020, doing still having to do the same things. The past few months have gone by really slowly but oddly fast at the same time. It's almost November, I ended up staying home to save money on housing for school since all of my classes are online. Almost everyone I know has all online classes since our country hasn't taken the proper measures to get rid of covid and instead chose to adapt to covid, making the turn-around time of going back to life-pre-covid exponentially longer. Furthermore, many college students have chosen to live on campus while doing their studies to be able to get out of the house with their parents and be with their friends. This is the one thing I wish I was able to do since the past 8 months living at home are drastically different than when I was by myself away at school. Although, I understand that financially it's the smartest decision so I'm continuing to preserve on, even as my friends get to live a life somewhat more entertaining than myself. It's the price I have to pay for caring about the well-being of others more than my youth being filled with memories of going out. Now I take life day-by-day and continue to make goals for the future. But in all honesty, I have no idea what the future entails.
• 
  2020-10-17

  Women's March goes virtual in North Dakota

  This screenshot captures a story published by a local news provider in North Dakota. The story is important because it describes another effect of COVID, relying heavily on technology. Having to organize a women’s march via Zoom showcases the resiliency of people and their dedication to a cause.
• 
  2020-07-27

  "Hope to see you soon"

  Due to Covid-19 my uncle's birthday party was turned into a Zoom get together. The participants were asked to create a video and submit it before the event. Normally, I probably would have just said a simple hello but feeling isolated and full of stored creativity I decide to make song. Aiso, I had lost my job due to covid. The subject of the song was the wish we, I , have to interact with fellow humans at a time when we are not able to. Who even knew what Zoom was before Covid and would I have ever tried to create a song with a harmonica if i was not quarantined, probably not. I do not think I even said the word "quarantine" more than once a year, and then only for a crossword puzzle. I tried to create a song that expressed my feelings for the time and create a performance piece that was challenging for me to do. I think after the tenth take my lip muscles were cramped and I had actual lip abrasions from sliding the harmonica back and forth. The finished product was rough and maybe one of the other 30 takes would have been better but i was on a birthday dead line so it is what it is. Unfortunately, the video file proved too big or the sound too bad that when my video was played for the Zoom "party" most of the sound was lost. Hopefully, it was not edited out. This little video will always be my gateway memory of time spent during the Covid-19 lock down. Through this song I will remember everything that happened, which was and is a lot. During my time at Brooklyn college getting my MA in education there was a focus on different learning styles which I think is typified by my video.
• 
  2020-09-24

  Female World Leaders’ Pandemic Lessons

  Author Kara Cutruzzula cites Avivah Wittenberg-Cox’s assertion that four principles successfully guided women leaders: trust, decisiveness, tech, and love. The six lessons from female leadership are as follows: 1) Include everyone, 2) Be authentic, 3) Tell the truth, 4) Be decisive, 5) Embrace technology, 6) Leaders of every kind can learn from these women. This article highlights COVID-19 responses that are of international importance. The decisions these women made for their respective countries are of great historical value. The article also provides a contemporary opinion about the positive reception these decisions received.
• 
  2020-10-15

  Zoom Meeting/Saint Jerome writing, 2020

  Covid has changed everything and some professions have been more affected than others. For the arts, it has been very weird. First, due to the closure of galleries and events, an artist had the opportunity to create without interruptions, but the codependency of the artist with the art institutions is too strong. The painting was made by my husband, Diego Perez. He is a local artist in Arizona. At the beginning of the quarantine in March, he was so productive but after a few months, the creative process was affected by the lack of social interaction, exhibitions, call for artists, public art opportunities. He started to paint portraits, people with masks, but nothing was worth it because there was no space to exhibit or to sell. Online events weren't the same, ultimately, our virtual interaction is not enough for anyone. The painting "Zoom meeting/Saint Jerome Writing" represents the first approach to art normality, at least for my family. Carmody Foundation opened a call for artists in August and Diego was selected. The painting is a hagiography for Saint Jerome but in a pandemic mode, you will be able to see the important elements such as the skull, the red fabric, the writing...
• 
  2020-04-08

  Jewish Melbourne: The Plague Year Hypertext Haggadah

  An interactive hypertext haggadah I wrote for my family’s Zoom seder in 2020. I used Twine, a popular open-source, interactive fiction tool, to write a choose-your-own-adventure haggadah. It was the first zoom-based seder I had ever attended, and I didn't know how long my family would tolerate technological difficulties and the often awkward, fragmented conversation that some Zoom conversations/events can descend into. (Let alone the near-impossibility of group singing via zoom). Apart from this, it’s fairly common in my family, as in many others, that parts of the seder are skipped over, or their inclusion is contested, and I thought that trying to conduct a seder via zoom would only make people more eager to get it over with and reach Shulchan Orech, i.e. the getting drunk/ shittalking part and then call it a night. Writing/Compiling a hypertext haggadah was my attempt to facilitate a more fluid seder, in which parts could easily be skipped over on the night, among other reasons. In practice in turned out to be a bit of a shemozzle, which is partly due to some technological illiteracy among the mishpachah, and also partly because my hypertext haggadah is a rabbit warren (over 5,000 words spread over over hundreds of individual pages joined by hyperlinks), and so moments of anarchy would often ensue when people strayed from the communal path (which I enjoyed tbh, but were clearly frustrating to my uncle, whose ideal seder is basically the Two-Minute Haggadah: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/03/the-two-minute-haggadah.html)
• 
  2020

  Unsurmountable feeling of Digital Dread: A 3 Line Poem for those done with it All

  Oh, woe be the mind riddled with sickening screens! So easy it is now to skip class and be free! It seems so simple without a toll or a fee! Lest be our nauseated souls, Cure us of this sickness, and relieve our woe!
• 
  2020-10-17

  Trivia nights for graduate students

  This photo is of the participants of a trivia night for Spanish graduate students at ASU. We have been getting together on zoom and having trivia nights every other Saturday to try and connect, since most of us don't see one another due to covid. Most people either take their classes and/or teach them online, so the comaraderie of the office is gone. We aren't able to meet the new students in person and make them feel at home because of the distancing required.
• 
  2020-10-12

  Funny tweet about cats and zoom and teaching

  Found this tweet about living in times of Covid zoom teaching and I found it amusing, yet also a bit as the author put it 'dystopian'.
• 2020-10-12

  Life of a Homeshcooler

  - In times of covid I am not as social in person but have switched my social online with friends playing games and D&D through, discord, zoom and text. -Before covid I had a schedule of when I went to classes, co-ops and saw my friends. Social is now more erratic because everyone is home and schedules are so varied. This makes it hard to talk to friends. So now I have to adapt more to others schedules in order to spend time online with friends. -Because of the way we socialize I spend more time than normal online. -My homeschool life however has not changed that much, probably do more academics than before. I have been taking multiple online class over the years so when covid happened things didn’t change that much for me academically. -Another positive is that my personal library has expanded because getting to the library and picking out books is limited since they aren’t open and only allow curbside pick up. -Got more chickens, since we are home all the time. -Since I don’t leave the house very often, I have been able to get more schoolwork done. -Since I am home more, I have more time for hobbies and have taken up learning blacksmithing.
• 
  2020-08-20

  Masks and Virtual Living

  The photo of my friends- A lot of my social interactions since March have been virtual. Every Friday, I would call my wonderful group of friends and catch up, since we couldn’t see each other in person. The photo of my friend and I with masks- I worked at Menards, in sort of the warehouse section of the store. I worked 10 hour shifts in the heat with a mask on every day. It was definitely uncomfortable, but I do think it was important and necessary for all of us to wear masks.
• 2020-10-08

  The consequences of the Pandemic

  The COVID- 19 pandemic has been extremely rough for my family and I. During the spring of 2020, the pandemic started to become the major event that not only US was discussing, but the entire world. I clearly remember during the time of spring break at ASU, an individual contacted the virus, which caused a significant amount of chaos for my family. The reason was because of my older parents. My family was concerned with their health and the possibility of them being infected with COVID-19. As time went on and ASU decided to move all in class sessions to Zoom (online learning), it made it much easier for my family to be isolated as I started to study from home. One of the biggest challenges that I faced was getting groceries, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and much more. This brought a lot of major issues as the pandemic grew lager and larger, these essentials where missing. As time passed, my older brother was exposed to the virus at his work and then he contaminated all of his family. This news did not only cause a significant amount of worry to me, but more to my parents as they heard my brother in constant pain over the phone. As time progressed, my brothers condition worsens, which resulted in his being taken to the hospital. He was kept overnight for observation and was released the other day. Even though his health declined significantly, due to the virus, he fought it and won. After that experience, my family was extremely cautious of everyone around them. My family and I decided to completely quarantine ourselves for about a month or so due to the health of my parents. This was only made possible because our family prepared for this situation beforehand. Once my family heard about the pandemic reaching the state of Arizona, my father decided to buy the necessary supplies for us to last roughly a month, but other essentials where still missing.
• 
  0000-04-24

  Finding Inspiration in Community While Apart

  At the beginning of March 2020, everything was going wonderfully for me personally, but also within my dance community. I grew up training intensely in several different styles of dance. But after three years of focusing my training specifically on Hip Hop, I had grown tremendously, developed stronger confidence in myself and a trust in my body, was engaging more actively in the overall Arizona Hip Hop community, and was on track to become President of my team for the upcoming school year. I had also organized a trip out of town with my team and a showcase to be held at the end of the year at a beautiful venue. However, as COVID-19 struck, all off those plans for the team, as well as all our weekly classes, practices and rehearsals were cancelled. Suddenly my most effective social, physical, and mental outlets were no longer available. I was going through my own significant struggles because of the pandemic, but I also became worried about what these changes would mean for the relationships and dance lives of everyone on my team. However, as true athletes and artists do, we found a way to reinvigorate ourselves and be there for each other. We decided to meet over zoom at least once a week to check in, talk about our experiences, and most importantly, find a way to dance together, remotely. . I was given the unique opportunity to listen and understand how collective times of crisis had affected my friends of various faiths and identities. The zoom call pictured is one where several of us met virtually to learn choreography from one of our teammates. This choreography would later be filmed in our individual locations and cut together to create a cohesive video. Throughout the pandemic, I have heard countless stories of creative people who lost their drive and inspiration in stress and defeat. However, I have also read and lived the stories of adjustment and perseverance. Being part of a community, whether it be rooted in art, academia, or religion, drives individuals to contribute. The dance community specifically has been devastated through lack of space to gather, learn, and perform. But it has also learned to utilize technology and been reminded of what we had taken for granted.
• 
  2020-10-08

  End of Freshman Year

  My photo is my farewell picture to my dorm room on the day I had to move out of it due to COVID-19. My freshman year of college was an amazing experience where I began to truly understand the person I was: a lover of politics, reading, and going out with friends. Once I finished my last midterm, I packed a few items to take back home for spring break, not once thinking I had spent my last night in my dorm. Spring break rolled along and we received the fateful email: classes would be held online. At this point, COVID-19 numbers began to drastically rise around the country and the world. The life we once knew had drastically changed. Daily occurrences were no longer permitted: concerts, sporting events, and breathing without a mask over one’s mouth and nose. As I made my way back to my dorm at Arizona State University, I felt a longing for the life we once lived. The life we had no idea would cease to exist. I opened the door to my dorm and the familiar scent of rose diffuser instantly brought back the hundreds of memories that college had gifted me. This was the room where I first felt independent, where I spent long nights studying and staying up late with friends. This was the room where I met my roommate, who is now my best friend. I had intended to come back to my new home, ready to continue the adventures that had excited me in the first three-fourths of the school year. However, COVID-19 changed everything. I packed up what was left and asked my dad to take a picture of me one last time. Now, my college experience is limited to a laptop screen back at my parents place. All extracurriculars have ceased. We communicate with our teachers and classmates through zoom. The pandemic has halted physical human interaction. Hopefully we are one day able to freely breathe without the fear of infecting each other.
• 
  2020-04-12

  The Last Supper over Zoom

  Meme of Jesus on a Zoom call with the disciples at the Last Supper.
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  2020-10-06

  A Muted Rosh Hashanah

  Every year, I attend the High Holy Day services at Temple Agudas Achim with my mother. The services are long, emotionally exhausting, and beautiful; this is when the shofar (a ram’s horn) is blown. This year would have been slightly different because the Rosh Hashanah began on Shabbat, but the High Holidays were also impacted by Covid-19. Instead of meeting in person with the entire congregation - hundreds of people, most of whom I don’t see throughout the year - the services were held via Zoom. Because many of my congregation avoid technology on holy days, there were less than 50 people participating in this year’s services. Rather than 3 hours long, services this year lasted about an hour. When the shofar was blown, it was heard through a computer screen, which failed to capture the awe-inducing power of the horn. As someone with ADHD, the High Holidays are usually tough for me. I struggle to focus during the long services, becoming fidgety after an hour. In the past, my mother and I have celebrated the holidays privately, attending a retreat, or simply spending the day together at home. When we celebrate this way, I can draw on my tablet - drawing has always been a source of comfort and focus for me. In the temple, multi-tasking is frowned upon, as it is seen as disrespectful and sacrilegious. Yet recognizing the holidays this way is unfulfilling for my mother - she misses the community of our temple and yearns for the sound of the shofar. Because of Covid-19, we both got a little of our preferred way to worship. Watching the live stream and participating via Zoom allowed my mother to re-connect with temple members whom she had missed. Yes, the meeting was lacking in many ways, but it was better than not attending at all. I was able to stay off-screen, listening to the service while drawing. It was during the service that I drew the image I titled “A Muted Rosh Hashanah”, which depicts a young girl attempting to blow a shofar through a protective mask. With this drawing, I hoped to convey the beauty and passion of the shofar, as well as the pain and longing that the pandemic and social distancing has caused.
• 
  2020-10-04

  Life of a College student during the COVID-19 pandemic

  My story is about how the COVID-19 affected my education starting from spring semester to fall semester. Taking all my classes from online, which is a little bit challenging. (REL 101)
• 
  2020-09-19

  Promotion during COVID-19

  Usually military promotions require a ceremony. I would have dressed myself and our two daughter up, my husband whole battalion would have be present as his superiors would have said a few words. I would have taken off his old rank from his uniform and officially pinned his new one on. Everyone would have cheered and we would have gone to dinner to celebrate. My husband promotion looked completely different than what we’re used to. He found out he would be pinned ten minutes before the zoom call, the kids were still in their pjs and my husband wasn’t even wearing his pants. Instead we got dressed in a hurry, got on a zoom call with five other people and I pinned him while my dad held the phone. It took less than five minutes start to finish then it was back to whatever we had been doing prior to the call. We ordered in dinner that day just to make it as special as we could. HST580 ASU
• 
  2020

  How I navigated a touch based sport during a time of 6 feet apart

  My story is my own story of what I experienced as a martial artist in the Covid Pandemic. It is important to me as, from what I understand, it is one of many just like it.
• 2020-03-01

  Mental Health Effects of COVID-19

  COVID-19 was an experience that presented the ideal conditions that would challenge our mental health. The fear of the unknown, fear of losing loved ones, fear of missing out on our precious years of life as well as not knowing when we'll see our close family and friends. We are separated from society unable to see our loved ones, schools are closed, many people lost their jobs or were unable to work to prevent the spread of this horrifying disease. As we're locked into our homes, we confine ourselves in our own minds which can often be our worst enemies at times for people like me. We need to be occupied and be around loved ones in order to stray away from negativity. During these times being surrounded by close family and friends was a luxury we couldn't afford because of the virus and ultimately many people like myself picked up hobbies to distract ourselves from the dreadful events occurring all over the world. During my summer break, I began learning to paint and would spend about a couple hours a day painting with my friends over Zoom which would either sometimes turn out to be a competition between us of who would do the best or we would just freely paint while listening to some calming music and keeping each other company. Although I am not very artistic or good at acrylic painting there was something very therapeutic about it. My entire focus and attention was solely on doing my best to recreate the painting from the tutorial I was watching on YouTube or trying to win the friendly competition with my friends and this helped me steer away from pondering about what's been going on in the world and was very stress-relieving. In a way my COVID-19 experience taught me a lot about my mental health and helped me find ways to make the best of the situation and not take anything for granted. Now a couple months into quarantine I still paint from time to time although not as much because the semester started and being bombarded with assignments and tests but I do make time for it if I find that I need to release my stress.
• 
  2020-09-22

  Professor Shares Anonymous Student Anxieties

  A professor shared student's anxieties about the Fall 2020 semester. Most of the responses show the toll the pandemic has taken on student's mental health. Another common theme is that many students face a multitude of difficulties when it comes to online school. Whether it's finding the motivation to go to class or how a student's home-life creates a toxic environment for online learning.
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  2020-09-16

  The Crushing Reality of Zoom School

  This article is a candid look into how doing school online through Zoom has proved to be an exhausting challenge for children, teachers, and parents.
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  2020-04-29

  Jewish Melbourne: 'YG Melbourne Resumes Full Seder Virtually Amidst Coronavirus'

  This news update begins: "The Communists in Russia were not able to shut down Tomchei Temimim, and COVID-19 won’t shut it down either. The challenge today is different, but the mission remains the same, in what is surely Tomchei Temimim’s final frontier before Moshiach’s arrival. The Rebbe Rashab, the Frierdiker Rebbe, the Rebbe, and all the Temimim of old are looking to us, the final generation of Temimim, to carry the baton over the finish line. To that end, YG Melbourne resumed full Seder today via online platforms Zoom and Google Classroom, with the aim of supporting each Bochur in keeping a regular full day of Seder. Instead of reducing Torah study, YG’s full-service virtual Zal resumed Seder two days ahead of schedule. Seder was also opened up to all Bochurim enrolled in overseas Yeshivos who are stranded in Australia due to COVID-19 travel restrictions."
• 
  0202-09-19

  New year service on zoom

  New year service on zoom, quite a lot of people over 300 people attended
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  2020-05-15

  University of Arizona Department of History Commencement Ceremony Program

  Because of the pandemic, in-person graduation ceremonies were cancelled. Instead the ceremonies were held over Zoom. This program outlines the video webinar order of events for the graduation ceremony.
• 2020-09-18

  Golfing During COVID

  I first became uneasy about the coronavirus when the US government started to make mandates about what businesses were to close, the limits of crowds, and when they made wearing a face mask in public mandatory. At first, I did not notice a significant difference in everyday life. The biggest change for me was moving out of my dorm room at Duquesne University and going home where I would complete the rest of the semester online. It was a very different experience in the sense I never would have thought that I would be completing my first full year of college education at home. With that being said, I got very used to attending class and completing work virtually. Moreover, as time went on, I realized at the time that the biggest change, the weirdest aspect of the pandemic was that almost every business was closed (except for the essential businesses) or at the very least open for only a few hours out of the day and there were many restrictions on the amount of people allowed in a given building at any time. For the first three or four weeks of quarantine, I struggled to find activities to do while I wasn’t in a Zoom session or doing homework. That was the worst part for me because I am someone who loves to be doing something all the time. It is hard for me to sit around inside all day not doing much. So, when May 1st came around, the government allowed golf courses to open in Pennsylvania. I have always enjoyed golfing in my free time even in the years prior to this pandemic. But when golf was allowed to open back up in PA, I began to golf more and more as it was one of the few activities that I could enjoy. Golf is not a sport where someone would come into contact with very many people in general so, I began golf quite frequently as it was a perfect way for me to ‘de-stress’ from being cooped up in my house attending zoom calls and doing homework problems for what seemed like one long day that didn’t really end. That brings me to my next point which was that pandemic life took a toll on my mental health. Waking up every day knowing that I was strongly encouraged to stay at home and if, in the case I did leave the house, I had to keep my distance from other people. To me, it felt like pandemic life was a very cyclical way of living which lacked variance. It was the same thing every day for weeks on end. Just that state-of-mind was probably the largest toll that pandemic had on my life. Fortunately, though, it seems as though we are through the worst parts of the coronavirus pandemic. I am seeing more and more businesses re-open which is encouraging. And hopefully we can continue being safe in order to get over the virus and back to normal life.
• 2020-09-17

  Covid University:I:The Chat Box

  The pandemic forced us all to take online classes. We all miss the traditional classroom setting. But we all remember how awkward it was to ask questions. One thing about zoom is you can ask a question or make a comment in the chat box. This is a feature I hope get added to the in person class experience. It adds so much to the productivity and the curiosity of student. Being able to just add a question into the chat log, then the teacher peeks at it and answers when they have time or if its immediately relevant. No classroom disruption, no being shy, just unadulterated curiosity.
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  2020-09-17

  Dealing with Death in a Pandemic

  It describes how funerals have changed since the start of the pandemic. I submitted it because I think people need to see how big this viruses reach is and how it can affect everyone.
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  2020-06-13

  When the ideal bar mitzvah is a Zoom Mitzvah

  My boy-girl twins had their b'nai mitzvah during the pandemic. It went from me planning a big party, to me trying to make them feel happy about themselves on Zoom. But the secret is: This was possibly the best thing that could have happened! My son is autistic, and we were struggling with how he would deal with the sensory overload of performing in a large synagogue. I wrote a story about it that was published in the Forward, and I want to share it here.
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  2020-08-07

  Jewish Melbourne: 'High Holy Day Services in the shadow of Covid'

  Newspaper article by Rabbi Yonatan Sadoff (from Kehilat Nitzan) in the Australian Jewish News, 7 August 2020.
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  2020

  Jewish Melbourne: South Caulfield Hebrew Congregation Kabbalat Shabbat and Havdalah

  During lockdown, South Caulfield Hebrew Congregation has been running online kabbalat shabbat and havdalah services, through zoom and streamed to facebook. One example of this from September can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/SCHebrewCongregation/posts/2849524248601840
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  2020-04-11

  Jewish Melbourne: Solidarity Seder

  On Saturday 11 April 2020, a group of Jews from across Australia gathered together on zoom for a 'Solidarity seder'. Organised by people from Here, Queer, and Jewish Australia, Sydney Left Jews, Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS), Fully Automated Luxury Kosher Space Kibbutz and Jews against Fascism, this seder raised money for undocumented migrants as well as Grandmothers Against Removals. Approximately 60 people gathered together, reading through the haggadah together, sharing a meal, and sharing ideas about what Jewish life and possibility looked like in that moment. Everyone agreed that this was a unique and special Jewish space.
• 2020-09-01

  My Journey Throughout Online School

  When the first cases in our state were announced (March 11), schools were shut down within days. At first, I thought it would only last for a couple of weeks, or maybe a month at most. But, that didn’t happen. In fact, we will probably not go back on to campus this year. School is now being held online, and it has its ups and downs. Something good about it is that I don’t have to get up as early, fully dressed, and school days are shorter. However, I’m not actually getting anymore additional sleep than I did when I had to wake up at 6 AM, since I now stay up until 1 or 2 AM. Another thing that I don’t particularly like about online school is that I don’t get to interact with my friends during school. I’m happy that we have the technology to communicate with them every day, but I wish I could physically be with them and talk to them face to face. Online school is either done through Google Meets, Zoom, or Discord, where teachers give instruction and answer any questions we have. Since I attend a technology based school, we were given Macbook Airs, and use them to do assignments. At my school, already semi-operated online so the transition to online school wasn’t hard. We use this site called “echo” where we turn in our assignments and they get graded. So far online school is okay except for the occasional Wi-Fi issues that are annoying. I can say I definitely prefer going to actual school since everything just seemed a lot more streamlined.
• 2020-09-13

  Music Education During a Pandemic

  Music has been a big part of my life ever since I was young. I picked up the violin in second grade, and my involvement in the music industry has only grown since then. This year is my senior year as a music education major in college; however, in light of the pandemic, I am anxious about what the future holds for music. Music class is very different from other classes that students may have throughout the day. While it is more feasible for a math or science class to be completely online, with live-streamed lessons and online assignments, these concepts are not so easy for a music class. With a large ensemble, it is almost impossible for the teacher to actually hear their students play in an online format. Many schools are using Zoom, which is great for the virtual classroom, however it tends to have a significant audio lag. Due to this problem, music ensembles cannot actually all rehearse at one time. Many music teachers have dealt with this problem by requesting that students mute themselves and then play along to a pre-recorded track that the teacher will prepare for them; however, with this barrier, the teacher will never be able to hear their students play all together, which is a crucial part of an ensemble rehearsal to assure that everyone is fully understanding the music. Not only are large ensemble rehearsals affected by these restrictions, but also the elementary general music classroom. In elementary general music, singing is a crucial part of the curriculum. At a young age, students need to be able to start singing so that they are able to start developing a knowledge of pitch and rhythm. At this stage of brain development, it is crucial for students to be able to have this aural experience in person. However, in many areas of the country, singing in a public space has been completely banned. This causes a big problem for music educators because there are so many concepts that they cannot teach without being able to sing with their students. I am in no way stating that the measures being taken in light of the pandemic are unnecessary; I believe that COVID should be taken very seriously and completely understand why it is that these restrictions need to be put in place for educators everywhere to keep the staff and students safe. However, it is frustrating to know that some people are blatantly not following guidelines, which is causing a delay in reopening schools, and because of this, an entire industry is being affected. So many musicians work off of the profit they get from live concerts alone. However, absolutely no concert halls will be able to reopen until we have this disease under control. During the time of the pandemic, I worry for what is going to happen to the music industry, and how this is going to take a toll on music programs all over the country.
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  2020-04-25

  Baptism at Home - BaptisZOOM

  We baptized our son at home in quarantine. I performed a Catholic Baptism using the same text a priest would. He was just 6 months old. As of September 2020 we still have yet to get him officially baptized at a Catholic Church. We thought that this would be the best thing to do given the circumstances, and quite a story to tell. We invited friends, family and godparents via Zoom. We got dressed up and invited everyone to bring a candle. I might later add another file and give more details to this story.
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  2020-06-04

  Jewish Melbourne: JHC staff supporting each other in a zoom environment

  Staff at the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne are continuing to meet via zoom. This photo was taken at a meeting in June 2020, showing them all supporting each other.