Items

• 
  2022-03-07

  Sam Beeson Oral History, 2022/03/07

  I spoke to Sam at the Arizona Historical Society's 2nd annual Covid Remembrance Event. Sam was with his son, Alex. Alex did not wish to be interviewed but he gave permission to have his health information included in the interview. He was present during the interview. Sam describes his family life during the initial lockdown, how he kept working at the hospital but his wife and son stayed home. Sam called himself the "hunter gatherer" during that time as he was the one getting groceries and running errands. He describes how he got the first dose of his vaccine but also got infected with COVID at the same time. His symptoms were mild, but his son and wife had different experience. Sam describes losing his wife to Covid. He also describes how he has dealt with his grief and anger by joining a support group and Marked By Covid group. He shares his story as a way to honor his wife.
• 
  2020-03

  A thank you, and a few questions

  I attached a letter I wrote to my senior year English teacher and forwarded to the administration after my high school canceled the rest of my in-person school year in March 2020. When reading it, the reader should specifically acknowledge the timeline and therefore lack of information surrounding the pandemic, as well as the personal memories incorporated. This letter houses pent-up frustration, unfiltered emotion, and a lack of education surrounding the pandemic. As an 18-year-old who just lost the remainder of her senior year, I cater to selfish and emotional tendencies. The reader should recognize that I composed this letter before the CDC, scientists, and government disseminated lots of information and education about the virus, so it embodies the unawareness and confusion that surrounded the pandemic. Aside from that context, the reader should acknowledge the remembrances incorporated into the letter – through imagery and specific quotes, my memories and mourning become more internalized. Clearly, these images and memories can only be understood by members of the high school class or close peers. However, these details such as “alter ego outfit”, “alpha omega day”, and “mudslide” speak to personal experience during the pandemic and allow for my specific outlook. The letter I wrote bears lots of significance on my experience during the pandemic by allowing me closure and unleashed emotion. As a senior in high school when the pandemic hit, I never received closure with teachers, classmates, sports teams, etc. This letter gave some semblance of finality with my school’s administration and allowed me to express my concerns in an unfiltered fashion. Although reading the letter itself a year and a half later allows me to reflect on my emotions, the experience of actually writing the letter will never leave me either. I sat at my laptop, brainstorming what to write for an English busy-work assignment. I found it difficult to care about school anymore, after I had committed to Vanderbilt, and school moved to zoom. But, quickly, putting my feelings to paper resulted in an outpouring of passion, both positive and negative, and I cried, not sure why. Rereading the letter, as embarrassed as I am about my trivial concerns, I still return to the place of uncertainty, anger, and volatility. Even though I expressed lots of shallow ideas, the letter still bears relevance to me, as I’m proud of my honesty and vulnerability during that time.
• 2021-08-04

  Chuggin along

  My experience with the pandemic is one and one thing only and that is that school became really hard for no reason at all. Ever since the pandemic schooling has been hard online and even harder coming back to school in person. I think that it is so unfair to have such a change up in an education system developed over many years just be stripped down and rebuilt using sticks and glue.
• 
  2020-06-30

  "We're leaving the hospital sometimes in tears": Arizona doctors worry as ICUs fill

  (PHOENIX) -- Hospitals in Arizona are seeing an intense wave of new coronavirus cases, doctors at the Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix told ABC News on Monday, and it is filling up their intensive care units and pushing their nurses to the brink.
• 
  2020-05-06

  Questioning the Future

  I closed my laptop after taking my last final exam for my second semester of college. Rather than celebrating the end of my freshman year of college with friends, I was found alone in my childhood bedroom, wondering what the future had next to offer. The distraction of being able to focus on my schoolwork provided an escape from the other depressing reality that I found myself in. My parents were stressed for their own safety, and for the safety of their loved ones, as COVID-19 roamed rampant throughout the United States. My younger brother was attempting to balance online school at the young age of thirteen- stressing about online lectures rather than being able to play with friends as I did at such a young age. I felt angry and helpless that there are people in my community who would not follow preventative measures such social distancing or wearing a mask- simple actions that would be able to save countless lives. I felt frustrated that the leadership of the United States blamed other nations for causing this pandemic, rather than work tirelessly to find ways to stop the spread of COVID-19. In a time where I should have been surrounded by those who I cared deeply about, forming new relationships that would last a lifetime, and focusing on what I truly want to gain in life- I was found alone and wondering if the future I imagined would ever be possible. I imagined that I would be able to go back to school the next year- a campus that I grew up on and imagined making friends on and being social with others- with the hope that a vaccine for COVID-19 would be found. I remember my parents feeling scared about their future as educators, questioning if they would be thrown into the zoo of high school and elementary students, who may have contracted and spread COVID-19. I remember my brother being scared that if he saw his friend, he would make mom and dad sick. All of these depressive scenarios truly made me question the type of life that I was living. Before the pandemic, I remember living life freely; however, it was as if one day was simply repeated into the next, I was going through the motions of life in order to succeed and achieve the future that I desire. Being alone in my childhood bedroom allowed me to realize that life is truly precious at its core- one will never know when their path for life and their future may take a turn for the worst or run into a bump in the road. Nevertheless, spending time with my family for five months allowed me to become reawakened to the little things that life has to offer. The smile of saying hello to a friend without it being hidden behind a mask. The hug of a loved one without it being through protective plastic. Although the pandemic halted my path to the future that I imagined I would have, it allowed me to remember what life truly has to offer, ensuring me that I am still on my path to achieve the future that I desire.
• 2020-01-28

  Forced Quarantine

  Earlier this year, during my winter break, my brother was sent home two days before his high school finals. Someone in his class that he sat next/near to had contracted COVID, so as a precaution, he was sent home to quarantine. My brother was less worried about possibly having COVID himself, and more angry about having to make up his finals the next quarter (speaks a lot about our education system). I asked him who was the person that got COVID, and he said it was probably the girl behind him, but she said she didn't have it, and her friend that sat next to her backed it up. We drew out the seating chart and concluded that it HAD to be that girl, because everyone who was sent to quarantine was sitting around her. I told him that she probably just lied about not having COVID, because people would probably get mad at her. I personally would get angry myself if I was prevented from taking my finals, but I understand the girl's reasoning. No want wants to be bullied for getting sick, or called "COVID-girl," or whatever.
• 2021-01-19

  Rules and Procedures

  During the pandemic, I've seen a lot of people not following the rules. For example, one time I was at trader joes with my mother. We were standing in line and this one lady didn't have a mask on. This was before the mask mandate. She asked one of the crew members if she had to wear a mask. When he said you don't have to, but we greatly encourage you wearing, she put the mask back in her purse and walked into the story. I mean it's fine if she wants to get covid, but now she is putting everyone else in the story, and the employees at risk. Another time, I was hanging out with my friends, we were all wearing masks except this one girl. She didn't even bother to put a mask on. A different time we hung out, she had a mask on because I asked her to wear one, but she kept taking it off and putting it back on. It was very annoying and I was so angry because she doesn't really think covid is real. As for me, I take wearing masks very seriously and I make sure it is always above my nose. I don't mind wearing a mask, it doesn't make a difference. But I missed being at school for so long.
• 
  2020-03-23

  Casual Racism Towards Ethnic Asian Diaspora

  This is a short video where I asked my friend Nikko Guan to share her experiences with casual racism toward ethnic Asians at the beginning of the pandemic here in Melbourne, Australia. There was a lot of panic and misinformation surrounding the coronavirus, and a lot of people attributed the origin of the virus (Wuhan China) with the cause of the virus and harboured distrust toward anyone who looked remotely foreign or Asian. Some of my friends and acquaintances who were Asian but not even Chinese also reported similar experiences. It's especially pertinent as this also affected Asian diaspora who were born in Australia and may have never even been overseas, but are judged purely on their appearance. My friend in the interview had not been to China, or anywhere internationally, for many years. It's important that a global disaster that is the result of natural catastrophe isn't judged on malice for political or racial prejudices.
• 
  09/18/2020

  Isabelle Cincera Oral History, 2020/09/18

  This interview is about Isabelle Cincera and the affects the pandemic had on her life as a high school senior. The interview discusses the impacts such as online school and her social life. Isabelle demonstrates a great example of how Covid-19 directly affected the life of a student.
• 2020-06-01

  Serious Problems

  During Covid-19, everyone is so stressed. Many people lost their jobs. It is a really frustrating time for many people. A more exasperating thing happened. A black man George Floyd died in Minneapolis, Minnesota because of excessive police enforcement. A white police officer had his knee on George's neck for over 10 minutes even if George completely followed his instructions and didn't do anything to resist. Everyone was very angry because of this unfair treatment. The protesters started a peaceful march in some cities. However, the conflict between the police and protestor becomes more serious. Some protestors express their anger by robbing the shop and destroying their cities because society contract doesn't consider them. They want the government to make changes through the fighting. The riots seeking justice and Covid-19 became the most serious problem in the US.