Items

• 2020-09-02

  Horrible Online Testing experience during COVID

  Online testing during COVID is definitely horrible, especially if you need to write the answers on paper and be monitored only by zoom. For me, I had a pretty important trial exam in August. But on the test day, the sound of house renovation on the floor above is so loud that it is impossible for me to concentrate. Thus, I was forced to hop on a taxi to travel to my parent's friend's home, and since there is no table left for me to write my test, I had to sit and write the test on a piano. Moreover, since I don't have much preparation in summer as I focused mainly on my personal statement, many questions on the test seem unfamiliar. Even worse, when I finally complete the exam in a scratchy manner, the internet connection broke so I couldn't upload my answer for 10 minutes straight! With these circumstances, it is foreseeable that my score come out miserably. After that day, I started hating online testing to guts.
• 
  04/03/2021

  Brittni Smith Oral History, 2021/04/03

  Brittni Smith lives in a small town in Kansas. Here, I interview her about her experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. She talks about what it was like getting a COVID test. Brittni also tells me about what it was like to have family hospitalized during a pandemic. Her work furloughed her for a few months at the beginning of the pandemic, which she also tells me about. I am researching the unexpected consequences of the pandemic; a good example would be people not going to the doctor for checkups for fear of catching COVID. I interviewed Brittni for this research.
• 2021-01-20

  Rules I have to Follow

  In quarantine, we have had to wear masks to avoid the spread of COVID-19. I agreed with the rule through most of 2020 but I have become angry at the fact that everything is still closed. We have flattened the curve as we were told to at the beginning but now we are just causing more homelessness and depression from quarantine and the loss of jobs. Other rules we must follow are those of eating outdoors and not having large gatherings. All these rules have one goal, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 but it is really getting annoying at this point.
• 2020-09-01

  What I think about the rules and procedures I have to follow

  The masks are the worst, but the other rules are o.k. I HATE wearing the masks all the time. The weirdest rule is the one that says we can't play wind instruments inside, as the only 2 instruments that would be a hazard would be the clarinets, because they are straight with no curves in the tubing. All the other instruments have areas where all the spit collects that are below the bell (opening) of the instrument. The likelihood of "dangerous" spit coming out is almost 0, especially for bassoon, and most brass instruments. There was one time where I asked the kid next to me to feel the inside of the boot one the long joint side (I play bassoon), and he was hesitant at first, but then he felt it, and THERE WAS NO SPIT! IT WAS NOT WET! The other side, however, is different story, but that is to be expected as all the spit travels through there, and gets stuck at the very bottom of the boot. Another one I think is absurd is the whole plexiglass-between-the-cashier-and-the-customer-rule, as it is supposed to prevent the transfer of Covid, but the cashier touches everything that the customer is buying. So it is practically useless.
• 
  2020-08-17

  Pandemic at Planet Fitness

  With the pandemic, the lives of many people have changed. For me, I see the changes most significantly at work. I started working at Planet Fitness in January, before the lockdown. I enjoyed my shifts and loved interacting with members at check-in. When we returned to work in July, my work shifts changed significantly. One of my new responsibilities included enforcing our mask policy. Not all members were as accommodating and understanding, as the member featured in the photo collage. Most times when asking members to wear masks, they would apologize and put on their mask. Other times, member's responses varied from rudeness to annoyance. The most shocking aspect of working at the gym during a pandemic is the lack of empathy some people have. In our first month back, many members were coming into the club or calling the club, unhappy that Planet Fitness had resumed billing since they did not feel comfortable returning to the gym. Overall, while there have been some bumps in the road when it came to the reopening of the gym, it has been nice to regain some semblance of normalcy with going back to work and interacting with my members.