Items
Tag is exactly
de-stress
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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. -
2020-05-27
TikTok Takeover
In this world there are many things we cannot predict. For instance, we could not predict the effect COVID-19 would have on us and our everyday lives. In this unfortunate situation it is important to understand perspective. If we were able to travel back in time and show someone a picture of a masked and fully sanitized person shopping, they would think you were crazy. Along those same lines, if you were to show someone the app TikTok six months ago they may not even know what it was or what you were talking about, and if they did, they surely weren’t using it every day. When I first downloaded the app TikTok back in February before COVID-19 hit, I didn’t realize how popular it would soon become. I was mildly curious and wanted to check it out for a few minutes. Soon after, I was hooked, and it became a more prominent source of entertainment for me and millions of other people. I recognize that TikTok also has many drawbacks, including misinformation, negative suggestions, security issues and more. But for this purpose, I am focusing on TikTok as entertainment in this pandemic crisis only. Today, TikTok is used by millions of people and is still growing. The very week my sister came home from college early because of COVID, we made a TikTok together about how our mom makes us take a walk around the block for fun---a sign of the times when literally all we could do was walk “around the block.” In a time of uncertainty, it felt good to do something lighthearted. I have noticed that there are many different takes on this app. People love it, and people hate it. I may have started out seeing TikTok as just another social media app, or even a waste of time, but due to the pandemic, I now see it in a new light. In some ways, it is a way for people to express their creativity, to try new things, and inspire others when personal interaction is limited. It is a reminder that you are not alone in this time of hurt and crisis—what better way to relax over the pandemic than making these fun videos and seeing so many other people doing the same. In addition, emotions are high during the pandemic as it sometimes seems it will never end, that everything is out of your control, and there is a lot of repetition. It almost seems like we are in the movie “Groundhog Day.” TikTok is the perfect way to funnel those emotions everyone has been feeling and at minimum provides a lighthearted break from the world. As I open the app, I am instantly engulfed in uplifting and positive videos, comedy videos that truly make me laugh, and a feeling of empathy towards others that reassures me that I am not the only one living through this event that is changing history. Furthermore, one of the most important parts of being socially distanced and quarantined is communication. It is easy to lose communication with friends and distant family members during a pandemic, yet one of the things TikTok offers about this pandemic is ironically connection, just not in person. This app provides a means of communication that no other app possesses and a sense of community, even if it is an odd one. This article and Tiktok itself are important to me because they show that TikTok and other social media platforms can truly bring people of all ages together in ways that surprised me. This includes not just young kids, but all generations of people as well as whole families. Social media has always been around and growing, and every generation has its phase, whether it’s MySpace, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, or Tiktok. However, what truly makes this app important to me is its ability to show a lighthearted and fun side of a world facing not-so-lighthearted issues for all generations. I don’t know what will happen to it in the days or weeks ahead, but TikTok has definitely left its mark on society during this time.