Items

• 2022-04-26

  #REL101 COVID-19's Misery

  Wow, it’s crazy to think that COVID-19 has affected our entire world for a whole 2 years now. I remember when the pandemic had first started, and I was so lost and so confused as I had no idea what our world would come to. I remember being at work, I was working at a coffee shop at the time and my boss asking me if we should shut down or not. That day I came home from work with blistering hands from washing my hand so much because of the paranoia I was experiencing. The paranoia was not because of me or my feelings but it was because of the people that surrounded me and the way they had reacted to this illness that had spread so quickly across the globe. Life during the pandemic has been tough I lost my grandpa to COVID-19 in August of 2020, and it was one of the hardest and saddest time of my life. It was a huge shock and none of my family was expecting this at all, but it impacted us so heavily. Looking into power and how that has affected our world, I think immensely. With people in power not following rules and mask regulations because of the power trip they may have. It wasn’t fair to the rest of the world who didn’t have as much power to have to wear a mask when they were choosing not to. When it comes to religion, gatherings were impacted heavily, churches shut down and, on some occasions, churches decided to go online with their services. I don’t think it was fair for churches to have to shut down, but coffee shops could stay open, church and having that sense of belonging and purpose was stripped and taken away from so many people and so quickly. This was a crazy time and a time of so many unknowns and it sucks because we are still not done with this yet, there is still so much growth and rebuilding that needs to happen before we can fully be 100% okay again. Overall, COVID-19 has taught me a lot about our nation and how quickly things can get out of hand.
• 
  2022-04-25

  COVID-19, Religion, and Public Life Reflection #REL101

  this is a look through my point of view living in the year 2020
• 
  2022-04-01

  Living Through the Pandemic

  One thing that really stands out to me when I look back on the past two years since the pandemic began is how much fear there was at the onset. I remember it being about mid-March of 2020 and schools had moved to online learning, all nonessential businesses were closed, and it was almost impossible to find even basic groceries. The overwhelming majority of people were wearing some sort of face covering at this point and just the act of going outside felt dangerous. I should point out that since I work in the aerospace and defense manufacturing sector I was classified as an essential worker without the possibility of working remotely. Given that all of my friends had jobs that had moved to remote work and could isolate in their homes I felt that it was too risky to be around them given that I was out every day. I think that it is interesting that this was the state of affairs when there were maybe 1000 confirmed cases in the state of Arizona at this point. When contrasted with the reality that there have now been a total of over 2 million confirmed cases with approximately 25,000 currently active cases and for the most part everyone is going on with life as normal, I am left wondering if the fear at the beginning was irrational or if the current sense of complacency is the result of a society worn down to the point of indifference?
• 
  2020-01-08

  Baked Breadfruit

  Baked breadfruit is a typical Samoan traditional food. Fully ripe breadfruit is baked or boiled for Samoans to enjoy as a common staple starch. Samoans eat breadfruit for everyday meals and in large feasts or celebrations. The video shows my family setting the baked breadfruits on the table to cool down before packing them to be sent over with my cousin leaving the island. Before the pandemic, whenever one of our close friends or family members left the island, my family always prepared baked breadfruits for them to bring over to us here in the states. Now, we could only enjoy the sight of it through video chats with my parents back home. To prepare for this delicious delicacy, we prepare everything the day before the cooking. If you are to visit Samoa, Sunday is the day when every family is baking breadfruit. Sundays are considered feast days or holidays in Samoa. We enjoy baked breadfruits every Sunday after church and other delicious home-cooked Samoan dishes. While we can also enjoy baked breadfruits here in the states using an oven, we can barely find any excellent, fully ripe breadfruits in-store in Washington. And besides, I know it will never bring the same taste as I grew up enjoying back home.
• 
  2021-01-28

  Freezer Failure

  January 28, 2021, around 11 PM one of my friends called me, we normally don’t talk on the phone so I assumed something was wrong. I could tell that she was driving and her voice was shaky. She told me that a freezer had failed at her mom’s work and that around 1,300 vaccines would be expired by 5 or 6 AM. She was told to try to get anyone she knew to get to the hospital in order to reduce the chance of wasting such a hard to get thing. This was prior to my state lifting restrictions on who was eligible for the vaccine yet. Not everyone could get it, just certain people due to age, pre-existing conditions, and career. The clinic did a good job at still trying to make sure that people who were eligible got to the front of the line, but they knew that they needed to make sure every vaccine was used. My girlfriend and I would not have made it there in time since we were over 3 hours away, but her family all lived within a 30-minute drive. We started calling her parents and brothers to wake them up and get moving. Her mother, oldest brother, and soon to be sister-in-law were all teachers and were going to have to start teaching in person again. None of them would have been eligible until a month or more after going back in person, and they were all decently nervous about being in person unvaccinated. Her family got lucky and was able to get vaccinated that night. I cannot thank my friend enough for calling me to keep the people who have become my family safe.
• 
  2022-03-20

  Work, Food, Viki, and Home

  If there were anything that COVID changed in my everyday schedule, it would be helping me get closer to family. Ever since the pandemic, we have hardly gone outside the house unless it was for work or shopping for groceries. A typical day in my life would be waking up to check my emails and messages. After moving from Utah to Washington after graduating, I managed to find a job at a small business called Sozo Gifts while pursuing my master's program. I wouldn't say I am not a breakfast person, so I go straight to work after getting ready. After work, I go straight home to help my sister cook dinner. When I was living by myself, I ordered food a lot through Uber Eats and Door Dash. Being with my family during the pandemic helped me change my eating habits. We cook traditional Samoan food such as baked taro, pisupo, palusami, fai'ai pilikaki, or traditional chicken soup. After dinner, we all tend to gather around the living room and watch the latest episodes of our favorite Korean Drama. My sisters were never fans of KDrama before the pandemic, but I managed to introduce them to my favorite app, Viki Rakuten. Now, we binged watched a lot of KDramas through the Viki app, and it became our favorite thing to do as a family after dinner. I was supposed to go back home to American Samoa after graduating with my bachelor's. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic and strict lockdown and regulations back home, I wasn't able to return. But almost every evening, we would video chat with my parents and close friends back home. Now and then, my friend would send me pictures of the island. I never planned to stay in the states this long, but the pandemic has caused some setbacks and changes in my life. However, I learned to adapt to new changes, and it became a routine for me while also being grateful for letting me spend time with my family here in Washington.
• 
  2021-07-11

  Wild Ride at the Safari Park

  Over the past few years, the COVID pandemic has become a pretty lonely time for me living in Missouri, where I am originally from. I moved out to Arizona over five years ago and have not left. When the pandemic hit, my job moved to be online for a while, and therefore I made the trip to go back home and be with my family. We realized that we became increasingly stir-crazy through the pandemic by staying in the house all of the time. There was no more travel to the restaurants, shopping, and entertainment places. The past summer, with the pandemic on a decline, my family and extended members traveled to the Wild Animal Safari park. There was my Aunt Pat, my Niece, Morgan, my mother Robyn, and myself in the car as we traveled an hour away to enjoy the safari animals. The great thing about the excursion is that we did not have to get out of the car to remain safe during the pandemic. We received our animal food at the entrance and then proceeded through the park. It was one of the best times of the year because I am not sure I have laughed so hard in my life. I had no idea animals had that long tongues that they would stick in the car windows to get the food pellets. It was delightful seeing my niece squirm around in the car as she tried to get away from the animals. It was one of the best times during the pandemic, and I cannot recommend this excursion or something similar.
• 
  2021-02-09

  A loss within a loss

  My grandma, a 95-year-old woman, had a decline in her health. She had to go to the hospital multiple times, and we were all told that her muscles were deteriorating. The first time she was in the hospital for a couple of weeks this past year she wasn’t able to walk so she was recommended to go to a nursing home to receive rehab. She was in the nursing home where my mom worked, she was the only one actually able to visit her. I went and visited through the window so that I could at least see her and talk to her as I didn’t know how many more times, we would be able to talk. I would call her every other day just to talk and see how she was feeling. She then went to the hospital again because she was having issues breathing on her own. We found out that she had fluid in her lungs which caused her breathing problems. We were then told that she wouldn’t make it through the night, so we went and visited her to make sure we said our goodbyes without actually saying the word goodbye. She said “I’m not ready to leave” to my mom which she proved to be true. She ended up feeling a lot better after the oxygen started working. She still needed a lot of care to help her survive. We then found out that she had covid and that she wouldn’t make it through because of the already preexisting circumstances. Her old age and her body falling apart really didn’t help her to fight off something so bad. She lost her ability to eat anything. She couldn’t swallow at all, so she lost a bunch of weight. We were then told again that she wouldn’t make it through the night, so we rushed there to see her because we believed this to be true this time. We went into the hospital with a priest and some family members with only three people allowed in the room we had to alternate. We also had masks on and then told we had to put on gloves, and an isolation gown. I left after an hour because it hurt too bad to see her suffering with two forms of oxygen on and barely being able to talk. My mom and uncle stayed till they told them visiting hours were over. The next morning my mom gets a call saying that she had passed, and she came into my brother and I’s rooms in tears to tell us. On February 9th, 2021, at 8:03, my grandma passed away.
• 
  2020-05-30

  POV: Graduating during 2020

  I graduated high school in the year 2020, right when Covid-19 was growing at a rapid rate, and the world was on a lockdown. March 13, 2020 was the last day of high school for me, but I didn’t know it at the time, no one did. Senior year was supposed to be me and my friends’ last year together before we all went our separate ways for college, but the only way I could see them was social distancing in a parking lot or on face time. My mental health began to plummet, I was never one to be home, I was always out of the house. Just the isolation, not seeing your closest friends, not having anywhere to go outside the house, and doing the same boring stuff every day was so frustrating because there was nothing you could do to change that because the rest of the world was doing it too and it just was how it was. I never got to go to prom, something that was supposed to be the best night in all of high school. Events that we have been looking forward to all our lives were being taken away from us, including graduation. It felt weird to be celebrating me graduating, since we weren’t even really having school. I tried to be optimistic, I mean I worked so hard for 18 years to get to this point in my life. My high school decided to do a drive-thru graduation, where I stayed in the car and was handed my diploma, not with all the teachers or friends who helped me get there, but I was grateful to have my family. I never got to shake my principal’s hand, had people cheering for me, or able to stand with my friends and throw my cap in the air. My graduation party was the following week and held outdoors, and I was excited to see close family and friends. However, 2 days before my event that I was already kind of sad about how many important people weren’t going to be there, my extended family contracted covid. My extended family was as close as my immediate family to me, my aunt was my baby-sitter growing up, and they were unable to make it. I was crushed and crying for days leading up to it and even after, it just wasn’t the same without them. It’s sad writing this, something that I spent my whole life working forward to just ripped away. It was a true test of character, adaptability, and mentality. This was the lowest point in my life, all thanks to Covid-19.
• 
  2020-03

  Suffering from Anxiety

  As most young adults my age, I suffer from severe anxiety. Dealing with anxiety daily, can be very challenging at times, especially during a pandemic. I have been fighting a battle with anxiety most of my life. At this point, I am really used to the extra thoughts in my head. I have learned to help manage it, but not completely get rid of it. I believe that anxiety has made me who I am, in a way, because I do not remember a time where I was not struggling. In 2020, a pandemic instantly flooded the world. This completely impacted my entire life. I was not able to experience my last year in high school, I was not able to be around the one person that helped me with my anxiety, etc. I was forced to wear a mask that I could barely breathe in. I lost touch with most of my friends that I developed over my lifetime. This instant wave of depression suddenly hit me. I was so nervous on what would happen next, and how long will this last. People were dying from this pandemic. I constantly worried about if the sickness would hurt one of my family members or someone important to me. Over the time of being in quarantine, I thought to myself ways on how I could relax and not worry so much about the pandemic. I told myself every day, “Everything happens for a reason”. This is what I truly believe and for some reason it really does calm me down. I am Catholic. I am a very deep believer in God. To me, trusting in the Lord is the best anxiety reliever around. Covid-19 is still around today. Without Covid-19, I would not be where I am today. Although this pandemic has an abundance of negative impacts on my life, it also had some positive ones, too. I would not have attended Duquesne University, met so many amazing people, and made a plethora of memories that I would not trade in for. I believe talking about my anxiety, especially during the pandemic, is very critical because I am not the only one who is suffering, too. Everyone is nervous about what is going to happen next. To me, this is HUGE on helping me with my anxiety. I can finally think to myself that I am not alone. I believe that people who suffer from anxiety, especially from the pandemic started in 2020, can have a place to go if they are nervous. When I was struggling, I felt alone, and I was the only person who felt this way. My story will allow people to realize that they are not alone. Everyone is dealing with this stress and anxiety that I suffered from. My story tells people that I have worries and doubts, too. The pandemic not only had negative impacts, but they also had positive impacts. Focusing on the positives, will distract you from the anxiety and worrying. My story should help prove that. My story should allow people to see and find new ways to cope with the stress. I hope my story leaves a positive impact on people who did or are struggling. Everyone is in this together, and nobody will be alone in this major impact on the world.
• 
  2020-03

  Growth Through a Pandemic

  The Covid-19 pandemic has brought an array of challenges for not only me, but people across the globe. People have lost loved ones, lost touch with some of their closest friends, got covid themselves, and so much more. Although Covid-19 has taken a long-lasting toll on my life, it has also brought me great change in an extremely positive way. When the pandemic first started my family and I were forced into a “lockdown”, only leaving our house for the essentials like food. I was unable to see my friends as online schooling became more and more prominent. This took such a toll on me both mentally and physically. I was longing for a social connection that I could no longer get and was unable to do one of the things I love to do most, workout. Although at the time I thought it was the worst thing possible, the lockdown caused my family and I to get extremely close. We would have family dinners, play games, and watch movies. The pandemic helped me to realize how much I rely on my family, and that through thick and thin they will always be there for me. As the pandemic progressed, I got accepted into Duquesne University, and started college soon after. This was a huge adjustment for me as I am from Buffalo, three and a half hours away. I had to meet new people and get adjusted to home away from home amid a global pandemic. I had to overcome fear of the unknown and fear of the pandemic to grow as an individual, and I did just that. Through the last three semesters I have met so many amazing people and found the things that make me happy while at Duquesne. I learned to not let fear override you, and that to grow physically and mentally you must overcome fear. Across the entire pandemic I have also learned that sometimes you need to focus on yourself and put yourself first. Throughout the pandemic I got into the habit of going to the gym consistently and began to eat more cleanly. I found joy in the little things, like going to work and building relationships with my fellow employees. In the end, the pandemic taught me to always look on the brightside no matter what and to make the most of everything that is thrown at you, good or bad. Looking back at it, the Covid-19 pandemic helped me grow and become the person I am today.
• 2022-02-06

  A never ending battle on COVID-19

  It’s been nearly two years since the start of the pandemic, and if you ask some people, the state of this disaster hasn’t improved a whole lot. I turned 20 a few days ago, which marks my second birthday that has passed since the official start of Covid, which if I’m remembering correctly was March 13th, 2020. I’ll never forget the announcement made over the Pine Richland High School loudspeakers that day. Sitting in the back of the statistics classroom, the statement told us that we would have no school for the next two weeks, which at the time beat any time off we’d ever had prior. Fast forward two years later and we still wear masks indoors. We still have to wash or sanitize our hands after just about any surface we touch to hope we don’t get the virus. Even more importantly, I haven’t been able to see some of my family for years now. Driving all the way out to New York would be risky since they aren’t in the best health, and it’s not worth taking any chances with how bad this virus can be for some people. The worst part of it all has to be that we don’t know when this is going to end. It’s been long enough that the pandemic has become political, with rivalries between those who choose and refuse to get the vaccine, but will it ever stop? Will there ever be a point in time that we can all feel safe enough to be able to do anything without living in fear of this virus? I never expected to be sitting here years after this all started writing how just about anything is still affected by Covid, but I guess I’ve gotten used to it. After all of this, though, the whole “you never know what you got until it’s gone” saying really does remain true.
• 2020-04

  Blessing in Disguise

  2020 started out great. I finally started to like my experience as a freshman at Duquesne. I really took a liking to my classes and the sorority that I joined, and I was always busy which was a nice change of pace from the fall semester. With this, I met a lot of amazing people who soon would become my closest friends. I was having a great start to the year. However, that all came to a pause in the middle of March. What I thought was going to be a 2-week vacation turned out to be a complete change in the way we live our lives. Zoom University was a nice break but it soon turned into a nightmare. I myself am a home-body, but getting up every single day knowing that I was about to have the same exact day as the next and the next was really hard. I had a really hard time not seeing family, friends, maintaining relationships, and just trying to stay sane during this quarantine. While this seemed like a never-ending cycle that would soon drive me and everyone in my house insane, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. While I really loved my life at school, I realized that I didn’t have much time to focus on myself. It was just one distraction after the next. I finally got to really do things for myself. I made it a habit to workout inside the house, go on daily walks with my family, journal my thoughts, and really work on finding my inner peace. During this time, I realized that some things I had in my life pre-covid that I thought were serving me and bringing value, were not. Covid really stripped down every distraction and made it clear what was making me happy and what wasn’t, and for that I am grateful. Although it came with many struggles, covid taught a lesson to myself and I think to a lot of people of how to adapt well to a situation and focus on what is important, your well-being and the well-being of those closest to you and get back to your roots!
• 
  2020-03-01

  The Hardest Year Yet.

  March 2020 A week before the world shut down, I was enjoying spring break in the Bahamas still joking about covid 19. By the next Friday, I was preparing for the worst year of my life, and I did not know it yet. In two weeks, I lost the rest of senior year, prom, graduation, my stepmom was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder which made it impossible to visit my dad, faced the fear of my mom working with covid every day despite having an autoimmune disorder herself. I could have never predicted that my entire life would fall apart so quickly. I was mad that I ever took it for granted. I dreamed my entire life what my graduation night would look like, and I never pictured graduating in our local drive-in movie theater. I carried the guilt every day of not wanting to go out or choosing to do something else instead of seeing my dad. I wished I could go back and take any opportunity given to me. At this point, I still had hope that the nightmare would end by Easter of that year, but it seemed like it would go on forever. I was scared. I was scared that my mom would catch covid and not be able to fight it. I was scared my stepmom would not get better. Everything was so unknown I found myself fearing the future. I spent months doing absolutely nothing every single day. I was so upset I could not even bring myself to get out of bed to eat. All I wanted to do was sleep. I could not get more bad news if I was asleep. Every morning I woke up I felt like there was just more bad news and I honestly did not want to know what it was anymore. Waking up every day to more life-altering news with no end in sight was exhausting. I now believe that this has forever changed my life in both ways. I do not take things for granted anymore because I quickly learned how quickly they can be taken away. I have learned to always look for the light at the end of the tunnel because even if it feels like it will never end it will. The most important thing I learned was that life is like a wave, there are highs and lows, but you need to learn how to rise again. I have included a picture of the walking trail in my area. This trail was an escape from the scares of the world. I would often take long walks on this trail to calm the anxieties of the future. It was a chance to leave the house and almost forget what was happening in the world.
• 2021-04-08

  Cocomelon or Blippi

  In the early stages of COVID, I was in Utah finishing up my Bachelor’s. Finally, after reuniting with my sister’s family in Washington, not only did I have a hard time adjusting to the noise, I had to deal with the 24/7 nonstop routine of my nieces and nephews watching either Cocomelon or Blippi. We can’t even have a movie night because the kids will end up crying to change the movie to Cocomelon or Blippi. Night and Day, my nieces and nephews would be singing to the nursery rhymes on Cocomelon or the opening song of Blippi. Although there were times when I would get annoyed or frustrated watching the same thing on the television, I am grateful for these moments. After spending many years on my own, I am thankful and blessed to be with my family during these times. In the end, it became a routine for me and my nieces and nephews to watch Cocomelon or Blippi in the evening. Not only do I get to see their sweet smiles, but I also get to hear their cute little chuckles and laughter while singing “The Wheels On The Bus” or spelling Blippi’s name. The noise that I once had a hard time adjusting to and the overbearing sound of the nursery rhymes from cocomelon or blippi's name did not matter as their sweet laughs and chuckles filled the house every evening making COVID quarantine bearable.
• 
  05/06/2021

  Sai Rebbapragada Oral History, 2021/05/06

  Sai Rebbapragada is a first-generation college student who is currently living in Minnesota. He has many close family members currently living in India and is able to provide not just a view of the COVID pandemic from the Midwest but also a view from India. Furthermore, Sai currently works in a day care and provides useful information about the changes of daily life, as well as the struggles for many overcrowded Indians. He talks about his family’s reaction to the COVID pandemic and how lockdown is being viewed in India. Finally, Sai does also address his experience with COVID on a personal level as well as his views of the political reaction.
• 
  05/07/2021

  Holly Tremble Oral History, 2021/05/07

  Holly Tremble lives in Hudson, Wisconsin a suburb of the Twin Cities and is currently unemployed but also is a care worker once a week at a nursing home in Northfield, Minnesota so that she can see her father during this pandemic. In this interview, Holly discusses how COVID-19 has affected her life, her employment status, and family and community life. She shares what it has been like to go through this pandemic as well as the different approaches to the pandemic that she experienced being on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin and the difference in policies in the area.
• 
  2022-01-03

  It finally happened

  We’re two months short of the two year anniversary of the Covid outbreak here in the US. My family of four followed the rules, masked up, quarantined and my husband and I were vaccinated as soon as we were able. This holiday season we found ourselves living life as we had before Covid, we got too comfortable. Our children are small and we were still unsure if we wanted to get our six year old vaccinated. We went into public spaces unvaccinated, participated in all the family Christmas festivities and then we got sick. I thought it was a cold at first and then one day it dawned on me that my sense of smell and taste were gone. Then the guilt and shame set in. We got too comfortable, we lost sight of the fact that Covid is not gone. People are still dying. My husband and I are fine, it’s like a cold with the added adventure of not being able to taste anything. I worry for my kids though. I feel guilty that we didn’t get my oldest vaccinated. I hate to watch her fight this with only over the counter medication to help her. I feel for my three year old. I hope they don’t get worse. This was a rude awakening for us all, Covid is not gone.
• 
  12/11/2020

  Anthony Wallace Oral History, 2020/12/11

  C19OH
• 2020-03

  Miles and Miles Away

  This is a picture of how far away I was from someone I hold dear to my heart.  My grandmother. My grandmother lived next door to me my entire life. I've always considered myself extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend so much time with one of my favorite people on the planet. All of my friends would always speak about how they were going to visit their grandparents for the weekend or how they had to text them to "check-in" since their parents had instructed them to. For me, It was never a burden or a reminder; it was always a privilege. As a result, when the issue of covid emerged, I was concerned about my grandma. She'd recently purchased an apartment in Florida and was currently residing there part-time. I was continually reading about the terrible things that were happening to the elderly as a result of Covid-19. Days passed, and before I knew it, it had been months since I had seen her. I tried to contact her as much as possible, but it wasn't the same. All I wanted to do was give her a big embrace and have a meaningful talk with her face to face. The first time I saw my grandmother was an unforgettable experience. I'll never forget how it felt to be clinging to her and not wanting to let go. I'll be eternally glad that my grandmother dodged covid, and I'll make sure to keep her close to me.
• 
  12/11/2020

  Annalyse Stratton Oral History, 2020/12/11

  Annalyse Stratton was born in Marsh field, Wisconsin and grew up in Colby, Wisconsin. She works at Grace Lutheran Communities as a child care teacher. In this interview Annalyse shares how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected her, her family and her friends as well as her thoughts on the pandemic itself. She shares what it has been like to work during these difficult times and also shares what she thinks that we can do moving forward. Finally she touches on the politics of the situation and how we can learn from it.
• 
  03/30/2020

  Jeanie and Edward Lehew Oral History, 2020/03/30

  This is interview from Edward and Jeannie Lehew focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic experience in the United States. The Lehews, both born in the 1930s, provide an enriching interview connecting the current pandemic to past historical and personal events ranging from the Great Depression to the loss of an infant grandchild. The Lehews detail many personal life experiences and offer their opinions on the current political and healthcare issues in the United States by explaining how the current presidential administration is at fault for the lack of medical supplies in America.
• 
  12/11/2020

  Mark Larson Oral History, 2020/12/11

  C19OH
• 
  12/11/2020

  Janet Pope Oral History, 2020/12/11

  C19OH
• 
  04/07/2021

  Abby Sobolewski Oral History, 2021/07/04

  [Curator's Note] Abby Sobolewski talks about her family, education, and work. She then answers questions about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her job as a teacher, her everyday life, and her family.
• 
  12/08/2020

  Mark Kompsie Oral History, 2020/12/08

  C19OH
• 
  2020-08-11

  Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

  I think I speak for most students when I say that when we were sent home during Spring 2020, I was confused about how we were supposed to go about things from now on. Personally, that confusion increased when they announced we would be returning virtually for Fall 2020. What about the students with younger siblings? What about the students who had sick family members? What about the students who had to get another job when their parents lost theirs? What about the students who were not able to access the internet? The attendance policy created specifically for Fall 2020 displays the different accommodations the university was able to provide for students asking these questions as well as many others that pertained to their specific situation. It was a tough time for everyone and each of us had our unique circumstances. This is one of the ways our university showed their support in the best and only way they knew how.
• 
  05/21/2020

  Sue Buettgen Oral History, 2020/16/05

  University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire student Jack Nord interviews a Minneapolis-based six-grade teacher, Sue Buettgen. In this interview, Sue discusses her initial feeling when she first heard about the COVID 19 pandemic and how it changed her day-to-day routines. She discusses her transition from classroom to online teaching and all the new struggles that presented. She talks about her fears for her student’s safety and their individual home environments are affecting them. Sue dives into discussing social disparities and how the pandemic has highlighted the issue. Sue also discusses science experiments that she was trying to still make fun for her students and how her community has come together to help others. The interviewer, Jack Nord, also chimes in to briefly discuss his life as a college student. They both discuss farming and agricultural problems that have arisen. Sue finishes off by discussing how her home life has been impacted, how her family is coping and keeping safe. She discusses her hopes for the future before ending the interview.
• 
  09/30/2020

  Joseph Spataro Oral History, 2020/09/30

  This interview consists of a perspective of a white male from Vermont living in Florida for the school year, whom has experienced COVID from the rural suburbs of Vermont, to the maskless warzone that is Florida. His perspective is one from a gamer, only knowing the interviewer though playing videogames together.
• 
  12/11/2020

  Damir Kovacevic Oral History, 2020/11/16

  Professor Damir Kovacevic was born in Bosnia before coming to the United States. He has lived across the midwest but currently lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Damir works as an assistant professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a focus on international relations. In this interview, Damir Kovacevic discusses how the pandemic has affected his life, profession, and emotions. Damir provides insight into how the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has handled the pandemic with testing and closing the college for the remainder of the Fall 2020 semester. Damir also touches on how Eau Claire, the state of Wisconsin, the United States, and foreign countries on the international scale handled the pandemic. He discusses how teaching as a career has changed and adapted to the pandemic. He discusses topics such as the media and misinformation when it comes to healthcare and the virus, but also the general decay in trust.
• 
  05/26/2020

  Mike Michalski Oral History, 2020/05/26

  In this oral history interview, Alexander Michalski interviews Mike Michalski in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. Mike discusses his job and how it was affected by covid, the impact the virus has had on his friends and family, and home life. He touches on media and how the news is covering the virus. He also discusses local and federal government responses to the virus as well as his hopes for the future.
• 
  05/22/2020

  Nancy Cambell Oral History, 2020/05/22

  In this interview by Karen Kilby, a government contracts manager Nancy Campbell discusses how the COVID 19 virus has affected her life. She discusses the toilet paper shortage, the changes in her family dynamic, social isolation and the shortage of hand sanitizer and cleaners. Nancy also discusses her life as a senior citizen living in a rural area, the economy and her opinions on how government has delt with the virus.
• 
  2021-11-13

  Anti-Vaxxers in the Family

  I have a minimum of 2 resolute anti-vaxxers in my extended family. We try to avoid conflict but sometimes their ignorance is just too much for me to bear and I feel like I have to set the record straight. Here's a summary of what's going on in these screenshots from a FB post. 1. Great aunt posts a meme using the experience of the Polio vaccine to promote the COVID vaccine. (meme included) 2. Anti-vax aunt (orange) posts snarkily that in the case of the polio vaccine, it was only rolled out after 60 years of research. 3. I step in (as a historian of public health) and comment that she's mistaken, the polio vaccine went from lab to roll out in 25 years. While mRNA (on which the COVID vax is based) was first discovered in a lab 35 years ago so it stands to reason that the amount of time between lab and roll out is similar. 4. Meanwhile... anti-vax second cousin (purple- daughter of great aunt who made the original post and also resolutely anti-vax) tags anti-vax aunt (orange) and says "amen." as in... she lends her support 5. Anti-vax aunt (orange) responds to my initial rebuff in #3 and says "wrong. it took 35 years to discover it was a virus" (as if that, added to the 25 years of development constitutes 60 years of "research" 6. I step back in and repeat... polio vaccine research began in 1930, and it rolled out in the US in 1954. Surely she doesn't want to go back to the "good old days" when it took 30 years to discover whether something was a virus, really...?? 7. I was wrong. Anti-vax aunt (orangs) DOES want that. She says, "Yes, really" 8. pro-vax cousin (light blue-an oncology NP) comments "Wow. That's sad to think about" 9. Anti-vax aunt (orange): ? 10. pro-vax cousin (light blue): is we were not able to identify viruses like we can today. It's sad to think about all of the people that would die unnecessarily. This exchange went on but I just don't have it in me to continue with screenshots. Great aunt (original poster) chimes in and says she doesn't care what people's beliefs are but both of her daughters (one of them the anti-vaxxer in purple) families have COVID right now and she's in her 70s and was exposed to both and never caught it. She firmly believes it's because the vaccine works. Anti-vax aunt claimed she "didn't post a belief, she posted a fact" I said "no. you posted an incorrect fact that was skewed to make it look like the polio vaccine underwent 35 more years of research than it actually did and I corrected you." It's amazing to me that technology that has been in development for 35 years (mRNA) is seen with such suspicion because the virus it's being used with COVID-19 is new. So the assumption is that the vaccine is "untested" even though the technology behind it has a robust research history. I'm even more amazed by people who are anti-covid vaccine even though they had their full slew of childhood vaccines on schedule. I have two very close family members who refused to get vaccinated (different family members than the two distant family featured above) and they had all of their childhood vaccines. One of them even told me she fully expected that everyone who was vaccinated with the COVID vaccine will die in a few years or even "sprout dicks" for all she knows.... yes... It's imperative that we, as a society, figure out how to address misinformation and disinformation. Certainly, facts/statistics/"Research" are open to interpretation to a degree but much anti-vax info out there is politically motivated. It's not coming from scientists who spend their whole lives studying this stuff.... it's coming from PACs and anti-establishment groups who have beef with the US government and/or "Big Pharma" or Western medicine.
• 
  2021-10-26

  Do We Even Matter?

  This poem talks about the failure of our medical field when it came to covid. They focused more on those with Covid than those who were struggling with cancer. My grandfather became one of those victims.
• 
  2020-12-18

  HIST30060 The importance of pets during the pandemic

  State-sanctioned restrictions changed the way in which individuals/groups were able to process emotional experiences, such as grief. Our family dog –Bonnie – was a saving grace during lockdown. She was my “quarantine buddy” and made each day a little brighter. My family went through a tough time around Christmas; Bonnie was becoming progressively sicker, and we had to make the decision to put her down. When we arrived at the vet clinic, we discovered that our family who had attended – Dad, Mum, my brother, myself and my grandparents – could not all wish her farewell together; only two of us were allowed in the waiting room with Bonnie at once, due to COVIDSafe density limits. My parents went in together, and then my grandparents, and then my brother and myself. I’m glad that my brother and I got to share the experience of saying goodbye together; Bonnie was a fundamental part of our childhoods, thus we shared a similar type of grief. However, the ability to farewell this member of our family as a family unit was impacted by COVID-19. Pictured is a “Snapchat” of Bonnie that I sent to my friends, and a picture of her at the clinic.
• 
  2021-11-03

  My Annual Newsletter to Friends 2020 and 2021

  At the holidays I send a newsletter about whatever I have been thinking that year. This year and last the newsletters were about the epidemic. I was looking for examples in history to help us see today how we could cope with the disruption of our lives.
• 
  2021-10-21

  HIST30060 Back to School

  This is an image of my younger siblings on their first day back at school! My sister started her first year of school last year, so her entire schooling experience has been broken up into periods of online learning. Everyone in her grade 1 class is struggling a bit as they haven’t had a proper experience of going to school. It is not mandatory for grades prep to 2 to be wearing face masks in class; however, my brother has been admitted to the hospital a couple of times when he has a bad asthma attack so we’re trying to be as careful as we can. As you can see there are mixed feelings attached to going back to class, both were excited to see their friends and teachers, but will miss spending the whole day at home with dad and me.
• 
  2020-11-14T06:24:00

  Seconds to life

  Time can only tell what the future holds in front of us. Two years into this pandemic and time had drained, some having more in the hour glass than others. Cherish the times where you are able to do your favorite things with family. When the time strikes, the unpredictable occurs without a warning in sight. Never take advantage of items in your possession. Never make complaints. Never compare your life to others. The human body is unpredictable to even the highest honor of physicians, be attentive towards loved ones. Most importantly, cherish your own circumstances; there will be days of sorrow and days of joy. Live life to the fullest before your time has reached the gotten of the hole.
• 
  2020-04-13

  HIST30060 - Easter Hunt: Bears Hiding in Windows

  These two photographs were taken in April 2020 during Easter. My neighbourhood decided to come together and do something special for the kids - many families participated and placed teddy bears on their windows facing the footpath. This created a 'Bear Hunt' trail for children and their families to participate in. I decided to take a walk around my neighbourhood to experience this for myself and it has become one of my most memorable moments during the COVID-19 lockdown. Many children and their families were walking around socially distanced, and strangers I had never seen before would wave at me across the streets and exchange greetings. The sense of community was really strong and it felt like everyone was together, in solidarity, even amidst the toughest of times.
• 
  2020-04-02

  HIST30060: Birthday Zoom!

  HIST30060: This screenshot of my auntie's birthday celebration on zoom would be a familiar scene to many. This is one of the many ways my family had to adjust to "covid normal". Birthdays always involve a big gathering and a way for everyone to catch up; losing this was really disheartening . However, this photo also represents the resilience of my family in still being able to find a way to be together, even if zoom felt like a poor substitute. Zoom was and still is a crucial part of many people's lives in the pandemic, yet can create a barrier for those who find the interface challenging to use. Elderly members of my family often found zoom quite tiring and hard to use, creating a further barrier to connecting in lockdown.
• 
  2020-08-01

  Guessing the Numbers

  As Melbourne’s second wave crested and fell in mid-2020, “the presser” was appointment viewing; “the number” could bring hope or despair. Sometime in the dreary days of lockdown, my family started guessing how many cases would be reported each day. Keeping a running tally of who was closest to the pin. Perhaps it was a way of taking control of the uncontrollable. Dealing with the apparent randomness of the numbers that controlled every aspect of our lives. Some of the scraps of paper we used to write on were time capsules of a vanished world: a rough sketch of enrolments for the second half of my BA; an invoice from a tradesman; a reminder note to pick someone up from hospital. Plans, visitors, outings – all overwritten by inexorable quotidian sameness. Submitted for University of Melbourne HIST30060, Semester 2 2021.
• 
  2021-07-08

  Has COVID-19 Created Conflict in Your Relationship?

  A blog post from Banner Health about relationships with partners and spouses during Covid-19.
• 
  2020-09-18

  HIST30060 Zoom Family Gatherings

  This screenshot was taken during a zoom call with members of my Dad's side of the family in September 2020, during Victoria's third COVID lockdown. At this point, we hadn't seen each other since early June of that year, which was unusual - in normal times, we would gather in person at least once a month, but lockdown prevented social gatherings with anyone outside one's household. We were zooming in from 8 different locations and with competing voices, technical difficulties and zoom-illiterate older relatives, it wasn't quite the same experience as catching up in person. One thing we realised very quickly was that it was impossible to initiate more intimate, one-on-one conversations with people on zoom. Instead, each screen in the call got a chance to give an update and we missed the more personal conversations. It was also strange seeing families grouped together in this virtual family gathering. In person, certain people in the family would naturally form groups based on age and gender and families wouldn't appear so much like a unit as in these calls. Although it was good to see people's faces again, I think we would all agree zoom calls are a poor substitute for the real deal.
• 
  2020-05-21T22:21

  Lockdown Jigsaw Puzzles 2020

  One of the ways that my family and I relaxed in the evenings during the first COVID-19 lockdown was by doing jigsaw puzzles. Here are just two examples of the many we completed throughout 2020. We set up in the living room using a board of sorts (cardboard from the box our television had been in) to do it on so that all the pieces would stay within one area and the whole thing would be portable if we needed the table back. The map one (left) had 1500 pieces and was the first one we completed in May. The second puzzle pictured here (right) was a particular struggle because it did not come with a picture of what the finished puzzle looked like. We all worked on our own little sections before figuring out how they all came together. It was an incredibly satisfying moment to see the puzzle completed finally knowing how each of our little parts fit together to create it. Jigsaw puzzles have been something that have helped me relax for years. There was often one at my high school library that I would do to have a break from my studies in order to take my mind off things. As it was in the library multiple people would join in making it very much a collective effort. Thus, doing jigsaws with other people, in this case my family, during these hard times was one of the things which helped keep me relatively sane during 2020. It was a very rewarding activity that allowed for greater engagement with one another than simply watching television for hours on end.
• 
  2021-08-14

  "Ways to Connect Despite Social Distance: Empower Ecuador"

  When being part of the program Empower: Ecuador at my school, we were preparing ourselves to travel to Guayaquil, Ecuador to be present with the families in the community. The families in the community were called our neighbors. Prior to traveling and meeting families in person, each person from the class was given a bookmark with a picture of a neighbor and a brief description of who they were. We were supposed to pray for the person selected and have him/her in our hearts until we meet them in person. Due to COVID-19, we were never able to meet these people whom we felt very close to and it was very sad. Therefore, we were tasked with the beautiful idea of writing letters to them about our prayers and best wishes for them in times of trouble. After a couple of months, I received a message through Messenger, and to my surprise, it was the person I wrote the letter to. She was thanking me for the letter and for how happy she felt when she received it. Also, she shared the desire to get to know me more through social media. It was a beautiful moment and proof of how we could connect with each other despite the social distance. To express this story I am sharing a screenshot of a conversation through Facebook (messenger) with a neighbor from Guayaquil, Ecuador. She is telling me that she received the letter I sent and how grateful she is for it.
• 
  2020-04-30

  The Indonesian Muhammadiyah Movement and the COVID-19 Pandemic

  This article describes the ways in which the Indonesian Muslim Muhammadiyah organization responded to the onset of the pandemic.
• 2021-10-14

  Suffering of My Relatives From COVID-19

  Here is a story of how the pandemic affected some relatives of mine who currently live in India. Specifically, they live in Bangalore, in South India. Between January and February of this year, they caught the COVID-19 disease. Perhaps they got it while they were in the central city shopping area doing routine shopping. In any case, it afflicted my relatives strongly. Two of them died, having succumbed to COVID-19. A significant way in which the disease tormented them was in their loss of sense of taste. Once COVID-19 affected them, beyond experiencing much fatigue, chills, and body aches, they could not taste anything. My affected aunt had apparently claimed, "Everything tastes like mud." The loss of taste, fatigue, chills, fever, and breathing difficulty are standard symptoms for the COVID-19 disease, which may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. Also, the pandemic affects different individuals in different ways. The disease progresses in its affecting people, with mild symptoms eventually developing to severe illness. Unfortunately, until the COVID-19 symptoms passed, quarantine measures were taken against my relatives; they were confined within their apartments. As I am close to these people not physically but in a familial sense - as I am currently living in the US – their suffering had a great emotional impact on me; and their welfare means much to me. l can also empathize with Indian COVID-19 suffering, especially the notion of suffering due to lack of taste. Indian culture greatly values cuisine, and taste is an associated factor of cuisine; therefore, loss of taste is quite significant.
• 
  2021-10-12

  My Most Difficult Moment with Covid-19: Missing My Students' Promotion

  This is a personal reflection on a challenge I faced with Covid-19 as an 8th grade teacher. Unfortunately, because I got Covid-19, I had to miss my students' promotion--a moment I had been looking forward to all year. I was so proud of my students, and I only wish I could have been there to congratulate them and wish them a final goodbye.
• 
  2020-03-12

  Quarantine Life

  I am submitting a small glimpse of what life was life for me during Covid 19 and quarantine
• 
  2020-03-28T19:52

  Technology Fun During Pandemic

  The photo I am submitting is a screenshot of a Facebook video call with a few of my family members. My family has always been very close. We are a loud and very big Puerto Rican family that enjoys our get togethers as much as possible. Over the last few years, people have scattered about the country, making it harder for all of us to get together. One things this pandemic enabled us to do was to communicate and gather together via online video platforms. As my aunts and uncle turned to facetime and facebook video calling in order to check in on my cousins and I, it actually gave us room to gather more than we had been pre-covid. When the world move to technology and zooms to bridge the gap of human face-to-face interaction, people got closer while being further apart.