Items

• 
  06/08/2022

  Flory Chacón Roldán Oral History, 2022/06/08

  En esta entrevista Flory Chacón Roldán es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Los temas que tocan son sobre el empleo, familia y hogar, la comunidad, salud, fuentes de información, gobierno, y para terminar hablan del futuro. Esta entrevista es la tercera de una seria de tres (2020, 2021, 2022)
• 
  05/24/2022

  Silvia Azofeifa Ramos Oral History, 2022/05/24

  En esta entrevista Silvia Azofeifa Ramos es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Los temas que tocan son sobre el empleo, familia y hogar, la comunidad, salud, fuentes de información, gobierno, y para terminar hablan del futuro. Esta entrevista es la tercera de una seria de tres (2020, 2021, 2022)
• 
  2020-07-21

  I think I want to start a garden with you

  I decided to start a garden during the pandemic with my girlfriend at the time (now wife). It was my senior year of college and life changed drastically in the spring when the pandemic hit. My wife and I had somewhat recently started dating at this point and suddenly we had to go on lockdown together to avoid any potential spread to her family since we both were required to go in person for our jobs. We went from dating to living together in an instant and it made us grow even closer. Together we tried to find quarantine hobbies to bide our time originally thinking that quarantine would only last a few months. I remember one day suggesting we start a garden in the backyard. My yard in Lubbock got so much sun it was just perfect for a garden. We slowly built a garden adding various plants from cactus and aloe vera to hot peppers, bean sprouts, and sunflowers. I loved going out there and caring for all the plants with my wife it was a real bonding experience. It was beautiful watching the whole process of our plants transform from little seeds to baby sprouts. I remember the way the new sprouts smelled crisp as they became verdant green and leafy. When we would water them on a particularly hot day it had a scent that reminded me of rainy summer days in Dallas when it got humid. I enjoyed getting to start this hobby that I most likely wouldn't have picked up at the time if I kept to my usual college routine. It was also a good distraction for both of us from the worries and anxieties of the pandemic.
• 2022-06-26

  Flying with Disease

  Flying home from a tournament, where my team suffered defeat after defeat, I was not aware of much outside of my muscle aches, my mental and emotional exhaustion, and the bitter taste of failure in my mouth. The first twenty minutes of the flight was uneventful, just the occasional cry of a child, the subtle rock of the plane in turbulence, the dim light by which I read my book. Soon, as the turbulence died down, and the child fell asleep in the arms of its mother, every single person on the plane became distinctly aware of the continuous coughing of a lady wearing her mask. I had forgotten to grab one for the flight home, despite every intention of wearing one, and nobody else on the flight had one. Conversations noticeably died down as the coughing continued, and even seemed to get more frequent and intense. I put down my book, donned my headphones, and tried to watch a movie to drown out the noise. People shot furtive glances at the lady in question, all of us wondering from the sound of her cough, if she had Covid. The more I heard it, the angrier I felt, and the more afraid I got. I am an athlete and young, so would likely be fine if I caught Covid. However, my girlfriend and little sister are both high risk, and I did not want to risk exposing them. I managed to calm myself as to not make a scene, worthless at this point tens of thousands of feet in the air. I could not know the situation of the lady, whether she had a choice to be on this flight, or had to return home, attend a funeral, or whatever other reasons she may have had to go on a flight, sick, while there was a global pandemic. All I can tell you is that from the sounds of uncomfortable shifting in seats, the murmurs pointed at the lady, and the otherwise silence of the formerly talkative plane, nobody felt entirely safe or comfortable. I ended up catching Covid-19, and unknowingly giving it to my girlfriend who I live with. Despite having to take her to the hospital briefly, we both ended up fine. Whether our cases of Covid were from the lady on the plane or somebody else, I will never know. But the sound of incessant coughing during this pandemic still has the same effect wherever I go, creating a perceptible unease.
• 
  05/19/2021

  Silvia Azofeifa Ramos Oral History, 2021/05/19

  En esta entrevista Silvia Azofeifa Ramos es entrevistado por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Los temas que tocan son sobre el empleo, familia y hogar, la comunidad, salud, fuentes de información, gobierno, y para terminar hablan del futuro. Esta entrevista es el seguno de una seria de tres, el primero fue el año 2020.
• 
  2020-03

  Navigating through medical care during the beginning of the Pandemic

  During the beginning of the pandemic, I was taking care of a sick family member who needed multiple surgeries and doctors appointments. The sickness started prior to the pandemic, but continued through the beginning of March 2020. I remember having to wait outside in my car while she was in the hospital getting surgery and not being able to go inside while she was admitted to a room in the hospital. The stress and anxiety I felt was like none other I had felt before. Not only did I feel the stress of not being in that room to be an advocate for my family member, but also the true fear of her contracting COVID19 while having a compromised immune system. During this time, my work offered a six week paid pandemic leave that I utilized to take care of this family member at home. This reduced a lot of stress because I was able to quarantine us while she healed and take care of her. I will always be appreciative of my job for allowing this opportunity. As the world adapted, so did we, but I do have to say the scariest times were navigating the health care systems while everyone was attempting to lower the Covid19 rates.
• 
  2020-04-07

  CLUE

  This board game defines the boring nights quarantined throughout the beginning phases of the Pandemic. With little activities to engage in, my family and I would play almost all the board games in my house to keep ourselves busy so we were unable to think about the craziness going on outside. In retrospect these family game nights brought my family closer, being that we were not usually, under normal circumstances, hanging out 24/7 together.
• 
  2020-05-29

  The Spiritual Enlightenment of the Quarantine

  Whilst in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic we as people had lots of time to spend, let alone kids and teens. Because Covid swept the globe so quickly the Educational system was not prepared whatsoever which resulted in the student not even having zoom classes. With this gained a lot of time that I did not know to manage, and so I started my Spiritual Enlightenment. This Enlightenment was basically me starting to read books, paint and improve my ties with my family. Painting stayed with me for a large time of that year but sadly I had to let it go when we started school once more. I entered High School as a different but better version of myself
• 
  2022-07-13

  Moving During the 2020 Pandemic

  During the 2020 pandemic, my family had to move to a different state. I remember the virus specifically affecting too much, though that might be because I wasn't too involved in the logistics. I just had to stay out of the way of the movers and keep all my stuff together, both of which I would have done anyway. It would have been a different story if we had to take an airplane instead of driving, as I was fortunate enough to have been able to do.
• 
  2022-05-10

  Jaime J. Godinez Oral History, 2022/05/10

  Jaime Godinez is a high school U.S. history teacher in Yuma, Arizona, and an ASU graduate student being interviewed for a class assignment. Jaime gives some background on his life, including the fact that he was born in Arizona, but raised in Mexico. He discusses how his feelings have changed about COVID before the world was shut down and everyone was forced into remote work, but also more recently. Still, Jaime endured when he became unemployed and began to study at Arizona State University. However, Jaime was disappointed by the fact that he could not coach basketball. Finally, Jaime tells us how he and his family dealt with living together during the COVID-19 lockdown, including when he bought dumbbells online so he could work out at home. Jaime would have preferred to work out in a gym, much like many others, but this was a compromise that he had to make. Jaime reminds us that we must listen to medical professionals in the future and we must be socially responsible when interacting with the public.
• 2022-05-16

  Prejudice and Hope during Covid-19

  At the beginning of 2021, I spent one of the most memorable fun time in my life with my friends at the Coming of Age ceremony. Two days later, I had one more memorable days in my life, but in a negative mode: I got Covid-19, and it transferred to all my family members. During that time, I felt fear of being perceived as Covid-19-infected by others since a lot of prejudice led by Covid-19 was happening in the world and even in my neighborhood. In this essay, I would like to use my experience to analyze the human selfish and altruistic reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic. When I got infected with Covid-19, I had a high fever of 103 degrees, had difficulty breathing, and could not eat properly for several days. My father was hospitalized for about a week because he kept coughing and had difficulty breathing. The whole family was infected with Covid-19and had to be treated at home and quarantined at home, so we could not go out to buy daily necessities and food. The food that was in the refrigerator was running out with each passing day. At that time, I was afraid to confess to anyone outside my family that I had Covid-19 even though I was cured. The reason for this was that I saw on the news that there was a hate movement against Japanese and Asians living in European countries and the United States around the spring of 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic began. Later on, as the Covid-19 damage grew, President Trump called the coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” and there were many Asians, including Chinese, who were labeled and discriminated against in the daily news. Even around my home, there were people who looked harshly at people labeled as "corona-infected," "pathogens," or "dangerous people," even if they had been infected with Covid-19 and had already recovered completely. I was afraid that if my neighbors and friends found out that I had Covid-19 and labeled me dishonorably. I thought that the distrust and inter-personal level of hatred that people possess for people who have actually been infected with Covid-19 comes from the “state of nature” that Thomas Hobbes advocated in his writing. Hobbes explains that the state of nature is when humans “seek peace and follow it… by all means [humans] can to defend [themselves]”. The state of war, in which men fight what men perceive as a target (in this case, the threat of the Covid-19) in order to protect themselves, seems to have given rise to this discrimination. And that discriminatory view grew socially and led to the Asian Hate of the time. In addition to the fear held by individuals, I guess the manipulation of social impressions at the time also led to Asian hate. The world was under a medical crunch in all countries following the explosive spread of the Covid-19, and there was a shortage of hospital beds and respiratory equipment. This could be attributed to policies and measures in the medical field that could not respond well to the sudden pandemic or the failure to provide the public with the correct information. However, medical policies and government thinking of the time shifted the blame. They tried to deflect public anger and attention with a different vector, trying to place the responsibility for the entire pandemic on the "Chinese virus" and the Asians. Public opinion, not medical evidence, established the cause of the pandemic, which was similar to what happened in San Francisco, California, hundreds of years ago during a plague epidemic, according to Joan B. Trauner's article. Chinatown in San Francisco was created to isolate immigrants from China during the plague epidemic, and the health office regarded them as the cause of the disaster. The government and the health officer did not want to be responsible for the existence of a plague epidemic. Trauner, in his writing the Chinese as Medical Scapegoats in San Francisco, describes the perspective of the medical officer in San Francisco at the time: "the pronouncements of the board and the health officer were often characterized by political or social expedience, rather than by scientific insight”. The government and the health department utilized the presence of Chinese immigrants for social expediency. The fear, the anger born of fear, and the desire to protect oneself have not changed from the time Hobbes wrote The Leviathan, through Trauner, to the present day in the 21st century. Especially in extraordinary situations like a pandemic, it will lead to new discrimination and more people being treated unfairly. But I have found one hope during this pandemic. During the time my family was homebound, when we had nowhere to go shopping and were finally running out of food, friends of my parents cooked and brought us meals for a few days, bought fruits and household items and delivered them to us. There were even heartful letters written by them. They did not avoid us as "dangerous people" but treated us with compassion. When humanity makes a positive turnaround from looking for the cause of this situation and shifting blame, to working together to overcome the situation that is happening now, we could overcome our fears, become altruistic, and strive to protect humanity as a whole.
• 
  2022-05-10

  Anasitasia Viatele Oral History, 2022/05/15

  Anasitasia Viatele is from Kent, Washington. She recounts her life during the pandemic and the struggles she has faced during that time. She discusses her family in American Samoa and touches on their struggles as well.
• 
  2022-05-04

  Families during COVID

  A popular narrative across several media platforms is that Covid-19 brought together families. Thanks to Covid-19, we were forced to gain a new sense of appreciation for our family and those dearest to us. Not only that, but it forced us to spend more time with our families away from digital technology, work, and other factors that strained family relationships. For the most part, this is true. Lockdown and quarantine forced us to reflect. However, the extent to which this was true is questionable. When you think of essential and frontline workers the first thing that comes to mind are health care employees such as doctors or nurses, however, a subcategory that often gets overlooked are those important for the continuous function of our economy and society. This includes individuals who operate and work in food and agriculture, transportation, education, public work, general merchandise, maintenance, janitors, etc. While a majority of the world was shutting away at home, making use of the additional time they have with their family, this wasn’t possible for certain people. Specifically parents who were forced to continue working during chaotic and fear fueled moments. At extreme cases, some parents weren’t present at all at home because of Covid. In my case, both my parents were extremely absent during the beginning of lockdown. Not because they wanted to, but because they had to. With lockdown in course, my mother and sister were not able to return home, getting stuck in another country for over five months or so. The process to return was not easy. There were all these requirements that needed to be met that were not available and or accessible in El Salvador, a third world country struggling as it is to have some form of control over the virus. When we thought she would be able to return, then El Salvador initiated their lockdown. It became this back and forth cycle of possibility and hope of having our family together, healthy and safe. My father on the other hand had to continue showing up to work, working ridiculous hours. When the whole world including my father was consumed by fear and confusion, there was no room to process and plan. My father, an employee of a multinational beverage corporation, experienced no change in his routine. On the contrary, besides wearing a mask, everything remained the same; crowded working spaces, no social distancing, etc. My sisters and I questioned why he continued to go to work knowing the danger that posses to not only his health and safety but also ours. His reason was “because the world doesn’t stop. There are still expenses and bills to pay regardless so not showing up is not an option.” This made me question just how many parents continue to work because they need the money to survive, especially at the beginning of the pandemic when many businesses were taking advantage of the short supply of items such as disinfecting spray, wipes, toilet paper, etc. and committing price gouging, knowing people were desperate for such things. That being said, stories as such continue to expose the disproportionate disadvantages that many low income communities and working classes face. Not only that but the additional strains placed on several families because of Covid and just how important resource and accessibility is.
• 2022

  Experience of COVID-19 in China and USA

  As an international student, I have witnessed the spread of covid-19 in both China and the United States. While the virus harms humans in the same way, each country does it differently to humans facing the pandemic. I was in high school in Boston when the covid first broke out (in December?). At that time, there were only two cases in Boston, so everyone didn't care much about the virus far across the ocean. As a Chinese, I know that coronavirus has caused countless pain in Wuhan, China. Therefore, I wrote a petition to the school to advocate wearing masks at school to avoid infection. However, the absurdity of things is far beyond my imagination. My high school principal sent an email to all international students (most of us are Asians) telling us that masks do not help people stay away from the virus. He also required us not to wear masks in school because it would cause panic among other local students. This implicit discrimination against Asians is a hurt. In March, I decided to return to China from the US to visit my family. It was a tough decision, not only in the sense of risking my life but in the process. I overcame the flight's cutting off and was cancelled by seven flights to get on the plane home. But when I finally returned to China and was quarantined for 14 days, I discovered the maliciousness toward international students on the Internet. Everyone was repeating the sentence, "you can't serve the motherland, but you can be the first to poison your country flying from thousands of miles away". This exclusion of outsiders is another harm. These hurt far more than covid did to me.
• 
  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
• 
  2021-08-05

  How COVID Affected My Family

  COVID took a huge tole on my family. We were unable to have getting togethers for almost a year since my grandparents are older. This was hard for us because we have multiple get togethers in a year. Last August, both of my great grandparents tested positive with COVID. They both have many underlying health conditions that made their fight hard. My great grandma pulled through but my great grandpa did not. This was a very hard loss for my family because his passing was the first in our close family. The worst part about all of it was that they would not let any of us in the hospital to say goodbye. We had his funeral outside so all of my older relatives could attend and stay safe. COVID years were hard for my family and I am very glad we are finally on the other side of it.
• 
  2020

  Family triumphs

  My parents are very scared of covid, they are in their fifties with a six year old at home. Due to this, I wasn’t allowed to even be home from the time I was a freshman to this day two years later as a junior. I just miss my family. Pictures and FaceTime isn’t enough for me.
• 
  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.
• 
  05/17/2020

  Rodrigo Hernández Cordero Oral History, 2020/05/17

  En esta entrevista es Rodrigo Hernández Cordero entrevistado por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Rodrigo es dueño de una tienda de ropa, tiene 63 años y vive en Heredia. Habla del momento que escucho del virus del covid por primera vez y como ha cambiado su vida desde ese momento. Habla de su trabajo como dueño de tienda y como ha cambiado el comercio. Habla de su familia y como el cambio que el ha visto entre sus relaciones familiares. Hablar de la estructura de su hogar y también de su comunidad. Rodrigo también habla de su fe como católico y como ve las misas por la televisión. Rodrigo habla de las noticias siendo su fuente principal de información. Para terminar, hablan del gobierno y su respuesta a la pandemia y también habla del futuro.
• 
  05/05/2020

  Erika Franco Quirós Oral History, 2020/05/05

  En esta entrevista Erika Franco Quirós es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Erika es una orientadora en el Colegio Técnico Profesional. Ella tiene 42 años, vivia sola antes de la pandemia pero decidio moverse a Heredia para estar con su mama y hermanos. Hablan del momento en que Erika se dio cuenta de la pandemia por primera vez, de su trabajo y como le va en el teletrabajo en el colegio y de sus estudiantes. Habla de su familia y sus amigos, de la religión y la espiritualidad, y de la misa por television. Erika habla de como se siente pagando su propio teléfono y internet para poder comunicarse con sus estudiantes, habla del gobierno y la corrupción. Habla un poco de las fuentes de informacion donde ella recibe información y tambien de las noticias falsas. Tocan el tema de la violencia domestica. Termina hablando del futuro.
• 
  05/06/2021

  Linda White Oral History, 2021/05/04

  This interview conducted with Linda White talks about how her job in the financial sector changed and the many challenges presented from working from home. The interview also talks about the challenges of being a mom and having multiple kids returning home under one roof and how the family adapted. The interview also gives an interesting perspective into the life of a mother who has a child working in the health care field at this time. Finally, the interview also talks about other new experiences and hobbies developed and how staying positive was important. This interview ended by talking about the vaccine and looking to the future.
• 
  13/11/2020

  Craig Zehms Oral History, 2020/11/13

  Sam Zehms interview's Craig Zehms.
• 
  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.
• 
  12/21/2020

  Danicia Monet Malone Oral History, 2020/12/21

  C19OH
• 
  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

  Shawnda Kaeding 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.
• 
  11/30/2020

  Brent Lameyer Oral History, 2020/11/30

  C19OH
• 
  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.