Items

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  2021-04-08T09:16

  6 feet apart

  This was the first time I had physically gone back to the doctors since the pandemic. At this point in time, virtual or phone visits were the option available to seek help for the minor things. Unsure of the official protocols, as it felt like the world was stuck between going back to what was once normal and isolation - I sat next to my son, who was five at the time, like normal. He stared at me for a moment, scooted away and said, "Mom, you have to stay 6 feet apart." As I went to go sit by myself in a chair, I snapped this photo of him looking out the window. It was the first time I ever truly felt that things would never go back to normal.
• 
  2020-05-07

  Finally Seeing My Best Friend

  The pandemic has been a rough time for me. I decided to take a gap year in the middle of my college experience in order to work. Online learning isn't the easiest, and it was the best decision I could've made. However, it was very isolating living in my parents basement for 18 months. Humans are supposed to be social creatures. My father is immunocompromised, which means that I have to be as careful as possible to keep him healthy. For the first few months of the pandemic, I didn't see anyone besides my mom and dad. I couldn't even see my grandmother, who I missed so much. Finally, things started to feel a little bit safer, so I was finally able to see my childhood friend. I sat in her backseat with a mask on, while she drove us to a hiking trail, where we were able to have a socially distanced picnic. Being able to spend that time with her was crucial. I needed this time with her to keep myself sane. We decided to take a picture of us wearing our masks, posing like the characters in The Fault In Our Stars movie poster. We talked for hours, grateful to be in each other’s presence. We made it a routine to try to do something outside together every couple of weeks. She lives in my neighborhood, so it was easy to meet at a corner and walk our dogs together. Being able to see someone that was outside of my immediate family was like a breath of fresh air, both metaphorically and literally. As time went on, she became part of my “COVID bubble” as my family called it. It was hard not seeing other friends, but I’m glad that at least I had her from the very beginning.
• 2020-11-24

  Life lessons

  Before covid happened I never got to experience the holidays just with my family. It was always cousins and other family but I was never to close to mine. when covid happen I started to bond more with my family and really learned the true value of family because they stick with you through all the hard times that we may need to conquer.
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  2021-06-02

  Family Life During COVID-19

  The experience of how life changed during COVID-19 was a rather pleasant change of pace from how life had traditionally functioned. As soon as the pandemic happened and the transition to remote work and school took place I realized how little the amount of time was that we spent with the people we live with. Instead of heading out the door to an office before everyone was even awake everyday I was able to see me family every morning before we went off to our respective work spaces for school or work. Having three teenagers usually means kids disappear from the house but for the last year I have been home with them every day and it has made for relationships as close as when they were small children. My partner and I are able to see each other much more often and spend time together we never would have had outside of quarantine. While it appears the change to remote school will be going away my transition to working from home will be permanent for the foreseeable future. While I do find there are way more advantages than disadvantages for me in working from home it would definitely be better for the kids to be in physical school rather than distance learning. They will all be vaccinated by the fall and return to in person school leaving me home by myself during the day. While I am excited for many of the aspects of the eventual return to normalcy I will miss the time I had spending the days with my family. While I will miss the kids I sincerely doubt there will ever come a time where I look forward to going back to an office.
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  2020-04-18

  Humans of Covid-19 AU: Josh Burns

  “As a politician, I’m used to spending my days being out in the community, interacting with people and groups. We politicians are extroverts, we like having people around us! All that’s stopped and that’s the biggest change. I used to travel a lot - to Canberra and other places - never being at home enough. Now I’m home all the time. It’s great but it’s much more difficult to connect with people. I’m finding that there are waves in terms of how I’ve been called on to help people. At first it was offering support to the thousands of people who lost their jobs and were queuing outside Centrelink. Then it was helping people who found themselves stranded overseas. Now it’s about assisting individuals and businesses in accessing grants. The financial strain is immense, but it’s also about people’s sense of self worth. The mental health issues are huge. With so much hardship and such dramatic changes, my work is harder but it’s also meaningful. What’s next? How do we unlock the next chapter? There are so many approaches about what we should be doing at this moment. We need a clear government strategy for now before we can work out next steps. But we have to keep going.” Instagram post on Josh Burns, a politician, and his experience during the pandemic, which was created by a psychology student living in Melbourne who was interested to hear about how COVID-19 was impacting on different peoples’ lives.
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  2020-04-06

  Living through Covid-19: 05/12/2020

  This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc.
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  04/06/2020

  Living through Covid-19

  This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc.
• 
  2020-04-22

  Personal Impact of the Pandemic

  A Word document file of what my experience with the pandemic has been as well as the impact it had on my family
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  2020-04-12

  Happy Birthday and the Fear of Covid19

  Today was my dad’s 59th birthday and it was crazy that we couldn’t really celebrate. This whole Covid19 feels like a bad dream or a scary movie to be honest. It is also Easter and it is strange that we couldn’t do our typical events and Easter egg hunt for our nephews. It is so tragic turning on the news and seeing how many people have died from this terrible virus. This whole experience doesn’t even feel real at times. I feel lucky that my family is still safe, but I worry about my brother who has to work every single day surrounded by customers. I fear he will get sick or my sister in law. I am lucky that I have limited contact with people, but my job still requires me to meet others. It is scary how people have also reacted to this event and hoarded so much toilet paper and supplies. I am terrified every time I go to the grocery store to get supplies and food. There is never toilet paper or paper towels. Trying to find certain things such as meat or cheese or even eggs is close to impossible at my local grocery store. It is insane that there is not even a bottle of soap or any Lysol to purchase. I miss my nephews and I miss going to school. I am so lucky compared to so many others, but I am still terrified for the future. This feels like a scary movie or an episode of Doom’s Day Preppers.
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  03/26/2020

  Alexander Oral History, 2020/03/26

  Rounding up what I've been doing since the first log I posted on March 24. There was a few things I felt like I didn't cover very well originally.