Items

• 2020-08-18

  life in camera

  When COVID-19 first started I was in 8th grade. I didn't really understand what Covid really was or how serious it was. I went in feeling kind of okay about it all and staying at home. Once high school started things went downhill for me mentally. I did pretty well in school. I did all my work and turned it in on time and got good grades, but I struggled a lot mentally with myself and socializing with others. During that time being at home did help me to get closer to my mom, we would go walking throughout the day and that helped me a lot to start losing weight a lot more. However, I started to become depressed and struggled with my outward appearance a lot. Once we started going back to school in person, I didnt know ow how to act, I just felt ugly and quiet. I used to be such an outgoing person and I would talk to almost everyone. Now I don't like being in public and around others. I have very bad social anxiety and overthink a lot about what people think of me. I personally never got Covid-19 so I don't know how that can affect someone physically and I hope I never do. I watched those around me get it and the way that they struggled and even saw a few of them die. It was a really depressing time, to watch your loved ones around you hurt and struggle and eventually give up, and you're never able to see them again. Going back to school in person did help me a lot. Socializing with people and seeing my friends that I hadn't seen in so long was what really helped me to get out of my shell and help me love myself more.
• 2020-03-14

  Leah's experience with Covid

  The objective of this story is my personal experience with Covid 19 and the shutting down of the world around us due to the health affects. At the beginning of the Covid 19 in 2020 where all schools were beginning to mandate the wearing of surgical masks to stop the spreading of the newly found disease, Personally I didn't expect this disease would shut down what we once knew as normal. In the early days of the pandemic my family was the ones who were reluctant to wear the masks, as we did not realize the danger that is to come. Only a few weeks had gone by and the schools and stores were beginning to shut down and everyone had begun to learn the severity of this pandemic. Doctors were turning away patients who were suffering with health issues caused by outside sources other than the pandemic, causing other lives to decline. As a middle school student watching the depletion of the world right before my eyes, I was afraid of what may come in the following years. I was afraid of the pandemic and what negative affects that it may bring to me and my older family members. I was also afraid of the new norm that I now had to get used to along with the remote learning and not being to hangout with my friends and family as I once did.
• 
  2021-06-07

  A Pandemic Wedding

  My friend had been planning her wedding for nearly two years when the pandemic hit, and suddenly, she had to put all of her plans on hold. It was a devastating moment for her and everyone who was looking forward to the special day. When travel restrictions were lifted, her bridal party (including me) rushed to get plane tickets to ensure our presence by her side in small town, Texas. We wanted everything to go perfectly for her considering the delay she endured and the preparations that were now unclear. It was an outside wedding filled with beautiful twinkling lights, neatly placed wooden benches, and masks, sporadically, spread throughout the crowd. A year after the lockdowns and restrictions, Covid 19 still affected people enough to don masks outside during a wedding. Despite the residual fear, my memories of spending time with friends, eating good food, and cheering on the beautiful bride are happy ones.
• 2022-06-30

  The Road Trip 2022

  Road Trip During the heat of covid, the spring of 2020 through the fall of 2022 I worked for our local school district in Arizona. My family and I did not do a lot of traveling beyond the necessary during the mandated restrictions. After the bulk of the restrictions were lifted and vaccines were widely available I participated in a work trip to San Diego to attend a convention. My partner and I decided to springboard off this and turned the summer into a west coast road trip to visit with friends and family. We started in San Diego and the highlights of this trip were Portland, Oregan, Seattle, Washington, and San Jose, California. On our jaunt along the coast there were still precautions being taken. Many people still wore masks out and were positioned with more space in public. Of the people we visited and stayed with on our journey, some were still social distancing, and taking precautions when going out. Our adventure was a good way to reconnect with the people we hadn’t been able to see during the lockdown. My partner and I were able to visit some important places from my childhood and have some epic picnics. There is a lake and small national park near my Grandparents’ home that is open to the public. The tree cover and water line is cut with an easy hiking path. We got to traverse about a mile of it. Taking in the beauty that could easily have been featured in a fairy tail description of an ancient forest. It was a great way to break the isolation and share some of the past with my partner.
• 
  2020-10-03

  With Love

  When travel restrictions were lifted, did you take a trip?
• 
  March 13, 2020

  unbeknownst emptiness

  I worked/attended CUNY Hunter College during the start of the pandemic. On March 13, 2020, we were informed that we would not be returning to work until further notice, and I believe that a majority of late-night classes/activities were cancelled. As a result, my friend/coworker and I walked around the near-empty campus. We ended up sneaking into an empty lecture hall, ate some snacks, and chatted about the future. I took a photo of our feet up on the seats as a sort of fun memento, to show how crazy it looked to see ourselves amongst the empty hall, and when a coworker asked where we are, we sent them that. The photo meant almost nothing at the time and was just a casual photo I took amongst many in my every day. Looking back now, it holds nostalgia as well as dread. I think the emptiness shows what was to come, and how terrifying it would be, and just how impactful the pandemic was on our lives. I have not stepped foot in Hunter since then, so that was truly my last time being in that school. It makes me sad and makes me think what the future would have held had these events not happened.
• 
  2020-05-11

  Desert Plague

  Once summer hit Arizona and all the clubs and pools remained closed due to the pandemic, my friends and I were forced to get creative. We managed to find several hiking trails outside of Phoenix that led to glorious water (a treasure out here). We would spend hours at the little pools and waterfalls, talking about what we missed from our previous lives. Sometimes we would bring packs of White Claws- a COVID hit, and pretend we were in Vegas at the dayclubs. Back then, everything was a big ‘what if.’ We all thought that by September of 2020 we would be back in classes, moving on with our lives and not giving a second thought to the mayhem the pandemic brought on. We had no idea what the future held, but we were able to escape to our desert oasis and enjoy one another the way we deserved.
• 
  0202-04-11

  Ender Dragon Fight with my friends

  This photo was taken of my friends and me right before we fought the ender dragon on the first Minecraft world we played at the start of the pandemic.
• 2021-06-12

  Meeting my Girlfriend

  Below is the email I sent to my therapist about meeting my now girlfriend at a party. "Dear Mr. Gabe. So I'm not exactly sure if I listened to your advice or not but I found someone and it was in the most unlikely of places. We meet at a mutual friend's party, she's really nice, loves History, Art, and stuff like that. Tomorrow morning ill be meeting up with her at her house and we're going to visit a historical site in town. I'm not really sure what to expect, what will happen, or where it will go from here so we'll see! -Nolan"
• 2020-03

  Zoom, Kraft Mac & Cheese, and Avatar the Last Airbender

  These three things basically sum up how I spent my days during the lockdown of the pandemic. I would go on Zoom for class, would typically make some Kraft mac & cheese for lunch or dinner, and would binge watch Avatar the Last Airbender on Netflix. Sometimes I did a combination of both; I remember eating mac & cheese and playing hangman with my friends on Zoom. These are three things that I associate with quarantine.
• 
  2020-03-10

  A covid birthday

  It was hard because we could not sing happy birthday to her.
• 
  2020-06-01

  The First Hug

  The pandemic was a time of separation for all of us. The two weeks of isolation to lessen the curve turned into months of remaining at home, at least six feet away from friends and loved ones. As an intensely social creature, this was a time of anxiety and loneliness, despite being quarantined with my husband and three children. The person I missed seeing most was my best friend, Allison. We spoke on the phone daily, and attempted FaceTime (though it felt awkward to both of us). Prior to Covid, we saw each other at least once a day, working closely together to serve our church and meeting at the playground after school with our children. In April of 2020, we planned a coffee date with our daughters as a way to see each other and get out of the house. We went through the drive-thru line of a coffeeshop, and drove to adjacent parking lot. We parked opposite of each other, climbed into the backs of our SUVs, and had the first "coffee date" in over a month. Seeing my best friend's face, in person, brought me to tears - as did the distance between us. I needed a hug, desperately. As I drove away that day, I wondered when I would ever get to hug someone outside of my immediate household, when I would shake hands with someone, when I could high five my daughters' friends. In June of 2020, our church cautiously reopened for in-person services. Masks were enforced, and the six-foot rule was heavily encouraged. However, when I was finally in the same room with my best friend, I couldn't maintain the six foot rule. With my mask on and my hands carefully sanitized, I gave her a hug. It was one of the best hugs of my life.
• 
  2020-05-05

  A lack of touch in a tactile world

  When the COVID-19 virus struck in the spring of 2020, I was still completing my undergraduate degree in history at a small university near the border of North and South Carolina. My university transitioned to online learning around the second week of March. One of my classes that semester was an upper level special topics course on Public History. Seizing the opportunity to document the COVID-19 pandemic for future generations, my course instructor had students to document and journal about our everyday lives in quarantine during the second half of the course as we transitioned online. The above is a video I took for that course of some my friends from back home, where I had returned to live in isolation with my mother, father, brothers, and grandfather; while at home, I would drive about once a week to an empty target parking lot to socialize with some of my friends from the community. We would sit in our cars, spaced at least fifteen feet apart, in order to avoid spreading the virus. Though I was thankful for the opportunity to still see my friends, and to have at least one social outing each week, the sense, or rather lack of sense, that was most prevalent in my mind, and still is when recalling the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in the spring of 2020, is not being able to touch my friends. I am a very tactile person, and giving a hug or a handshake to my friends is an important part of expressing my love and feelings for others. Though during the COVID-19 pandemic we were able to communicate by means of modern day technology, such as zoom, and even in cases such as mine due to the state where I lived, still being able to socialize in outdoor areas, the fear of the virus prevented me from being able to express friendship in one of the most natural ways. Though only ten to fifteen feet apart, it was if we had all created an invisible bubble that could not penetrated. Though this was all for good reason, it did not make the psychological implications any less real. The ten feet that separated me from my friends for over two months felt like ten million miles, and my thoughts constantly played tricks on me. I grew accustomed to not touching or being near others. It was in early May, almost two months after returning home from college, that I touched someone outside of my family unit for the first time. A friend of mine who I went to high school with, who also worked on a farm that borders my family's farm, wanted to ride ATV's together. I agreed, and we remained at least six feet distant from one another. We it came time for him to return home, however, he extended his hand to give me a "fist bump." Normally, he probably would have tried to hug me, but even the notion of touching our fists together made me hesitant, though I did return the friendly gesture. The virus had me, and most of society, programmed to remain enclosed to ourselves, and in doing so, though necessary for a time, unable to engage in the most basic of human interactions. Prior to the pandemic, I never had give thought to the importance of touching in my relationships, however, in a post-pandemic world, I will never take for granted the most basic of human interactions, such as touch, because in a moment it could be gone.
• 
  2022-04-26

  Time Machine

  As many have most likely stated, living through the COVID-19 pandemic is like living in a time machine, or fast forward. At the beginning of the pandemic, I was an eighteen year old who had no idea where she was going after high school. I had about five outstanding college decisions at this point. I know - I applied to a lot of schools. Since then, it has been two years that flashed before my eyes. I am in a completely different state and a completely different person. However, it does not feel like two years have passed since I graduated from high school. I remember the last time I stepped foot in my high school. It was March 13, 2020. I was so stressed out about exams and was just ready to get out of there. I know now that if I knew it was my last real day of school, I would have lived it very differently. My graduating class (the class of 2020) was referred to as the pandemic class, or the champions of senior skip day. Believe it or not, my graduation was a drive through that took place in my high school’s parking lot. My senior prom was canceled twice. The second time, I was getting ready and Idaho (my home state) went back a COVID recovery stage. So, they canceled the dance two hours prior to its scheduled start time. Beginning college during a pandemic was a weird experience. We were not permitted to have guests in our dorms and had to eat our meals outside or in our own dorms. Making friends was so hard. My only friends were my suitemates until second semester. All of our classes were on Zoom. This made my parents question why they paid for my dorm. I still think it was worth coming to school last year because I made my life long friends here.
• 
  2022-04-10

  Reflection of Life In A Pandemic

  As everyone knows, we went through a pandemic. From that point, more happened in my life in that timespan than the 18 years that have passed before that. Celebrated two COVID birthdays, had a death in my family, heart surgery, lost and gained friends, the number of times I felt sick but actually was not because it was all in my head, the battle I had against COVID-19, too much has happened to count. However, I realized and went through this weird journey that I cannot really explain. I learned a lot about my own body, my brain, my mental state and health, it went through one rollercoaster if I had to be honest. I do want to believe that those blessings in disguise were really that, but it was quite the actual opposite. To be honest, it was something spiritual that had changed me over the past two years and I don't ever regret going through with it. I found that there will be nobody who will ever put their lives for yours other than themselves, and I found that being selfless means WAY more than doing things for yourself. Helping others, giving things such as time, your body, mind, gifts and amongst other things that mean a lot to people and that is something we all needed during quarantine and the pandemic. Life is so short, and it has its precious moments, so do not ever let anyone destroy that and let anyone control what you can or cannot say. Be kind, and be gracious to others and be respectful, because you never know what someone is going through. Also, I definitely missed sports. The beauty of basketball, the sport that has given me a lot of love and hate, came back with a bang and cannot wait for this year's playoffs!
• 
  2021-10-20

  Birthday Presents from my Best Friend

  This picture shows the presents I received from my best friend Alex back in October of 2021. Normally, I would have two parties for my birthday; one with family and one with friends. Alex would normally be part of the friend party or possibly a separate party of our own. However, due to COVID, that was not meant to be. Alex wanted to keep healthy in order to keep seeing her nephew, so it was for the best to not hold the party this year. Instead, we decided to meet up on my birthday for about a half-hour to hand out my presents. She gifted me with four figures of Princess Aurora from Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Aurora is my favorite Princess and I was so happy to add these figures to my collection! I am glad that we were able to talk for at least a short time before she had to go home. I hope that in 2022, we can actually hold an in-person birthday party for my birthday and her's as well.
• 
  2022-02-01

  Indeterminate

  Stress is associated with the past two years. This incident was one of my most stressful contact with Covid-19 testing. You'd win the bet if you guessed there is a happy ending.
• 
  2020-04-24

  Utilizing the Pandemic

  I have a feeling that my journey through the Plague Years has been rather different than most other people. Even with the Pandemic raging, I would genuinely consider the past two years some of the best of my life. Though there were certain adjustments that had to be made surrounding the uncertainty of the disease early on, my life was largely unaffected. I was living at home and taking online classes at a community college so those continued after only a slight break. I worked part-time at a pet food store and because pet food was considered “essential” for people, I was allowed to continue working uninterrupted. My dad started working from home and my siblings high school went to a part-time schedule. During the day we started a plethora of new tv shows and almost every night we were able to have dinner as a family and play board games. The best part, after some debate, larger universities began moving to online classes and closing campuses. This meant that my friends who were away at school would be coming home. Once we knew the signs, symptoms, and the relatively small danger presented to younger people we were able to hang out and have socially distanced fun. As an introvert, friends, family, school, and work were all I really needed to be happy, and the loss of large-scale social functions was of no importance to me. In fact, I was able to utilize the lack of interaction during the Pandemic as a cover for experimentation. On April 24, 2020, after hearing my dad ask me to get a haircut for the third time, I decided to take matters into my own hands and gave myself a buzzcut. There were four thoughts ringing in my mind as the razor vibrated in my hand. 1. I need a haircut 2. No place was open that was close 3. I have had the same hairstyle since high school. 4. And most importantly, not many people would have to see it. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and how it looked. Since that time, I have been much more adventurous with my hair styling and even with what I wear. The Pandemic helped me realize that life is too short to not try something new just for the sake of it. And though I did get clowned by my friends on occasion, that didn’t stop me from doing it again 11 months later… The pictures included are the sink full of my hair and hanging out with friends rocking the buzzcut. Overall, I know how lucky I was to remain relatively unscathed throughout the Pandemic. My paychecks never stopped, my classes resumed shortly, and my relationships with friends and family blossomed. The only real loss experienced was my hair, and for that, I am more than grateful.
• 
  2020-05

  How COVID-19 Altered Some of Life’s Most Memorable Times

  The COVID-19 lockdown began in March 2020 of my senior year of high school. At first, it was just a two-week vacation break, then it soon became unknown what the rest of senior year would be. I was extremely devastated when the pandemic took away my senior year because the last year of high school is one of the most memorable times of your life. Although it was a rough time, my friends, family, and I did what we could to make the best of every big moment. The first monumental moment taken away from me was my 18th birthday on April 20, 2020. My friends and I have always gone all out for each other’s birthdays such as concerts, dinners, gifts, and big celebrations. My family always went out to our favorite restaurants or had extended family come over to celebrate as well. For my 18th birthday, we made the best of it by my mom making my favorite dinner, and my friends planned a drive-by parade past my house with signs, balloons, and cards. Although it ended up being a nice day, it was still hard to enjoy it with wondering what the day could have been. Senior prom is an exciting moment that you look forward to your entire senior year. My childhood best friend and I planned to go together. My friends and I had bought our dresses back in January, so we were all ready for the big day. Due to school being shut down and social distancing guidelines, a senior prom was not possible. To make the day the best it possibly could be, my friends and I put on our makeup, did our hair, and put our dresses on to have our own prom. We took pictures together and had a little party at my friend’s house. The best part is that our version of a mini prom ended up being more fun than an actual prom. However, it is still bittersweet that we never got to experience the last dance with our senior class. Missing out on a graduation ceremony was the hardest part for me. It was the final closure to have with your classmates and teachers before heading off to college to begin a new life. I did not get to see any of my classmates walk the stage and share such a sentimental moment with them. We did receive our diplomas, but it was not the same as being on the football field with 300 other classmates and the bleachers full of family and friends. Senior banquet occurred after graduation where everyone got together at the school and had a fun night one last time. After a couple months of worrying, tears, and longing for more, it was time to move on. Although senior year did not end the way we wanted it to, the memories of making everything the best with the people I love mean the most to me.
• 
  2021-06-20

  My Story of How COVID-19 Changed My Life

  When the pandemic first hit, I was one of those people who believed it was just like the flu and that it wasn't going to be as bad as people said it was going to be. Over time I came to realize that this was no ordinary illness and that the world had changed drastically. Streets were empty, school was online, and it had felt like a zombie apocalypse had gripped the world. One thing the pandemic taught me was to appreciate the time you have because you never know when it may come to an end. Spending time with friends and family helped me realize the joys they bring to my life and how important they really are to me.
• 
  05/07/2021

  Janice Hughes Oral History, 2021/04/22

  Janice Hughes, currently living in Madison, WI, is a medical abstractor for UW Health. Within the interview she talks about how the workplace has changed, along with day to day life during the COVID pandemic. She talks about her experiences with COVID and how her community around her has been dealing with it. She talks about how mental health has been affected with the pandemic along with physical health. Janice Hughes discusses what it was like to receive the vaccine and some of the lessons she has learned overall with the pandemic.
• 
  12/08/2020

  Anonymous Oral History, 2020/12/08

  C19OH
• 
  2021-12-20

  How Covid Affected me

  Due to the unexpected virus “Covid”, my life has been impacted in many various ways. My life has changed in many different perspectives both good and bad. My life feels pretty good at the moment however it's a little bit stressful. It's been very hard to do online schooling rather than going in person. The homework didn't seem as mandatory as it does when you go to school. However I can say I'm getting used to and trying my best to do the best I can. I can say that this virus has made me experience a new perspective on life. It has taught me that it's very important to appreciate the smallest moments and not take anything for granted. As well, it had an impact on my social life because I'm not able to go out with my friends like I used to. I haven't traveled either because it's very easy to become infected with this virus. Everything has been going back to normal slowly, but I'm adapting to all the new regulations that are rising.
• 
  2021-05-10

  Discord Friends

  I became very close to my friends at the time of second wave of covid in India. I was studying in Chicago at the time and keeping in touch with my Indian friends was difficult until covid hit. It seemed like the whole world was online, and I could not see anyone in person. I started going on discord a lot more. I and my friends played GTA 5alot and I remember distinctly recognizing that Covid had helped me get closer to them in a weird way.
• 
  2020-05-14

  Life Through Screens

  My whole life was through a screen in 2020. I only saw my friends and family through a screen. I did school through a screen. I even danced through a screen.
• 
  2020-01-23

  A January 2020 Discord Group Chat

  During January, my friends and I heard about the new virus and were fascinated. We joked and memed and speculated about it, however we never expected it to blow up this fast.
• 
  04/20/2021

  Alexis Hernandez Oral History, 2021/04/20

  Alexis is a senior at St. Marys College majoring in political science. In this monologue she discusses her initial reaction to the COVID 19 pandemic, her employment status and how it was affected, and the economical effects she has witnessed due to the pandemic. She also discusses her family and home dynamic and her siblings response to online learning. She touches on social issues like racism and politics effect on society. She describes how she felt when she contracted COVID and how she spread it to her family. This monologue ends with her last thoughts and hopes for the future.
• 
  2020-07-11

  Marissa Crawford Oral History 2020/07/11

  C19OH
• 
  2020-06-01

  Langan Oral History, 2020/06/01

  The contributor of this item did not include verbal or written consent. We attempted to contact contributor (or interviewee if possible) to get consent, but got no response or had incomplete contact information. We can not allow this interview to be listened to without consent but felt the metadata is important. The recording and transcript are retained by the archive and not public. Should you wish to listen to audio file reach out to the archive and we will attempt to get consent.
• 
  2020-05-26

  Lo_Emerson_

  C19OH
• 
  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.
• 
  2021-10-23

  HIST30060: Post-lockdown Event

  The screenshot for a post lockdown birthday shows the enthusiasm for reopening and recommencing social life, but is tempered by the restrictions still in place.
• 
  2020-06-06

  Fandom spaces forming international friendships during a pandemic 2020

  Due to the difficulty of making friends in person due to covid, I increasingly turned to online fandom spaces to find people with similar interests to me. The follow screenshot is from a tumblr group chat confirming the first international fan based Zoom call which I was part of in June 2020. CST refers to Central Standard Time, the timezone which encompasses countries of Central and parts of Eastern Europe. This was my first experience talking to people from overseas that shared similar interests to me on a video call. It lead to me join multiple groups across platforms such as discord to communicate further. It was the beginning of me gaining more international friends which have been a really important part of keeping an active social life during this pandemic. It was also an eye opening experience to hear first hand accounts of how people around the world were living through this global pandemic.
• 
  2021-08-01

  Messenger Video Call Screenshot - HIST30060

  During each of the lockdowns the popular way for my friends and I to stay in touch was through video calls to each other on the Facebook messenger app. Pictured here is myself and four other friends on a Saturday night all talking to each other. Two of the participants were wearing suits as they had previously attended a video call for a football presentation. It was not uncommon for people to jump in and out of calls as the calls themselves could last a number of hours.
• 
  2020-09

  Details in Days

  I was in the tail end of my eighth grade year when COVID uprooted the world. This story describes my experience as a Freshman in high school through a computer screen.
• 
  2020-06-08

  Isolation Bingo – HIST30060

  This game of bingo is an example of many of the online activities which were introduced as a form of entertainment during the various lockdown periods. Separated from friends and wider communities for long periods of time, innovative methods were necessary in order to encourage continued connection and interaction. This particular game is targeted towards members of the Ormond community, and refers to a number of specific scenarios that many residents would have experienced. While some are related to a ‘non-COVID’ semester at Ormond (such as ‘Survived O Week’ or ‘Got lost in Main Building’), many relate to the lockdown experience (like ‘Kept your camera on for an entire uni zoom tute’). In reminding readers of familiar scenarios, this seeks to inspire a continued relationship between members of the institution, and to reduce feelings of isolation. HIST30060.
• 
  2021-06-23

  (HIST30060) Going Bowling with Friends

  Despite the lockdowns, there were a few brief periods throughout the year where Victorians were able to safely venture beyond a five kilometre radius of our homes. On the day I finished my semester one exams, I met up with a group of friends and together went bowling at Melbourne Central. While I received a rather embarrassingly low score, we all hugely enjoyed the feeling of being able to meet up and have fun in person to celebrate the end of exams. None of us would expect another round of lockdowns only a few weeks later, and looking back, I certainly wish I was able to cherish that night more.
• 
  2020-12-27

  Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds

  Despite most activities being cancelled due to restrictions, I was lucky enough to score four free tickets to the Boxing Day Test cricket match in Melbourne at the MCG, and I brought three of my friends to the match. It was actually my first time at a live sporting event, so it was particularly memorable for me. Rather scarily, we soon found out a few days later that one of the spectators on that day would later test positive for COVID-19, leading me to take a COVID test myself, which thankfully turned out to be negative.
• 
  2020-03-23

  Introverts vs. Extroverts during Lock Down-A meme

  I am an extrovert. I get my energy from people. I love people. I surround myself with a lot of people. The three months leading up to the pandemic lock down I had been surrounded almost every day by almost 200 of my closest friends, people I call my family because we worked together on a theater production called Susanville Best of Broadway. When the pandemic hit, the show was cancelled and then even my work sent everyone home. I was home with my kids. And it was very quiet. We are a very active family involved in many local community projects. I have meetings every week and they have sports. All of sudden, we were home. And if I saw someone I knew while out in public (the grocery store) it was weird. I didn't know if I could hug them (I didn't) and would just awkwardly wave from a distance. It was terrible. In fact, my girls struggled and would still have friends over. I made them limit it to just one friend, but even then, we struggled. This meme really got to me. I remember hearing friends say how their life didn't change at all because they were already homebodies. The idea of being home was actually very stressful. I ended up working at my work, because being home all day to work was not very much fun. I learned a lot about myself during that time. Most importantly, I need people in my life.
• 
  2021-10-03

  Homage to My Best Friend

  This is an image of my dog, Dobs – I’ve shared him before on this archive, but I just needed to share this image and justify as to why this dog is so important to me. When the pandemic began, I found myself more isolated than normal, as many people had; I barely spoke to my friends online, and began withdrawing into myself more and more with each day. I would have been completely alone. I don’t have much to say, but this is my best friend; he’s been here with me through some of the worst experiences I have faced during the pandemic, I won’t go into them too deeply, but I am just happy to have this dog in my life, his friendly nature and his funny faces really have had an impact on how I’ve been able to cope with so much.
• 
  2021-10-08

  My Pandemic Life

  My name is Ella Bowman and I’m 12 years old, I currently reside in Nampa, Idaho. I like to ride horses, be adventurous, read, and I like cooking and baking with my grandma. I currently go to Lone Star middle school, my elementary school I went to when Covid hit was Willow Creek Elementary. And I’ve lived through history. I like to think that my experience with Covid was a lot better than most people but like everyone, I had challenges. When Covid hit, I was in the fifth grade. I was sick before my school went to online completely. However, I just had the cold, not coronavirus. I believe it was a Friday, everyone was given the option to return to school. I went to school and half the school wasn’t there. To this day, I remember that day. The day before that Friday I never saw my childhood best friend, Shelby, again. She moved schools and wasn’t there on Friday. I had class at the kitchen table, on the floor of my room, on my bed, at my desk, or outside. I didn’t begin middle school like a normal year. My first day was online, and I didn’t get to do any of the fun things my brother would talk about. Last year, we had 5 first days of school: back and forth: online, in-person, half days, and 4 days a week. We had to wear masks all day, and they were strict about it. We had one-way hallways, which made sure we got our steps in. Everyone living through this pandemic always knows that whenever someone is gone for two weeks, they either have Covid or something related like that. Something that we also know very clearly is that we all must keep 6 feet distance. The beginning of this school year is a lot better, Covid wise. Masks are optional, we get lockers, and we’re less strict with rules like last year. We don’t have one-way hallways, and we get 10 to a table. Last year it was only 3 to a table. This year is truly like my first year of middle school but altered. I would agree that from 4th grade to 7th grade, things have changed. When I was in fourth grade, I had no caring concern in the world. I had so many fun memories in elementary school and when the pandemic struck, I was worried all that would go away. I had a “Fortnite” phase in the 5th grade, so during the mandatory two-week quarantine, I played video games. Then again, I’m sure every kid played Fortnite at one point. I remember when my family was stocking up for food, I kid you not, the shelves were empty. Some would totally believe me and others it would be harder for people to wrap their heads around. A lot of perishables were stripped off the shelves. My parents like to playthings safe. They wouldn’t let me touch anything in the stores, and I couldn’t hang out with my friends, unless if we wear masks. My friends came over with masks and we hung out outside. In the rain. Yes, it was raining that day, but we wanted to hang out outside. We had a campfire, we put an umbrella over it but stopped because the umbrella was getting hot. So, my friends and I went to great lengths to have fun during the pandemic. Also, I was pen pals with one of my friends, and our group of friends held Zoom meetings so we could chat. My grandpa also took this situation very seriously. For a whole year, I couldn’t get more within 6 feet of them and couldn’t go into their house. When they finally got the vaccine, I was able to see them. However, just because I didn’t have a super hard time doesn’t mean other people didn’t. The suicide rates came up, more people were dying than being born, and people legitimately became animals. I had a friend who wanted to commit suicide, myself. The world has changed: some in good, some in bad. Something that truly did help me process a lot of this was just simply writing it down. Journaling helps a lot, and I tried to document a lot of the experience. My dad likes to make sure that his family has a good experience and life, so he took us on drives and fishing. Things that you can do without being in a crowd. I had it a lot better than most people, but I still had an experience with the pandemic. All in all, I’m glad I had this experience. I’m glad I lived through history and I’m glad that I have a story to tell.
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  2021-10-03T14:23

  Brianna Biagini Oral History, 2021/10/03

• 2021-10-06

  A Slow Year

  The year of 2020, was slow, thought-provoking, frustrating, frightening and overall, quite overwhelming. The year began normally, with news of the Coronavirus across the world picking up steam. My family and friends were not concerned about immediately, it just seemed like another scary news story. It was not clear early on, that the world would come to a screeching halt. I often think about those last few weeks before everything changed. That would mark the last time I ate in a restaurant, saw a movie at the theater, enjoyed the unity and magic of a crowded concert, and I saw my friends. None of this was possible for almost an entire year and nothing could have prepared anyone for what this would feel like. Personally, I had been to Europe for the first time, the year prior, in 2019. This led me to have a unique outlook on the pandemic, and what it could mean for future travel. I could no longer pleasantly think about the crowded streets, museums and metros, without thinking about the germs. All of the sudden, I was acutely aware of germs, and the spread of them. I could not imagine being on a plane for an extended period of time or sitting that close to so many people. So much of the good feelings in life come from being with other people and experiencing how the world runs. It was honestly terrifying knowing that life was stopped and going to the grocery was now an operation of how not to catch this deadly virus. All plans of the future seemed ludicrous; how could we plan for anything? While the world is getting back to a place that looks familiar, its easy to forget just how scary it had gotten. Many people lost loved ones and were very ill themselves. People could not see their dying family members, for fear of dying themselves. People could not mourn probably, as funerals and usual death procedures were postponed. These are the affects of the pandemic that cannot ever feel normal again. We need to remember this time as a reflection of how lucky most of us are.
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  2020-10-01

  Life During the Pandemic

  This photograph is about the time that my sister and I went to a pumpkin patch with a friend of ours. It was a different experience because we had to wear masks and keep our distance from the rest of the people, we had gone to a pumpkin patch the year before and it was completely different because we didn’t have to maintain our distance of wear masks and we were free to roam around wherever we liked. The reason why this was important to me is because I remember since it was our first time doing an activity like this during the COVID where there was a little bit more risk we were a little scared but at the same time we thought we can’t just stay inside forever and stop living.
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  2021-10-05

  Nate LeMonnier Oral History, 2021/10/05

  It was fun to ask my son about his experience during the pandemic. He handled the whole thing really well which comes across in the interview. I've transcribed the text in the attached Word doc.
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  2021-10-05

  Masks in Puerto Rico with Five High Schoolers

  This summer (2021) my husband and I were lucky enough to take our two high schoolers along with three of their friends to Puerto Rico. It was a way to escape the boredom of Utah as well as its high Covid rate. Of course we wore masks in the airport and the airplanes and continued to wear them in all public places in Puerto Rico, even outside. The teenagers were resistant to wearing masks because Utah had stopped wearing them in March 2021. I explained to them that not only was the Puerto Rican government asking us to wear masks, but the local culture was expecting them too. I realize that this picture shows them not wearing masks but they wore them indoors and when we were near people outdoors – but almost never for pictures!
• 2021-08-02

  Giving The Family Covid

  One day I woke up fine and normal like every other day and I went to work. At round 2 pm that day I started getting headaches and my body was cold. It was really hot that day too while my body was cold. I told me boss I'm not feeling too well and I wanted to go home. I called my friend who works in a pharmacy my symptoms and he said its possible to be covid-19. He went to my house and waited outside with a rapid test and I met him there. We did a test in the car and after 15 minutes it came out positive. I called my dad who was in my house to come outside so I can break the news to him before the rest of my family because they would've freaked out. I told my dad that I'm positive for covid-19 and he went to setup the house for me and seclude me from everyone else. I went upstairs and I saw my family waiting for me and my uncle had his hand out to greet me and I ignored all of them without giving eye contact and went straight to my room. I rarely ever get sick from anything really. Im sitting in my room thinking I really got covid-19 thinking I'm immune and invincible because I'm a healthy 21 year old and I never get sick. Also no one in my family previously got covid I was the first. This pandemic has showed me what I'm not and I'm just like every other person. The good thing is I mentioned it to my boss and asked my friend to test me right away. This is what everyone should be doing, check up on yourself right away.
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  2021-09-24

  Mert Erden Oral History, 2021/09/24

  Danny Rollo interviews Mert Erden about life during COVID-19 from its beginning to current times. Mert discusses the feeling of being depressed during lockdown but reveals his more positive outlook on the pandemic as he believes that society has greatly improved as time has passed. Mert also talks about the actions of the United States government in response to the pandemic.
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  2021-09-24

  Mert Erden interviews Danny Rollo about Living Through COVID-19

  The contributor of this item did not include verbal or written consent. We attempted to contact contributor (or interviewee if possible) to get consent, but got no response or had incomplete contact information. We can not allow this interview to be listened to without consent but felt the metadata is important. The recording and transcript are retained by the archive and not public. Should you wish to listen to audio file reach out to the archive and we will attempt to get consent.
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  2021-09-22

  Jennifer Harris and Kevin Xin Oral History, 2021/09/22

  The object of this story was for us to tell our unique experiences living through the COVID-19 pandemic. We think that our interview is a good representation of what life could be like during the pandemic for two average teenagers.