Items

• 
  2021-05-15

  Graduation: We Made It Work

  I was very lucky to graduate in Spring of 2021 from Eastern Connecticut State University, as my school managed to create a socially-distanced graduation for us. It was a tricky event for the university to handle, and commencement had to be divided into three ceremonies at various times. You had to wear a mask and each chair was placed six feet apart. Handshakes were skipped in favor of elbow bumps and air fives. Despite all the planning, the event was truly memorable and so special to me. In 2020 my father unexpectedly passed away (not COVID related). Being able to attend a "real" graduation in 2021 meant the world to me, as I felt like I had achieved something and was honoring his memory. Though COVID-19 has limited many events, I was fortunate to have participated in a commencement ceremony this past semester.
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  2021-05-22

  The Surprise Degree

  When I first began my MA program in Fall 2019, I thought it would be really, really funny to not tell anyone I was pursuing a second Master’s. I figured at some point, I would slip and end up mentioning it. But instead, all our lives changed with the pandemic, and since I didn’t see a person besides the four people I live with for almost 13 months, anyone discovering my graduate program was no longer even a consideration. The MA program actually helped me keep my sanity. In those first couple of months, when everything was up in the air, my courses were a constant. And then in the mundane of quarantine, they challenged my mind, distracted me, giving me something to do. Who knew the random genealogy class I took last summer would lead me to discover 1. that my biological great great grandfather died when my great grampa was only 9 2. that no one in our family knew this and assumed his step dad was his dad 3. that this mysterious biological great great grandfather was not a poor wheel maker from Germany, but was a salesman involved in some suspicious activities that involved a sister being sold (national news! In all the papers of the 1890s), a robbery and attack on him (with the ominous newspaper title “will it be murder” because he was presumed to not survive... he did), and ended with his dramatic suicide when the police were attempting to arrest him for embezzlement ... in front of my nine year old great grampa?!? How strange to think that without quarantine I would never have taken the time to research this (this investigation took over three months!) and my family would still think our ancestry on that side were German wheel makers who fled the Kaiser! When I finished my MA last month, we thought it would be funny to do a photo shoot (never did that for my other degrees) and post it on Instagram. I cannot believe the amount of comments. People were over the moon excited. I think seeing any positive surprise coming out the pandemic gives people hope. And my weird idea that it would be really funny to not tell anyone? Yeah, it was. No regrets.
• 
  05/04/2021

  Devyn Nguyen Oral History, 2021/05/04

  Interviewee discussed what life is like graduating during the pandemic, working in a small family-owned business and the pushback against COVID safety in Orange County. She describes how the pandemic has brought her family together along with the tight-knit community with similar social values she has created.
• 
  2021-04-21

  James Rayroux's JOTPY Portfolio

  --Reflections on the Pandemic Archive-- Looking back over my experience with the “Journal of the Plague Year” COVID-19 archive, my prevailing emotion is gratitude. This opportunity granted me experience that few historians earn, and the remote, asynchronous work schedule allowed me to collaborate with my colleagues in ways that maximized our respective contributions. The breadth and depth of our individual experiences and perspectives tremendously improved our collective process and products. I spent enough time in the Arizona State Archives last year to recognize such collections as historical treasure chests, but I have now participated in processing an archive’s content and navigating the ethical dilemmas those submissions sometimes create. Archivists and curators are the history profession’s truly unsung heroes, and their work facilitates society’s perception of itself. My background in police work and public safety drew me to the archive’s existing Law Enforcement collection. In taking on that subset, I succeeded in reshaping the collection’s parameters to now include stories about police and law enforcement. I wanted to diversify the collection to encompass perspective of both the police and the public with whom they interact and serve. While some overlap exists between the Law Enforcement and Social Justice collections, each remains distinct. Through my contacts and writing, I promoted a Call for Submissions to an international audience of law enforcement professionals to reduce their relative silence within the archive. Within the archive’s content, I recognized that one’s location might shape their pandemic experience, and I created and designed an Arizona-based exhibit to explore that. Further research and discussion with my mentors and colleagues ensured the exhibit illustrated these differences without excluding visitors whose diverse experiences could further enrich the archived and exhibited content. I am proud of my “Arizona’s COVID-19 Pandemics” exhibit, particularly because of its compressed, one-month incubation period. Beyond displaying images, data, and stories representative of the diverse pandemic experiences within the state, the ACP exhibit offers visitors numerous levels of interaction and engagement to became active participants and create their own exhibit experience. Visitors can complete opinion surveys, add a story to the archive, explore additional content related to the displayed pieces, view ever-changing results from pre-defined archival content searches, conduct their own archival search, view collective visitor survey results, and apply to join the staff. The exhibit’s searches will include the archive’s future submissions, which reshapes both the exhibit and the experience visitors may have with it. A more detailed explanation of my ACP exhibit may be reviewed here: https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive/item/43037 Because of Dr. Kathleen Kole de Peralta and Dr. Mark Tebeau, I stand prepared to join research, curation, and exhibition teams and immediately contribute to their work products. Despite my gratitude for this experience and the opportunities it presented, I look forward to the day COVID-19 is no longer part of humanity’s daily vernacular. James Rayroux 22 April 2021
• 
  2020-12-15

  Graduate Entrepreneurship

  Siena is a prime example of students who are graduating from Universities and are faced with the struggle of finding a job during the pandemic. As a direct response to the lack of job opportunities, Siena has been able to create her own business, despite her film major, in up-cycle fashion. This archival entry presents a realistic and current solution for the generation graduating during the Pandemic, Evaluating their creative ability and applying it to be a possible source of income. Although Siena is still working to make this a sustainable income, she has had the luxury over quarantine to persistently pursue her business. Siena also explained that because she has been pursuing this craft and attempted to make her way within this business she feels as though she has never actually graduated and she has not receive the stereotypical school to work force opportunities.
• 2020-11-08

  Journal Entry: Grad School in Quarantine

  This year has been an experience to say the least. After graduating from the University of Texas at San Antonio I began to prepare for my masters program in Public History at St. Mary's University. I wasn't sure how my first year of grad school would go but I certainly never expected it to be like this. I haven't met most of my professors or classmates and I've had to be a lot more flexible and focused than I normally would be. However, I can't help but think about how lucky I am to be able to go grad school at all, let alone during a pandemic. I am extremely grateful for my program and those in it, they have been so supportive and kind. I feel bad for students whose professors don't have as much empathy or kindness when it comes to turning in assignments or having questions. Without the endless support from my colleagues I wouldn't be here today and I can't wait to continue learning with them, even if it is through online learning and not in-person. I think this will make any time we have in person special and memorable.
• 
  2020-06-27

  EHBS’s Class of 2020 Yearbook: Dear Class of 2020

  I submitted this image because I think it means a lot to students who graduated during this pandemic. Although it's specific to my school high school, the message is one that all 2020 graduates can relate to. This image is meaningful to me because in the future when I decide to relook at my yearbook I will always remember that I graduated during a life changing pandemic.
• 
  2020-10-17

  Trivia nights for graduate students

  This photo is of the participants of a trivia night for Spanish graduate students at ASU. We have been getting together on zoom and having trivia nights every other Saturday to try and connect, since most of us don't see one another due to covid. Most people either take their classes and/or teach them online, so the comaraderie of the office is gone. We aren't able to meet the new students in person and make them feel at home because of the distancing required.
• 2020-05-18

  Can't go home

  I was an Chinese international student studying in UCI. Because of COVID-19, I lost my job, which interrupted my plan and made me graduate in advance. However, I found out because of COVID-19 and difficult relationship between China and U.S, most of flights were cancelled. I bought tickets for three times, but they were all cancelled. Finally, I bought a ticket costing me more than 12000$, which is so expensive and make me guilty to my parents.
• 
  2020-05-22

  Desolation

  A school graduation is supposed to be unforgettable - people from all over coming together to celebrate a moment that most students cherish for the rest of their lives. Now with the pandemic, we are forced to graduate within the comforts of our home, yet we feel more disconnected than ever. This picture represents the great memories we made in high school, the great experiences we lost, and the great friends and family that surround and propel us in life. To the class of 2020, these are not easy times, but we will get through them. With your leadership and spirit, the world will be stronger than ever.
• 
  2020-05-15

  "Graduate Together," Mural by BMike, New Orleans, LA

  New Orleans-based visual artist Brandan “BMike” Odums painted this mural outside of his studio in the Bywater neighborhood honoring students who will not be able to attend their graduation ceremony due to Coronavirus. The mural reads "Graduate Together; nobody gonna take my crown; dedicated to the class of 2020; keep growing; BMike." This mural will be included in a nationally broadcast television special honoring the Class of 2020.
• 2020-05-10

  A Walk through Covid-19 Brooklyn: We're all in this Together

  As college seniors approaching our last few months, we have all been talking about how we wanted to spend our final days together. We were aware of the reality of having more responsibility after graduation. And just like that - the time we had left vanished. It isn’t fair that our college experience didn’t have the closure it deserved. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. But among the things that seem unfair right now, who am I to complain about something so selfish and short sighted? My college is in the Bronx, and while most people returned home to their families for quarantine, I simply switched boroughs. New York City is a warzone, over 200 people are dying everyday. One day, the death toll exceeded 800. And while I have never seen my city mourn like this, I have never seen it come together like this either. Every night at 7 pm, Maryann, two houses down from mine, stands in her driveway and plays “God Bless America” on a speaker for all the neighbors to hear. Amanda that lives down the block became a licensed nurse a few months ago. Her mother, Fran, has made a hobby of making masks out of old fabric. My sister spends hours on the phone talking to her special education students and their families about the adjustments being made. As a result of this pandemic, Dalia across the street has had an increase in patients wanting appointments because of the increase in mental health problems. When I go for my daily walk, everyday I see a new sign thanking healthcare and essential workers, signs saying things like, “Brooklyn Strong!” Nothing brings people together like tragedy. There are differences among all these people I have mentioned and they are all being affected in different ways. However, at the end of the day, any one of us can get sick. We are all human. We have different ethnic origins, identify as different genders, practice different religions, have different mental and physical disabilities, but viruses don’t care about that. Although certain health or economic factors may make specific groups more at risk for serious illness from the virus, a virus is non-discriminatory when it comes to the presence of cognitive or physical disabilities. It will survive and debilitate any human body. We all share a common enemy. During this pandemic, so many different kinds of people are fighting for something bigger. This fight against a force imperceptible to the human eye has in fact diminished differences, brought people together to fight for change in new and influential ways, and shown the strength of the fabric of our society.
• 
  2020-04-14

  COVID-19 Meme- Facebook

  Screenshot of a meme found through a graduate student Facebook group page
• 
  2020-04-22

  Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law announces they will accept applicants with no LSAT or GRE scores due to Covid-19

  Law students from Arizona State University will be accepted students without the LSAT or GRE scores during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 
  2020-03-26

  They Canceled Commencement Reaction

  Image shows an experience that is relatable to many people graduating from high school, college, or graduate school. This piece highlights the many emotions students have, and how they have been impacted in this moment.
• 
  3-15-20

  Senator Mitt Romney proposes immediate $1,000 payments to every adult American

  Mitt Romney responds to the financial crisis caused by CoVid-19