Items

• 
  2022-07-01

  Delay to The Bay

  My plans to visit San Francisco in 2020 came to a halt with the outbreak of the Coronavirus. As a high school teacher, I was looking forward to my long awaited-spring break. It had been quite some years since my last visit to the San Francisco, and I knew a trip to ‘The Bay’ was long overdue. I booked a flight, hotel, and waited patiently as the weeks went by. Spring was coming up and there were heavy concerns about COVID 19 spreading into North America. I was slightly concerned but figured I would be safe to make this trip. As news broke out about cases emerging in San Francisco, the nation went into hysteria. I was not skeptic about the hazard of Coronavirus, but selfishly planned to proceed with the trip. Then my father called me. My parents, both in their seventies were definitely at risk, especially my mother who struggled with health since my childhood. My father asked me kindly not to go to San Francisco. Without hesitation, I canceled my flight and hotel. I had booked everything online through a third party and was unable to receive any refund. Bummed out, I knew it was the right thing to do. Coronavirus spread, schools shut down and my spring break prolonged. At first I was spending time kayaking, but the weather in Phoenix got so hot I had to stay inside. The Phoenix summer of 2020 had record breaking heat with 55 consecutive days of 115 degrees plus Fahrenheit temperatures. I was miserable. With concerns of my mom’s health, social distancing, living alone and bored, I was very unhappy. The unjustifiable killing of George Floyd caused anger, and rightfully so, across the nation which contributed to more hysteria. The only positive that came from that hot summer were my experiments in the kitchen. I would then deliver tasty meals for my parents. This was the one thing that made me happy. Unfortunately, my mother did not survive past the summer of 2020. She passed away in her sleep peacefully due to an unrelated COVID cause. I was on an all time low. Sad, empty, missing my students, and missing normal daily life. We had no idea how many people would die and when things would normalize. It was truly scary. Fast forward to 2022 and things were much better. I figured surviving 2020 made me stronger and much happier. Vaccinated and boosted, I decided to pursue my trip to San Francisco. I made the best of this short trip. I went to a party outside the Chase Center for the NBA Finals, in which the Golden State Warriors played against the Boston Celtics. For the first time, I took a ferry to Alcatraz. In China Town, I saw locals dance with dragons, in which one bopped me in the face while I was taking photos! Caught by surprise, I did not take offense to this. Observing how the dragons behaved with mischief, I knew it was all for fun. This made me laugh. This was a much-needed trip indeed. 2020 affected everyone around the world. With global hysteria, people getting sick, people dying, racial injustice, everyone except pandemic deniers and those oblivious to political issues resonated with fear. Passing through time, my 2022 trip to San Francisco was a rebirth. A rebirth to normalization. A rebirth to my passion of exploring culture. A rebirth of sanity, and a rebirth of controlling fear. A rebirth to laughter. With dragons, noodles, basketball, and Ghirardelli, the delay to ‘The Bay’ will forever be a golden memory.
• 2022-04-29

  Dementia and Covid

  Over the last two years, being away from people, and having to social distance, I have still taken care of my grandfather. He has Dementia. Now that things are starting to get a little better, and a lot of people have been vaccinated, I have been able to have him come stay the night at my house every Friday. The first couple of times he was confused, but now he seems to instinctively know the routine of it all. He likes getting to spend time with my stepdad and my girlfriend, and walk outside to see the horses. Covid has taken a lot, besides the countless lives. It rapidly increased my grandpa’s progression in memory loss. Most days he can’t quite remember my name or my mom's name. But at least he is happy, he laughs and smiles, and knows that he loves and trusts us. Him not being able to have as much social interaction as he used to has drastically changed his cognitive abilities. Today is a Friday. He was pretty quiet on the drive from his house to mine. I got him an ice cream cone. No matter where he is cognitively that man will always, always want an ice cream cone. Vanilla to be specific. We used to get ice cream cones from McDonald's when I was little when he would pick me up to spend the night at his house. I wonder how many ice cream cones we have left. I hate that his memory has been cut short and stripped from him. He had been slowly declining for the last few years before Covid, but once we hit the lockdowns, it was all over. He was good at hiding it for the first 6 months or so, but in the last year and a half it has been very clear. I miss who he was, I know we all do.
• 
  2020-04-27

  Birthday During Quarantine

  This is my now fiancé, who wasn't too keen about my taking their picture, but this was a huge milestone in her life! We celebrated her 21st birthday during quarantine. Of course, I had to bring her to the ABC store so we could get stuff for margaritas. After the store, we went home to play a Jane Austen theme board game with her parents. She had told me that one of the easiest things about wearing a mask and wanting to wear make-up, is that she only had to do her eyes since everything else was going to be covered up anyways.
• 
  2022-04-12

  SMhopes and Civic Wellbeing Partners

  Using a grant from Civic Wellbeing Partners in Santa Monica, teachers at the Virginia Avenue Park Spring Camp program asked their students, from grades 1 through 8, to envision their hopes for the future. The students responded with drawings (and one story). Facilitated by artist Paula Goldman as part of SMhopes, the students were also asked to rank how happy they were with their lives now, and how they view their future prospects, two indicators of well being.
• 
  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.
• 
  2021-08-11

  Hobbies and Quarantine

  I have been lucky in this pandemic. My partner was able to keep his job and with the pause on student loan payments, we were able to save enough money to put a downpayment on a house. Quarantine and working from home have allowed the both of us to explore hobbies we have always wanted to have but couldn't because of the time spent commuting or lack of space because we were renting. I was able to start my own herb garden and it flourished. I have learned a lot about myself during the pandemic, and one of those things is that I love gardening and working with plants. I know we have been so much luckier than so many people and that often creates feelings of guilt in me. I don't like sharing my happy stories because so many people are having a hard time right now. I do think the good stories are just as important as the stories of hardship. I don't take what I have for granted and my partner and I still try to donate and help out where we can, but nothing has brought me happiness like my herb garden.
• 
  2020-03-28

  Staying Connected: Battling Isolation During a Global Pandemic

  This music note is the logo for Tik-Tok, the reigning social media outlet that allows account holders to both create and view content in the form of 15-120 second videos. As of 2020, there are an estimated 65.9 million monthly active Tik-Tok users in the United States alone (Statista). Although the app was created in 2016, it skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic and saw a 75% increase in weekly average users from January to September of 2020 (Forbes). I, among millions of others, joined those figures when I created my Tik-Tok account in late March of 2020. When school closed indefinitely earlier that month and my job followed a few weeks after, my meticulously structured daily routine was thrown into a state of disarray. As mounting uncertainty grew over whether it was safe to leave our homes at all, the four walls of my bedroom transformed into a prison. I was perpetually shackled to my bed, spending every day in a continuous cycle of sleep that lacked a beginning or an end. That was until I discovered Tik-Tok. Suddenly, I had a reason to wake up in the morning, anticipating the stream of new videos that would appear on my carefully crafted “for you page”. I spent hours glued to my phone screen, fascinated by the small glimpses into the lives of people who were just as bored as I was. I appreciate Tik-Tok for the fleeting but much needed moments of laughter and distraction it supplied me with throughout the pandemic, but the app holds value to me because it showed me that I was not alone. In the early weeks of quarantine, I spent countless nights in pure distress over what I believed was “wasted time”, and it felt as if I was on the fast track to loosing years of my life. However, Tik-Tok showed me that these feelings did not belong to me alone. Countless other people felt the same way I did, and this knowledge put into perspective the importance of staying connected. My cycle of isolation left me alone with my feelings in a vacuum, but once I opened myself up to the outside world through Tik-Tok, I found solace in the online community of people who shared the same sentiments I did but chose joy and laughter instead of sorrow and despair. Tik-Tok provided me with the support I needed by allowing me to witness the happiness of others, eventually prompting me to create my own.
• 
  2021-03-03

  Tossing for the First Time in a Year

  This photograph was taken on the one-year anniversary since the last Providence College Club Ultimate Frisbee practice. I had sent a message in the team group chat about it being one year since we had been able to practice together. The school had not yet allowed club sports to practice again out of safety concerns. Varsity athletes were still practicing and competing, but club athletes had no indication of when they could gather again. We had already missed our spring 2020 season and our fall 2020 season, and it seemed like we were going to miss most, if not all, of our spring 2021 season as well. One of my teammates responded to the message with a burst of enthusiasm and rallied some of us to the field. It was an unusually warm day for the beginning of March, and even though there were only six of us who answered the call to toss and we were spread out and masked, something felt normal for the first time in months. We felt the joy of sharing Ultimate with each other and let the world of stress, anxiety, and worry melt away for a few blissful moments.
• 
  2021-05-18

  2020 Senior, First Generation

  I experience COVID my senior year of 2020. I never thought Thursday before spring break was going to be the last time our senior class would have a normal day. I didn’t get to have a traditional graduation but I felt proud having a car graduation. I was the first one to graduate from my family and even if I didn’t get to walk the stage I was still happy. Happy that I graduated got handed my diploma.
• 
  2021-02-26

  Koi street art in San Francisco

  This article in the SFGate tells how artist Jeremy Novy has pivoted to commissioned street art work during the pandemic. Novy's commissioned work is done out in the open "based on guidelines from the Department of Public Works and the San Francisco Police Department, which he says assert that his public art is legal, with permission from the property owner."
• 
  2020-05-23

  COVID 20th Birthday

  What I have submitted is important to me because I learned that I don't need a lot in life in order to be happy, but instead I have more than enough with the people that love and support me.
• 
  2020-03-20

  Hope

  My plague year story of the covid-19 pandemic is honestly quite a normal one. For me covid was not a barrier. It was an obstacle that I learned to get around. I did not let anything hold me back from trying to make the best of my situations. Nothing was ideal in any way possible. I never imagined my final months of highschool being spent at home or starting college online. But I always remembered to take a step back. To distance myself from the chaos and most importantly enjoy my time to the best that I could. Because as humans we have limited control on what happens in our life. It all really depends on how you react to what is happening. You can let the confusion surround you and hold you back. Or you can step out and keep strolling on your path to success, happiness, and love. So like I said my situation in life at the time of the beginning of the outbreak was not ideal. I was in my final few months of highschool and looking forward to graduation, prom, and moving on to college. Unfortunately those milestones did not occur according to plan. My highschool experience was cut short. Way too short. I was forced to adjust to online schooling in very little time. The teachers were still confused on how to teach online and kids were confused on how it worked. My school did not utilize google meets or zoom at the time. So my only connection to my teachers was email. The situation was pretty sad. I missed my friends from school and I missed my teachers that used to fill my day with fun. But I adapted quickly and got my work done. I did not let the communication gap stop me from finishing school on a high note. I utilized the extra free time I was presented with by working. All the time. I work at Target. So I am considered an essential worker for an essential business. So I was desperately needed at the store all the time to help out. I was working forty hour work weeks all while still making time for friends and finishing school work. I worked later shifts, came in on off days and came in earlier to help when they needed. I will never forget the benefits of the work experience I got during the first few months of the pandemic. It taught me a lot about managing my time and money well. I also made great connections with my coworkers and customers who came into the store. These experiences will help me greatly when I move forward in my life in many ways I do not even realize yet. I worked a ton, finished highschool, enjoyed my summer; which I still found a way to make memorable and started college. I may not have gotten the experience I had hoped for when I first came to my campus. But as I’ve said many times, I did not let the obstacles stop me from enjoying my life. I built the greatest support group of friends and I could not have asked for a better outcome. My group and I made the best of college campus life. We always find ways to have fun and still get our work done. So far college has been a fun time and I am glad I came. Again, my story may not have the same hardships as a lot of people may have gone through. My story has been pretty hopeful. So here is to passing the hope on. I hope I continue to grow and thrive and if you may not have had the best experiences yet, here is to hoping you can break free from the chaos and live life to the fullest capabilities right now. Life is not about how hard things are, it is about how you are able to overcome difficulties in your path.
• 
  2021-01-31

  Art to be together

  These images and accompanying text express emotion of longing to be with loved ones and happiness at finding ways to feel together during prolonged times of separation because of COVID-19. The drawings and paintings were created as a means of spending time with others and creating things, both during quarantine (drawing together via video calls) and in public spaces (chalk painting in a driveway where neighbors passing by might see it). Some of the art was done for mental health, sense of family and community.
• 
  2020-05

  May lockdown in Moscow

  It is just a personal experience, and I think they matter.
• 2020-12-25

  My Covid Christmas

  During Christmas break, cases in corona have been higher than they have ever been in the United States. I was only allowed to hang out with my cousins, (who live coincidently down the street) mostly the entire break. During Christmas my mom has to get creative and plan new things for Christmas Eve. She came up with a little holiday party and had so many fun games! We had secret santa and then went to bed! Even though no other holidays, this one felt real. The happiness and joy inside of me was really there to spread along to my family and I had a very little joyful covid Christmas with my family.
• 
  2020-04

  A Different Kind of Adventure (But an Adventure all the Same)

  I wanted to use this collection of photos to highlight the change of attitude and environment for friendships pre-Covid and during Covid: In the first three photos my college friends and I are out and about a major city and public transportation, giving no second thoughts on sanitary factors. For us, an adventure meant exploring the city limits and beyond. In the next photos, taken after most of us returned from our respective universities and finished a serious quarantine. We finally reunited, though barely leaving our home limits, after being locked inside for weeks, it felt like an adventure; Despite the need for much caution and unfamiliar form of socializing. We cherished each other’s company in this new way of hanging out. Finally, the last photos were taken later in the summer. Out of quarantine but still amid a pandemic, we found adventure were found in something as ordinary as grocery shopping or trying something different like eating fast food in the trunk of a car.
• 
  2020-11-06

  Children Writing to Seniors

  A letter from a child to a senior in hopes of boosting their spirit during a pandemic. It’s a nice artifact to remember about from a pandemic.
• 
  2020-10-20

  An Unexpected Visit by the Wienermobile

  After 7+ months of isolation and with our museum closed to the public for most of this year, my coworker and I - archivists at the Arizona Historical Society in Tucson - were delighted to look out the library window and see the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile parked in front of the newly-opened hotel across the street. And to preface this story - this hotel just opened during a pandemic after construction delays all year, and working across the street we've been subjected to the horribly annoying sounds, smells, and dust of construction ALL DAY LONG for this entire year. But as soon as our last researchers left the museum, we raced outside to take pictures with some of the other museum staff. The amount that the unexpected visitor has made us laugh this week has really brought out how tough this year has been on us all mentally, so much so that the tiniest thing has made us smile more than we have in months (and despite the fact that we're all die-hard opponents of capitalism and I'm a vegetarian).
• 
  2020

  Jewish Melbourne - My Two Lockdown Experiences - Day by Day

  I shared my thoughts, experiences and feelings: my family and me in lockdown. In both lockdown #1 and lockdown #2, in daily blog posts over many weeks. Many of the stories include Jewish-life aspects.
• 
  2020-09-03

  Right to Pursue Happiness

  This essay is about American core values, equality and peace and in this essay we talk about black lives matter with equality and peace in America with all that is going on with protests and anti protesters
• 
  2020-08-04

  My Quarantine Happiness

  The best passing time in my opinion is reading, but also watching the books come alive in a movie. My quarantine favorite was "The Fault in Our Stars". I like to read the book and then watch the movie, but never the other way around.
• 
  2020-04-22

  Earth Day April 22, 2020 during Covid

  An account of my Earth Day
• 
  2020-05-03

  When This is Over

  Youtube motivational speaker that provides a positive outlook pertaining to what is going on in the world and how to move on in a healthy way.
• 
  2020-04-09

  The Three Equations for a Happy Life, Even During a Pandemic

  This article by Brooks says, how during the coronavirus is great time to make arts and crafts. In time religion have always encouraged the pursuit of happiness and well being along with science books. Brooks tells that in three equations is a formula to help oneself to contrast their life into an art form. Then magnify what we draw from the activity to help us see and think from a subjective view. This activity worth thinking about during the bad times we are all going through (Brooks,2020).