Items

2021-05-10

HIST30060: Helping Me Study

This is photograph shows one of my dogs, Elfie, sitting next to where I study for university during the pandemic. She and her sister, Bowie, would fall asleep next to me and keep me company. Often, they would help keep me motivated when I was struggling by hassling me back to the table. It is easy to look back over the past two years and look at the negatives, however, it is moments like the one depicted in the picture which help remind me that there were positive moments too.

2020-05-04

Amateur Art During the Pandemic

This is a sculpture of a seahorse hanging onto a piece of seaweed. The base is newspaper, toilet paper tubes, masking tape, and paper mâché. The seahorse is painted gray and the seagrass is painted green. Each element is covered in soda tabs, and the ones on the sea grass are spray painted green. The whole thing is attached with nails to a branch I found in the woods of my backyard. This paper mâché seahorse was a project for my sculpture class senior year. I remember the base of the seahorse was due on Friday March 13th. That morning, my mom told me to bring everything home in case we went virtual and weren’t allowed back in the school. So I lugged the whole thing back home that weekend, and sure enough my mom was right. Most of my classes didn’t do very much for the rest of the year, since we were seniors and AP tests were the only thing we had to worry about. However, my art teacher did not take this approach. She continued to hold weekly meetings to check in on our progress for this sculpture. She had us come by the school to pick up supplies to finish it, and it ended up being really good for me. I wasn’t too happy about this at first, since I was only taking the class for fun and it ended up being a lot harder than I thought it would, but it quickly became the most enjoyable part of virtual school. I am the kind of person that needs direction and a schedule or else I will just waste the day, so the pandemic was hard for me once school went virtual and I didn’t have anything to do. I had an abundance of energy and nothing to spend it on. This project allowed me to complete something that required focus, and that also allowed me to take a break from the mundane days I was experiencing. I didn’t have time to sit there and think about all that I was losing and all that the world was losing, because I was working on this piece. It got to the point where I looked forward to doing this homework, and I was actually sad when I finished it.

2021-02-04

My daily view

This is a photo from my bedroom, and has been what I wake up to every day, and have been waking up to for the last 22 years of my life. I haven’t left my house in weeks aside from running to get groceries or a coffee. I haven’t gone out for a hike, a walk, almost nothing for these months. I’m mainly sharing this photograph to illustrate just how monotonous my life has become, and while this sounds depressing, because it is, I feel like I’m doing my part by not going out – it’s probably the only thing that’s making this bearable. All I do every day, is wake up and begin working on classwork and my internship, and then finish off with some games online with my friends, but I’ve even stopped doing that recently. I don’t really have a drive to do much anymore aside from school work. I feel even worse with the fact that I can’t find any work which would fit with my class work. So largely, I just feel incredibly useless, I take so long to get my school work done, and have little time to just do what I’d like – and on top of that I don’t even know what I’d like to do. Needless to say, this pandemic has really, really put a funk on me; class work is the only thing keeping me going at the moment, or I’d just be a potato in bed.

2021-01-19

My Residential Work Station

This image of my work station is important to me because I often spend most of my day there, whether it be for doing homework or just watching YouTube. I’d say that I’m at my work station about 80% of the day. What’s funny is that before quarantine I was hardly ever at my work station, but rather on my bed instead. However, ever since quarantine I’m at my work station instead of my bed now because if I’m on my bed I get unproductive and procrastinate, but if I’m at my work station I can get more work done and be more productive, even if it’s not nearly as comfortable as my bed.

2020-03

Remote Learning 2020

My experiences of learning online have been terrible. In the beginning I didn't try my best and I didn't do my work. I just have so many distractions online at home like my family coming downstairs and being loud because they don't realize I'm still in class. After a while, I started to get into a routine of waking up at 7:30 and going downstairs. Getting my computer ready and setting up my workspace (aka the dining table). Going to class and after school doing my homework. Clearing off the table for dinner and going to bed.

2021-01-15

Virtual School

Virtual school was very different than normal school. In the second semester of the 2020 school year, we had to start doing school online. For the rest of that year school was very easy. I woke up five minutes before class and then logged onto zoom, each class was only 30 minutes long. Tests and homework were also easier. Then, after summer, I started going to a new school. It was hard getting used to the new school online. One other thing I didn't like about online school was having to stare at a computer all day. Something I did like about online school was being able to sleep and take long breaks between classes. Overall, I thought online school was much easier but normal school is a lot more fun.

2020-08-18

My Experience with Virtual School

My experience with virtual school was weird at first, but As I did it for longer, I eventually got into a pretty solid routine. I would wake up at 7:30 every day to get ready for school. I would go to school on zoom from 8:00 to 2:45. After that I would do my homework and sports practices. Then I would go to sleep and start the whole routine over again. The hardest part about virtual school for me was that it was hard to pay attention and stay focused throughout the whole class.

2021-01-15

Online Learning

While learning online during COVID-19 there where many differences to normal school. I would wake up at sometime between 7:15 and 7:30 and I would go and eat and be at school online by 8:05 and everyone in class would be tired from waking up so early. One of the obstacles faced from learning on time where that it was hardy to pay attention and be really engaged with the class because there wasn't somebody right there making sure you are paying attention. One of the benefits of learning online was that we got more sleep and we had more time to do homework because you didn't have to drive home after school, it was easier to feel motivated to do homework at break because what else could you do, and the classes had longer periods so you had time to work on homework in class.

2021-01-14

My experiences while learning virtually.

My experiences while learning virtually had some good things and some bad things. Some of the good things were I didn't have to get dressed and could show up in a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Another thing is It was easier to do homework and get it done because we had plenty of time during class. Some of the negatives were that Wi-Fi sometimes wouldn't work or my assignments wouldn't be submitted. Some other things would be getting a hold of teachers and getting help outside of class was really hard aswell. Those are my experiences while learning virtually.

2021-01-14

COVID 19: Virtual Learning

Unlike most of my classes, switching to virtual learning was easy for me. This was because, prior to middle school, I had been homeschooled! I was able to get into a routine pretty fast: I would wake up at 6:30, be ready for school at 7:00, and hang out with my family until 8:00. My father insisted that I start working out because we weren't going outside anymore, so in-between each of my classes I did 20 push-ups, sit-ups, and squats (all adding up to 100 of each every day). A major benefit of remote learning was that we got more time to work on homework and spend more time with our families, but a major obstacle was that we could not do many "hands-on" projects anymore and couldn't see our friends. Overall, I believe that virtual learning was a good experience, but I still prefer regular school.

2020-12-02

A Messy Study Station

During the pandemic, my mental health as been at an all time low and that is often showcased by the condition of my bedroom. As seen here, there is the desk is pretty messy highlighting my though process at the time. I was taking a small break in this moment as I tried to complete the embroidery from another post and move onto something else that I wanted create. This study space is often passed up for the comfort of my own bed, but, having it often helps with productivity and is the first place that I start when trying to clean my room with the little victories. This connects to the week on Growing Up Digital as my laptop is showing something, never letting me escape from the almost addiction that I have with the device since receiving it last summer. I think that this is something that “demonstrates something significant about your generation” as many of us stayed home for the semester and needed to find a way to battle relax time and study time within the confines of our small rooms. Redecorating helped a little bit as my desk now is much larger than the one I had before, but, there is still that mix of working from my bed that makes it hard to fall asleep and keep myself engaged with the task in front of me.

2020-09-20

Coronacation

In September 2020, myself and three friends took a mini-vacation to Derry, New Hampshire in order to get out of our small town of Middleboro, MA. We rented this house and mainly did our homework and hung around playing games. From this trip, it was interesting to see the difference between Massachuttes and New Hampshire as we saw people leaving restaurants without masks and it felt more “laissez-faire” in a way. This picture connects to “the needs and considerations of an ethical archival collection”. This is because I wanted to show that I, like most people, was not a saint during quarantine and broke the rules at some points. We made sure the house was safe by disinfecting when we got there and other safety measures in order to not get sick. By acknowledging this moment, I wanted to show what I was really like during this time period, not an idealized version of myself that could do no wrong. I know that I haven’t always been the safest and it will help with my credibility.

2020-11-06

Hidden identity

In my history class we were given the task of taking an image with personal information or faces that should not be viewable. the reason that i chose this image was for a couple of reasons. One, the fact that these people are dealing with thinking that COVID is a hoax is reason enough to not want to be seen. two, there is a child in this picture that is clearly underage and this should have been blurred out no matter what due to that. I understand protesting and standing up for your rights but as soon as someone gets this information in a picture we have to make sure as an archivist that we take the proper steps to conceal peoples identities without their consent.

2020-10-27

Senses Throughout the Covid Experience

I remember the intercom on March 13th telling the students “School will be out for two weeks due to the Coronavirus.” At first, this was awesome, we got time off school with no homework!! But then the break never stopped and school never resumed to what it used to be. Being quarantined went from days, to weeks, to months, and hasn’t stopped yet. We barely finished the school year online and thought we would go back at the start of next year. Oh were we wrong! All we see is the computer screen! We were quarantined for another 3 months and proceeded to do the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year online. Hopefully we get to go back to school next semester. We will be able to talk to one another and get out of the boring home. This virus has blocked us from our homecoming, football season, sports, hanging out with friends, celebrating holidays, socializing at school, and seeing family. Instead, we are on the computer for 5-6 hours a day either in zoom meetings or doing homework. We now can’t touch everything, talk to who we used to, and taste all of the diverse foods we would go out and have. It isn’t healthy! We need to go back to school next semester even if it is hybrid. This pandemic has taken a toll on everyone and we need to get through this together.

2020-10-20

Sight words

Virtual learning has been a pain in the butt for a lot of moms. I don’t think I’ve ever related to someone when it comes to parenting like I did with this Florida mom. Although my daughter is no longer doing virtual learning here in Arizona, I do homework with her and am very familiar with sight words. It’s funny and comforting to know that I am not alone in my feelings.

2020-10-14

What I Wish I'd Known Seven Months Ago

I wrote this essay to help make sense of my feelings and experiences during the pandemic.

2020-10-12

Losing it

Financially, we took a hit, so that put more added stress on me. Having my kids home, juggling meals, class work, homework, along with toddlers, a full time job & part time job has put me at my wits end. Not getting daily needed exercise or sun light... 4 months into the shut down, we tested positive for covid. I was the only one with symptoms & they were bad. I was in bed for over a week & with symptoms for 3 weeks & still had to juggle my daily life. I felt like i was falling into a slight depression. It’s been a struggle beyond belief. It’s very overwhelming & there are days that I just want to run. I don’t feel we have caught a break in any way.

2020-03-12

Coronavirus hurting the economy

The main point of this article is to inform the reader about the impact covid has had on our economy. Personally, I chose this article because I am very interested in the stock market and our economy and I feel like this article is right along the lines of that. This article shows how during this pandemic, the S&P 500 fell 21 percent and how by the end of 2020 we could see another recession. It also shows how if president Trump went through with the Payroll Tax Cut Act then we would have a lesser chance of recession. This is an important article because the economy is what America runs on and covid played a huge role in its downfall during the pandemic. There is definitely more of a conservative bias because it is from Fox News and it talks positively about Trump's economic policies. In my opinion, during a time like this the media should not have a bias because the virus does not care about your political views. What I mean by that is we need to be informed about the virus with facts and not opinions from the left side of the media and the right side. So the medias only responsibility should be to inform the American people with facts.

2020-05-15

Please focus a little bit.

My fourteen year old brother struggles so much with staying focused on work. When we went to online learning, he started falling behind immediately. To help him focus on work, I would sit in his room and go through each piece of work with him so he would stay engaged. He got completely caught up and stayed on top of work until the end of the school year. I lost hours and hours of time. Up to six hours a day that I would spend sitting next to him trying to get him to finish a math sheet, not text his friends back, and encourage him to add another sentence. this was on top of my own schoolwork each day. It felt like a waste of my time, to sit there staring at a wall while he worked through each piece of homework. I was grateful to spend time with him that I normally would have been at school for, but I still felt like it was hours of time I was using for nothing. He would ignore me, fight me, lock me out of his room and refuse to work. He would also make me laugh until I could not breathe, show me a new way of approaching a problem or question, and smile at me when he was proud of himself. Now, he calls me two to three times a day. He tells me about school, his friends, things that are bothering him, and tells me about what he is learning about and reading. He does all of his schoolwork in my room at home and frequently calls me from my own desk to update me on something small. My dorm would be a lot more lonely without the consistent ring of his Facetime calls. Quarantine and virtual learning is now something I am extremely grateful for. My brother and I are closer than ever and I contribute that entirely to online learning and the time I was able to spend with him that normally would have been spent in my high school building. None of those hours were wasted sitting next to him while he worked, they are all showing their worth as he calls me to tell me about his day, something he used to be very closed-mouth on but now initiates. I am grateful for that time I was able to spend with him, and am grateful for safer at home, with the acknowledgment that I wish that time had come from a less deadly cause, but since it did happen and I could not control it, I look back gratefully on that time. The attached photo is from photography outings we started taking during online learning. He would use my Nikon and frame photos while telling me about why he thought it would make a cool photo. We would be out there for hours watching geese, turtles, birds, muskrats, and frogs sharing each other’s silent company. They are some of my favorite memories with him, and one of the highlights of my 2020

2020-08-10

COVID-19 Share Your Story

COVID-19 has definitely made a huge change to my everyday routine. Before this all hit Arizona, my weekly schedule was gym in the morning, and depending on the day i would go to work in the afternoon and then do some homework before bed. On my days off from work I would go to school in the afternoon and usually do homework after. I would usually only have free time on Sunday's. This hasn't really affected my schedule negatively, but has definitely changed the origin of where I do things and has limited my abilities to do a lot of things as well. I now work out from home and had to purchase equipment and do not have access to anywhere close to the amount of equipment or weight that I normally have access to at the gyms, but have to make it work with what I have. I also have had to work from home, which is the same schedule I was on before and it definitely took a little bit of getting used to since I have roommates, but I made it work and I'm very fortunate to have a reliable job during these times. Most of my classes I take are online, so that won't have a very big impact on me other than if I ever have to go to campus, which I haven't had to yet. This has also had a huge impact on my relationship with my family. I went from seeing them once every 1-2 weeks to never seeing them because of me being a risk. My grandparents are very old and I haven't been able to see them since March. It is definitely tough for me, but i try to call them everyday to stay in touch with them as much as I can! Overall, I don't thing this whole COVID situation has impacted me as much as a lot of others and I and lucky to be in the situation I am in.

2020

When You Find Your Meme in Your Kid's History book in 2040

We are living through a historical period with COVID-19, there is no doubt about that. This meme is about a dad who was probably a teenager during quarantine helping his child with homework in the year 2040. He discovers a meme he posted in 2020 has made its way into the history book!

2020-04-11

Elementary School Distance Learning Homework Assignment

My town’s school is currently closed, so my little brother has been home for a few weeks. The school sent him a folder of homework to complete, which continues the curriculum they were working on but able to be learned from home.

2020-03-12

Email from RIT about the switch to online classes.

Changing courses to online had a significant change to my life. Everything is reorganized. I have to be careful with time management. It is very easy to forget to do homework or to prepare for the exam date. I have to spend more time outside of the class on school work because I have to understand the materials by myself. Need more self-control.

2020-04-21

Plague Journal, Day 39: Dreaming in CoronaWorld

I'm keeping a Covid-19 journal. Here's the latest entry, describing our family's new routines; weird dreams; my laundromat reopening; presidential flailing; and the death of a friend's mother.

2020-05-22

Class of 2021 wins

Junior year is suppose to be the hardest but because of the covid 19, my classes are online and school was even easier. There was less homework and some of my teachers didn't even give us tests anymore. For ap Calc, our teacher planned to give us 8 tests in one month to prepare us for the ap test, but we got to skip that. Ap tests is only 45 minutes and Juniors were able to also skip the standardrized test.

2020-05-31

Junior Year-Piece of Cake

With rising cases of corona virus around the world, school began to shut down and students shifted their learning to at home. Junior year was suppose to be the hardest year of high school, but instead it turned out to be the easiest school year. Even with 4 AP classes, the workload was significantly less. And for the first 2 weeks of online learning, I remember feeling blessed as most of teachers did not assign any work. Homework used to take me 2-3 hours, but now less than an hour. Some days I don't even do homework since my teachers give us multiple days for one assignment. The class that gave a lot of work was though was APUSH. With online schooling, I also got to sleep in more and play games and watch TV/netflix. I barely stepped outside the house too. AP testing was also cut down to 45 minutes instead of the usual 2-3 hours. Although there were many pros to online schooling, there were also cons. As days went by, it just felt redundant and most of all boring. Some days I wish I was actually at school. I haven't seen my friends in month and it gets tiring to just stay at home. Sadly, grades for second semester is pass and fail so although I have As in my AP classes, it won't count towards my GPA.

2020-05-31

Coronary Diaries

My quarantine experience consists of online classes and assignments and I couldn't be more grateful. Online classes and assignments only take out a percentage of my day and after that I am free to do whatever I want. I'm grateful that all I have to do is homework because there are front line workers that are facing the very danger that has kept us inside. Their days are long and fearful while mine are in front of a screen.

2020-05-29

What's on my mind?

What’s on your mind? Honestly always my homework and everything going on that's on social media. I'm always thinking “did I do this?, did I do that?” and always stressing about getting my homework handed in on time. I feel like school has been harder lately. I feel like I'm not really learning anything and I feel like everyone's more concerned about passing their classes than actually learning what's going on in the lesson. We’ve been getting a lot more homework then we usually do in my opinion. It's a little hard to keep up with all of the work but it's ok we have two weeks left until school is over so we won't be getting any work after these two weeks and we won't be getting too much since we are finishing up all of the lessons we’ve done. Moving on to social media. Everyone is talking about George floyed, a black man killed by a white cop by not being able to breathe because of the cop and saying he couldn't breathe numerous times and with people trying to help and say something about it the cop didn't listen. A few weeks ago before this event a man named Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed by two white men for absolutely nothing that was that serious for him to have his life taken away. These two events make me feel absolutely disgusted and even feel embarrassed to be white. These events force other cultures to talk about how white people do this and that and it makes the white people who aren't racist feel embarrassed and disgusted and uncomfortable in their own skin. Racism in this world needs to be stopped. It's 2020! Why are we STILL being racist? Towards a human being who has a family and a life. We are being racist and treating them like crap for what? Their skin color? That's disgusting. Black people are now being ashamed to be who they are because of white people constantly hating and doing horrible things to them. Cops need to have boundaries. If the person they are trying to arrest is already handcuffed what are they holding him down for? Why did they have to stop his breathing? He was already handcuffed. The cops take advantage of their jobs and should have their limits as well as we do. I'm not saying every cop is like this but there's a lot that are racist and use their advantage of being a cop. That’s all.

2020-05-28

The Year Seniors were Robbed

My friends and I lost our senior year to COVID-19 so my paper is just me ranting about it.

2020-05-14

The Grind

I spent a lot of time in that place, you could say it kind of became a reality. Basically being stuck at home and working laboriously on schoolwork and studying for online exams such as the AP tests. The work only stops on the weekend where I can finally relax and do whatever I want. Once the weekend ends it's back to the endless labor and tiresome assignments that keep being piled on top of each other.