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2022-05-07
Ashlee Harper Oral History, 2022/05/07
Ashlee Harper is a single mother and high school history teacher in Phoenix Arizona. Ashlee recounts the struggles of adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic, the hardships of teaching virtually, and the acclimation back to in-person teaching. She also describes how Covid-19 affected interactions within her personal life as well as how it greatly impacted the development of her students. -
2021-08-16
Fall 2021: Creating Community No Longer Virtual
After attending college online and having virtual classes, many students were eager to come back to the St. Mary’s University community. However, creating a community has looked different from pre-covid semesters. Before the pandemic hit, student life and university programming council hosted many events. Residence life and resident assistants also hosted events for residents in the dorm halls. When everything was virtual resident assistants tried engaging with residents and creating community online. This consisted of watching movies, playing games, or just having a space to talk to each other. Now that residence halls are open and most classes are in-person, creating community looks a bit more like pre-covid semesters. Resident assistants are required to create engagement opportunities for their residents. There are several ways to do this like traditional planned programs, spontaneous get-togethers, bring-along events, etc. Although the programs resemble pre-covid semesters more than the last three semesters, covid is still something to beware of. When planning events, resident assistants consider how many people might attend, whether the space is indoors or outdoors, will there be food, etc. Resident assistants are also required to uphold and enforce covid policies like mask-wearing. So, while also trying to create a sense of community, residence life and student staff still try to create a safe environment. -
2021-05-21
“'It’s impossible to compare 2019 and 2021; it’s a completely different world': what has sold at Art Basel in Hong Kong”
Art Basel, Hong Kong did finally happen in person in May 2021. In the article, Lisa Movius discusses the reception to the hybrid-model art fair, the change in demographic, noteworthy sales, and spotlighted works, artists, and gallery booths. -
2021-09-09
Looking Back to Look Forward and Adapting to Overcome
These text stories are from St. Mary University's Rattler Newspaper. These articles relate to the pandemic and my theme because they are discussing how students are adapting from the previous year(s), whether it be dealing with changes to online vs. in-person lectures, new policies to promote safety, or anything else. This theme is important to me because I was still in high school during the start of the pandemic, so I had to go through lots of adaptations, not only because of my transition into college but also because of the ongoing pandemic. When I decided to attend St. Mary's, lots of things were still uncertain, for example, whether or not class will be held in person or virtually, mask and vaccination mandates, etc. Chloe Presley is the contributing writer, and Adrianna Mirabal is responsible for the graphics. -
2020-10-02
Back to School (post-quarantine): Teacher Edition
Back to school is always a scary day for kids, but it can be for teachers too--especially after getting used to remote learning for so long. 2020 was my first year as a teacher. I started teaching online, and we eventually transitioned back into the classroom. For me, it was my first time in the classroom. I was super nervous about teaching and about all of the risks involved with school reopening. Thankfully, my school administration helped make everyone feel comfortable, and we had a lot of fun celebrating the start of school! This is a picture with a coworker of mine, my "classroom neighbor." -
2020-03-19
Life during Pandemic
Life during pandemic has been crazy. From schools getting shutdown mid semester to half of the population in the world getting laid off from their job. The pandemic for me started when the schools got shutdown mid semester. University's and colleges went online during pandemic but high schools got shut down till the end of the year. I was a high school senior when the pandemic started. I was really happy at first to get a couple of days off from school, but the couple days turned into weeks and eventually in months. This would have been my high school graduation, the moment I had been waiting for years. But because of pandemic, almost no one from class of 2020 get to celebrate their graduation, the way they wanted. A couple of months after graduation, i went to start university. But it was not the university experience I imagined for myself. ASU went all online with zoom classes from home. I tried getting involved to see if that can make a difference in my college experience, but the involvements were also all online. One thing I learned during this whole pandemic was how important in person learning was. I did hear a lot of people complaining about not learning anything though zoom, but It actually happened to me. I had to use twice as much time going over lectures and quizzes than I would usually do. Because I would get distracted easily. On the other hand, during pandemic I also had a part time retail job. Even though half of the population in the U.S got laid off from their job, I actually worked double the shift during pandemic than I would normally work. I started working full time since the pandemic started till last month august, when the classes started in person. I did get to save tons of money to buy a car for myself. Thankfully during pandemic, no one from my family got covid-19, and we were all really safe. Overall, the pandemic was a crazy yet really wonderful experience for me because I not only learned importance of small things in our lives but also learned to always stay in touch with our family member and friends because you never know what will happen next. -
2021-04-13
The Last Day of School (but in March)
The Last Day Of School (but in March) By Taylor S. Remember how public toilets were gross not unsafe? Remember when we were packed on planes, flying to places with more people? Remember when playdates weren’t virtual? Remember when the only masks we saw were in doctor movies? And when we went to REAL LIFE SCHOOL!! Lunch in the Cafeteria and rushing to get the best handball. Learning in person and then setting off to do a mountain of homework. Hanging out with your friends, real P.E, real assemblies. The experience of school. I miss it so much. Just sitting at a real desk with a teacher in front of you. I haven’t been to school in 7 months. An extra long summer break? No, A world wide pandemic. But that Thursday in March, The last day of real school, I remember like yesterday. The rain feeds the starving grass, it pounds on dusty roofs, and my mom’s car gets a much needed wash. Me, well I’m sleeping unaware of what’s to come. “Taylor Wake up,” My mom whispers, she slaps on the lights and throws a laundry basket in the middle of my room. “Ugg,” I groaned, “5 more minutes please!!” “You have school” My mom says. I unwillingly role out of my bed and onto my floor, but it's not really a floor. It's a mountain of junk, with books, clothes and who-knows-what else. I stand up and zombie walk over to my window. I peek out and see rain. “OOOHHH!!!!” I yell. (I’m amused that it's raining, but I’m yelling for the main reason to see if my sister is up.) I hear footsteps down the hallway. Sydney walks up, “What is it?” Sydney asks. “Just rain.” “Then why did you wake me up!” “Cause I wanted to.” “That's mean.” “Your mean.” “Can I borrow your rain jacket?” Sydney begs. “No I’m wearing it.” She sticks her tongue out at me and leaves. I lazily slap on some clothes, and hide my rain jacket in my tornado closet and stumble to the kitchen. My mom was sitting at the couch worryful glancing at the news. Her old computer was on her lap as she packed the amazon cart with toilet paper and clorox wipes. “Governor Newsom just banned gatherings over 50 people.” My mom says glancing at her phone. “But P.E is more than 50 people.” I say. “So we don’t have school.” I start to get my hopes up. “Too late to cancel now.” My mom utters. “Just enjoy school, Ok Taylor.” “I would rather be sleeping.” I mumble. After 1 lazy bowl of cereal it's about 8:05 and time to go to school. “We are going to walk.” My mom mumbles, “We need to get outside more.” I am about to argue but getting wet doesn't sound too bad. After blocks of wetness we are at school. “Race you to the front office.” Sydney yells. “Ok….” I start. “Hey Scarlett!” Sydney cheers and runs off with her. I make my way through the confusion of kids, parents, backpacks, and umbrellas. I wipe my feet in the sea of people in the entrance. I skid down the hallway out the door to Ms. Grafton’s classroom. Beyond that is normal classroom stuff. Math lesson ?, storyworks packet, indoor recess. All I wanted was to be in my bed. I opened up my book and started whispering to my friend during my snack indoor recess. I had no clue that 7 months later I’m a 5th grade Zoom student….... “Ok everyone, put away that math book and time to watch a movie!” Ms. Grafton cheered. Excitement flooded the room, we were finally doing something fun! Not long division. After Ms. Grafton heated up the popcorn that had been sitting in the corner of the classroom for weeks. “Everyone line up.” Ms. Grafton instructed. So after that everybody raced to get to the front of the line. No social distancing, no masks, imagine that! While watching the movie I imagined being home in my own bed. I just want school to end. I want it to close and be at home. But Taylor you heard the news, and that Covid-19 is dangerous. In the future if you're at home you’ll be looking back on this day, saying “I wished Taylor enjoyed that,” Just enjoy School. Just eat popcorn and enjoy. So I did enjoy myself and appreciated school. After 3 servings of popcorn, and the evil guy in Kung-Fu-Panda 2 destroying a fortress, Ms. Grafton abruptly stops the film. “This most likely won’t happen, but we may not go back to school. Gather up you Math Book, Writers Notebook, also…….” Ms. Grafton started. Of course I didn't listen. I shoved all the contents of my desk into my hands, and carried them out to my backpack. It took me 2 trips. (And in the end I forgot my favorite galaxy water bottle!) As the clock ticked closer to 3. The classroom started to look emptier. The desks were stripped of all contents and shoved into backpacks. “Ms. Grafton..” A girl in my class begained. “What?” Ms. Grafton responded. “You know how you said that we probably will come to school tomorrow, but we are taking a lot of our stuff out of our desks. Won’t it be hard to put it all back?” “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” “BING!!” the 3:00 bell had rung. I walked out the door to the front office, where my mom would be to pick me up. I looked back at the classroom, unsure if or when we would come back to it. I walked along the hallway with one of my good friends. We joked like normal, but would this be the last time? I walked out the commotion of the front office to my mom and sister. As we walked to my mom’s grocery filled car, I looked back at Franklin. When would I come back? I already missed school, the classroom, the cafeteria, the yard. That was the last time I got picked up in 7 months. At first we were sure to be back by the end of Spring Break. Nope. Cases too high. What about the start of next year? Nope. Now we are hoping for an after winter break reopening. But who knows? I think back to all the times throughout 4th grade, that I just wanted to be home, sleeping. Turns out that wish came true. Now all I want is to be back in the classroom. (And I still don’t have that water bottle back!) -
2021-05-23
BLUR - Life During COVID
This story details the way life felt during COVID, just a blur, a mix of days where they all felt the same, except for maybe one or two. It explains how COVID changed school for me, what my habits became, and the sort of things I had to deal with. This is important to me because it's the only time I've ever explained what the last year has made me feel, and it's very raw. It's not some grand essay, just exactly how I've felt, and the issues COVID has caused me. -
2020-09-01
First Day of Covid School 2020
This was the first day of school of 8th grade and the whole mask thing and all of the precautions were new to me as we just got out of quarantine. I didn’t know what to expect as the outcome of the year and was just taking it all in. Tyler 9/1/20 New Orleans, LA Coronavirus Journal Today I ate a turkey and swiss cheese sandwich for lunch. I ate with my advisory. I had drama today and we played “Greetings Your Majesty”, which is basically where you come behind somebody and say “greetings your majesty” with a weird voice. If they guess who said that to them they get to stay as majesty, but If they don't then the person who spoke gets to be majesty. There is a jester who chooses who gets to go. After school today I am going to Coach Luke for pitching lessons instead of travel baseball practice because we already said we would go to pitching. Of course before that I will do my homework and if I don't finish before I leave for practice I will finish it after school. Today wasn't very special in any sort, but last Saturday was my Bar Mitzvah which was on zoom and my Bar Mitzvah party which only had like 6 kids. Last Thursday I turned 13 years old. In Docs class today we watched him do an experiment from 2 years ago and answered questions about it. On a sadder note - the actor who played Balck Panther - Chadwick Boseman died last Friday at the age of 43. I had recess in the Valmont Courtyard today and I played taps, wallball, and four square. Because of the pandemic we played foursquare using only our feet and heads. I didn't play taps and wall ball for long because a lot of people joined. Today was a pretty normal day, but a crazy week. -
2021-05-04
Dreams
This was an assignment in Paula Flynn's 5th grade class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. I hope to see my friends again I hope to go to school in person I hope to travel around the world I hope to see relatives Why can’t it always be like this? Hope hope hope -
2021-04-15
Thoughts about going back to in-person classes
Most institutions seem to be assuming at this point that the pandemic is wrapping up, and by Fall of this year we will be able to go back to in-person classes. I am unsure how I feel about that. On one hand, I am happy for the people who want in-person classes, especially those undergrads looking for the college experience. On the other, I have actually liked my online classes. I have no need to leave my apartment, and I only need to properly dress half my body for class. Now, for the first time, I will have to make my way to class in person at this university. I don't know yet how I will make that happen, as I have no car and it is around a 30 minute walk. The walk is actually no problem, I would walk most of the NDSU campus every day during undergrad. The problem will be the heat, as Arizona will get above 100 degrees nearly every day at the beginning of the semester. So for purely selfish reasons, I would actually prefer to stay online. As people with office jobs and such also go back, we will see if there is a push in society for online job options, or if things will truly go back to normal. -
2021-03-21
A Year Into COVID-19's Impact on California's Education
A comprehensive timeline of all the major events that occurred related to California's education; K-12 to college-level. It starts on March 4, 2020 with the latest entry at March 11, 2021. -
2021-03-12
Remembering Our Last Lunch
On Friday, March 13, 2020 it was pouring rain. My co-worker/work wife/love of my life/bestest friend - the Ann Perkins to my Leslie Knope (very accurate if you know us) bought us McDonald’s for lunch. We jokingly called it “the end of the world as we know it lunch” and played REM while drinking Shamrock Shakes. We were in denial about what was happening around us. Two hours later, it was the end. We have not had lunch together, or been physically together, since then. (However, we probably outdo any teenagers in the amount we text each other. We’ve pretty much live tweeted ever minute of our incredibly mundane days to each other throughout all of quarantine.) Today, we both bought McDonald’s separately (for me, only the fifth time having fast food since shut down last March) to celebrate our year-versary of the “end of the world” lunch. One year later, it’s raining again, but it feels so different. A year ago, everything was closing down. Today, everything is opening up. I am thankful we’ve both received vaccination one, and although we are both apprehensive about school reopening in a week, the thought of seeing her face to face (six feet away and in a mask) makes me happy enough to cry. There is nothing I hope more for than for the efficacy of the vaccinations. I can only hope that the second Friday of March 2022 will see us together in my classroom, eating McDonald’s for lunch, talking about how we can’t believe we lived through a pandemic. A rainbow instead of rain would be a nice touch, too. -
2021-03-10
My daughter is afraid to start high school
My daughter has been going to a local public school district for 4 years. Some time during her eighth grader year (last year), while she was regimented to online schooling, she became brave and decided to share with the world her newly discovered sexuality as a lesbian. Now during her freshman year, she has been afraid to go to school in- person for fear of retribution from classmates and other schoolmates. -
2021-03-04
Remote Learning
learning online was very distracting for me and i'm glad we get to go back on campus so I can focus more and get my work done. I think work is easier online but like I said i get distracted more. -
2021-02-07
2021 ASU Graduation?
This story tells of my experience of hoping for a spring 2021 graduation. It is important because it captures my feelings about it and shows how closures are still happening in 2021 like they did in 2020. -
2021-01-08
Where Campuses Reopened, Covid-19 Cases Spiked. Where Colleges Went Remote, They Declined.
This article compares the responses taken by higher ed institutions during the pandemic. -
2021-01-15
Keena Covid Vaccine
My name is Morgan Keena, I live in Nampa, Idaho, I am a 7th-grade social studies teacher, and I got my first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine today! Teachers weren't scheduled to start receiving the vaccine in Idaho until late February or early March. However, on January 11, 2021, our state superintendent of education delivered a speech to the Idaho legislature urging them to pass a law that would require all school districts to stay open unless mandated by the governor. Additionally, she urged that all students return to in-person learning full time as quickly as possible. On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, the governor of Idaho, Brad Little, announced via a press conference that K-12 teachers and staff were moved to the top tier and could start receiving the vaccine on January 13, 2021. This came as a huge shock to educators everywhere, but we know it is tied to the demand to have schools 100% in person. My school district, Nampa School District, then took on the momentous task of figuring out how to obtain vaccines for their nearly 1,000 staff members. Less than 36 hours later, they had secured vaccines for us at three major health systems and two smaller urgent care locations. The district also had one health system offering the vaccine on Saturdays and Sundays to better work with the teacher schedules. We managed to crash the portals of two health systems by overwhelming them with many vaccine sign-ups. I (by a miracle) was able to secure an appointment for January 15, 2021. Let me tell you; I have never been so excited to get a shot in my life. I received my vaccine from St. Luke's Health System in Nampa, Idaho. The check-in process was a breeze and done entirely on my own. I was very relaxed while waiting for my appointment but also exceptionally eager to get back to my room and get this first dose done. Once my name was called, I met with the pharmacist who would be administering my vaccine. She was a lovely woman, and I consider myself fortunate to have met her. She was such a calming presence as she explained the emergency use authorization for the vaccine, potential side effects, and what I could expect in the days after receiving this dose. She continued to use the line, "when I got my first dose...." which made me feel at ease. We talked about my job, her children, and how this school year has been wild. Suddenly, it was over! I had my vaccine and was ready to take on the world! Almost. After a couple of cases of allergic reactions to the vaccine around the country, they now require you to wait in the waiting room for 15 minutes after receiving each dose. I received the Pfizer vaccine and have scheduled my second dose for three weeks from today. As I was doing my time in the waiting room after my injection, I signed up for a program called V-Safe. V-Safe is run by the CDC and is used to track vaccines' side effects. Since this vaccine has emergency authorization, they are still collecting side effect data. since I signed up, they will message me once a day for the next week to do a quick wellness check. After the initial week, they will message me once per week to continue keeping up with any side effects I may encounter. I figure it's the least I can do to help science. I am super excited about receiving the first dose of this vaccine. My husband also received it today, and we are overjoyed by that. He is a third-year medical student rotating through various hospitals, so getting him a vaccine was a priority of ours, but it proved to be more difficult to obtain than we had thought. He received the Moderna vaccine, so we get to see how both vaccines work. I received the vaccine because I expect our school board to bring back middle school students 100% in-person and full time soon. Social distancing will not exist in the classroom, and I will be exposed to 150 students in my classroom and the other 150 students in my wing of the school. This is a good day for science. I feel excited and hopeful. I feel like I have hit the 'covid wall' lately, and I am just ready to be done with this. -
2021-01-14
Remote Learning in Quarantine
When remote learning started due to COVID-19 and having to quarantine, I didn't think much of it. I figured we'd be back in school within months and it wouldn't be very different online. . . little did I know how much I was missing. Now that I am back in school after winter break, I'm realizing what it's like at school with friends and being able to see people. Materials aren't easily accessible, internet connections can be unstable, and there are a lot more distractions at home than at school in-person, but there are benefits, as well. I can work on my own time at my own pace, I am more organized as I am at home, I don't have to get ready before school, allowing me to sleep in, and I can eat whenever I'm hungry. There's a slight luxury with remote learning, but it doesn't compare to being at school in-person. -
2022-12-17
Online times
I think that remote learning is going okay so far but i’d rather be in school where I can get help easier and I can have face to face conversations with my friends. I feel like we go kinda fast in remote learning I wish we could slow it down. I also we started earlier and ended earlier at like 12. Although quarantine was nice and I got to hang with my friends, I would like to see the people I never got the chance to hang out with. -
2020-12-01
Involuntarily Online
The easiest way to explain the feeling is exhaustion. As somebody who doesn't learn well independently nor online, this year has been hard in so many ways. Entering my third, yes THIRD (fourth if we're going to count spring 2020), fully online semester, I can only express what I feel as exhaustion. Mentally, physically, and emotionally, it feels as though there is not that light at the end of the tunnel everybody is talking about. While I know my troubles are surface level compared to the tragedy faced by many this last year, the turmoil I've experienced as a result is truly starting to hit home. I'm not the best online learner, I never have been, which is why in my time in college I have specifically designed my classes to fit into in person lectures only. My University has begun to transition into on campus classes again, although I am one of the few I know who have yet to have an in person option. While life isn't ever fair, it is difficult to continue to believe in a system that is providing resources and in person education to some, with no clear indicator of why they were chosen, and leaves others to continue to try our best. I love my school, I would not want to be anywhere else hands down, and I do believe that they are doing what is best for not only the student body, but our surround community as well. But gosh, am I exhausted. -
10/28/2020
Mona Lopez Oral History, 2020/10/28
This is an oral history interview conducted with narrator Professor Mona Lopez of St. Mary's University by interviewer Christopher Hohman on October 28, 2020. The narrator discusses the challenges and benefits of online teaching and how the COVID19 pandemic necessitated changes in her teaching style. -
2020-09-23
Esports Tournaments Affected by the Pandemic
The pandemic caused this year’s entire season of the Smite Pro League to be played online. Last year they made the change to play everything in person. THe plan was for the World Championship to have been played in-person at the start of 2021. They decided to move it to an online format instead because of the pandemic. I was planning to go to the World Championship in January 2021. I have attended all previous championship tournaments that they have put on. I was looking forward to this one too. As the pandemic was raging on I was really considering if this would be the first year that I would not go. That decision was made for me. https://www.smitegame.com/news/an-update-on-hi-rez-expo-2021/ -
2020-10-20
Pre-Schoolers Wearing Masks
My story talks about the struggles of working with young children in a Pandemic. This was important to me for people to understand how the work enrollment is when Children are involved. -
2020-09-28
Dealing with Covid-19 and School
Last semester (spring 2020) was only my second semester in college and as I was already struggling to get a grasp on my school work and manage a social life outside of school and my part time job I had found myself back at home in my childhood bedroom having to teach myself the material. I am now a sophomore at Florida Gulf Coast University. This semester I have only one class in person and we just meet to complete the labs therefore I am basically teaching myself five college level courses. I also have a part time job at PetSmart and as they are pretty flexible since I am in school it is still hard to fully manage my free time to the best of my abilities without wasting any of the time I do have outside of work. I, like probably many others have found the past few months some of the most challenging yet evolving times of my life. Despite the challenges I've encountered over the last 6 months I was very thrilled to be back at home with my parents and my cat that I was very upset to leave to begin with. But, I shouldn’t have been home that long. Us, the students of America, need to be in classrooms learning hands on, we need that time out of the house to prospere, we need those social interactions with teachers and peers. We should not be forced to take classes via a computer. This is America we should have the right to decide whether we want to return to our lives normally, as we should and be in the classroom learning with our teachers in front of us. As we are now in week seven of the fall semester for students in higher level education across America there have been numerous instances of universities closing due to Covid-19 outbreaks and some not even opening back up to give the students a chance. My university has opened with the majority of the classes still being online which has been challenging. Most of the resources they provide to us have either been moved to online formatting or just simply closed which is unfair. Why should we the students who want to succeed in our lives ahead of us be stuck behind computer screens teaching ourselves the material for our coursework? America should be able to handle this pandemic a lot better than it has been to get our students back in the classrooms. -
2020-09-18
A Time of Uncertainty
During the school year prior to the virus, I attended a university that did not meet my expectations. I stayed in my room almost every night and only went to classes. It was not the college experience I had expected and was promised. When the outbreak started to hit the news in March, I was hoping my university would go to all online learning, so I could be home with my family and friends. At first, I thought this was going to be the best outcome, but I did not know how much of an impact the virus would have and still has. The lockdown ended up being exactly how it was at school; there was no seeing my friends and extended family. I spent most of my time in my room and on my phone constantly. My classes were boring and I lost even more interest in school. I had hoped that the virus would fade out so I could begin my new journey at a new school, but the virus had other plans. I am now doing classes remotely from home instead of on campus. Although I have more interest in this school and courses, but the online learning is not the same as in-person classes. I feel everyone is struggling to keep their motivation up and I cannot imagine what the grades below me are experiencing. The virus has taken a toll on most likely everyone's mental health. It is a time of uncertainty, which takes away our sense of security. The only thing we can do to keep moving forward is to think positively and be grateful for the small things in life. Although the virus has taken so much from us, we have been forced to take a step back from our daily lives. I have been gifted spending quality time with my family and finding new hobbies that interest me. My confidence in myself and my relationships with others have increased. The world my never be the same as it was, but we cannot let this stop us from moving forward into the future. -
2020-08-03
Thank You Mr. President
As a teacher I have witnessed quite a large debate playing out at school board meetings, over social media, and across the dinner table about whether or not schools should reopen for the fall semester. Perhaps one of the most compelling arguments I have seen is this recent tweet from President Trump. This description is very much full of sarcasm. Please, for the love of all humanity, consider the common good. Teachers want to go back to school but we want to do it safely. For right now, we need to be ok with teaching online. It's not ideal but we can make it work. -
2020-04-17
Trump consults faith leaders on phased-in reopening
President Trump held a call on Friday to discuss with faith leaders the return of in-person worship. During the pandemic, most services have been held online due to COVID-19. After classifying some places of worship as "large venues," some religious leaders would like to return to their normal services.