Items

• 
  2020-07-09

  The Unkempt Lockdown Beard

  Over the past year, I found myself for the first time extremely isolated from most of the outside world. As opposed to my entire life previously, where I was always around other people and tried to make my appearance presentable, I no longer had to worry about what I looked like. As a result, I stopped shaving and let my beard grow for weeks and months on end. I will never forget the strange feelings associated with the different stages of my beard. Running my fingers across my face and feeling the sharp pricks from the stubble of a short beard, or the fuzzy and puffy feelings from touching my medium-sized beard, or straitening out the matted hair of my longish beard. As I had never tried to grow a beard before, these feelings were new to me and something I will not forget. The picture I uploaded was shortly after I had shaved my cheeks and left the rest of the hair on my face and neck, which felt stubbly and sharp on the sides but more silky and smooth in other areas. This is something I would have never done if I had to be around people. The isolation I experienced during the lockdown allowed me to grow this strange beard and experience the feelings that came with it. This is representative of the experiences of so many people who all of a sudden found themselves in a new situation of solitude as a result of the Covid lockdowns. For once in a lifetime, your appearance didn't have an effect on your professional life and you could just let things like beard growth go completely uncared for. As I will probably never experience this kind of isolation again, I will probably never experience the feelings of running my fingers across and through an unkempt beard as I did during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• 
  2021-07-02T12:30:00

  The Life of a University Campus During the Pandemic

  How quiet can a campus of normally 21,000 students get? I will let you in, you can hear a pin drop. When the pandemic began, the school shut down the school Union. On top of that, I was placed on furlough from my job from March until August last year because my job is located in that Union! When I was able to come back to campus, masks and hand sanitizer were required (still are) and the other thing that was noticed was...the silence. Normally, the Union has about 1,000-2,000 students and staff in it at a time, but due to the pandemic, it was completely dead inside. Not only that, the hours that we were open cut in half until some of our workers were let go based on the amount of time that they had spent in their position. In the midst of the pandemic, it would become extremely eerie because there would be times we would not see a single customer for over an hour when normally, it would be steady (and during peak hours extremely busy). Due to the pandemic, our manager left the business and that left me and another co-worker (now the manager) in charge of a store that normally has 8 eight employees. Normally during this time of year, even though it is summer, the Union is completely full due to Freshman Orientation, camps, and campus tours. Currently, as my photo suggests, the Union is a ghost yard....there are no students during the lunch hours, no restaurants open other than the convenience store, and no staff walking around. Ever since last March, this is not only how the Union has been, but also the campus itself. I chose to take a picture of the Student Union Courtyard because this is normally where events are held during open hours in the Union. This is not to show that there are no individuals in the building, what I specifically want to bring attention to is because of no people in the building, it is completely silent 95% of the time. In addition, this is where the Freshman Orientation stations would be where they go to get information about classes and other events on campus. It is very weird to have no one in the building when two years ago they had roughly 2,000 people in the building during the lunch hour period when I worked for Follett's convenience store. It would be extremely loud, at all times and the shifts would go by quickly. Now...there is nothing but silence about 95% of the time on a public campus of 21,000 students!
• 
  2020-07

  Silence and Isolation

  This is important because it speaks to the daily struggle of living through the pandemic. I was not touched by the disease itself, but my life was changed by it. My submission describes my sensory experiences of isolation during the pandemic as I moved to a new city for work. It expresses how the pandemic brought more than health issues but social issues to society as well.
• 2021-07-01

  A New Normal

  The COVID-19 pandemic came upon our lives in what seemed a very sudden fashion, forcing us into quarantine and changing our habits. Almost suddenly, the noisy, bustling streets became empty. The sounds of cars with people commuting to work disappeared. The friendly faces I’d see at work would be traded for a face on a screen. Remaining at home gave me both a sense of security and a feeling of isolation and loneliness. During brief outings to get necessities at the grocery store, it became odd to see each other with our faces covered. There was a feeling of unease as we made our way through the aisles, doing our best to remain six feet apart. Many times, I often felt disconnected, and initially a little wary of others. Were they infected or asymptomatic? Was I? I missed seeing my friends. I missed the shared meals we would have in a busy, noisy restaurant. I missed the smell of coffee brewing at my local coffee shop while I typed away on my laptop. So many experiences that we took for granted, disappeared in an instant. Over time, this way of living became our new normal. The scent of hand sanitizer and antibacterial cleaner became a regular part of my life. Hearing the regular news reports on the rising death toll was devastating. The feeling of the mask on my face as I made brief forays out into society gave me the comfort in knowing I was protecting others in case I was an asymptomatic carrier. I still shudder at those who express the sentiment that the masks were a form of oppression. I viewed it as a small sacrifice for the benefit of the many. As we appear to be a downslope to overcoming the virus, I recently remarked to a friend about how it now feels strange to think about “getting back to normal”. Our normal has undoubtably changed. And many of us have changed with it.
• 2020-05-25

  First Hug in Months

  My family and I have always been really close, meeting for family days as often as we can. Family gatherings will begin and end with hugs. When the pandemic started, we ensured that we isolated from everyone, even each other, as we all live in separate households and my father and sister have autoimmune diseases, and I have asthma and two heart conditions. Basically, Covid-19 was dangerous for all of us and we were afraid not only to contract it, but even more so to possibly give it to each other. While we would talk over Google Duo and Zoom, it honestly was not the same as getting to interact in person. There is huge importance and one could even say power in human contact, in human touch. It can be something that inflicts pain or reassurance. In this case, I lost the reassurance of hugs and seeing my family in person. The first time I hugged my older sister after lockdown started was about three months after lockdown began. We had both been isolated for weeks without symptoms and without having gone anywhere, and we had both tested negative for it. It had been the longest time I have gone without hugging her. I cried.
• 
  2021-06-03

  A Pet Emergency During the Pandemic

  The story describes the difficulties of dealing with emergencies during the pandemic time and how social isolation negatively affects one's ability to weather these emergencies.
• 
  2021-05-01

  "Hope Love Heal"

  Art can create change. The 2020 pandemic year and all its struggles informed my mail art project. My hope was that this small art project would help others in a big way through creativity and connection to the community. My art piece titled "Hope Love Heal" is a direct response to the collective struggle. I am honored to be a part of the "We Rise" Campaign to help shed light on mental illness, mental awareness and mental well being. I hope my mail art project will touch others and let others know that they are not alone. And to remember...with a little "hope" and "love" we can "heal".
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-03-13

  My Experience with Online School and Quarantine

  Hi! My name is Wendy! Right after a normal weekend in March, I never expected that we would switch to online learning. I was shocked to see the email in the picture on March 13th, saying that we would no longer go back to normal school. This screenshot is very important to me since it made me realize that Covid-19 was a bigger issue than I thought. There was talk of a new illness (Covid-19), but I honestly didn’t feel like it would turn into a whole pandemic. I was kind of thankful since I had a dentist appointment on Monday that would’ve made me be absent from class, but all the cons of Covid-19 outweighed the benefits. The first few weeks were awful- it was hard to adapt to the constant isolation, and being with my family all day was tiring. Also, school wasn’t as engaging or fun anymore. We weren’t able to connect with our teachers or talk to our friends in class. Furthermore, seeing the news and how thousands of people were dying was very frightening. But it's been more than a year of online school, and I found out that what helped me cope was the small things like texting my friends on Discord, hanging out (with masks and 6 feet apart obviously), and exploring things that I couldn’t do before quarantine like drawing or playing the piano. Of course, there were days where I was fed up with being inside or when I felt depressed, but making the most out of this situation gave me the drive to keep social distancing. So remember to keep wearing masks, keeping 6 feet apart, and get vaccinated! This lack of social interaction and not being able to go to school or public places normally is unfortunate but we must stay away from each other to stay together. When it gets hard, find ways to connect with others through safe means like social media and use all that free time to improve and discover things about yourself.
• 
  2020-03-13

  My Experience with Online School and Quarantine

  Hi! My name is Wendy! Right after a normal weekend in March, I never expected that we would switch to online learning. I was shocked to see the email in the picture on March 13th, saying that we would no longer go back to normal school. This screenshot is very important to me since it made me realize that Covid-19 was a bigger issue than I thought. There was talk of a new illness (Covid-19), but I honestly didn’t feel like it would turn into a whole pandemic. I was kind of thankful since I had a dentist appointment on Monday that would’ve made me be absent from class, but all the cons of Covid-19 outweighed the benefits. The first few weeks were awful- it was hard to adapt to the constant isolation, and being with my family all day was tiring. Also, school wasn’t as engaging or fun anymore. We weren’t able to connect with our teachers or talk to our friends in class. Furthermore, seeing the news and how thousands of people were dying was very frightening. But it's been more than a year of online school, and I found out that what helped me cope was the small things like texting my friends on Discord, hanging out (with masks and 6 feet apart obviously), and exploring things that I couldn’t do before quarantine like drawing or playing the piano. Of course, there were days where I was fed up with being inside or when I felt depressed, but making the most out of this situation gave me the drive to keep social distancing. So remember to keep wearing masks, keeping 6 feet apart, and get vaccinated! This lack of social interaction and not being able to go to school or public places normally is unfortunate but we must stay away from each other to stay together. When it gets hard, find ways to connect with others through safe means like social media and use all that free time to improve and discover things about yourself.
• 
  2021-05-08

  The Difference that 473 Miles Makes

  My story is about the differences between two states; Illinois and Tennessee and their handling of the pandemic.
• 2020-09

  Covit-19 and the outdoors

  What do you do when you cannot do what you normally do? In Arizona the guidelines of the Governor have been pretty light except for a couple of weeks on April 2020, otherwise he was very proud to say that Arizona would follow the CDC guidelines “the Arizona way”. Meaning? We recommend the mask but is up the business to decide the extent of the enforcement; six feet distance, the same; stay home if you feel you have symptoms, of course. I have to say that the business, for the most part, have taken a more responsible posture than the authorities. Even today April 2021, when the Governor remove any obligation to wear mask, I continue to see most of the business, and population at large, that continue to wear the mask in public. So, with these light restrictions what do you do when you cannot do what you normally do? The answer for many Arizonians, and visitors, has been outdoor activities! Hiking, biking or simply going to the park. My story is of last September 2021. I too decided to resume my mountain biking activity in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and I sent my bike to a shop for routine maintenance and replace of my old tires. What I find out is that the shop could not find any tire of my kind through their suppliers in fact, they told me, it is getting difficult even to buy a new bike, the bike market just exploded . . . I was not alone. They suggest for me to go to Amazon and look for tires and I was lucky to find my tires from a pool of only 7 in all US!!! Silver line: thank to Covint-19 the US population is finally exercising, I’ll take it
• 
  2021-04-22

  Uncertainty, Spirituality, and the Inevitability of Change #REL101

  I foolishly thought that it would be easy to write this post. I didn’t anticipate struggling so much with finding the right words to explain the impact the last year of pandemic life has had on me, but I’ve deleted about a hundred paragraphs of rambling, existential stream of consciousness nonsense about cherishing the small moments and growing in the face of adversity because it is surprisingly hard to be concise about your feelings on an event you’re still living through. I’m starting to think that maybe doing so is impossible, so instead of falling into cliche and flowery prose, I want to just be blunt. I haven’t seen my family in two years. My grandmother has dementia and in that time it has worsened exponentially. On a weekly basis, I have a call with my mom that starts with a debrief on whatever the newest updates in her condition are and ends with a plea to visit as soon as I feel comfortable traveling. Every day, I go into my retail job and tell them no, I don’t have symptoms or live with anyone with symptoms while waiting for the beep of a thermometer meant to ensure I don’t have a fever. I breathe through two layers of fabric, disinfect my work area between transactions, and field rants about restrictive mask mandates for six hours a day, then come home and begin the process of undressing, banishing my clothes to the washer, and trying to relax before I have to do it all again. Everything in that paragraph is, to put it nicely, so bleak it hurts. It’s easy to get caught in the feelings of overwhelm that came along with this pandemic and it would be a farce to say that there aren’t days where everything feels like way too much for one person to handle. Surprisingly, though, the thing that has blissfully not survived the most turbulent year of my life is the apathetic, empty cynicism I used to feel. Instead, I feel weirdly hopeful that this is the beginning of massive change both in myself and on a global level. Maybe it’s naive to think that way and maybe it’s just a coping mechanism to help me through the pandemic, but there’s a part of me that thinks that may not even matter because the changes are coming regardless. In the last year, I’ve moved out of Nevada and into a pink house in California with the love of my life. Despite a fraught, stressful prior experience in college, I’ve finally come back to higher education in a way that feels both healthy and exciting. The field of religious studies has reawakened my passion for learning and my ability to grow in academia. I’ve abandoned my skeptical, agnostic views and traded them out for a brand of religiosity that combines self-improvement, magic, and trust in something bigger than myself. I know how that all sounds and if the last sentence has you rolling your eyes reading this, I get it. The last year has been weird, don’t get me wrong. If I told a 20-year-old version of myself that one day we’d be living through the plague of a lifetime, studying religion with hopes of examining cultism, and practicing a version of witchcraft grounded in our ex-Catholic roots, I doubt she would believe me. It admittedly sounds pretty wacky all laid out in plain English like that. Part of what I’ve learned throughout the pandemic, though, is that suspending cynicism, skepticism, and disbelief can sometimes lead you to unexpectedly lovely places. Whether I saw it coming or not, Covid has changed my life in countless ways, just as I’m sure it’s changed the lives of everyone reading these entries. Some changes have been for the worse, certainly, but the things that have changed for the better are what I’m choosing to focus on. I’ve read articles about a reemergence of spirituality amongst young people that make me think others have been having similar ideas and something about that feels good. We’ve spent a lot of time isolated, lonely, and missing a sense of belonging we took for granted before, but there’s reassurance for me in knowing that my experiences aren’t all that different from anyone else’s. That type of community, however it manifests, is (and I hope you’ll forgive this admitted slip into flowery prose) something that the pandemic has taught us we must cherish above everything else because it’s what makes our little human lives worth living. More than anything, whenever this pandemic reaches the time where we split our lives into not just before, but after, I hope we don’t forget that.
• 2020-06-29

  The Unpredictable Horrors of Pandemic

  The unpredictable horrors of pandemic “Corona Virus” the most lethal being on the earth that swept a mass population since its spread in December 2019. The Corona Virus had already started its attack and only a few cases had been reported in Wuhan, China until 2020, where it spread like a wildfire taking down millions of people. I belong to Nepal which is a neighboring country to China, so it surely was at higher risk which led to a countrywide lockdown in March 2020. It was then, people started to realize the seriousness of the situation. I would like to share my part of the pandemic experience in the first person “We” because I believe in this time I was with my family and we went through this experience- some bitter and some sweet but we were always together as a single unit. When the lockdown was imposed in Nepal, people were not aware of why it was being done. Why a mere viral disease was threatening nations? People took it as an excuse to vacation from work and school. We were told to stay inside the house, wear a mask and avoid gatherings by the national authorities. We could only go out for buying essentials (food, medicine) in the evening between 6-7 PM. Other times we were enjoying with our family because it is very rare to have this much free time in this busy life. We would cook new dishes, we also started gardening, growing vegetables in our backyard, and sometimes there was even “Movie Time” with the family. So, for the first few weeks, this lockdown was a perfect family time. Then the economy slowly started to tremble. People were left jobless, savings started to dry out. We were getting conscious and calculative on the grocery shopping. We own a garment factory (textiles and embroidery) so with no shops open during the time, we were also struggling with the money. My sister was currently stuck in Bangladesh because she had gone there for her educational studies and was stuck since both the countries were on lockdown. She finally arrived back home in June 2020 in an evacuation flight. She was then on self-isolation for 14 days. In these days of self-isolation, she showed no signs of COVID. Finally, on her last day of isolation, she went for a test and the horrors began. The reports came POSITIVE. This came as a shock to all of us because she had followed all the health protocols both in Bangladesh, during the flight, and after arriving in Nepal. We all were in disbelief and were taken aback. Unfortunately, the same day when the reports came out, there a news report regarding the lab where the reports were tested had cross-contamination, leading to inaccurate results in the hospital that day (the same day as my sister was tested). All of the samples were tested positive. Health authorities had to investigate that matter. But since she had no symptoms whatsoever, we wanted to re-check. Before we could even go to the other hospital, the members from the localities hurdled outside our house. They had been informed that an infected person was there in the area. My mom and dad went out to calm the crowd, trying to convince us that the results were doubtful and we were going for a re-check. The crowd was more like an angry mob and was dismissing all our claims, maybe also because this was the first case in our locality. They didn’t want to hear what we had to say. They forcefully started sealing the gates and the areas of our house, ordering all our neighbors to stay away from the area. They were told not to cross the gate and come in contact with us. Since the coronavirus is truly a big deal, though we had some doubts, we accepted that all our family members should go into isolation. But this was easier said than done. For those 14 days, we had no one around us to help. We couldn’t go out to get groceries or even other essentials. Our neighbors were threatened by the local authorities to not help us. They couldn’t send us the groceries or anything else. We were cast away from the whole society around that time. Luckily, we had an aunt living nearby. She used to leave us grocery items in our backdoors before the sunrise…. before anyone could even see. And we would run outside abiding by proper protocols, get those items and be back inside, panting, hoping no one saw us. At that time we had no money, limited food supply, and many mouths to feed. It was like we were living in an apocalyptic world. Baseless rumors had started to spread around the society stating we were seen partying and having gatherings a few days back. People would ring us up just to blame us as if we were the rotten ones. The most heartbreaking incident was when we were called by the local authority asking us to not come out on the balcony because according to them, somehow, we were exposing the virus in our area. Those 2 weeks became hell for our family. Finally, on the 14th day, all the members of our family members took a PCR test, and luckily, we were all tested negative. So in simple terms, we had recovered BUT society still didn’t accept us. Whenever we used to go to the shop, we were stared at and could hear whispers behind our back. People used to stay away from us and we were regarded (sort of) untouchables even after we had medical reports to prove them otherwise. Then a month later, even my maternal grandmother was infected with the virus. We could not go visit her as the hospital didn’t permit and she was under strict surveillance. She soon developed pneumonia as a complication of the COVID attack. Almost half of her lungs had been severely damaged and on 29th November 2020 she passed away. This pandemic left a great impact on us. We suffered great loss both emotionally and financially. From sneaking in groceries like smugglers to bidding goodbye to someone who loved us the most, it will always be an inerasable memory for us. Even as I write my experience, my words are not enough to emphasize the pain this pandemic has caused. But all I can say is we fought this as a FAMILY. One for All and All for One.
• 
  2021-04-21

  Hands of love help COVID-19 patients in hospital

  HANDS OF LOVE: Nurses fill latex gloves with warm water in a technique called "little hands of love" to help COVID-19 patients in intensive care beat isolation and stimulate blood flow.
• 
  2021-04-01

  The ‘slow-motion’ genocide’ of the Chinook Indian Nation

  The pandemic has exacerbated the Chinook’s lack of the kind of social safety net recognized tribes possess. While the COVID-19 mortality rate of Indigenous people is almost 2.5 times that of white people, unrecognized tribes have not received any of the $8 billion in government aid passed by Congress last spring. Nor have they received priority for tests or vaccines. Instead, they have to rely on neighboring tribes like the Grand Ronde and the Shoalwater Bay Tribe to vaccinate their elder knowledge-keepers. Chinook tribal members sometimes refer to the lack of recognition as slow-motion genocide. “Explain how it’s not genocide,” Johnson said to me. “Someone explain to me how it’s not.”
• 
  2021-03-30

  Pandemic Lifestyle & Childhood Education, Oral History with Anonymous, 03/30/2021

  Living in military housing with their spouse and two children in California, the narrator chooses to remain anonymous. Throughout the interview, the narrator speaks at length about their COVID-19 pandemic experience. They go on about how they go tackle socialization, especially for their children, as they are not able to travel very far from home. They talk about what precautions they take whenever they leave the house, and how they would not let the pandemic restrictions completely dictate their new norm. Although their children are none the wiser considering their young ages, they continue to create a sense of normalcy that would simulate a pre-pandemic lifestyle. Delving deeper into safety measures, the narrator expresses their thoughts and hopes about how people in their community are taking precautions. This includes how they would hope that everyone is being honest and doing their part in assuring everyone’s mutual safety, such as informing them if they or their children are sick.
• 
  2021-03

  My experiences working and living in the Covid 19 Pandemic

  When the covid pandemic started, I don't think anyone really knew the extent this virus would take on everyone's life and how it will potentially change the world as we know it. I have worked in healthcare during this pandemic and have seen and heard of many people dying from this virus. I work in an acute rehabilitation hospital where people come after having a stroke or major surgery and they learn how to use their bodies and adapt to their new lifestyles. My hospital is not a place where people die, it is a place where people go to get stronger to go home to their families. there had been countless numbers of people who had contracted the virus when at the hospital and eventually had died from it even though they were on the tract to getting stronger, physically. Not only have I seen how this impacts the individuals who contract the virus, but it is important to note how this virus is effecting people mentally. I have heard of many people's friends dying of suicide from being in isolation during their quarantining. I have also learned that many children who are learning how to talk are having a hard time learning how to communicate with others because they are missing the important aspect of facial structures and non-verbal language which is impeding their ability to communicate and understand others.
• 2021-02-15

  One of my COVID-19 Case Investigations Experiences

  I work as a COVID-19 medical investigator for the Arizona county in which I live. I recently called on a monolingual Spanish speaker who turned out to be a retirement-age mother of adult children and infant grandchildren. The first time we spoke, she very politely agreed to complete our medical interview by phone, and I began working through the initial demographics section. As she answered my questions, she began asking questions of her own regarding her potential experience and that of her family, all of whom were ill by that time or presumed to be positive due to extended close contact. The pace and tone of her speech evolved as her volume increased, and her intense emotional distress required no common language to comprehend. The primary source of her concern was her adult daughter who lived at another location with her two children. Our case feared her daughter had to have immediate help to even dial a phone, much less to care for herself and her children. The case wanted to break isolation at her home to travel to her daughter' home to aid her child and grandchildren, but, with the interpreter's help, we worked through her fears, established an action plan that allowed the case and her husband to stay home, and connected her daughter with medcal professionals to evaluate her circumstances and need for urgent intervention. The case and I agreed those needs superseded the interview as she was both aware and isolated, and we agreed to speak the following day. On callback, her emotions had completely turned around in that day, her daughter had been evaluated over the phone, acquired the information and guidance she needed, and the case believed her child and grandchildren were now safe and well. Throughout the roughly 90-minute translated interview, she repeatedly expressed her gratitude for our having called and helped her family and information and guidance. Despite the number of times our patients/cases have expressed anger, outrage, suspicion, or worse at our medical investigation and contact tracing efforts, this series of calls made them worthwhile.
• 2020-06-24

  The New Reality of California's Preschools

  "Gone are family-style meals and snacks where children serve themselves. And no more sharing toys." If it sounds grim to you, it sort of is. Children are having to stay six feet away from one another just like any other person. The difference is that a lot of these children are still far too young to understand why. Safety guidelines have been provided from the California Department of Public Health, county departments of public health, and the California Department of Social Services. This is in a notable and admirable attempt to grab some semblance of normalcy back while remaining cautious. Some other changes include, but are not limited to, having toys be sanitized after use, physical touch (i.e. hugging) are kept to a minimum, and children cannot play outside (such as the playground structures). A big problem seems to be with the touch, though. A lot of these children, as young as 2 years old, start crying and need some physical comfort. Although some of these new guidelines are straightforward and simple, they're not easily implemented as it can easily hinder a child's development and understanding of the world.
• 
  2020-09-18

  Corona Clothing #1: "Staying in is the new Going Out"

  I took this picture in a Ross store in Round Rock TX last summer. It reads "Staying in is the new Going Out". This is the first instance I had ever seen of a clothing item referencing COVID-19. The shirt implies that with all the stay at home orders, lockdowns, and closures taking leisure time at home is the new way to have fun and enjoy yourself. Noticed that it is also lounge wear. I did not realize it at the time, but many items of Corona themed clothing are casual or lounge wear likely both as a funny gesture and to suit the natural desire to wear comfortable clothing when confined at home for extended periods.
• 
  2020-04-15

  That fleeting moment of Solidarity

  In those first few weeks of lockdown I just remember a feeling of solidarity with my neighbors. We were all separate, all isolated, but all working toward the same goal. Throughout our neighborhood people had written with chalk on the sidewalk, we took walks every day and saw painted rocks, teddy bears sitting in windows, art and signs of hope and comfort. For a homeschool art lesson I had my sons do chalk splatter painting on our driveway and then taught them about Jackson Pollock. I wrote lyrics to Bob Marley songs and drew pictures of rainbows on the sidewalk. We baked bread, cinnamon rolls, all things warm and cozy. Our family was together in a special way, we appreciated the time together. We went on hikes and fished in the backyard pond and although there were zoom appointments and conference calls, life was moving at a slower more relaxing pace. We were hopeful and confident that by doing the right thing we were saving lives.
• 
  2021-03-14

  Oral Interview with a healthcare provider-nurse

  Abstract: Michael Levesque was a paramedic working on an ambulance at the start of the pandemic. He had a pregnant wife at home and was in the process of switching his career into nursing. He recalls the memories of working on the ambulance and taking care of Covid patients, as well as how Covid impacted the EMS services overall. He also discusses how it felt to be starting his career as an Emergency Room nurse during a global pandemic. In both cases, his job put him directly on the front lines of medicine. He discusses the early problems of lack of knowledge and equipment to properly handle this pandemic. He also explains the mindset of an expecting father, working in a high risk environment, and then coming home to his pregnant wife. Michael’s unique life circumstances and career path gives his interview a perspective that few people experienced.
• 2021-03-17

  First hug in a long time

  A lot of people probably have this same kind of story, but I'll go ahead and tell my version of it. My wife's 93-year-old grandmother lives in an assisted care facility nearby and, of course, has been forced to be very isolated throughout most of the pandemic. However, because all of us have now been fully vaccinated, we were able to go and see her in person a couple of days ago. The most heartwarming moment was when my wife and kids were able to give her a hug for the first time in a long time. I'm sure as more people get vaccinated, they will have more of these kinds of stories to tell.
• 
  2021-03-14

  Brenda Cohen Oral History

  In this oral history, I interview my mom, Brenda Lee Cohen on her pandemic experience with a particular focus on her work with the Calgary police service as a crime and intelligence analyst supervisor. In this interview, Brenda talks about her initial experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, she recalls the first day of the pandemic as she and her husband were stuck in America. This particular interview touched upon what her work environment was like during the pandemic and topics such as systemic racism, the police ‘culture’ and the revocation of a popular program for city employees known as the ‘golden handshake’ in the midst of the pandemic. Brenda also spoke briefly about her experience with misogyny within the workplace and how these ideas are so prevent within a space which mixes the civilian and police worlds. Finally, Brenda also spoke about what she is most thankful for in this pandemic, and ultimately reflects on her own inability to express her thoughts and emotions – and how one day when she is out of the police environment, things will be different. Interviewee Name: Brenda Cohen Interviewer Name: Padraic Cohen Date of Interview: 03/14/2021 Location: Cochrane, Alberta Canada. Transcribed by https://otter.ai Partially transcribed by Padraic Cohen
• 2020-05-10

  My sister during the pandemic

  Throughout living in this pandemic many people have had a multitude of different reactions regarding it. There is the people who really don't care too much about the pandemic and have not taken to many precautions in their life in regards to the pandemic. The next group of people are the ones who realize there is a pandemic follow the necessary precautions but don't obsess over it and make it consume their lives. And the final group of people are the ones who have let the pandemic take over their lives. My sister is in this last group. She has let it consume her and made her life revolve around this pandemic. She refuses to leave her apartment at all costs. In fact I think I have seen her in person maybe one or two times in the past year since the start of the pandemic. Along with that when I do see her even when it is known that I do not have COVID it has to be outside wearing a mask at least six feet apart and for not longer than fifteen minutes. Yes I understand the precautions of COVID but it is sad to me that this pandemic has caused family members to distance themselves from one another and has really put a lot of strain and stress on people. Hopefully the vaccine will be rolled out quickly and efficiently.
• 
  2021-03-12

  Oral History with Marine

  Interview with a Marine that details going through Basic Training during COVID-19.
• 
  2020-12-30

  Beyond Control

  Kelsie Grazier talks about her hearing loss, the uncertainty of pregnancy during Covid-19 and how both are heavily influencing her art. Her story resonates with me as I loose my own hearing and seek out representation in a world that ignores deafness. Kelsie Grazier's story resonates. Especially with the daily frustrations Covid-19 has brought upon us.
• 
  2021-03-10

  A Lot More Time at Home

  An interesting consequence from being locked inside day in and day out for almost a year. My collection of books has grown considerably, to the point of needing yet another bookshelf.
• 
  2021-02-28

  #JOTPYLesson from Amanda Lehew

  I have learned to be more positive about my mental health. Before the pandemic, I was having uncontrollable panic attacks, and when everything went down it made me realize, I was not alone. @Ronway_Twitty @JakeSilbersack @JeremyZitnik @EGonzaba @ReelVisualProd
• 
  2021-02-28

  Surviving the pandemic

  It is my personal experience of the pandemic. It's important to me as I've fought my inner insecurities and battles. I'm still coping with the stress caused by this pandemic, but it is getting better and I hope it gets better for everyone else too.
• 2021-02-25

  A Strange Way to Grieve

  My father-in-law had an accident last April and passed away about ten days later. He was brought to the hospital in the middle of the pandemic. Nobody was allowed to visit and be with him. My husband was able to speak to him over the speaker phone. He missed seeing him in person. The doctors only would allow visitors in the last moments near death. My husband did not make it in time. Later, he had to retrieve his cremated remains from the car in a sort of curbside pick-up fashion. It was very awkward for him. The usual quiet moments in this situation did not happen. We wanted to hold a memorial for my father-in-law, but because of covid19, we kept pushing it back saying to ourselves, “Well, maybe in October…Maybe in December…” Now we have decided to forgo a traditional memorial for an online one. Soon in March we will have a Zoom memorial with a slideshow of pictures, video, and music, and it will be on his birthday. We hope people will make some remarks. It is stressful getting this together, and I hope it goes well on Zoom. None of us are experts with any of this technology. Handling the affairs of a loved one’s life when they have died is hard enough in normal times. It is even harder during a pandemic. As I write this journal entry I think about my husband and the hardship he and his side of the family has gone through during this time. Knowing them, they would not want to share anything like this on a public archive. I am involved in this grief, but it is different for me. My role is mainly to support. For an archive like this, its collection is all decided on what the public wants to share. Emotionally difficult stories like this may not be shared firsthand as often. My story is also not in depth as it could be if I were the person centrally involved in this grief. I hope that future historians read stories like mine and realize how strange and difficult this time was for grieving people. Nothing is normal. Having a memorial where people get together and support each other through grief with kind words, pats on the back, and long hugs is totally out of the question. We just have to do the next best thing and move on with our lives as we cope with an uncertain future and wonder when life will go back to the way it was before the pandemic or if we have truly lost this aspect of our culture, customs, and traditions.
• 
  2021-02-14

  My Story: I Got COVID-19 Because of ICE

  I am sending a diary style writing where I share my experience during the pandemic. I focus on the issue of ICE during the pandemic. Before the lockdowns, my uncle was detained by ICE and was deported during the pandemic. My uncle has been living in the US for 25+ years and Mexico, my uncle's home country, has changed a lot since he last lived there. For that reason, I went to Mexico to take him home. This made me get COVID.
• 
  2020-03-18

  Covid in Jax

  Covid took away the freedom to hangout with friends.
• 2020-01-01

  Surviving 2020 & COVID-19 Pandemic: Life As A College Student

  As the ball dropped on New Year’s Day I embraced and kissed my boyfriend in excitement of what would await us in 2020, if only I knew. As we said our goodbyes to our friends we drove home on a side road to avoid the frantic traffic of drunk drivers and people rushing to get home. All I remember is driving in front of my boyfriend’s car and then waking up to him sobbing over me. My car lights were on, sunroof open, glass shattered everywhere, my blood stained on my wheel and purple bruises on ribs. Long story short I was smashed into by a drunk driver, my car flipped, rolled, and was finally crushed into a tree with me inside while my significant other watched it unravel before his eyes. This was my beginning to 2020 and I wished and hoped that it would only be better from there on but I was horribly wrong. On March 11th of 2020 I received an email from my university stating that it would be closed and urged all students to return home for the remainder of the semester. As many college students saw this as an extended spring break at the time we were all happy since it basically meant more partying. After week one passed of receiving the email I quickly realized that being isolated would be my downfall and it sure was. By the end of the Spring semester I had failed a couple classes and was desperately trying to crawl out of a depressive episode. Since I am, or rather struggling to be a nursing student still, failing my Anatomy and Physiology I class sent me into a spiral of what ifs and how my GPA would recover from these failed courses. The realization of retaking these courses in order to save my future and using my only two chances of “erasing” my unsatisfactory grades crushed me. I was shattered by this reality but continued to push myself through Summer term to ace these courses, I studied day and night sacrificing friendships and days out for an A. As Summer came to an end Fall came and I barely passed the classes online because I struggled to adapt and truly retain the material meanwhile peers in my class were either completely giving up or cheating their way through the online, remote exams. To add the cherry on top, I was battling my university’s Housing Board in order to cancel my dorm agreement because many COVID cases had been recorded in my building and my roommates still went out to clubs while not wearing masks. As the months passed and semesters came and went, I felt my sanity slipping and today I still sit in fear of my future. I struggle leaving my apartment due to the fear of exposure to COVID and accidentally passing it onto my only parent who suffers from lupus. This pandemic has truly crushed me and unfortunately it seems that I will be spending the remainder of my college life and 20s in this chaotic, barren, and lonely society where we only see each other screen to screen.
• 
  2021-02-24T13:24:52

  A 2020 Senior's Experience

  Link to my Story https://eaglefgcu-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/vdearmas2389_eagle_fgcu_edu/EfbXTEMivQhBlns1iufe0PUBKjsdXqzsQvBkamaxWh4YAg?e=IwR5k3
• 
  2021-02-23

  Silver Linings Mini Oral History with Bonnie Brainard, 02/23/2021

  I recorded a mini oral history with my former professor Dr. Beverly Van Note.
• 
  2020-09-25

  A City Once Busy

  I once used to walk this street on my way to work at a restaurant. I always loved how busy it was, seeing the streets overcrowded with people who had places to be. When I lost my job because of the pandemic in March I had to go home for 7 months. At the beginning I think we all thought that things would have turned around by the time the leaves started to fall. When I came back, I went downtown to visit the restaurant I had once worked at. The restaurant was boarded up still and the streets were mostly empty, and I felt kind of empty too.
• 2020-08-22

  The Difficulties of a College Student During a Pandemic

  During the start of the school semester of spring 2020, talks of a very contagious illness stated to spread. Most students on campus believed COVID-19 to be a threat nut one month later, all colleges across the world shut down. While moving out, my friend's dad said we would be back that same semester. I believed him until infection rates increased across the United States. States started to shut down including the one I lived in. Restrictions, isolation, and guidelines were enforced to ensure public safety. Instead, thousands of people went into depression including me. Not being able to leave my house during the pandemic was difficult. Not only was I hundreds of miles away from my friends at school, but I couldn't see my friends at home too. My experience with online class didn't make interacting with people any easier. Most of my classes didn't require the camera to be on, while the other class didn't even meet online. This was very difficult for me because I was used to being around friends everyday. I started to become depressed as I spent 2 months without interacting with anyone but my family and my teacher. Fortunately, restrictions eased up as the spring semester came to a close. I was able to get a job at a donation center for the summer. I still wasn't allowed to see my friends which made for a disappointing summer but working helped the time go by. When it was time to go back to college, I was relieved. My college was fortunate enough to have students on campus for the fall 2020 semester. I was overly excited to see any friends after months. I counted down the days until we moved in. But I knew the semester would be different. When arriving on campus, I learned that several rules and regulations were implemented to "keep the community safe." Some of these included no visiting anyones dorm room, scheduling when to eat, certain doors were entrances while others were exits, no guests from off campus, must wear a green bracelet at all times, must get randomly tested, etc. I made sure to read the rules and regulations but unfortunately, my roommates didn't. The very first night on campus, my roommates decided to have friends over. I told my roommates that it wasn't allowed but it did not matter. The guests stayed until there was banging at the door. The Resident Assistant working that night wrote us up, and we had to meet with the Dean. While meeting with the Dean, I explained how it was not my fault and I was against having guests over, but I was charged with a $200 fine. Completely upset, I change all my classes to online classes and moved back home. I did not trust my roommates enough to stay. The last thing I wanted was several fines that weren't my fault. When I got home, I was really depressed. I was the only one home out of all my friends and I was back to remote learning. I couldn't see anyone while home and I felt betrayed by my roommates. I felt like my life was crumbling as another semester of my college experience was being wasted. This caused me to have a mental breakdown, and lose all motivation to do work. Four months passed by slowly and I escaped the semester with mediocre grades and a crippling mind. Fortunately, my parents noticed I was not in the best shape of mind. They had me see a therapist and find new activities to do during the pandemic. This got me back on my feet and my friends from home started returning from school. The gap between semesters when well and I was joyful again. However, it was time to decide if I wanted to return to campus for the 2021 Spring Semester. I was torn because some of my friends were staying home that semester and I still did not trust my roommates. I thought rationally and contacted them to see our their semester went. To my surprise, they received 4 fines and one of them had to quarantine. This gave me reassurance that I made the right choice on leaving campus during the fall semester. Currently I am taking the 2021 Spring Semester all remotely and I am happy. I am seeing friends and have synchronous classes. I am confident that I will keep seeing my friends at home and keep a good mindset throughout the semester. I wish for everyone to stay strong during the pandemic and seek help if you're depressed.
• 2020-03-09

  My life in a pandemic

  The year 2020 feels like a never-ending nightmare. January and February of 2020, were just like any other ordinary month. I was getting my life together, planning my year out. I had gotten a new job as a patient care technician, I was going to Japan in the summer, and was hoping to be a resident assistant at one of the abroad programs in the summer as well. I remember being in the student union waiting for Josh Peck to arrive as a guest star at Duquesne. My friend asked me about my trip to Japan and if I was still going. Thinking back to it, I wish I weren’t so naïve. I told my friend how I was not worried and that it should all be fine. I was not expecting the impact it would have to how the world functioned. As Spring Break came along, I began training for my job as a PCT. I was ready to start work but that was when we started to get information about universities around us closing. I thought it would be any day now that Duquesne would also follow. A week after we got back from break is when Duquesne finally decided to close. Once I got home, it took a while for me to adjust to the new teaching style. While doing so however, I also took on some new interest and hobbies. First, my family and I worked on a renovating my room. We built a new bed frame, painted my room, and redid all my furniture. At the same time, I started to cook and bake every single day. In all the craziness of online school and renovations, I found comfort in the kitchen and working out in my basement. I would always find some new recipe to try out and because of my excitement, I would spend most of my time of the day in the kitchen. While doing so, I found time to workout so that I did not gain COVID weight. I was lucky enough that my classes for spring semester was comparably easier than my past semesters. This helped in being able to continue my hobbies and do online school. Starting back Fall semester was another challenge I faced. It was the start of my senior year and it felt depressing. It was supposed to be an exciting year and I was ready to get involved more around campus. However, with the new policies set, I do not get to see my friends often, or ever. Classes are more difficult to follow along because of the hybrid system and while I am supposed to be getting ready to be a nurse in a year, my experience in clinicals are being reduced. In all the darkness that COVID brought however, I am hoping with the new vaccine that we will start moving towards a normal life again. I cannot wait for the day I can be with people without the concern of COVID.
• 
  2020-08-21

  College Through A Pandemic

  While I have been incredibly fortunate to remain shielded from the harsher effects the pandemic has wrought on so many families and individuals over the course of the past year, I have faced a multitude of inner challenges in the transition from high school to college. Attending college, in the most normal of times, can prove a formidable adversary for those like myself who struggle with anxiety. Navigating a new campus, facing distance from loved ones, and managing an increase in course load all were deeply concerning facets of the experience in my eyes, even when a global pandemic was an inconceivable complication to these already daunting tasks. Most paramount of my worries, perhaps, was the social aspect of college. Though incoming freshmen are often reminded that this is an area of insecurity common to every new student, the restrictions that students were dealt amplified my ever-growing hesitations. Mandatory isolation, lack of social gatherings, and limited opportunities to meet others culminated into the manifestation of my deepest social anxieties. If I couldn’t cope with the pressures of normal interaction, how could I be expected to thrive in an environment barren of the very opportunity? I spent many nights leading up to the looming day of move-in sitting on the couch with my parents, often talking until the early hours of the morning. I was, at first, hesitant to express my feelings and risk sounding ungrateful or ignorant of the great privilege I possessed. So many people yearned to be in the position that I myself wanted any way out of. I was thankful for the opportunities that I had been given, and I felt that squandering them and conceding to my anxious preconceptions would be an insult to all those who weren’t given the same chance under the difficult circumstances the pandemic established. After many hours of deliberation with my family, I felt that letting my increasing social anxiety dictate my future would be disposing of a precious opportunity for personal growth. When the day of move-in arrived, it was impossible to ignore the pit in my stomach and the tightening in my chest once my parents had said their goodbyes and departed. Though I couldn’t have felt more alone in that moment, I quickly learned that this was far from the case. After only a brief period of awkward silence, my roommate and I set about decorating our space with posters representative of our shared taste in music and love of hockey, interests we soon found to be shared among a small group of people in our building. Through our conversations that first night, it was not only clear that good friends are much closer than my anxiety would have liked to admit, but also that we were going to establish a deep bond in experiencing the often challenging, always unique adventure of attending college in a pandemic.
• 
  2020-10-26

  Who are you?

  It has been weird. A time where the words “pandemic” and “quarantine” are not just being used in a book or video game. Isolation is a weird thing too. It is good in moderation, but what now draws the line between too much and too little? An hour can seem like days and a day can seem to be the same over and over again. I have been delving further into art and music as the days pass. It seems strange that sometimes exploring art and music has the same effect as isolation such that time does not seem to exist in the expected way. I sometimes forget that we are in a pandemic when drawing or alone as if it were already in the past. Art and music have always been in my life, so I expanded on them by trying new genres and mediums. It is not always easy to try new things or to be forced into new things. Often times, I did not appreciate or even like what I attempted in art. It would be quite hard to count the number of drawings I have thrown away or canvases I’ve painted over. Somehow, over the course of quarantine, I have found myself to be more critical of the things that I create. Perhaps it is from being isolated which gives me more opportunities to overthink. Perhaps it is the constant comparison to other people on social media. Perhaps my disgust is not a new development at all, but it seems more pertinent since it is difficult to focus on other things. Of course, this disappointment is crawling into other aspects of my life. The drawing is one that I used to think was decent, but I find myself only critiquing it. It depicts a human floating and wrapped partially in fabric. In October of 2020, I erased most of it and tried it again, but the results stayed the same. Art is interpreted on an individual basis, but I personally found it to be about identity. Everyone wearing a mask made me think about who we really are. I have certainly run into people where I did not recognize them at all with a mask. Part of the identification process is how people look and how they act. If we don’t know who they are, do they act differently? Does this make an individual, a different person?
• 
  2021-02-11

  Mini Oral History with Tracey Kole, 02/11/2021

  I recorded a mini oral history with my mom about silver linings.
• 
  2021-01-27

  Covid-19 Vaccines Mean an End to Isolation at a Retirement Home

  Retirement home residents have started to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. For many, this means they can visit loved ones in different care units and see family. However, high COVID-19 rates are keeping some retirement and other care homes from letting their residents visit or have visitors.
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-05-28

  “Treated like a pariah': 11 COVID-19 survivors reveal what they want people to know

  This article presents the sometimes-unspoken stigma that accompanies having Covid-19. It invited survivors to share what they want people to know, because, according to the article, “for many people living through this, sharing their story is the only way they feel validated as they wait for researchers to wade through the unknowns.” The article expresses feelings of isolation from some who are avoided now that they have had Covid. Others share that there is a sense of blame thrust upon them, by those who feel as though they are at fault for getting sick. Still others disclose the subpar treatment by their health providers. Their lessons include: the disease can turn severe quickly, Covid-19 shouldn’t be about politics, don’t let your guard down, warn your friends and family, it is not just the flu, people need to have empathy, the suffering is real, be your own advocate, precautions aren’t foolproof, researchers and doctors are trying their best, and be grateful. Overall, these stories remind us that even when a person survives, they have healing yet to go.
• 2021-02-04

  My Mother Will Be 80 Years Old This Week

  My mother will have her eightieth birthday this Sunday. She is not likely to share her story here. She has a computer and uses the Internet. However, she usually only looks at other people’s posts on Facebook and does not use Twitter at all. I will therefore tell some of her story myself. My mother has been stuck in her house for nearly a year now. She lives only a mile or two from each of us, so my sister and I get her groceries for her so she does not risk exposure to the virus. My mother was resistant to this for a while, from a combination of independence, a disinclination to impose on others, and a plain desire to get out of the house. My mother probably has not gotten a hug from anyone in nearly a year. We call her nearly every day, and we do visit with her on patio, but we always keep our distance. As much as she would like to see people more, she does not want to break social distancing. In her view, she has stuck with it this long and does not want to waste that effort. When I talk to my mother, she often expresses boredom. She reads, works on puzzles, watches television, and calls family (although she does not want to bother people). The other day I half-jokingly suggested that she spend some time writing her memoirs. It would be a gift for her children and grandchildren to record her life experiences. My mother has started writing several pages a day. She writes long-hand in a notepad, then types up what she wrote on her computer. I was amused when she told me this, because I have not written that way in more than thirty years, and younger generations likely could not imagine doing it this way. My mother made one of her rare trips outside the house last week. She was able to navigate the website and get herself an appointment for a COVID vaccination. I was rather proud of her for persistently navigating a website that I found confusing and difficult to use. Her persistence in seeking a vaccination speaks to her eagerness to get life back to normal.
• 
  2021-01-24

  Wearing Me Out

  I am a contrarian. When the culture seems to be telling me to go outside and enjoy the sunshine and beaches (I'm on the coast of Florida) I always did the opposite. I was a shut-in for my entire life and had always disliked being adventurous, open, courageous. Probably, I was just anxious and scared. I was just beginning to open up at the beginning of the year and when COVID became the prime news and media and the culture seemed to flip and become about isolation and shutting-in... I snapped. I said no, I won't. I won't stay inside any longer. I won't isolate myself from others. I started taking better care of myself, doing yoga on the beach, watching my diet, working out daily, threw out half my wardrobe, and bought these boots. I put myself out there and met many people that changed my life for the better. I am now adventurous, courageous, forthcoming, and open to new people and experiences and, in my opinion, it is all thanks to the quarantine and shut-down. I did contract COVID and did isolate with my family who all also caught it (my mother brought it home from work, where they all wear masks). These boots carried me through this year and have made me feel confident in myself and what I can do for the first time in a long time.
• 
  2020-03-22T12:49:00

  Overwhelmed

  When I wrote this journal entry the world was just starting to go into a panic. Mass hysteria caused every town to be placed on lockdown. Everyone was being forced to quarantine and had a curfew at 9 pm everyday. There was no explanation of what the Coronavirus was other than it was fast spreading and killing thousands of people. In March, there was still a lot of uncertainties. As a college student everything was very abrupt. Our classes and school were shut down fast following students traveling and coming back and testing positive. With being locked into a dorm where roommates left, the dorm life got very tough. Feelings of anxiety, depression, and loneliness were common to feel during this time. You go from having an active social life to being terrified to be near someone. It takes a toll on your mental health. Additionally, in this journal entry I talk about a relationship with a guy that wasn't going to work, another active conversation about how the want to see someone amidst the pandemic was not attractive and easy. There was a want to go home, but my family lived in Miami and their cases were higher than the one's on the West Coast of Florida. This entry was important to me because I thought it was a perfect description of the chaos and emotional uncertainty of the beginning of the pandemic.
• 
  2020-03-20

  Year of the Switch

  Almost as if Nintendo had made a contingency plan for the pandemic, Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out on the Switch around the same time "quarantine" had started. For a lot of people (including myself) it was their only way of having some semblance of normalcy, of a normal life. I personally began to understand the true value of being able to go fishing with my dad without fear of getting sick, and the value of being able to talk to other people and hang out on a sunny patch of grass without the stifling masks and social distancing. For a while, the game gave us what we needed, and it's honestly been impressive to see how far people have come with it. I know that it was an invaluable tool for me to hang out with loved ones, including my fiancee, in every way except physical. Maybe the same goes for others. This specific game system has been the respite of many people, not necessarily with Animal Crossing, but with other titles as well. I don't think i've ever seen that many games come out for a system within less than a year, and i've been gaming since I was six. I'm asthmatic, so i'm pretty limited in what I can do, so having this teeny little game system has been almost a saving grace for my mental health. Almost. Lol. There's probably something ironic about the fact that you start the game on a desolate island and you make the most of it while still being totally isolated from other islands, and being an figurative island yourself, far away from the reach of others. But you make the most of it.