Items

• 
  2022-03-01

  American Samoa COVID Cases Situational Report #5

  This is the fifth report released by the American Samoa Department of Public Health in regards to the rise of covid cases in American Samoa. As of March 1, 2022, positive cases have risen to 94 from 85 on February 28, 2022.
• 
  2022-02-18

  Covid Has Made Me Hate People

  This is a news story from Scary Mommy by Samm Burnham Davidson. This is a story written from the point-of-view of someone who has experienced some of the negative social effects of COVID. She says that before the pandemic, social media posts that annoyed her would only be mildly so, but with COVID and lockdowns, she started to feel senses of inadequacy compared to other parents. She thought that she needed to overhaul her entire wardrobe, her son should get ice skates, and that her four-year-old needs to learn to ride a two-wheeler bike. She has three young kids, and a 2020 baby. She describes feeling very isolated and the exposure to social media made her feel like she had to measure up to some imaginary standard of parenting, like trying to forgo all plastic toys for Christmas to help the environment. This is a good story for the perspective of mothers with many kids to take care of, resulting in even more isolation than what would happen for adults with no kids, as kids caused her to stay home more even before COVID.
• 
  2022-04-01

  Living Through the Pandemic

  One thing that really stands out to me when I look back on the past two years since the pandemic began is how much fear there was at the onset. I remember it being about mid-March of 2020 and schools had moved to online learning, all nonessential businesses were closed, and it was almost impossible to find even basic groceries. The overwhelming majority of people were wearing some sort of face covering at this point and just the act of going outside felt dangerous. I should point out that since I work in the aerospace and defense manufacturing sector I was classified as an essential worker without the possibility of working remotely. Given that all of my friends had jobs that had moved to remote work and could isolate in their homes I felt that it was too risky to be around them given that I was out every day. I think that it is interesting that this was the state of affairs when there were maybe 1000 confirmed cases in the state of Arizona at this point. When contrasted with the reality that there have now been a total of over 2 million confirmed cases with approximately 25,000 currently active cases and for the most part everyone is going on with life as normal, I am left wondering if the fear at the beginning was irrational or if the current sense of complacency is the result of a society worn down to the point of indifference?
• 
  2022-02-25

  The Fall of Covid

  This flower represents the growth I have attained and hope. While the petals represent the things I felt like I lost during Covid. I think it is important for people to see how Covid affected everyone. This may open their eyes or give them something to relate to.
• 
  2022-02-25

  Pandemic Rendition

  The pattern of small, blue, unorganized, squares reminded me of a hospital or a doctor’s office, the first place I would go when I am sick. During this time, it seemed as if everyone was sick, there were no appointments available to meet with a doctor nor beds for individuals who were experiencing peak Covid symptoms. Words that describe a hospital: white walls, clean floors, sterile rooms, and order, or at least it was before the pandemic. The background is far from orderly, red is also present amongst the blue squares. This is to represent our health care professionals doing their best with the knowledge we had about this novel virus, but still witnessing many deaths. There are also green rings hovering around the two individuals. Green is often connected with germs or sickness. In the beginning cleaning products were flying off the shelves, people wanted to clean all surfaces as a preventative measure. This meant that consumers were buying several jugs of bleach, rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and many other products in surplus (creating many shortages). The air around the two individuals is filled with images of the Covid-19 virus under a microscope. Masks became a way to protect oneself from catching the virus, ultimately leading to mask mandates. The two individuals facing one another represent the mass separation we experienced during lockdown and with social distancing.
• 
  2020-03

  Dealing with my anxiety

  As most young adults my age, I suffer from severe anxiety. Dealing with anxiety daily, can be very challenging at times, especially during a pandemic. I have been fighting a battle with anxiety most of my life. At this point, I am really used to the extra thoughts in my head. I have learned to help manage it, but not completely get rid of it. I believe that anxiety has made me who I am, in a way, because I do not remember a time where I was not struggling. In 2020, a pandemic instantly flooded the world. This completely impacted my entire life. I was not able to experience my last year in high school, I was not able to be around the one person that helped me with my anxiety, etc. I was forced to wear a mask that I could barely breathe in. I lost touch with most of my friends that I developed over my lifetime. This instant wave of depression suddenly hit me. I was so nervous on what would happen next, and how long will this last. People were dying from this pandemic. I constantly worried about if the sickness would hurt one of my family members or someone important to me. Over the time of being in quarantine, I thought to myself ways on how I could relax and not worry so much about the pandemic. I told myself every day, “Everything happens for a reason”. This is what I truly believe and for some reason it really does calm me down. I am Catholic. I am a very deep believer in God. To me, trusting in the Lord is the best anxiety reliever around. Covid-19 is still around today. Without Covid-19, I would not be where I am today. Although this pandemic has an abundance of negative impacts on my life, it also had some positive ones, too. I would not have attended Duquesne University, met so many amazing people, and made a plethora of memories that I would not trade in for. I believe talking about my anxiety, especially during the pandemic, is very critical because I am not the only one who is suffering, too. Everyone is nervous about what is going to happen next. To me, this is HUGE on helping me with my anxiety. I can finally think to myself that I am not alone. I believe that people who suffer from anxiety, especially from the pandemic started in 2020, can have a place to go if they are nervous. When I was struggling, I felt alone, and I was the only person who felt this way. My story will allow people to realize that they are not alone. Everyone is dealing with this stress and anxiety that I suffered from. My story tells people that I have worries and doubts, too. The pandemic not only had negative impacts, but they also had positive impacts. Focusing on the positives, will distract you from the anxiety and worrying. My story should help prove that. My story should allow people to see and find new ways to cope with the stress. I hope my story leaves a positive impact on people who did or are struggling. Everyone is in this together, and nobody will be alone in this major impact on the world.
• 
  2020-08

  Covid-19 Freshman

  The Coronavirus will certainly be something I will never forget and how it impacted myself and the people around me. The initial shutdown hit the spring of my senior year of high school. I thought we were going to be shut down for a month, at the most. That certainly was not the case. After most of the world was shut down for nearly 6 months, it was time for me to start my freshman year of college. I spent the summer going into freshman year wondering what college would look like for me, and whether campuses would even reopen come fall semester of 2020. Luckily, college students we able to return to campus, but with many changes and limitations none of us could have imagined. Moving into college was much different than I had always imagined. Before coming to campus, I had to schedule a two hour move in slot on a specific date. Before unloading anything, I had to wait in a line of other college student’s cars waiting to get tested for covid. The test had to be negative in order to be allowed on campus. The rapid covid test we received took 30 minutes to receive the results. This was the longest 30 minutes of my life. My heart was racing, and I was freaking out about what would happen if the test came back positive. I would have to drive seven hours back home, just to do it all over again 10 days later. Thankfully, the test came back negative, and I was able to move into my dorm room. Unfortunately, my roommate had tested positive, so I was alone in my room for 10 days. That does not seem like a lot of time now but looking back it was the longest 10 days of my life. Everyone on campus was isolated from each other to slow the spread of the virus. We were discouraged from having others in our dorm rooms and were encouraged to say in our rooms for the majority of the day. The gym was even opened for limited hours of the day. All these limitations meant spending a lot of time in your room alone. Along with adjusting to this new reality of college none of us expected, we had to worry about getting sent into isolation if we tested positive, and we got tested up to two times a week. I had many conversations with my roommate about how long it was going to take to get sent home because we all expected to be sent home, since we had experienced so many other disappointments and cancellations in the last few months of senior year. It was very hard to live with the high level of uncertainty. No one knew how long the pandemic was going to last, when things were going to return to normal, and whether we were ever going to receive a normal college experience. While many current college students have not experienced the normal college experience, we all expected to, we have all adjusted and have made the most of it. I am hopeful that we are close to returning to normalcy, and we all have gone through the worst of it.
• 2021-08-28

  End of pitching in

  At the beginning it was different. April and May of 2020 was not the later, divisive and hate-filled environment that would allow the Covid virus to flourish, not the largely “every-man-for-himself” climate whose popularity grew to mirror the surge of the pandemic itself. Back then, everyone was hunkering down, the streets were empty, and Santa Monica was more like the city I had seen in pictures from the 1940's. The light even seemed different. Despite the specter of certain death, or at least alongside it, was an almost relaxed feeling: we were all in this together, against a common (if mysteriously deadly) enemy, and there is nothing we could do. Well, except stay indoors, and avoid contact with other humans at all costs. I know that during WWII, Santa Monica hummed with activity, with defense plants working three shifts, and Clover Field roaring with warbird take offs and landings almost continuously, and in the Spring of 2020, Santa Monica was still largely of the “we did it once, we'll do it again” mindset—everyone had a job to do, and it was actually an easy one: all you had to do was to keep to yourself. Loose lips may not sink ships anymore, but uncovered ones (especially in public) could spew a deadly toxin—the origins and makeup of it almost completely unknown—and leave devastation in its wake. This feeling couldn't, and wouldn't, last long; humans being what they are. With a national figurehead in a leadership position that was unable to understand complexities, and that largely and specifically promoted failure, the home front grew distrustful of the concept of a “common good”. Citizens quickly grew weary of making sacrifices, of doing without the niceties to which they had become accustomed. Under the guise of individual freedoms, all suffered. “It will all just go away very soon”, we were told, and eventually it did. Not the disease. Our American way of life.
• 
  04/25/2021

  Lou Fraise Oral History, 2021/04/25

  Dr. Lewis Fraise details his service as a geriatric doctor during the Korean War and Vietnam War. He mentions his service in both Washington D.C. and Korea and continues to break down how the Coronavirus actually infects one's body and the response of the government as the pandemic ensued. Dr. Fraise criticizes the actions of Donald Trump and states that the spread of more medically-accurate information would have led to a better outcome in terms of the early stages of the pandemic.
• 
  2020-10-06

  Geels_Bernd_

  C19OH
• 
  2020-06

  Shuttered storefront in Chelsea, June 2020

  A shuttered storefront in the predominant art gallery section of Chelsea that has paper signs some which say, "Nowhere to Go", "Nothing to see". During this time, the stores in the Chelsea area were closed - either temporarily or indefinitely. Simultaneously, many were boarded up in fear of looting or protest which added to the eerie apocalyptic atmosphere.
• 
  2020-07-21

  COVID-19: How to Help Your Child Navigate This New Normal

  A blog post from Banner Health about helping children during Covid-19.
• 
  2021-07-08

  Has COVID-19 Created Conflict in Your Relationship?

  A blog post from Banner Health about relationships with partners and spouses during Covid-19.
• 
  2020-07-09

  Navigating Postpartum Depression During COVID-19

  A blog post from Banner Health about post-partum depression during Covid-19.
• 
  2020-11-01

  Informal Graduation Congratulations – HIST30060

  With the cancellation of mass gatherings during the lockdown periods, many university students completing their final semester were sadly unable to attend their formal graduation ceremonies. This photograph, taken in November 2020, shows a congratulatory card and gift which were given to a friend after completing her Bachelor of Agriculture degree. University is a difficult time, and was made even more difficult by the unprecedented pandemic regulations. While very different from the traditional formalities, we still wanted to add a bit of excitement with this token of our appreciation. Small gestures such as this are an example of the innovation and creativity which many had to utilise, once denied access to many regular systems. Furthermore, it represents the importance of reaching out to friends and family whilst in isolation. Something as simple as a card acts as a reminder that there are people who support, care about and are proud of them. HIST30060.
• 
  2020-04-30

  The Indonesian Muhammadiyah Movement and the COVID-19 Pandemic

  This article describes the ways in which the Indonesian Muslim Muhammadiyah organization responded to the onset of the pandemic.
• 2020-02-02

  Sounds and Scents of a Maine Island

  In February 2020, I moved to Vinalhaven, an island off the coast of Maine, for a job that promised to advance my career and provide time for personal introspection and growth. The island community was vibrant, and as a newcomer, I was invited to dinner parties, game nights, and book club meetings – I hardly had time to miss the family and friends I left behind in Colorado. Three weeks later, the COVID-19 pandemic required me to exchange my introduction to the community for long solitary hours. Handshakes and warm hugs from new acquaintances were replaced by cold winter days and a lack of human contact. The seclusion drove me to explore the island’s shoreline and conservation trails and intermingle with nature that was unimpeded by humans who had retreated behind the walls of their homes. Without the distraction of a companion, I noticed the wind rushing through trees, saltwater crashing against the rocks at the ocean’s edge, bald eagles screeching, chickadees singing, and small animals scurrying through tall natural grasses near the basin. I sat so still one morning that a curious, gray mink approached me and stared for a few seconds. One November evening, while I walked along the rocky shoreline at State Beach, an estrous scent from a whitetail doe in heat wafted from the nearby woods. While the pungent odor attracted bucks, the smell assaulted my nose and distracted me from the fresh scents of saltwater, pine, and balsam. The overpowering smell suggested that the doe was close; her presence comforted me in my isolation. I expected to integrate into my new island home through people. Instead, I became grounded in the environment, surrounded by the sounds and scents that I may have otherwise missed.
• 
  2020-04-07

  Rediscovering the tastes of my childhood

  Some of my earliest memories are of the sights, sounds, and tastes of my grandmother’s kitchen. She passed away almost exactly one year before the stay-at-home order was put in place in Washington State. At that time, I was already an online student working from home and my partner was driving across the state every weekend to work and come back home. When lockdown started, I didn’t realize how cooped up I would feel. I decided I needed to revisit the feelings of my grandmother’s kitchen. Around the same time, my family got a trailer full of boxes of my grandmother’s things. In this box was a handwritten cookbook filled with the recipes and stories from my childhood. There were handwritten letters from my great-grandfather to my grandmother, recipes she had clipped out of newspapers in the 1970s and 1980s, and family recipes I thought were lost when she passed. One of which was a Spiced tea, also known as friendship tea, recipe. For me, this tea is the epitome of Christmas time spent with my grandma. This recipe exists on the internet, but it was never as good as the one my grandmother made. When I found these recipes, I set out on cooking my way through them to pass my time during lockdown. My partner was working remotely so he was home to try them with me. It was an emotional experience for me after the loss of my grandmother and it reminded me how much food can bring people together. This recipe no longer represents Christmas and my grandmother, it now is something that makes me think of lockdown with my own family and how it brought us together. If it wasn’t for the stay-at-home order, I probably wouldn’t have connected to these recipes again and I definitely would never have had to buy tang. The pandemic has brought a greater connection to history and sensory history. The pandemic has also changed the way we experience our senses and even changed those senses for some people. Sensory history shows how people experienced the world around them during the pandemic. If you try this recipe, don’t be afraid of adding more or less of what you like. I don’t know what measurement a scoop is, but as my grandmother always told me, we don’t measure to be perfect we measure with our hearts. My best guess is that there are about 2 tablespoons in a “scoop”. Ginther’s Spice Tea 1 ½ cup Tang 6 scoops lemonade ½ cup instant tea ½ cup sugar ½ teaspoon cloves (or fresh whole cloves) 1 tablespoon cinnamon (or fresh sticks) Combine the above ingredients. Add 2 Tablespoons of mix per cup of hot water.
• 
  2021-10-03

  Homage to My Best Friend

  This is an image of my dog, Dobs – I’ve shared him before on this archive, but I just needed to share this image and justify as to why this dog is so important to me. When the pandemic began, I found myself more isolated than normal, as many people had; I barely spoke to my friends online, and began withdrawing into myself more and more with each day. I would have been completely alone. I don’t have much to say, but this is my best friend; he’s been here with me through some of the worst experiences I have faced during the pandemic, I won’t go into them too deeply, but I am just happy to have this dog in my life, his friendly nature and his funny faces really have had an impact on how I’ve been able to cope with so much.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Covid-19 experience

  My name is Annabelle Leal, and I go to Lone Star middle school. I’m currently in 7th grade. I enjoy shopping and eating out with family. The start of the school year has been mostly normal. At this point everyone either has covid or has already had it. Numbers of positive covid tests were low in the summer but when school started the numbers quickly began to rise again. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had to go back into lock down by December. Last year I was doing online learning because of the virus, but I guess it's like this year because I could talk to people online, and most of my schoolwork is online. It's different from last year because I have been able to go back in person. I was completely isolated last year. No friends, no social life. A lot has changed from 4th to 7th grade. Like my personality, being home with my brothers and parents has helped me learn to be more patient with people. Another example would be that I'm in middle school now. I have opened up more to people because I have a lot of classes around a lot of them. Lastly, I wanted to say that using computers has become a big part of our education.
• 
  2021-10-06

  Life with Covid-19 United in Isolation

  I had a few other objects I could have used for my story but I decided to use this one because it is the one that has meaning to me. This pandemic affected several areas of my life, as it did for most people in the world. After considering all of the relevant memories that impacted my life, like working from home, and switching from in person classes to online and zoom meetings, I decided that the area that impacted my life the most was not being able to see my family for over a year. My family is very united, we meet for special events, birthday celebrations, holidays, and for any other reason we come up with just to get together. None of us ever imagined how difficult it was going to be to be isolated from one another for such a long time and the impact it was going to have in our lives. At first it was ok because we didn't know for how long it was going to last, and how bad things were going to get in such a short period of time. We definitely did not think that Christmas of 2019 was gonna be the last time we would see each other in over a year. This photograph reminds me of the feeling of isolation that we were all feeling as a family. I could tell that this situation was difficult for all of us. It was taken in the summer of 2020, everyone was pretty scared. We were all trying our best to stay healthy, one thing that I remember hearing over and over again was "We have to stay apart in order to be able to stay healthy and see each other again". No one is to be missing next time we gather. Most members of my family were raised with Christian values. This was definitely an important factor for most of us, prayer and religious encouraging words and bible quotes were common on our group chats. Many of my family members live in Mexico and to this day they are not able to cross. During the worst days of the pandemic, prior to the vaccine, life changed 100% for all of us, but this screenshot is a perfect example of how we managed to stay together even when w e were so far apart. Social media and technology kept us united. We were able to see each other exactly one year later on Christmas of 2021, we followed recommended guidelines and celebrated outdoors, with masks as well as social distancing. This experience really changed the way we lived our lives in more than one way, one thing is for sure is that we stayed united through it all. This screenshot of a zoom meeting with my family will always be a reminder of what we endured at the beginning of the pandemic, a global event that we will never forget.
• 
  2021-03-24

  Covid-19 Daily Schedule

  In 2020, when schools closed their doors my children were ages 2 and 5. Because I was a public school teacher, I was no longer away at the school for 10+ hours a day. My kids were not old enough to have started school so I didn't need to learn about their online learning. However, I came to realize they needed a set structure to keep them busy during the what-seemed-like endless days we would be home together. A friend shared this schedule with me and I took pieces from it to work into our daily lives. It was important to me to keep my kids brains active and I knew I had to take on the role of a preschool teacher to do so. Eventually, we got into a groove and the many days became purposeful.
• 
  2021-10-04

  Kidding... Just Kidding...

  Hunting around the internet for pandemic memes and came across this one. For some, this is the first time they have had to spend an extended amount of time at home all day every day with family and the struggle is real... so very real!
• 
  2020-09-27

  Views From Quarantine

  On September 3, 2020, I was notified by a friend that I had come in close contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. I then spent the next 14 days in quarantine, not once leaving my room. Since I live and work in the Taylor Place dorms, I immediately notified the community directors and was placed in a quarantine dorm where I could be separated from my roommate. Despite testing negative for COVID-19 and not having any symptoms, I still needed to quarantine for 14 days as a precaution according to ASU Health Services. Being confined by empty white walls and only being able to see slivers of the sky made the loneliness even more apparent. Although my camera was the first thing I packed, it took me until the ninth day to find the motivation to pick it up. I began photographing the things I could see from my dorm or my “Views from Quarantine.” Using a long lens, I had residents pose in their windows in ways that expressed their personalities. With every photo, I felt less and less alone. I began to realize how important it is for people to see what it meant to quarantine in the dorms. So I also began photographing my meals and room. At the end of it, I put together a photo story, “Views from Quarantine,” that was published in The State Press. It is probably one of my proudest accomplishments so far.
• 
  2020-03-10

  Goodbye Grandma

  This text I wrote is in memory of my grandma, and the horrible and traumatic flashbacks of Covid 19. This experience took a huge toll on me and my family.
• 2021-09-29

  Covid in Altus Oklahoma

  I wanted to share my personal experience of living through the COVID-19 Pandemic in Altus Oklahoma. While my experience probably looked very similar to others, I believe it is very important to always information share so everyone can have the complete picture. I am active duty Air Force, and was residing in Altus Oklahoma during the pandemic in 2020. Living on a military base, it is not very often that you have quiet hours or down time. However, during the height of the pandemic, the majority of the base shut down and went to minimum manning for almost 30 days. It was strange to see operations halt, and all non essential workers staying home with their families for the duration of the town shut down. Organizations went from in person working to relying on home desktop computers to get the mission done. During this time people were also limited on where they were allowed to travel, and people they were allowed to see. At one point, some people were not even allowed to go on walks outside, because they were not sure how the virus would spread and if it would be safe being close to others. As doctors and scientists started discovering the make up of the virus and how to mitigate against its effects, we started gaining more liberties back. Members were no longer confined to their homes, we were able to do outdoor activities near the base, and were allowed to travel to nearby towns for any essential items. Looking back on the situation that occurred a little over a year ago, it is hard to imagine and remember what it was like to be confined to our homes and not being able to engage in social gatherings. One thing that is pandemic has highlighted to me is that despite all the adversity the world has faced, we are still determined to get the mission done efficiently and effectively everyday. I would also like to highlight the importance of social connectedness and gatherings. During the isolation period of the pandemic, the majority of people suffered from lack of communication and not being able to connect with those around them. If this pandemic has taught us anything it should be to not take your health for granted and to value the time you have with loved ones, because you never know when it will be your last time together.
• 
  2021-09-17

  MA, AP and JK Oral History, 2021/09/17

  This is a casual interview about the effects of COVID on mental health, academics, family life, etc. We discuss the biggest impact COVID had on us, our experience with the pandemic, what we did over quarantine, and much more, from the perspective of college freshmen.
• 
  2021-09-20

  COVID-19 Interview (Global Pandemics)

  A classmate and I interviewed each other about our first-hand experiences with COVID-19 in the past year and a half.
• 
  2021-09-21

  COVID-19 Archive Project, Interview 1

  Marc and Níccola talk about their personal experiences win COVID-19 and quarantine discussing family, mental health, and personal anecdotes.
• 
  2021-09-20T19:35:00+00:00

  Faris Danan and Hridaya Patel COVID-19 Interview

  This object shares both of our experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic
• 
  2020-03-28

  Staying Connected: Battling Isolation During a Global Pandemic

  This music note is the logo for Tik-Tok, the reigning social media outlet that allows account holders to both create and view content in the form of 15-120 second videos. As of 2020, there are an estimated 65.9 million monthly active Tik-Tok users in the United States alone (Statista). Although the app was created in 2016, it skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic and saw a 75% increase in weekly average users from January to September of 2020 (Forbes). I, among millions of others, joined those figures when I created my Tik-Tok account in late March of 2020. When school closed indefinitely earlier that month and my job followed a few weeks after, my meticulously structured daily routine was thrown into a state of disarray. As mounting uncertainty grew over whether it was safe to leave our homes at all, the four walls of my bedroom transformed into a prison. I was perpetually shackled to my bed, spending every day in a continuous cycle of sleep that lacked a beginning or an end. That was until I discovered Tik-Tok. Suddenly, I had a reason to wake up in the morning, anticipating the stream of new videos that would appear on my carefully crafted “for you page”. I spent hours glued to my phone screen, fascinated by the small glimpses into the lives of people who were just as bored as I was. I appreciate Tik-Tok for the fleeting but much needed moments of laughter and distraction it supplied me with throughout the pandemic, but the app holds value to me because it showed me that I was not alone. In the early weeks of quarantine, I spent countless nights in pure distress over what I believed was “wasted time”, and it felt as if I was on the fast track to loosing years of my life. However, Tik-Tok showed me that these feelings did not belong to me alone. Countless other people felt the same way I did, and this knowledge put into perspective the importance of staying connected. My cycle of isolation left me alone with my feelings in a vacuum, but once I opened myself up to the outside world through Tik-Tok, I found solace in the online community of people who shared the same sentiments I did but chose joy and laughter instead of sorrow and despair. Tik-Tok provided me with the support I needed by allowing me to witness the happiness of others, eventually prompting me to create my own.
• 2021-09-10

  A new gratitude for our little farm...

  My husband and I bought a little secluded farm in Vanleer, Tennessee in 2013. We had this idyllic notion that we could grow our own food, live off the grid, and have a sense of privacy we never had living in the city. But, were were awful at it, nothing ever grew, our house was the ultimate "fixer-upper" and we were far from everything. In the last two years or so, we started to long for living in the city again, being near conveniences, and not commuting over one miles a day. Then, the pandemic came and my job sent us all home to work remotely. I am museum curator and what I do is very hands on, so that took some clever adjustment and reinvention. We also have the world's slowest internet, but I made it work by duct taping the jetpack to the only window where it worked. As the months went by, I read so many accounts of how the isolation and seclusion of shelter in place orders led to depression. Some of my friends who lived in apartments in the city described feeling claustrophobic and trapped. I realized, that despite other uncertainties caused by the pandemic, that I was happier than usual and felt completely peaceful in our little secluded twelve acre homestead. I could roam around my own land, take my dogs for walks, work on the never ending house projects, or just sit on the porch and appreciate the sunset. When things started to return to normal and we began going back into the office, I broke my foot while trail running and that added another seven months of completely remote work to my job. Physically, my recovery was grueling, but mentally I was doing well thanks to the time already spent quarantining during the pandemic. I have a new love and appreciation for this little farm that won't grow anything now. Both my husband and I have no desire to move back to the city and we have even made peace with the fact that we will never finish all the fixer-upper chores. The gratitude I feel for this beautiful place is immeasurable. I am one of the lucky people who could quarantine and not feel like I was suffering. During the pandemic, we built a small A-frame cabin down near the front of our land and offered it up as a refuge for people who needed to leave the city for a day or two. Now, it's my little yoga cabin and a place where I can sit and be thankful for my little home in the forest.
• 2020

  Quarentine and Self-Reflection: A Time To Work On Oneself

  When the pandemic started, I was told that we were staying home for two weeks. My first thought was “Sweet. An extended spring break.” I thought I would have to come back to school after those few days and continue on with my life as it always has been. I was wrong. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and before I knew it, I had lost an entire year of my life. I had no human contact outside of my family that entire time. I was kept in my room all day, everyday. After a while of online school and nothing else going on, I think that's when something had snapped inside of me. I experienced self reflection. With all of that time and no one but me, I just looked at myself, looked back into everything I have done and pondered on what I wanted to do with myself. I was already aware of how insignificant I was and how little I have done in life but I did not really understand just how little until I had that time to myself. I already had a list of things I wanted to change about myself and things I wanted to do so I think that is when I began working to be better. I spent a lot of time alone practicing how to act more patient and be friendlier. I practiced baking, I took care of babies a lot, I appreciated the little things I always have since I was young like a video game I play called Minecraft, I began documenting and recording everything I did, I studied foreign language, etc. Soon I started to make changes to myself. When I got mad, I would think of my nephew or I would imagine I am watching the kids and remember that I have to be patient with them. I practiced self love so when I got major depression episodes or anxiety attacks, I was able to comfort myself easier and walk myself through my struggles. I also cut back on the food I ate and the types of food I ate. I lost about 10 pounds in one week and I was super proud of myself especially since I was working out like every day. I was in really good shape and proud of myself for that. I had better stamina and my clothes fit better and I was getting a lot of foreign language practice in and I finished learning how to read and write korean as well as some simple vocabulary and sentence structure. I improved on writing since I wrote a lot more and helped develop my techniques and practiced some drawing. I spent a lot of that time sitting alone in my room and adjusting to that silence. I've improved as a listener and began to crave silence all the time. My life has not been peaceful in the least bit but I have been able to find peace within myself which has really helped in the long run so far. Having improved on myself and re-exploring hobbies and interests of mine, I was reintroduced to the loud and crowded public abruptly to which I responded with an anxiety attack but then I got more comfortable. I was super shy at first but now I feel generally happier all the time and I believe that has helped people around me relax and enjoy my presence more. I am glad I seem less threatening or mean because that is all I have been called my entire life. I am still weird and awkward and I am not anyone’s first option but I am glad I am not the last option now. My goal now is to enlist as soon as I can and go into community college. Once highschool ends for me then I will begin my life and I am super stoked about that. I have a few ideas of what I can do after highschool so I am just waiting it out now. At least this much good came out of quarantine.
• 
  2020-04-18

  Keeping Parents and Grandparents Safe While Social Distancing

  A blog post from Banner Health on how to keep elderly family members safe
• 
  2020-03-13

  Madison Orpheum Theater Covid sign

  In March 2020 Wisconsin had a state-mandated two-week lockdown. So, I went out with a camera (with a zoom lens that wasn't needed) and took pictures of the closed signs on businesses and of how desolate Madison was.
• 
  2020-04-01

  Self Isolation vs. Social Distancing: What’s the Difference?

  A blog post from Banner Health discussing the differences between self-isolation and social distancing.
• 
  2020-03-31

  Social Distancing for Teens: Helping Your Kids to Stay Connected

  A blog post from Banner Health offering suggestions for teens to stay connected during social distancing.
• 
  2020-03-20

  Managing Anxiety in Uncertain Times: Tips for Individuals and Families

  A blog postfrom the Banner Health Blog about managing anxiety during Covid-19
• 2021-08-04

  Covid Loop

  March of 2020 started like every other March in my life. I was at school worried about my grades, and getting ready for football in the fall. The last day before spring break would be the last time I would enter a classroom for about 5 months. After the shock of realizing the school is closed for the rest of the school year came the simple-minded exciment of a teen with too much time on their hands. The exciment quickly turnt to boredom. The days dragged on, they blurred together so much it was hard to keep track of the day of the week. The fear of catching and spreading a unknown sickness kept me at home. Once the sickness entered my home I was bound to my room like a prisoner in a cell. In my room I'd wake up, grab a granola bar, play video games, grab something for lunch, play video games, and flop back into bed once I was exhausted enough to sleep. Time had no meaning, I went to bed when I was tired, and played video games while I was awake. All the vidoe games kept me engaged and gave the days some meaning. After months stuck in this loop, I was finally able to go out and see other people. School started again shorly after, which is a whole other story.
• 
  2021-07-24

  Janine Brown. Oral History, July 24, 2021

  In this two-part interview, Ashley Tibollo interviews Janine Brown on how her life was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first part of the interview, Brown discusses how her last year of college was impacted and about her transition to remote teaching. She discusses her fears of the Delta variant, what sources she uses to get her information and what her feelings are regarding government action. She also discusses family life and how she was affected by the quarantine. She ends this part with her hopes for the future. In the second part of this interview, Brown discusses her decision to move in with her boyfriend right before quarantine and what it was life navigating a new relationship amidst a pandemic. She also discusses her pets and how their moods changed as her life changed. She discusses the difficulties of house hunting and the ways that the pandemic has affected the market.
• 
  2020-04-09

  Grieving Rituals Lost to COVID-19

  Rituals are an important way to celebrate special occasions and victories as well as to deal with the stresses of life. This article discusses the grieving process people have gone through because of the loss of rituals (graduations, funerals, weddings) during the pandemic and the importance of creating new rituals.
• 
  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".
• 
  2021-05-27

  The Life Through Quarantine

  There was nothing to do because places would be closed. So it was boring throughout quarantine. It was boring because events were being postponed. The main way I spent my quarantine was playing video games due to not being able to go outside. Then we’ll have to wait till places opened up.
• 
  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.