Items

• 
  2020-03

  Life of a College Student During a Pandemic

  The COVID-19 pandemic has affected so many people all across the globe in many different ways. One of the big groups of people that have been affected in the United States is college students. I was a semester and a half into my freshman year here at Duquesne when everything began to take a turn for the worse. Looking back to then, I was still finding my way and learning what it was like to be a college student at the time, just beginning to become familiar with the lifestyle. The past year and a half as a college student has been a long and hard process of transitioning into life as a college student during a global pandemic. Simple things like going to class in person, to eating with my friends in the dining hall were not as simple as they once seemed. Many students, like myself, struggled with being as involved in online classes like we were during in person classes. Along with that, I struggled with retaining a lot of the information given to me by my professors during class time, communication between student and professor was not as easy as it used to be. But not only has the education aspect of college changed drastically, there has been a huge change in the social aspect of college as well. Simple things like meeting with some friends to go get dinner after a long week of classes was not as easy as it once was. Looking back, freshman year now feels like an eternity ago, a lot about my life as a college student has changed due to this pandemic. Certainly, things are becoming better, and we are getting closer to normality, but the pandemic still affects me as a college student till this day. Still having to wear masks on campus as well as getting a COVID test when feeling a little bit sick are some things I have had to deal with recently. Life as a college student is ever changing during the pandemic, it has been very hard at times, but it is certainly something I will never forget.
• 2021-09-08

  Relative Distance

  A couple of weeks before lockdown began in March of 2020 I had reconnected with someone I met in college years prior. We went on a few dates before I left to study abroad and nothing developed further, but we had struck up a conversation over text and had made plans to meet in Boston the weekend that New York City declared a state of emergency. Needless to say, we never met for drinks that weekend, yet we talked every day without fail for the rest of 2020. Our initial conversations typically revolved around the different developments of the pandemic but we started to get to know each other as text conversations became phone calls then video calls. Our connection grew as a reaction to the large amount of time we suddenly had and by a new reality where distance meant something very different than before. Although I had not seen him in person for almost 2 years, he was there for me in the only feasible way a person could be during that time. He was there through personal tragedies or minor irritations in an evolving and confused stretch of months. Sometimes we did not have much to say at all - I deferred to topics like what I cooked for dinner or we compared notes on the new show that we had just watched. I called him first when my pandemic furlough turned into a lost job. I called him first when l was chosen for my Executive Assistant position many months and numerous applications later. He texted me on my first day of remote work to wish me luck and he consoled me over video chat through my tears of frustration and defeat as I navigated the new reality of learning a remote position in the typically highly visual and highly performative art world to which I was accustomed. On one of these calls he told me that he had to go back home to Italy. There were many more months of having a friendship and possibly relationship in a state of limbo with this person who now knew me better than most. We had become close through untraditional means; it felt strange at times but then again so did everything else. He came back to the United States in January of 2021 and we have been dating ever since. Connection to others took on a new meaning during that year. How we interacted and who we kept in contact with changed. Speaking with him was something I looked forward to and it gave me a sense of routine. More importantly, our conversations provided a dose of levity and joy to each day throughout a very tumultuous year.
• 
  2021-07-23

  First Race in a Pandemic World

  Terrified, I put on my shoes and walked over to the canyon. I’m always nervous before a race - where will I place? What if I can’t finish? It’s adrenaline talking. This time, it was different. For the first time since early 2020, I was competing in a race, outside, with other people. When I signed up, the case count was the lowest it had been since the original shut down. I was nervous, but excited. Then Delta exploded. As the numbers climbed, I tried running with a mask that week. Two days before the race, I made it 3 miles and had to take it off. This was the Hot and Hilly 10K I was prepping for. It’s over 90 degrees and the course is all hills. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do the mask the whole time. I also knew the course had narrow parts, wide enough for only one runner. What happened if I got in a group? Was being outside enough to dissipate the virus, like current advice suggests? Or is Delta more potent? And is there a difference between standing outside unmasked and running full speed unmasked in a group of other people roughly and heavily drawing air in and out? As I waited for the gun, I wore my mask. I was the only one and that didn’t bother me. In fact, I was a little self conscious that I would be judged but I think everyone was just focused on the trail. When the race began, there was a natural small bottleneck. I left my mask on. About a mile in, I had to take it off. Luckily, the crowd had thinned. Since I am not an elite runner, I wasn’t doing the 7 minute miles of the head of the pack. On the flip, I also am not slow. I was able to find a sweet spot where I could see the front of the pack in the distance, but was far enough ahead of the average runners that I was not in a crowd. Overall, it was amazing to be racing again. I love competition. For over a year, I ran only on the treadmill. There was part of me that wondered if my ability have disappeared during the quarantine. I came in 4th place in my division and am beyond excited with that placement. I also was relieved knowing I was done with the crowds for the day. I spent two weeks secretly nervous I contracted COVID and am happy to report that the vaccine seems to have worked for me. I have another race scheduled for October and am already feeling nervous. Our hospitalization rate has shot to nearly 500 and the ICU is two away from 100. Will my next race being outdoors be enough to protect my family, especially my two unvaccinated kids at home? Will my vaccine even still be effective by October? My second shot will have been administered seven months prior at that point.
• 
  2021-03-27

  #JOTPYLesson from Stephany Mae

  I’ve learned that we should’ve been wearing face masks during flu season this whole time (#neveragain), that stores used to skimp on refilling the hand sanitizer before this (#neveragain), and that despite parents realizing how hard teaching is, teachers and schools are still scapegoated for many a’thing.
• 
  2021-02-02

  Don't go back to the "Old Normal" yet!

  This is an image from the WHO website that reminds people that even though it has been long we still arent safe from spreading and getting the virus, and the title speaks "The New Normal". I thought spreading this image would be a great spark of positivity since many are upset during this time due to the fact that they miss their life before covid and wish to do things that could be done before the pandemic. This image is a reminder that we are still in the middle of the fight and can't stop now!
• 
  2020-06-26

  Quarantine Adventures on Minecraft

  Although my friends and I were relatively sad that we couldn't hang out with each other due to going in lockdown, it gave us the best excuse to start a world on Minecraft, and of course, build a McDonald's. There was a lot anxious thoughts, fears, and overall clinical depression. However, through it all, we fought together in unity to overcome not only the external struggles due to quarantine, but also our own internal struggles (that was very much poetic). This screenshot holds a lot of meaning to me because it truly shows how we all truly went through a lot this past year, and how we've been able to adapt to this new lifestyle. Nevertheless, this new way of life really hasn't been that horrendous, and in fact, I'm starting to prefer this type of schedule. At the same time though, I really wish that things could go back to normal, so that way, my friends and I's addiction to Minecraft could cease.
• 2021-01-14

  My Experience Of Covid School

  Online school did not start until two weeks after school was canceled in school. My previous school I attended for the first half of school had no idea on what to do so I never really had anything to do or, if I did it was very easy. I never really learned anything during online school but how to join a zoom for the first time. The next school year though, I had zoom everyday in my room. I was very behind thought because I learned nothing the end of last year. Now currently I am in school but covid safe, and is back to learning at a new school.
• 2021-01-14

  The Routine

  Covid-19 reset everything for me. School, weekends, shopping, restaurants and so much more. So I had to take a step back and recreate my routine for school to follow the new normals for me during Covid-19. I started off from the first thing I do everyday. Getting ready for school. Now that I don't have to drive or pack my bag anymore I now allocated this time as extra/backup time for homework. For the most part things should be the same material wise but I need to make new home for my books so I can stay organized with all my class. The last thing I need to recreate for School is what should is what I should during my break and lunch. I thought of some ideas that did not do with electronics and came up just talking with m y family or working ahead on homework. In conclusion, I think recreating my routine was very substantial and don't regret one bit of it.
• 2020-12-08

  Youth Diversion Programs within Covid-19 [MISSING MEDIA]

  This is a podcast discussing this implications of COVID-19 on a justice diversion program in Portland, ME. Will COVID change the way that young people are looked at in the justice system? Should we ever go back to "normal" or should we focus on creating a new "normal?"
• 
  2020-12-07

  Local Changes.

  With the rise of COVID infections, local stores and restaurants became cautious with their employees to flatten the curve while continuing to operate. Il Mundos pizzeria, on Huntington Avenue near Brigham Circle in Roxbury, is one of the small businesses that could not afford to stay closed or only deliver during a spike in COVID cases. Local businesses that once were so memorable to the neighborhood are forced to adapt to be safer in 2020. As places began opening back up, plexiglass barriers became commonplace in restaurants big and small, and with the addition of a ‘remember to social distance’ sign, this is the common image of what ordering food in 2020 looks like. A lot of places, like Il Mundos, do not allow customers to eat inside of the restaurant, but still allow people to grab-and-go with their food. This is the ‘new normal’ of going anywhere to get food. Some places are a bit different but everywhere has made accommodations for everyone’s safety.
• 
  2020-12-02

  Ethiopian Cafe Roxbury

  My dad had taken a long trip from his home to come visit me, the college student who lives in Boston. The tradition of eating at our favorite restaurant in town was soon to be. The 2019 red Toyota Tacoma was freshly cleaned and ready for another trip down to Roxbury, Massachusetts. I was picked up from my campus at Wentworth Institute of Technology on a bright sunny Saturday afternoon. It was about 75 degrees with a slight breeze on this beautiful July day. As we started driving down towards Roxbury, we could see nobody was outside. Usually Boston is full of people exploring the city and enjoying the downtown on a Saturday. Even at the Ethiopian Café there was no one in sight. We could see a mailman walking door to door dropping off mail but that was about it. There was hardly any traffic and no noise as most businesses were shut down. The birds chirping and the wind blowing was the only noise around. This looked like a ghost town. Inside the restaurant there was no one inside. There was a sign at the door that stated, “mask required to get inside”. The only business they were accepting was pickup or delivery. This was the “new normal” now for everybody. What was once an upbeat and social place to dine, is now a quiet empty restaurant running off a few customers at a time. I could not sit down with my dad and eat the food we had ordered. They would not allow anyone to dine inside or outside. Everyone had to just get their food and eat it somewhere else.
• 
  2020-10-03

  Jennifer Martin Oral History, October 3, 2020

  Graduate student at ASU, Angelica S Ramos interviews mother of four, Jennifer Martin of Kentucky, to get her first-hand experience of being a working mom during COVID. In this interview, they discuss the hardships of motherhood, how the routine of the household has changed and the hardships Jennifer has encountered. Jennifer also expresses excitement for moving out of the suburbs and into a farm, a decision which was made during COVID.
• 
  2020-05-21

  How COVID-19 Will Shape the Class of 2020 For the Rest of Their Lives

  Both my sister and my husband had 2020 graduations so I experienced them well firsthand. That being said, when I read this article I thought it was very well written, and that the stories in it were relatable and a good representation.
• 2020-11-06

  Summer School and COVID19

  One thing that scares me about becoming a teacher is the fact that I may not be able to go into a classroom to teach when all this schooling is said and done. After reading the archives that I have it seems that teachers are being affected by this just as much as the students are. The schools that are allowing students to enter are in limited fashion with a lot of rules that apply. for example, the archive I am referencing shows a picture of a classroom with only chairs in it and no desks. due to covid they are not allowed to use desks for sanitary reasons. It makes it seem as though the schools should not be open anyways if they arent able to take notes. It really makes it seem as this is a trial run for this school to see if they are going to be able to allow students into the school when the regular school term starts. The time that we are in is making it hard to do the things we loved to do before the pandemic and I think we can all agree we will be happy when things get back to normal.
• 
  2020-09-25

  Business as Usual

  COVID has sent the planet for a loop. In general, we are all reeling from the changes and policies that have been implemented. However, in some areas where life moves a little slower, there are some things that continue on, business as usual.
• 
  2020-11-02

  HIST30060: QR Codes

  HIST30060: The introduction of QR codes into our daily lives has been just one adjustment into our new COVID normal lives. Previous fears of data security has been exchanged for the chance to socialize and eat out. As the pandemic continued, our priorities changed, and our normal changed, however our need to connect and socialize did not.
• 
  2020-10-30

  Follow the Yellow Brick Road

  “Do you sell hand sanitizer?” asks nearly every customer that enters the door into the store that I work at. If I’m not busy, I’m usually kind enough to walk them down to the aisle they’re in (Aisle 12, Cleaning and Breakroom!), however, if I can’t take the time to, I tell them to follow the stickers we have on the floor that leads to that section. Sort of like the yellow brick road from The Wizard of Oz led Dorothy and her gang to the Emerald City. Many stores nowadays have social distancing and directional stickers for aisles, but this is the only place that I have seen these types of stickers. This is something that I have come to associate with life during the pandemic; now learning to work during this.
• 
  2020-06-23

  Online Learning Leaves Students in Poverty Behind

  This article puts in perspective the effects of distance learning on families at or below the poverty line. Many students in poverty with food insecurity, family instability, and even homelessness are also lacking a quality education due to the pandemic and virtual learning. Along with these already existing problems, these students also lack some of the necessary requirements to learn at all including internet access and availability of technology. This is leading them to fall farther behind than they already were.
• 
  2020-08-26

  Teaching During a Pandemic

  This Times article follows a few different teachers to get their take on what teaching during the pandemic has looked like for them. With every state having different rules and regulations, each teacher has their own experience of what the new school year is bringing and what teachers are doing to cope.
• 
  2020-10-29

  Keys, Wallet, Mask

  The image I chose to share was of the basket of masks in my room. Never in my life could I have predicted that this would be something I have, never mind how much of a staple it would become in my everyday life. I think what I titles thing story holds a certain importance as well. Keys, Wallet, Mask, really emphasizes how much masks have come to be a part of my daily routine. Going from living at home to moving into my new apartment in North End during the middle of the pandemic in July, just minutes from Downtown Boston, I went from only wearing a masks when going to get groceries indoors to wearing a mask every time I walk out my front door, even just walking down the street. I truly has just become such a natural thing to have a mask on my face and for everyone I walk by to have one on as well. I think the significance of the mask during the pandemic and that it has really been the only constant in my or everyone’s lives throughout this COVID-19 experience. Every day I hear contradicting statements about the pandemic, not knowing what’s true and what’s not. My masks for me symbolize a sense of protection at a very vulnerable time in life. I’m not sure if they help or if they don’t, but I know for sure that wearing a mask has given me some sense of security throughout all this chaos and uncertainty.
• 
  2020-10-20

  Online for First Semester of College

  This is important because it affected my ability to have the first semester on campus at UNLV. The government implemented multiple travel restrictions throughout the U.S. This affected many college student's abilities to live on campus in college. For this semester, I am staying at home, not being able to experience college dorms or the college experience due to the pandemic.
• 
  2020-10-15

  Mask Life

  In late January, most people around me considered Covid-19 to be the next "avian flu". It was not taken as a serious threat at the time and I even remember my colleagues having a "corona" party on the roof of our building where we all drank corona and made jokes, as we unknowingly awaited the worst pandemic in a century. As the months went on and things seemed to escalate daily, I tried as hard as I could to resist going anywhere that required a mask. I couldn't fully accept all of this and really only left my house to run or take walks, I was working from home and could order groceries or food at any time of day or night so it was an easy thing for me to reject at the time. Eventually I had to give in because I needed to occasionally stop by the office so I ordered some nice black cloth masks that could house HEPA filters. It took much getting use to but wasn't terrible wearing the masks and as I began to venture out more and more, it started to become routine. I'm on my way out, grab my sunglasses, keys and now mask, all which are kept in the same decorative bin on a table next to my front door. Come home, throw keys and mask into bin, place sunglasses on the table. Leave, grab keys and mask and sunglasses, come home, put keys and mask into the bin, sunglasses folded neatly alongside. Every day same thing, until it is something that I no longer thought about or consciously did. One day, on my quarter mile walk to the office, I smelled cinnamon. I looked around but in that part of the city there wasn't a bakery or coffee shop within a few feet, didn't see anyone walk by me and couldn't even understand how I was smelling such a strong aroma through a cloth mask with a filter. I started to realize that I couldn't even remember the last thing that I had smelled while wearing this mask, so this was definitely unusual. But like many of our fleeting daily thoughts it was just that, and by the time that I was in the elevator my mind was busy on other things. I come home, keys and mask in the bin, sunglasses on the table. Leave the next day, grab mask, keys, sunglasses and walk to work. I stop at a coffee shop on the way and again...cinnamon. Instantly I’m taken back to the previous day and asking myself, “was this what you smelled yesterday?”, but quickly realizing that I didn’t go this direction, so I hadn’t walked by this place. I get to work and again its forgotten quickly. Come home, wake up, leave for work, come home, every day the same routine and many of those days, not all though, I had at some point smelled cinnamon. Finally, one day I came home and entered the house extremely distracted, having a work conversation on my phone while fumbling with my keys and trying to take off my sunglasses off at the same time. The phone started to slip as I was approaching the “drop off table” and in my haste to catch the phone I dropped everything else onto the floor. Sometimes life forces you to slow down and this was one of those times because this was probably the first time in weeks that I was just standing next to this table and focusing. In the bin, where the masks and keys go is a stick like, brown bundle of something that first appeared to be a dehydrated plant. I picked it up and immediately could smell that thick, rich cinnamon flavor and connected dozens of fleeting, scattered thoughts to their final conclusion. My girlfriend had bought some decorative, fall scented potpourri, placed it into this bin and every day the inside of my cloth mask slept on that cinnamon bundle. My brain will never again associate the rich smell of cinnamon with fall or desserts, but now will think of masks and a global pandemic. It seems like it could be a long time before my brain can break this association and have return this spice to its proper neural connection, but sadly wearing masks is now the thing that feels normal to me. If there is any positive take away to all of this for me, its that I often realize that we are probably living through notable history right now, something that will be remembered and written about for a long time. Being that I love history and in much of what I read I usually stop and think “what was that really like in XXX place at XXX time? I wish that I could have seen it…”, I try to keep perspective and realize that one day in 100 years someone will be wondering the same thing about right now.
• 
  2020-09-24

  The New Normal: A Virtual Graduation

  As a graduating senior, this email was sent to me by the Provost Office to notify me that this semester's graduation will be virtual. Ever since my freshman year of college, the idea of walking across the stage at my graduation always inspired me to try my best in all of my courses. My hard work and dedication was geared towards this big moment. While it is admirable that St. Mary's is still looking at ways to celebrate their student's accomplishments in the safest way possible, it is still difficult to process that I'll be walking across my living room instead of a graduation stage.
• 
  2020-10-08

  Looking at the past for a better future.

  In this picture we can see my daughter and I enjoying a night out at the Arizona State Fair. During this time, we had an exceptionally good time out with perfect weather and atmosphere to enjoy this outdoor event. Coincidentally this picture was chosen on the topic of past and future and in the background of the picture there are dinosaurs. By contrast to this picture and the video link we can see how much things have changed in society to adapt to this pandemic that we are going through now. For this example, we can see how not just my family, but everyone was able to go out and enjoy commodities provided, to revel in and remember. Today this exact same event has had to adapt to these times regardless of individual wants to revert to a time when one can create memories during special events such as the state fair, and so it has had to limit this experience of rides for children and adults alike to a drive-thru of just the food that makes this event so memorable, such as funnel cakes, turkey legs and other carnival specific foods. This is an opportunity to be able to see how things were and how we can move forward in having events like this with added security measures to be able to enjoy the outdoors and socialize during these fun events. This is not an outlier of an example there are many rules and regulations that have been put in place on many events such as sports, religious practices and outings to even how one can spend time at the park with our children. It will be interesting to note how these impacts of societal change will shape not just our future but future generations as well. Covid-19 has affected not only our family or state but the entire world, this will be a time of change for everyone in which at a point in time we will be able to see what kinds of scars this left during the time and see how things have changed to better prepare or prevent such things from happening again and returning to a new sense of normalness.
• 
  2020-10-05

  A barista's pandemic story of retribution.

  This is a short viewpoint from a Starbucks barista in a city setting and gives an idea of some of the panic that set in initially during those few days leading up to lockdown.
• 
  2020-08-30

  Tweets from Inside a Prison 08/30-09/05/2020 by Railroad Underground

  These images show the Tweets of an incarcerated person utilizing a contraband cell phone to let the outside world know about prison conditions during the pandemic. This week he talks about forever loosing his right to vote because he is now a felon, the logic of incarceration where people are told everyday how worthless they are as a way to make them "fit" into society, the daily request he receives to send or receive messages on his contraband cell phone, that the phone represents hope, a dream about Donald Trump, he never had role models growing up but now has them inside prison and they are other incarcerated people, and his greatest fear is not knowing. He says that used to relate to not knowing when he would get out, or if his parents would die before he is released but Covid has changed this into not knowing when he will be allowed to shower or get a bar of soap.
• 
  2020-09-24

  Do You Have ‘Zoom Fatigue’ or Is It Existentially Crushing to Pretend Life Is Normal as the World Burns?

  We each experience the pandemic in different ways but this article hits home for so many. While I personally am okay most days because my life is rather project based, which provides me something different from time to time, I still have days where it all seems so useless. My husband struggles daily. The stress and monotony has resulted in him napping, like a toddler, mid afternoon everyday. We're lucky that his job is such that he hours are flexible right now and his company does not use software to monitor his time working. If he didn't have this flexibility to nap or take a mid afternoon break to get outside I believe his mental health would be worse than it is just by existing right now.
• 
  2020

  How I navigated a touch based sport during a time of 6 feet apart

  My story is my own story of what I experienced as a martial artist in the Covid Pandemic. It is important to me as, from what I understand, it is one of many just like it.
• 
  2020

  The Year(s) of COVID

  I did not expect 2020 to turn out this way, I had a year of travels planned and a summer of adventures. I remember telling patients at the pharmacy I work at that things will be fine, we just need to a little cautious but I was wrong, it seemed almost routine that we started getting phone calls informing us a patient passed away. Scrolling through any platform, I would come across a familiar face that is now gone. It became numbing when I found myself rubbing my skin raw in the shower after working 10 hour shifts, the mask tan was humorous at first now it is a little saddening this is the reality. I remember watching the news in April with my family and going "wow only 700 people died today" and wondered if that was the new reality. Sometimes all of this feels so surreal, is it really happening? I want to remain optimistic but it seems almost impossible when things never seem to get any better. This is our new normal, life before COVID will never return.
• 
  2020-03-13

  Hope?

  Before the lockdown, life seemed so ''normal''. Who knew the new norm would be to wear a mask, carry a hand sanitizer at all times and maintain a six feet distance from others. After being told that everyone has to quarantine from going outside to staying indoors all day. Most importantly, everything became remote. Therefore classes and being overwhelmed by work while not being able to go outside was really taking a toll on my physical and mental health. What gave me a ‘’ray of hope’’ was strangely enough my window. I never thought that looking outside of a window would show me what life has come to and what tomorrow has to offer. Every time I would feel anxious, overwhelmed and in need of a breather I would walk myself to my window. I would just look outside and see the vacant streets. Though it was making me feel ungrateful for how I used to never enjoy looking outside the window, when the children would occupy it. As looking outside my window became a habit I came to realize what didn't change before Covid-19 and now. What did change is the beautiful birds chirping, the beautiful weather, and the rising sun and sunset ensuring yet another day and hope. It is hard to be optimistic at such times but my window made me appreciative of the things I used to take for granted. Such as going outside for a stroll or taking a moment to just appreciate the smallest things around me. Looking outside my window did ensure another day. It endured me just like how the sun and singing birds things will change and indeed for the better. Yeah the sun goes down and the birds leave for their nest but to return for the next day. I've made this a ritual of a sort to walk by my window and take a moment and to be appreciative for what today has to offer. We may not be living in the best of times but tomorrow we'll look back and tell the tales of quarantine and covid-19 to our children and perhaps our grandchildren.
• 
  2020-09-07

  Should We Have Accepted Adapting to the Pandemic?

  This Tweet discusses the fact that the US has adapted its entire society to function in a pandemic rather than fighting the pandemic. The author asks if we should have done this? Also included are SOME of the replies to this Tweet showing peoples feelings.
• 
  2020-04-28

  New Norms in the Healthcare Environment

  As the spread of Covid grew larger and larger, masks and face shields became the new norm at the hospital. New precautions included temperature checks at the entrances, reuse of PPE, and a completely new hospital environment. Whole wings of the hospital previously dedicated to elective surgeries were cleared out preparing for the surge. Patients were not allowed visitors and when they needed to see a friendly face the most, all they were able to see was our eyes.
• 
  2020-08-24

  San Francisco Stays Home

  The eerie and empty streets of downtown San Francisco shows social fears and ultimately the decisions to stay home amid the pandemic.
• 
  2020-08-10

  "Recalibration"

  I wasn't quite sure what to do at first, and it was almost like I'd forgotten how much I loved writing. How I love the way I dress up words and the cathartic experience of just letting what is in your brain be seen. Having a guest for the mental dialogue makes me feel seen.
• 
  2020-08-08

  Pandemic in Paradise

  During this pandemic the state of Hawai'i has suffered a hit to our economy of tourism and many families and business have suffered many losses. Loss of income, jobs with benefits, housing and livelihood have taken a catastrophic drop through out the island chain. The new normal of wearing masks have not just become a requirement amongst the population but many have taken to making masks as both a way to make money and pass the time while on lock down. We have never seen our beaches not filled to capacity with people during the day time no matter what time of the year it is and for the first time we see nature both calm, serene and untouched for the first time in decades. Communities have come together to ensure the rules and policies are followed in certain areas of the islands to keep their families safe from many visiting tourists who have not quarantined during their stay here in Hawai'i. The government has issued a 14 day quarantine to any visitors from outside of the Hawaiian islands to keep the disease under control and from spreading into many of the local communities. The state of Hawai'i's numbers aren't as severe as the mainland United States but continue to grow in numbers. Numbers that continue to keep our famous beaches closed to not just the visitors but for the locals as well, the economy is at the lowest it has ever been and even worst than after 9-11. My job at Starbucks provides a great way to distract people from the chaos going on in their lives and around the world, I've learned that this one on one contact with someone may be the only contact some people ever get in their day to day lives. People look forward to any human interaction these days especially when our lives start off with work and end with home, no in-betweens. What I miss the most is hugging those around you who are closest with you, it's a social norm to hug someone here and is as formal as a handshake when you first meet them. I even find myself being unable to recognize someone with their mask on even if I have known them for years, that saying "I never forget a face" has definitely been put to the test. But what can I say? Until this pandemic is under control and we find a cure this will continue to be the new normal of today.
• 
  April 12, 2020

  Which ‘D’ Are You?

  Denial, Delusional, Devastated, and Diligent. These are the four D’s that the artist has experienced due to the Coronavirus. She published this comic taking her audience into consideration, knowing that they have also most likely experienced all four stages at one point during this time of quarantine. “Learning tools to manage life and myself while we gradually adjust everything as per the quarantine schedule.”
• 
  2020-05-14

  Embracing New Normal on Extension Delivery

  Our experience in delivering our extension services to clients
• 
  2020-07-20

  Covid-19 Diary

  The story shares my personal experience of the pandemic and it is important because it demonstrates a reaction at the face of adversity.
• 
  2020-05-29

  COVID-19 Musings

  These are my blog posts as I mused upon the COVID-19 pandemic. From when the virus started spreading, to quarantine thoughts, to looking at it in the context as an environmentalist, and dealing with the new normal.
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  2020-04-13

  The Barricades of Cubao

  Last Friday night, an ambulance silently entered our street in Cubao. Although its red and blue lights were spinning, its siren was turned off. In the silence of that Good Friday night, two residents from the building two lots away from where we lived were brought inside the ambulance. As quickly as it appeared, the ambulance left our street. Yesterday morning, as the world celebrated Easter Sunday, the barricades on the streets of our neighborhood were reinforced. Men and women assigned by the Barangay served as guards, checking the identity of every person who wanted to enter the streets. With vehicles banned from passing through the streets, I had to walk several blocks from our residence to the Barangay Hall to get a Quarantine Pass. It was needed to allow me to buy food and maintenance medicines. Last night, we were told that one of the residents that were taken by the ambulance last Friday night had tested positive for COVID-19. Stricter measures would be implemented. This, it seems, will be our new normal.
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  2020-04-30

  After the coronavirus pandemic, the world can’t go back to business as usual

  My letter to the editor in the South China Morning Post (in HK). Am originally from the Philippines now based in HK. How the world and life needs to change to adapt to the new post-Covid19 normal.
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  2020-03-21

  Plague Journal, Day 8: The Circle of disease tightens

  The Girlfriend's friend enters the hospital with lung problems, awaits test results; also, her colleague is a possible Covid-19 vector. The Girlfriend experiences tension with her mother in a nursing home, her children at her apartment. Meanwhile, my mother adjusts to her new isolation.
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  2020-04-06

  20，19，18

  It is a video I made myself. Compared my ins stories in the past two years with a film of me washing my hands this year, it is my translation about how life has been changed by the pandemic.
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  2020-05-23

  First time in the outside

  Shelter in place has been lifted. This photograph is the first time my children have been allowed in public with masks. We went to a local bakery "Famous Creations" for cupcakes. The boys (Levi and Canyon) were excited to see strangers and choose a treat. As we were there several other families arrived but stayed far apart from each-other.
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  04/05/2020

  Life at home during the Coronavirus isolation. People are finding that they have a lot of time on their hands--especially at first. Then a "new normal" set in and people became busier.

  During the beginning of the shelter at home order, people were trying to figure out what to do with their time. #homelife, #isolation, #shelterathome, #naps, #eating #ASU #HST580
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  05/18/2020

  Back to Normal? [DUPLICATE OF "No More Different, Please"]

  Today felt like a dream come true. I got to go back into an actual lap pool and swim a workout for the first time in two-three months. This doesn’t mean that one kid got to swim. This means that the Rec Center opened which is a big step at least in my life for things going back to normal. This means that I can try to salvage all of the work I have done in this one sport. The coronavirus has definitely changed how I look at everything now. I feel just so thankful and excited to be walking into a pool deck when sometimes I would even be so annoyed to go to swim practice because I knew it would be so hard and tough. I know that from now on I will be so happy even when I go into a test set where you go until you break and can’t make the base. I will be so happy to even be able to go to school and have swim practice right after which is really weird considering that even in kindergarten I would go to school and have swim practice right after. #LSMS #NSD
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  05/18/2020

  Make sure you have your phone, keys, wallet, and all of this stuff too

  This is the new normal. During this time of uncertainty, it can't hurt to go a little overboard with the caution.
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  04/29/2020

  The Virus Series #30: Waiting

  The focus of this piece is the human waiting on the threshold/doorway. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. For time to move forward, for the pandemic to lessen, for the 'new normal' to begin. Stillness in the time of chaos. *Original text in "Date:" 4/29/2020 in lockdown/quarantine
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  2020-05-15

  The New Normal?

  Everyday feels the same. I am so bored and tired. My sleep schedule is messed up. I have absolutely zero motivation left to work out because I won’t even have a swim meet until I become a teenager. The highlight of my day was definitely going to Ross. So much has changed though. You can only have a certain number of people in the store, so the workers count everyone and make some people wait outside until someone inside is done shopping. Most of the people are wearing masks and when workers come in, they have to sanitize and get their temperature checked. On top of that everyone is pushed to social distance as there are arrows on the ground guiding you. Lastly, when you check out you and the cashier are separated by a thick clear sheet of plastic.
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  2020-05-04

  Perspectives

  Different views from social distancing