Items

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  2020-06-19

  DACA On The COVID-19 Ward: Yesenia's Story

  My name is Yesenia, and I am a DACA recipient and a nurse. As of a few weeks ago, I have been a nurse primarily in the COVID-19 unit at my local hospital in Indiana, where I live. Since COVID-19 began, my world, along with everyone else's, has been flipped upside down. It is hard to express how much my job has changed since COVID-19. I knew when I went into critical care nursing that I would have unexpected situations at work. I never thought there would be a whole floor of uncertainties. It is really overwhelming when you know that you are not enough for what is to come. But you always try your best.
• 2021-02-07

  Instant Pot cooking

  I bought an Instant Pot a year or two ago when it was the new and big thing in cooking. When I got it, I like many felt quite overwhelmed by the device. Therefor, I really only used it every once in a while to cook rice. Otherwise it stayed packed away in my kitchen. Then the Covid lockdowns started in March, which resulted in more time at home and a desire to do other types of cooking. I started to watch Youtube videos on the various functions and countless recepies. During the lockdowns, I have used my Instant Pot to make everything from soups/stocks/stews to tacos and all sorts of different types of dishes. I would say that I used the Instant Pot more than (or as much as) any other tool in my kitchen during the lockdown.
• 2020-11-01

  Covid-19 in One Word III: Consuming

  This word comes from someone who lost their graduation, a new adult. Consuming: completely filling one's mind and attention; absorbing A pandemic. We are in a pandemic. How could you think of anything else? When a bustling world came to a jolting stop, almost everyone was forced to reevaluate their priorities and what they place focus on. In the settling of this, most find one thing constantly at the front of their minds, Covid-19. With businesses closed, schools online, and people dying, it is hard to ignore the impact this virus has had. Although it has been much talked about and maybe even tried, returning to “normal” has proven to be a possibly impossible endeavor. It almost feels as if we are drowning in covid and all of its implications. If you feel this way, you are not alone. It can be a daunting task attempting to find the light in this tunnel, but we will and one day it will all be okay again, even if it is not “normal”.
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  2020-05-08

  What Is Going On?

  Listen…I don’t know who else can agree on this with me, but doesn’t it just feel like a light switch went on and suddenly the world knew what the Corona virus was? When I sit down and reflect on the first time I remember hearing of it, my mind draws a blank. It’s like this huge conspiracy within my own mind, that one day I just woke up and all of a sudden was in the loop. There is talk that it started in December, and there is talk of people first hearing in January, for me personally, I have no clue. This is not something any of us prepared for…parents are out of jobs, businesses are declining rapidly being forced to shut down, schools closing and children losing proper education tools. It feels like a horror story, I truly think it is, and I already know down the road in the future my kids will ask about my experience in it and how it impacted me. That is why I am trying to document everything, write journal entries, take videos, to truly remember what I felt at a time like this. I don’t ever want to forget it. But I want it to end. For the first time in my mother’s 35+ years of working, she’s had to file for unemployment. Never did I think that my mom would be unemployed. Things happen though, and since humans are so adaptable it’s been wild to see everyone adjust and learn this new normal. If you would have told me a month ago that my world would be turned upside down, I would have such a hard time believing you. I am a senior in college. I go to Marymount University, and this semester was supposed to be the time of my life. My friends and I took a history course that went abroad to Paris for spring break. That was supposed to be in early March. You’d think it was a joke that 2 hours before boarding the bus to head to the airport and we get an email that our trip had just officially been cancelled. This was so early on with the virus, no talk of quarantine, I didn’t even know what that term was at the time. It wasn’t until middle of the following week that people began discussing the possibility of it taking place. Fast forward to now, nearly 2 months later and over half of my spring semester became online, my graduation was cancelled, and almost all of my friends moved home. My internship got cancelled, and my last day as a senior just disintegrated in front of my eyes. Despite anything, I’ve been trying to find the positives in this situation and grow more so that once this is all over, I can reflect and be proud of what I did. I think it is important that everyone just does what they can to be safe and take precautions, but that they do what they need to fulfill their daily needs to stay happy. Though this has single-handedly been the worst thing to happen in my lifetime, there is a lot to be learned and improved on. But seriously…I still wonder .. what is going on..?!
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  2020-04-10

  week of april 6

  Personal account of living during COVID-19.