Items

• 2020-11-21

  College student during Covid-19

  It is hell. This pandemic has turned my university into a political money-grabbing institution. In my experience, I was told that my classes would be in person so that meant I had to pay for my $6000 dorm with money that I could not get because Covid-19 affected business and their hiring process. Now, all my professors have moved online by choice and I am still paying full tuition for classes I signed up to be in-person. Not only that, I am paying around $800 for a month for a dorm I am barely allowed to leave.
• 2020-11-20

  Covid-19

  During this pandemic people have lived their lived completely different because we have to stay home and limit ourselves to going out and one of the biggest things is wear a mask. I don’t have much stories to tell because I usually stay inside a lot especially during weekdays and don’t do anything. One things I did a lot during quarantine was workout a lot more.
• 
  2020-11-19

  California Governor Announces Curfew

  California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a limited stay at home order on Thursday that would require non-essential work and gatherings to stop between 10 pm and 5 am in counties with high rates of COVID-19. The order is set to take effect on Saturday at 10 pm and will last for one month.
• 
  2020-11-19

  The Journal of a Common Man

  To show the hardships and happiness throughout the pandemic year of 2020
• 
  2020-11-18

  The Use Of A Commuting Students Vehicle

  A vehicle was how a commuting student got to and from school. I loved driving to school it gave me and opportunity to reflect on my day and go over any activities I need to do during the day and just listen to music. During this pandemic I can not do any of those activities. All classes are online so there is no need to drive my car and it just sits in my driveway. Driving was an everyday thing for everyone and since quarantine I have gone days without driving. However, I didn't not mind not having to pay for gas as often. This is the only plus side I see from not being able to drive during the pandemic.
• 
  2020-03

  A Pass for the Lockdown

  This is an important submission to me, because it was a weird way for me to feel like more than just a simple grocery clerk, but also I felt more heavily the weight of the whole COVID pandemic. I was given this letter by my store manager at Kroger, back in late March I believe, when the city was placed under a lockdown. It was in the event any employee, on their way to work, was pulled over and asked why they were out driving during a lockdown. It makes me proud, in a way, to ensure that people still are able to shop, but it's also scary because, well people still come to shop for groceries. I haven't kept it in my car since the lockdown lifted, but I am concerned I will need it again, with the rise of cases.
• 
  2020-04-11

  Putting the Pieces Together

  When quarantine struck my family, my brother came home from Illinois State University due to safety reasons. Once he came home, my family started to play tons of board games and watched tons of movies just to spend time together. This was a rare moment as we haven't been living together as a family since my brother moved out, so it was a special time for all of us. This was a fun time for all of us because we got to come together as a family for the first time in a long time.
• 
  2020-10-03

  ChongQing on National Day

  The National Day is the longest holiday in China, and usually, everyone likes to take the opportunity to go out and take a tour to another city. After months of quarantine and lockdown, the data showed that people were desperate to take some fresh air and the volume of travelers reached 5 hundred million this year. This is a photo of the QianSiMen Bridge in the city of ChongQing, it was under lockdown and forbid cars to pass through so travelers could take a walk on the bridge and see the Cityview at night. The bridge was full of people and the policies only allowed one-way on each side of the bridge to control the flow and avoid chaos.
• 
  2020-03-16

  First Day Distance Learning

  This is a photograph of my son on his first day of distance learning. He set up his learning space himself and was quite excited. At this time we believed that distance learning would only last two weeks so it was more of an adventure at this point. By Day 7, he was frustrated, depressed, and lonely. This picture shows him hopeful and happy.
• 
  2020-05-07

  Quarantine Cross-Stitch

  In Spring 2020, after the pandemic closed the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire campus, UWEC history major Katie Boucher handmade this cross stitch during quarantine.
• 
  2020-10-30

  Deciding Not to Fear or Hate Every New Day

  It can be hard to fall asleep when you fear or hate tomorrow. Looking back on these past days, weeks, and months, there have been times when it was hard to fall asleep. Still, I’m amazed that most of my “tomorrows” have been exciting, filled with (a few) people I love, and promising something new. to have this. In light of news-worthy narratives, I feel amazingly blessed. That’s not to say I didn’t have to adapt. “You can’t come into work, and I don’t know when you will be able to, and I don’t know when you can be safe, and I…” But it wasn’t me I was worried about as my (former) boss rambled on. I was young. I didn’t have a family to support. In that moment, it didn’t matter that I lost my longed-for position at the archives of my alma mater; my life hadn’t been going as planned for a while. The truth of the matter was that in that moment, I was loved by my house-mates, I had enough food, I had enough in savings. Payments could wait just long enough. And, somehow, it was just enough. I was immediately able to work in part and serve in whole as a nanny and tutor for an essential-worker’s family. With more open time and open space, calls with my Nonni and Zoom calls with other family members let my heart open up the folded, selfish areas that I had lustfully kept to myself. I had to - no, got to - make the rest of my time proactive. Practice French. Take on contracted research. Learn dance choreography, teach salsa lessons virtually, and take a few risky health situations seriously. Every day of this worldwide crisis promises more ways - or perhaps dares me? - to live more richly. Life becomes more about each day and each human, and less about my time and my goals and my inadequacies. UNPOPULAR SENTIMENT: I don’t care about the pandemic, I really don’t. Not personally, at least. In love, I will absolutely wear masks and socially distance and refrain from travelling, but for me, life is meant to be lived in each precious, terminal breath, and I am not promised to be given security, health, love, passion, joy, and peace. It is in this loud silence that has descended on the globe, I’ve been able to love the unloved, serve the neglected, and deepen my empathy for those with whose background is different than mine. My keenest struggle is “home.” In the lessening of physical relationships, a yearning for a home even truer than my space and my people continues to grow in me. A “home” that embraces my soul, where I can work, thrive, and rest. The less I care one-dimensionally about success or failure, and the more I care for people, the keener this desire becomes. I don’t know when that will be fulfilled, but I have hope. Hope enough that I won’t always fear or hate tomorrow that I can’t fall asleep. Although of late, the origins of falling asleep typically lie in chocolate… It’s hard refusing those red-wrapped cocoa velvet symphonies!
• 2020-10-30

  Parenting During a pandemic

  During this pandemic nobody knew what was going to happen with anything including the school system. What some people fail to realize is that most homes have both parents working to provide for their family. Well what happens when a pandemic hits? Everyone was unsure of what they were supposed to do. Nobody knew whether or not they were going to lose their job or if they were going to be able to provide for their family. one thing i noticed that should have had more light shed on the subject was parents teaching their kids during a pandemic. Homeschooling was never on anyones list of things they were going to have to do. I focus on the families that have both parents as the people bringing in money. When the pandemic hit and everyone was able to transition working at home the parents that had the kids going to school suffered the most. Not only do they have to work at home but they now have to find time to make sure their kids a re being taught there school work. I could not imagine being a parent in this time and having to juggle a job teaching kids and making sure food is prepared and everyone is happy. I noticed that this made a lot people appreciate kids as well. Stay strong! what teachers have to go through on a daily basis. I appreciate all you working parents that are being forced to teach their
• 
  2020-10

  Using downtime to cook

  I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but between working and going to school full time, I often find it very hard to find the time to try new recipes. When I was furloughed from my job for a few weeks, I used some of that downtime to try exciting new recipes. This picture is of my sister-in-law Elise’s pasta and sausage dish that she makes. Since it is my favorite meal, I made it myself a few weeks ago and it was fantastic!
• 2020-10-28

  Taiwan's 200th day COVID-19 Free

  I was born in Taiwan, so I was happy to see that my home country is doing so well in the pandemic. Despite their close proximity to China, Taiwan cracked down on COVID-19 very quickly and was never heavily struck by the disease. I asked my mother about this, and she said that Taiwan already has experiences with pandemics (the SARS outbreak). I think that coupled with the political tension between Taiwan and China prompted Taiwan to tackle the coronavirus outbreak very aggressively.
• 
  2020-10-27

  Kim Kardashian Receives Backlash over COVID-19 Vacation Tweet

  Celebrity Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) posts a tone-deaf tweet about vacationing for her 40th birthday. This was not well received by the public, as it was viewed as overly privileged and offensive to the many people out there struggling to make ends meet during this pandemic. This tweet has sparked many parody memes mocking Kim's tweet.
• 
  2020-10-16

  Theories on Bodies

  With quarantine came time, and time came art. For those privileged enough, a Renaissance has arisen within the art community. This art was made by a friend of mine who is quite dear to me who made this art for a work-in-progress album while in this ever-so-long quarantine.
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  2020-10-29

  A Collection of Quarantine Paintings

  I am posting this photo because it showcases how I have spent a lot of my time during the pandemic. This photo displays every painting I have created since the beginning of quarantine. Some of the works shown in the picture are still works in progress and others are completed. Before Covid prevailed and we were sent home in the spring, I had lost interest in painting and had not painted in months. The lockdown that Covid brought on allowed me to slow down and rekindle the love and creativity I had for painting. In this photo, there are 14 paintings, however, I have made more and gave them to friends as gifts. I mainly work with acrylic paint on canvas because I like vibrant color and solid lines, although, I would like to start experimenting with oil paints soon. Covid-19 brought on many obstacles to a lot of people but I am grateful that I was allowed to reconnect with painting
• 
  2020-09-18

  Hanging Out With Friends

  My friends and I had wanted to hang out for a while, but wanted to be safe while doing so. I picked them both up and while wearing masks the whole time, we drove to Newburyport, MA and then walked around. We stopped to get coffee and treats and sat outside. We walked along the boardwalk and continued to talk about stuff for a couple hours. We talked about shows we binged during quarantine, how we felt about online school and how excited we were to be able to go back to living at school eventually (we're all sophomores at different colleges). This picture is important to me because I have missed being able to hang out with my friends whenever I want to, and it took us such a long time to plan how we could all meet up.
• 
  2020-10

  Cooking in the Fire Pit

  Avoiding restaurants in an attempt to quarantine and social distance has led me to try new things. One of those new things is cooking over coals in my fire pit. I cut up a pineapple and seasoned it with Tajin, wrapped it up in foil and placed it in the hot coals for about 15 minutes. Took the pineapple out, let it cool for about 5. Delicious! Absolutely delicious!
• 
  2020-10-29

  How the Pandemic Changed Us

  On March 13th, 2020, my entire life shut down with the rest of Massachusetts. My public school job closed, my university closed and my life began only existing in the four rooms of my apartment. My time became dedicated to my toddler, I became a stay at home mom, student and caretaker full time. The world around us had stopped completely, or so it felt. Quarantine was in full affect and people were stuck inside for months.Then, almost magically, our communities began to come together. I have witnessed some of the most beautiful things I for so long ignored because of the business of every day life, I witnessed nature and humanity again. I began appreciating the little things again. Quarantine had become a time to reflect, grow and appreciate the world around me. This horrible situation began to blossom into people supporting each other, clapping for the healthcare workers nightly, singing together out their windows, thanking each other. I share this image because I realized in the midst of everything that has been bad about this year, I’m reminded daily that there is always positivity in the world, even when everything around us feels negative.
• 2020

  How I first heard about Covid virus.

  When I landed from Italy back in Los Angeles on Feb. 22,2020. I was greeted with concern and told that my group probably should go into quarantine because of a virus they were then calling Corona. I was confused. I had just had a wonderful 12 day tour of Italy with a group of 30 of my students and their parents. I was able to show them beautiful, historic places and art that they had been studying. We knew when we left for the trip that there was a virus in China but we had no idea that it was spreading through Italy like wildfire while we were there. The only thing that should have tipped us off was when we first arrived and landed in Naples, getting off the plane we had to get our temperature tested. But, that was the last time any of us had any inkling that a virus was spreading dangerously through the streets we were walking. Until we landed back in Los Angeles! I had to check the news and when I did, I saw that we had gotten out of Italy just in time because the country was shutting down. At that point there were no reported cases in the United States but people were fearful that my group brought the virus back with us. We did not. But soon enough, it arrived and began to spread. And that's when my world changed.
• 
  1918-09-28

  September 29, 1918 Chicago Tribune Newspaper

  The reason why I submitted this paper was to show the similarities between both the Spanish Flu and the current Covid-19 pandemic that we are going through. As philosopher George Santayana would say, "Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It."
• 
  2020-10-27

  Bahamas May Delay Planned November 1 Reopening

  Will The Bahamas open up for those much needeed tourist dollars?
• 2020-10-27

  Everyday Life in Quarantine

  When quarantine hit us I had no idea what to do. I was pretty much drowning in boredness during the first week or 2. But then I started picking up a routine that I followed to keep me busy.For example when we were in quarinitine i was in a basic routine. Workout, shower, eat, video games, eat, video games, sleep. Sleep and for everyday during quarantine I pretty much did this. I didn’t set a alarm because I was awaken by my mom’s step class and even though it was almost 10 I could hear her steps getting louder and louder until I was out of bed. Hearing my mom’s footsteps and having nothing to do I decided to go to the garage and lift. The garage was silent except for the iron banging when I put it down. Once I was done i immediately went to the shower and got cleaned up for another day of laying around. It was like I was in auto-pilot during the day trying to make myself busy. Around 5ish I could smell my mom’s cooking which always brought a warm feelings because I was thankful that my family was safe and we can eat together as a family. After dinner I hopped onto the playstation until I felt my fingers twitching and getting cramps. When It was too hard for me to keep my eyes open I lay in bed wondering if it will ever be normal again. And asking myself, what will I do tomorrow?
• 2020-10-27

  Senses Throughout the Covid Experience

  I remember the intercom on March 13th telling the students “School will be out for two weeks due to the Coronavirus.” At first, this was awesome, we got time off school with no homework!! But then the break never stopped and school never resumed to what it used to be. Being quarantined went from days, to weeks, to months, and hasn’t stopped yet. We barely finished the school year online and thought we would go back at the start of next year. Oh were we wrong! All we see is the computer screen! We were quarantined for another 3 months and proceeded to do the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year online. Hopefully we get to go back to school next semester. We will be able to talk to one another and get out of the boring home. This virus has blocked us from our homecoming, football season, sports, hanging out with friends, celebrating holidays, socializing at school, and seeing family. Instead, we are on the computer for 5-6 hours a day either in zoom meetings or doing homework. We now can’t touch everything, talk to who we used to, and taste all of the diverse foods we would go out and have. It isn’t healthy! We need to go back to school next semester even if it is hybrid. This pandemic has taken a toll on everyone and we need to get through this together.
• 
  2020-10-10

  Scott Adams Oral History, October 10, 2020

  Scott Adams, a graduate student at Arizona State University, lives in Camarillo, California. In this interview, he reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected his life. He highlights the effects the pandemic and quarantine has had on mental health and employment. He also touches on the division caused by COVID-19, politics, and the politicization of the pandemic by both the right-wing and left-wing. Scott also describes the precautions taken by he and his friends to avoid catching the virus, and how the quarantine and the current political divide has affected their relationships.
• 2020-10-23

  No New Friends during Covid

  The saddest part about living my last year as a teenager during covid isn't the fact that I have to stay at home and live with my parents for the 8th month in a row while all of my friends go out and party, or the fact that I constantly feel like I'm wasting time and should be doing more with my life and my time, or the fact that I'm constantly at a crossroads about wanting to change my major but not wanting to do so remotely, and as a result making my curriculum harder than it needs to be. I would say that the saddest part of it all is all of the people I lost along the way. For starters, I guess being in the house 24/7 makes people reveal true colors. Not only did I lose friends, but I also lost love-interests and overall people I thought would be in my life forever. No these people did not die, but their relationships to me did. The first friendship lost was a guy I held very close to me during high-school, so close that our friend group continued to communicate with one-another post-graduation (which says a lot). The reason everything blew-up was his reaction to the BLM. Me, being an African-American girl would hope that I had chosen friends that would not support unnecessary police brutality, and instead stand-up for the killing of black lives... Sadly, this wasn't the case. Lost friend #1, remained quiet during this movement after George Floyd's murder, and instead only chose to speak about how the rioting and looting had inconvenienced his life as a caucasian male living in Naperville IL. You could say I was a little offended about where his concerns lie, but this didn't stop me from speaking on it and giving him the chance to save the friendship. The was a chance he neglected to take and let's just say that was the last time I have spoken to him. I do not believe that politics should be the "end-all-be-all for relationships, but not wanting someone to die because of the color of their skin is not politics... it's human rights. Moreover, friend #2 was lost during the period of COVID due to him developing a completely new personality and turning into someone who didn't respect the words of others, and instead get mad when things didn't go his way. Given that I had shared a lot of personal experiences with friend #2, I was very hurt to see this side of him. But this didn't stop me from cutting him off. I haven't spoken to him since April, may that friendship RIP. Moreover, countless people turned out to be the opposite of who I thought they were during this time, and I have cut many ties and burned many bridges amidst experiences COVID-19. Although on the bright side, those who are truly meant to be in my life have shown their loyalty and strengthened our bonds stronger than ever throughout the past few months, and for this, I will be forever grateful to have lived through something as life-altering as the pandemic.
• 2020-10-23

  My not-so-fun Freshman year of college

  My experience with COVID-19 is, I'm sure as basic as most other individuals my age. I vividly remember being at the library studying for finals later in the day upset that DePaul hadn't sent out regard giving us 2 weeks off for spring break like seemingly every other school in the United States. I felt left out and redundantly did my homework. It wasn't long after that I heard a roar of cheering on the 2nd floor of the library that was supposed to stay at a whisper. I knew this could only mean one thing... DePaul had come to their senses and had given us our well-deserved two-weeks off. Although, this wasn't the case. My joyful celebration came to an end when I read the email they sent out to their student body in March, telling everyone that they would be moving out and not returning until possibly September of the next academic year. I WAS SHOCKED. Moreover dumbfounded, and not ready to have my freshman year come to a halt. Even more, I didn't feel making students move out was necessary... The virus wasn't that serious and would be gone soon. I didn't know of any other colleges that were taking measures as drastic as DePaul... because of this, you could say I was pretty annoyed at the inconvenience DePaul was putting their students through, as all of my friends on other campuses got to enjoy their extra week of spring break. March 13th has a known reputation of being the last "normal" day before everything changed due to COVID. This was the last day that many people remember not having to worry about the pandemic, the last day before everything changed forever. After this day the country took on a very dark path, and many people believed it was the end of the world. With news reports at all-time high reporting cases growing day-by-day in our country, and spreading like wildfire: it's safe to say that our entire country was in a state of panic. Throughout the next few weeks, almost all of my friends at other schools had to drive back down to their campuses and move out since the "two-week spring break" was anticipated to last much longer. After this, I felt less left out, and almost grateful that DePaul had taken the time to look ahead and save us the hassle of separate trips to move out. Being at home for the first month was honestly in my opinion pretty fun. I got to sleep in every day, and I didn't have FOMO (fear of missing out) because the country was on a somewhat strict lock-down and I knew that everyone around me was doing the same thing. Zoom phone video-calls became the next big thing in my personal and school life. I had new normals such as washing my hands every 30 seconds, wearing a mask whenever in public, and not touching my face with my hands... These were all habits that I thought would be short-lived, although here I am writing this in October of 2020, doing still having to do the same things. The past few months have gone by really slowly but oddly fast at the same time. It's almost November, I ended up staying home to save money on housing for school since all of my classes are online. Almost everyone I know has all online classes since our country hasn't taken the proper measures to get rid of covid and instead chose to adapt to covid, making the turn-around time of going back to life-pre-covid exponentially longer. Furthermore, many college students have chosen to live on campus while doing their studies to be able to get out of the house with their parents and be with their friends. This is the one thing I wish I was able to do since the past 8 months living at home are drastically different than when I was by myself away at school. Although, I understand that financially it's the smartest decision so I'm continuing to preserve on, even as my friends get to live a life somewhat more entertaining than myself. It's the price I have to pay for caring about the well-being of others more than my youth being filled with memories of going out. Now I take life day-by-day and continue to make goals for the future. But in all honesty, I have no idea what the future entails.
• 2020-03-22

  Quarantine Day 7 - 22 March 2020

  It was only the seventh day of quarantine. While my two younger children, (then aged 6 and 3) were still enjoying the "newness" of learning from home, my oldest child (pictured here at age 10) was done learning from a distance. In these three photos, I captured my son physically crawling across the floor to the dog's bed in order to cry. He would eventually cry himself to sleep simply over having to learn virtually. He had had essentially no warning that his life would forever be changed when he left school on March 13, 2020. He went from school five days a week, hockey practice five days a week, and a constant stream of friends to play with to being shut in his house with his parents and two sisters. From Day 7 (documented in the picture), he did not cope well with the change. This is the first documentation I have of what would be later diagnosed as his depression.
• 
  2020-10-20

  Health officials warn Canadians against believing COVID-19 'internment camps' disinformation

  Conspiracy theorists in Canada believe that the Federal government is planning on creating internment camps and forcing people into them. This is likely due to the government push for funding of federal quarantine sites offered to homeless and other individuals on a voluntary basis.
• 
  2020-04-03

  Personal Email to Supervisor

  To say I missed coming into work would be an understatement. I thought being able to work comfortably in sweatpants would somehow make up for the lack of interaction, but by April several important dates had come and gone and I had no one to be with to celebrate them. Isolation on my birthday was the most difficult. I usually spent time with my family and we would celebrate together but all I had was a videochat with them and nothing else. Days melted together and my anxiety grew. I was missing the community I had when I went to work and it took "losing" it for me to fully appreciate what it is I had. I appreciated the fact that my supervisor was having us check in weekly, it was something I looked forward to.
• 
  2020-10-20

  Coronavirus, Las Vegas, Archives and Me

  This video I took while riding near the strip really reminded me of the impact coronavirus has and is having on the Las Vegas community. This impact has been huge on Las Vegas being that it is coined “the city that never sleeps” and has a large population. This video to me shows the importance of community involvement. Despite the strip hotels being vacant the lights remained on with a message of love instead of off making the hotels completely dark. This video involves the decision of the government to “enforce” quarantine and isolation laws which involved many recreational activities and places to be shut down and stopped.
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  2020-10-20

  21 Pilots Kind of Sum up Quarantine

  This song was written during the whole quarantine mess and the music video perfectly depicts how some might have continued life. These two friends/ band mates are making a new song and are recording themselves sending their files to one another and receiving new pieces of music. During its release life was pretty close to what they were doing. Looking into a camera and staying six feet away from each other
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  2020-10-20

  A Need for Change

  This text I have uploaded says that there is a need for strict regulations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the fact that the number of cases in the US have not lowered down by any significant number whatsoever, compared to other countries in the world that have successfully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. This story points out a mishap among the public in Nevada.
• 
  2020-04-07

  There's Still Hope

  The picture was taken April 7, 2020, about a month into quarantine in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was a time when the only human interaction you would get is at grocery store when you were scrambling to get supplies for your home not knowing if you or a loved one could be the next victim of this pandemic. My household and I were scared, not knowing what to do besides stay quarantined in our home and not try to get tired of each other. We decided we wanted to change up our routine of just staying in the house, and drive down to get a view of the strip to see how it looked with no people. We drove by the electrified city with usually hundreds of people walking the streets partying, to only see the streets empty and all the buildings lights shut off. However, as we drove by the casinos and hotels by Aria Casino, there were two buildings with lights lit up in the shape of a heart. This showed me, despite all the trouble and heartache this pandemic has brought, there was still hope in our city. That one day we will overcome this pandemic together, and in the mean time we just need appreciate what we have, show our loved ones that we love them, and quarantine to help preserve the lives of others. The hearts gave me a sign of hope, that my family and I were not in this alone. *A picture taken by me driving down the strip.
• 
  2020-09-05T22:48:00

  A Very Long Lonely Saturday Night

  The photo I presented captures two major events that affects my personal experience. First, the presence of human beings is not seen on a lovely Saturday night reveals how the government has implemented safety precautions of the use of masks and social distancing that involves quarantining in your home. This is a method the government is utilizing to substaint the coronavirus until a vaccine has been released to the public. This photo also captures something very significant to our atmosphere and that is the lack of air pollution. For those who are unaware of what air pollution is, air pollution is many different substances in the atmosphere that are harmful/dangerous to the health of humans and other living beings.This is significant because my health including all people who live in my community are not being poisoned from the air. Although the coronavirus has negatively affected my personal experience, I believe that the required safety precaution and lack of air pollution is for our good until we figure out a solution to the problem.
• 
  2020-10-15

  Light at the End of the Tunnel

  Just a couple weeks ago I adopted a nine week old mini australian shepherd puppy, named Ozzy, who is in the photograph. There were many factors that went into adopting my first ever puppy, and a lot of it had to do with the world pandemic: coronavirus. All summer while everyone was staying inside their houses quarantined, I was out working at a breakfast restaurant. Of course, all employees wore masks, but not every customer that walked into the restaurant was aware of the severity of the pandemic. Some would refuse to wear masks, even though it was a state law, cough or sneeze in your face, while being ruthless and careless. Although the government is showing action by recommending everyone to wear masks, it is not necessarily helping the current state of our country. I believe that more action needs to be taken for the pandemic to be resolved or improved. This led me to leave my job, and spend more time at home to protect the safety of me and my family. Scrolling on the internet with all my free time I saw that a lot of dogs were in need of a home due to shelters and pet stores overflowing. This led me to find the most perfect puppy, and now he is a part of my family. Contrary to my beliefs there is always a bright side in unfortunate situations. Ozzy turned out to be the light at the end of the tunnel, providing me with the happiness I was missing in the past few months due to the declining state of the world.
• 
  2020-10-19

  Missing

  This conversation was between my best friend and i, hoping to return back to campus in a few weeks, but it never happened.
• 
  2020-07-16

  COVID19 Meals and Supplies Drop off TV Table

  This TV table is where my mother left supplies for my father during his quarantine after he contracted COVID19 in July 2020. My mother set this table up outside their bedroom door. When she left something on the table my dad did not come and get it until she had left the hallway completely. I was not allowed to go near the table or get anything for my dad because my mom was afraid that I would get sick. She left a variety of items there for him including Gatorade and other drinks, meals, desserts, and utensils, and sticky notes. I think that this item demonstrates the type of adaptation necessary when a loved one has COVID19. My family and I could not be together, so we had to find ways to safely be apart. This table is one of the ways my parents and I did that.
• 
  2020-07-16

  Staged COVID Dinner Sticky Notes

  This is a photograph I took of staged post-it notes my mother wrote to my father during his quarantine after he contracted COVID19 in July 2020. When my father tested positive for COVID19 he quarantined in my parents’ bedroom. His illness required my mother and I to make adjustments to our daily lives. My mother began taking care of my father, primarily by bringing him supplies and delivering food during meal times. While she did this, she wrote sticky notes to him which can be seen in the photograph above. Some of the sticky notes are just simple reminders or questions, nevertheless, I believe they are all significant. These sticky notes were a creative way that my mother used to communicate with my father while he was in quarantine. Some of them are also quite heartfelt and silly. And I think that’s why the notes are so important because they show that we can still be creative, silly, and funny during very stressful times. Also, these sticky notes are important to me because they represent my parents’ commitment to each other; even when things got tough.
• 
  2020-03-12

  An unrepeatable trip across the pond

  This photo was the first time the pandemic became real for me. In March of 2020, My wife and I took a well needed 2 week vacation to the United Kingdom. We very much needed a break from work & it just so happened that a friend of mine had a birthday and would be celebrating in Scotland by taking a two-week ski trip around then. What could go wrong? We figured we could take two weeks and things would be pretty much the same when we returned. We were mistaken. Only a few days after we arrived in Scotland,these & similar signs began to appear in public areas. Our ski-trip evolved into an escapade where we were hotel confined for most of our time. While we still got out and were able to explore the area a bit, for the most part we remained indoors since we were unsure as to what was “safe.” Getting back stateside was an adventure in it’s own, from the cancelled flights to the intense screening process at Heathrow. All the while, we continued to see the Coronavirus cases stockpile worldwide. We finally made it home and entered another quarantine, which it feels like we are still in seven months later. In the months since, I’ve lost extended family members, and a friend to COVID, and truly wish I could go back to the start of that trip, back when the virus was something real, but maybe not something tangible for me personally. This story/photo is important for me because I truly believe that this pandemic is a world changing event. Even though technically, the ‘19’ in COVID-19 signifies that it began in 2019, March 12th 2020 is when it truly started to show me just how real this virus was.
• 
  2020-08-05

  Immediate-Family-Only Pandemic Wedding

  This is a picture from my sister’s wedding from August 2020. When she first got engaged no one could have predicted that there would be a global pandemic some months later. Instead of waiting for next year they decided to hold a small ceremony that only the immediate family would be invited to. They decided to make a fun time out of it and had both families rent houses on location to quarantine together for a week before the ceremony. We brought enough food for the week and stayed isolated from the town and any other visitors. It was like a mini pandemic-vacation with both immediate families able to bond while quarantining before the ceremony. I enjoyed the time we got to spend with family more than the stress that would have come from planning and executing a larger wedding that simply wasn’t possible anytime soon because of the pandemic. The ceremony itself was very intimate and special and our dad even got a marriage license online so that he could officiate. We chose a random spot and everyone helped by packing the chairs out there and taking them back with us. It was neither formal nor completely casual. All of the sisters got to help make a small little cake the night before and we had it with our lunch back at the rental houses. I almost wish my husband and I had done something similar for our wedding three years earlier. I hope more couples will consider a smaller intimate on-location ceremony in the future. It’s less stress, less money, but still very special. My sister and her husband are planning to hold two receptions next year at each of the parents’ houses for extended family and friends.
• 
  2020-04-01

  How Military Base COVID-19 Protocol affects Military Dependents- Presidio of Monterey base guidelines

  My husband is active duty Air Force. Most base housing is several miles away in Seaside, Ca. However, we were given the option to move into the historical housing on post, which meant my husband could walk to work and we have a stunning view of the Monterey Bay and Pacific Ocean. This also means that we must show our identification whenever we return home and obey base regulations. So must the thousands of language students attending DLI (Defense Language Institute). It means my daughter couldn't have a birthday party this summer. Students under my husband could head to a local pub or bar to celebrate their birthdays either. My daughter couldn't play on the playground with friends, and the students here had to collect their meals from the mess hall to take back to their dorms instead of chatting with classmates. My daughter couldn't go back to school after spring break and the language students had to begin distance learning and quarantine. As difficult as it was for my daughter to be without her friends, she could still play in the yard and hug her mother. My husband's students had to go months with no physical contact. However, these protocols were instituted to keep everyone safe whether or not they live on base. How difficult must it have been for base leadership to tell us families and students that we couldn't do the things that make us happy? That the mission must continue in spite of this pandemic? I don't envy their job.
• 
  2020-10-16

  P.E.I. Buddhist monks, nuns create bubble within the bubble amid COVID-19

  Buddhist monks and nuns are creating bubbles within their community in Prince Edward Island. "Anyone who leaves the bubble will be quarantined for 30 days" according to Venerable Kelvin Lin. PEI has been one of the best provinces in Canada keeping their Covid-19 rates down. Creating social bubbles has been a popular method of prevention in Canada aswell.
• 
  2020-10-16

  Connecting Spanish Flu Historical Texts with Current Pandemic

  My essay shows just how similar the Spanish flu outbreak is with the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasizes the fact that we should've been so much more prepared today, with all of our modern technology and science, than we were in 1918. The newspaper article I look at also shows the shocking differences between the two, like the zero urgency for quarantining and the different kinds of masks and methods that were used to try and treat these illnesses.
• 
  2020-10-14

  Time to Cook

  Before the onset of the corona virus and the lockdowns and quarantines that followed, I had a pretty routine schedule. I would wake up around 7:15am and I would not get home again until about 7pm. Normally I would make something easy for dinner that I could have at least another night in a row. Usually it would just be a meat and a vegetable with fruit for dessert. I would cook the vegetables and the meat in the same pan to save myself the clean up time later as I would normally go to bed around 11pm and not want to waste any more time cleaning than I had to. I also would not stray too far from recipes that I was comfortable with. I would be very upset if I made something terrible after a ling day at work. However now with quarantine, I work from home and my schedule has become quite different. I am able to sleep in a little longer as I do not have to commute anymore. As soon as I am finished work I am already home and can start making dinner as soon as I want. This extra time gives me more flexibility to try new recipes and take chances on foods I may not have tried otherwise. On my lunch break I am able to go food shopping so I am not limited by what ingredients I have on hand. For this meal that I made and posted pictures of, it would be a rare treat to get this on a worknight before COVID-19. This meal took longer, used more ingredients, involved more pots and pans, and took longer to clean up than any pre-quarantine meal that I would make. Yet the payoff was absolutely delicious. To have pan seared scallops in a creamy garlic sauce over wheat spaghetti on a random Wednesday night is one of the few bright sides of quarantine. I am looking forward to the day when all restrictions are lifted and life returns to normal but I will surely miss all the extra time I have to try new recipes, to have my kitchen filled with new and unique scents and for my taste buds to experience diverse ranges of cuisines that my normal schedule precluded.
• 
  2002-09-12

  Quarantine

  This explains how much of an impact this pandemic has had on my life for the last 6 months.
• 2020-10-13

  The Pandemic Lifestyle

  When this whole pandemic started I was startled. I had to start living my life in paranoia. Everything I did had to be careful, safe, and with caution. Covid 19 has become one of the United states biggest worries. How do you know if your friend is sick?; but she is known to have severe allergies. How do you know if your father has covid?; but, he gets really bad back pains on a regular basis. All the common symptoms of covid are also regular issues in someone's daily life. Not knowing who's sick, who isn't, who carries it, who's immune to it, is very scary. Having to be quarantined for months just made me feel like I was being held captive. Not by choice but by demand. The fear of being sick and not knowing. Knowing that this deadly virus could have infected your neighbor who sleeps on the bed on the other side of your wall. This pandemic has brought me nothing but fear. Fear of dying, fear of being infected, fear of losing a loved one in the process. It all just comes down to faith. During this pandemic that's what I tried to have most of. Following precautions to avoid it, staying distant from my family, not going to the fun places i enjoy.School will never be the same. Having to do online learning is difficult. The focus is harder and understanding what's going on in class is frustrating. Not only that but civilians had to learn how to adapt to the new life. A mask became a part of everyone's daily necessities. Walking into stores without a mask is prohibited and even walking your dog now has an extra twist to it. Having to walk 6 feet away from each other has become a primary concern. While I was sacrificing my boredom other people were sacrificing their lives. Doctors, nurses, cops are all the important people who make sure our lives are safe. They put their lives in danger to protect our own by choice. While people complain about not having fun, workers are fighting for their lives everyday, and they may not even know it. They are at risk every step they take, out of their home, or office, or facility, wherever they are based. They are taking a risk to save civilians who can barely listen to protocols that are given. While people are complaining about not being able to go outside,they aren't wearing their mask. How do you expect for things to change if no one can make it better on their own? That right there, is a question you should be asking yourself.
• 
  2020-10-10

  Quarantine Doesn't Apply To The Rich and Famous

  Kanye west visits the UK and doesnt even qurantine at all. Your supposed to undergo a 14 day quarantine but Mr. West immediately went out for a day trip with his daughter. I'm over here unable to visit my finace because of the difficulties of navigating the quarantine, but apparently all I had to do was be a famous rapper.
• 
  2020-10-11

  Studying Abroad During A Pandemic

  The end of January was coming closer and closer. Soon, I would be exchanging harsh Wisconsin winters for the rainy winters of London, England. The year prior, I had been there on a two-week study abroad trip learning about art. This time I’d be spending four months living in the International Student House and going to university there. By the time we left on the plane, there were barely whispers of a possible outbreak of a virus across the globe. We didn’t hear much more about it until the end of March. It was everywhere on the news, and we began to receive emails from our university in the States that we might get pulled from our program. We hoped that wouldn’t be the case. The city of London was seemingly normal up until we left. One major change happened with the tube. It was decided that in order to attempt to slow the spread of the pandemic across the city, certain tube lines would close down. This, in fact, had the opposite effect as it caused more and more people to cram themselves into rail cars in order to get to work or to school on time. We eventually received an email from our home university stating we would have a weekend to gather out things and then fly out early the next week. In fact, that weekend I was supposed to fly to Krakow, Poland on a short trip. I stayed back because I had a sinking feeling that something like this would happen. Crazy enough, if I would have gone, I would have been stuck in Poland--my flight back to London was canceled because due to the pandemic. We left a city scrambling to collect toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and masks and returned home to find a similar state of affairs in Wisconsin. We had heard about how horrendous the lines at customs were in the United States airports that were still open, with some having to stand and wait six to eight hours to make it through. When we arrived, it was impossible to adequately socially distance while we waited to get our temperatures checked and then be interviewed by the TSA about where we were coming from. By the time we had arrived, the process of going through customs had become much smoother--we only waited for about an hour. After returning home, we had to self-quarantine for two weeks. We had to finish our university term online, much like the students back overseas who went online after the Easter holiday. It was an odd thing to finish up my semester abroad in London from my home in Southwest Wisconsin. After ruminating about it for weeks, I thought to myself that I was incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to live and study in London for two months and even though our trip got cut short, I still had an amazing experience and got to meet some really wonderful people during my time there.