Items

• 2023-10-11

  2023: Reflections on travel post-Covid19

  We could not travel during the pandemic, but even going to see family near us was a challenge. For the length of the pandemic, I didn't visit my grandparents who lived only an hour away. Being from the family I am, travel is not something we do often due to the expense. If I could travel anywhere in the world, I would pick Australia so I could go to its infamous coastlines. I would like to see the Great Barrier Reef and maybe go on tours about the conservation of our oceans. I would like to take a surfing class and look like a complete tourist as I do so. I'd go to Australia for the water. I used to be someone who needed to take many pictures to "remember" my exploits. However, I learned I spent more time on my phone than in the place I visited. I don't take pictures on vacation anymore; I leave that to my sister and mother. Instead, I try to remember the five senses as I experience the world around me. I have nothing against documenting your trips, but aside from keeping ticket stubs and sunburns, I don't make lasting documentation except in my memory.
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  2020-12-03

  Mission Hill Failure

  I understand, generation Z is not the brightest, considering less than two years ago we were persuading each other to eat laundry detergent. But I never thought I would be so disappointed in my peers. COVID is all too real, and with the boom of TikTok, people can see just how terrible “the rona” really is. Yet, those I call neighbors of Mission Hill rip apart my hope for us in the future. We know there are chances of permanently losing our sense of smell or taste, but we still decide to go out and party. Generation Z may be forward in acceptance, but we somehow are still too stubborn to put a pause on the traditional “college experience” to protect ourselves and our family members from death. I am in college, but I have family who are at risk, and I am not willing to compromise them just so I can see friends and have a little fun. There are ways of having fun without risking your health or that of loved ones.
• 2020-07-18

  A Trip to a Silent Hospital

  On July 18th 2020 in the late afternoon, I started experiencing some concerning not Covid-related symptoms and I made the decision to go to the Emergency Room. I’ve had chronic health issues all my life, so this wasn’t an unfamiliar experience. However, I’d been isolating since March and I was terrified of having to potentially go into a situation that was unknown in the middle of the pandemic. The things I remember most about the visit are how utterly desolate the places in the hospital felt, and how silent it was. I’m used to packed waiting rooms and constant noise. This visit was very different. After a brief screening in a large, mostly empty lobby with large barriers and protective measures in place, they assessed that I was not a potential COVID patient and sent me to a waiting room that I was alone in for most of my visit. There was no real chatter, mostly just silence, broken by the TV. The silence continued even back into the ER, where it seemed that the staff was spread thin. The most notable sounds were occasional low conversations and the sounds of medical equipment being moved around and the beeps and pulses. Even when evaluating me, while warm, the conversations sounded more terse and to the point. Everything moved more quickly. In some ways, it felt like being in an abandoned building. Everything was dark, silent, and empty in the areas where I was.