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story
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2021-03-09
Long Live My Mama
I feel like my mama story needs to be heard. We loss millions of people to it . -
2020-04-01
Coronavirus Journal: April 2020
The essay is composed of entries from my daily journal during the month of April 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic quarantine. It shares the perspective of my partner and me, retired senior citizens in Up North Michigan. -
2020-05-24
Fireside Chat Final Episode
The final episode of Fireside Chats! Students share their stories from quarantine. Thanks to Mr. Andrew Savage and his US History team for making this happen. -
2020-05-12
The Fireside Video Chat
Brooklyn high School of the Arts: "Our students are the best storytellers! Tune in this week to see "COVID-19 Fireside Chats". Stories from quarantine from Mr. Savage's US History class! Tonight, First Period! See the full video in the link below. You won't regret it!" -
0022-08-18
Hearing Aids
In the audio-file I tried to manipulate the sounds to reflect some of the ways I interpret the world as a Hard of Hearing woman during the Covid-19 pandemic. I want the listener to be able to feel the frustration as they listen and try to understand the story. The pandemic has forced many of us to adapt. This is my story. -
2022-03-18
Explore the archive assignment for ASU HST580 interns week 1
These are the assignment instructions given to the Spring 2022 graduate student interns at ASU. This assignment asked them to explore the archive and then submit something that reflects represents their geographic location. -
2020-12-01
St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne newsletter 2020 review issue focussed on the response to the year's two COVID waves
The stories illustrate both swift adaptation of clinical practice (e.g. in the shift to telehealth consultations), the enormous efforts put in, and the outpouring of community support which helped sustain patients and staff in the difficult conditions of lockdown. -
2021-07-10
Quarantine Journal Assignment at Andover Summer
While students in the 2021 on-campus summer program at Phillips Academy Andover quarantined on campus for one week, I asked those enrolled in my "Medicine and Society" course to keep a journal in which they reflected on how their daily experiences were shaped by the program's COVID protocols. Those protocols included universal masking (indoors and outdoors), social distancing, grab-and-go food service, regular PCR testing, and more. For their JOTPY stories, some students chose to upload their entire journals, while others summarized their reflections over the week. On the day we uploaded our stories, the quarantine period came to end, and the students could enjoy a bit more social freedoms on and off campus. -
2021-07-10
Not Expecting the Reality
Coming to Phillips Academy Andover Summer Session during the quarantine phase of the school helped me notice a positive thing Covid had brought at the boarding school. Along with a funny story to help cheer everyone up. -
2020-12-12
Golden Girls Pandemic Humor
I shared this meme on my Facebook page on December 12, 2020. It uses a popular line from the character Sophia from the hit TV series The Golden Girls. In the show, Sophia would always start a humorous story about her life in Sicily with the phrase, "Picture it, Sicily 19xx..." I love that show and that character, so when I saw this meme I had to share it because I could picture myself doing this to my future grandkids. It made me laugh about a dark time, and think about life beyond the pandemic. Those of us who are lucky enough to survive it will definitely have one heck of a story to tell. -
2021-01-30
Things That Haven't Changed
Stories in this archive often describe how things have radically changed. My submission will highlight some of things in my life that haven't. To begin, many of my hobbies have stayed the same. Since I moved to a new state a year before the pandemic, I never had the opportunity to pick up any new hobbies, especially with anyone outside of my small circle here. My hobbies mostly include reading, hanging out with my wife, watching movies, playing video games, going on walks, working out, and spending time with my dogs, all of which I have done with the same or more consistency. I have gone home roughly the same amount as I had before the pandemic. None of my friends or family have gotten seriously ill from COVID-19, so I am lucky to have not lost anyone to the disease. Other than working remotely and taking precautions when going out in public, my day to day life has remained largely the same. -
2021-01-29
A Covid interview
it said how covid is impacting us. 1. How has the pandemic changed you? I have always known that humans are vulnerable but the pandemic has allowed me to feel each day how vulnerable we are and I am changed by this felt experience. Life has become more immediate and I think about safety in a more conscious way. 2. What has the pandemic brought with it? I don't understand this question... 3. Describe your experience over the past year in 3 words. Surprised, disciplined and curious. 4. What are some silver linings you have found in the past year? An abundance of family time, connecting with my cat, learning to paint, mastering pizza on the grill, deepening my yoga practice, less busy and alot less driving. 5. How has the pandemic emotionally impacted you? A whole range of emotions- sadness, grief, fear, disbelief, hope and concern. -
2021-01-28
Amanda's future pandemic nightmare.
The scene begins on december 31st 2019. Amanda: This year has been a wonderful year and I am ready to greet the next year 2020 with a few new year’s resolutions. My first new years resolution is- Mysterious time traveling Alien: I'm going to stop you right there. Amanda: who are you????!!!! Mysterious time traveling Alien: You aren’t going to get to do any of your new year's resolutions this year. Amanda: Yes I am. Why do you say that? Mysterious time traveling Alien: You’ll see. In fact, you’ll see right now. All of a sudden with a flash of blinding white-green light, Amanda is zapped 3 months into the future. Amanda: what happened? What day is it? She looks at her computer. Oh no! I’m late for a meeting! She then sees another email. It’s my boss. “Here is a zoom link” what is this? I guess I’ll click it. She enters the zoom meeting. Boss: alright. Hello, Amanda! So glad you arrived! So we have a problem. Amanda: No, I have a problem. What’s going on? Why are we on this call? Why am I not at work? Boss: are you serious? You don’t know? Yesterday you knew fine. You were saying you wished this pandemic would be over with. Amanda: But what’s going on? Boss: a virus has traveled around the world and has resulted in us having to stay at home, wear masks when we go outside, and do everything online. That’s why you’re here. Are you ok? Do you have amnesia? Amanda: i have to leave for a few minutes. Boss: the most i can give you is 20. Be sure to mute your mic and stop your video. Amanda: How do I do that? Boss: you do so like usual. Amanda: oh my god. What is going on? When i was making my new year's resolutions 10 minutes ago i had no idea this was what it was going to be like. How am I going to survive? I am never going to survive a day like this. Boss: um, Amanda? You’re not on mute. Amanda: How do i mute myself? Boss: you click on the bottom left hand corner of your screen and you have the option to mute and stop video. Amanda: ok. She does so, with much difficulty. Oh wait, Tiffany's calling. Maybe she can tell me what’s going on here. Tiffany: hey! How are you? What are you going to do today? Amanda: i was thinking about going to the grocery store, filing reports, and visiting you this afternoon. Tiffany: hold on, going to the grocery store? You have to order online. The only way you’re going to visit me is if you wear a mask. And the only thing you’ll get to do at home is the filling out reports thing. Amanda: how long is this going to last? Tiffany: what? Amanda: the whole “pandemic” thing. Tiffany: I think 2 weeks to a month. Amanda: thank god. Tiffany: I know, right? It’s terrible already! All of a sudden, Amanda’s Boss’s voice comes into her computer. Boss: Amanda? Are you ready to make your statement? Amanda: yes boss. Boss: i can’t hear you. You’re still on mute. Just as she finds the unmute and start video buttons, her 5 year-old daughter Vivian calls her saying she has been kicked out of her meeting. Amanda struggles for a few seconds, but then, with another blinding flash of white-green light, she is zapped into december 31st again. Mysterious time traveling Alien: Now do you see why you can’t do any of your new year's resolutions? Amanda: no, Tiffany said that the quarantining will only last 2 weeks to a month. I’ll have plenty of time to finish my new year's resolutions. Mysterious time traveling Alien: It’s going to be much longer than that. Amanda: *faints* -
2021-01-21
Covid Christmas
During Christmas we had a lot of family go to my one of my Grandmas house and we had Christmas Day there. A couple weeks later we found out that my Aunts brother was exposed to Covid. My parents got tested and they were negative, and so was my Aunt. The not so good thing is now, my other Aunt has been staying with my Grandma since then and makes us wear a mask when we visit our Grandma. That was my story. -
2021-01-21
Symptoms
I mean I don't really have a personal story. But my buddy did get it and he says it's not that bad. He just has to stay at home for a while. The symptoms of Covid are as follows, Cough, Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, Fatigue, Muscle or body aches, Headache, New loss of taste or smell, Sore throat, Congestion or runny nose, Nausea or vomiting, and Diarrhea. -
2021-01-06
COVID-19 potato story crizmiz christmans story christmas
my crizst maz chenge because insted of meeting with FAM i was VIbiNG AT HOME and that was diff 😂 lmao. Another thang that changedddddddddddddddddd is i had to vibe at hawm insted of going to somewhere like hawai wheir it is hawt. ThIs was very unpoggers and was not epicnessPOG. -
2020-12-15
Thanksgiving during Covid-19
My Thanksgiving was mostly good and not good this year. I felt this way about my thanksgiving that way because I got to hangout with my family, aunt family, and my pets. The reason because it wasn’t good it’s because we couldn’t go to some fun places because of this pandemic and it’s issues. But over all I think God just wanted it that way and that I wasn’t alone in this season. I’m happy that I got to have a thanksgiving in a different perspective of life. -
2020-12-14T14:22
The Beginning of COVID-19
I honestly can't remember a time without the virus. A time when things felt normal or ordinary. Life before the pandemic, it wasn't perfect, not even close, but I didn't ever feel like I was being strangled, gasping for air. The month of February, only 10 months ago, but feels more like a lifetime since then. I was a 7th grader then, thinking about things like schoolwork and friends and soccer; normal things. I remember I was so happy, so happy that I had such amazing friends, and such a normal life. But, I wanted school to end. I mean, what 13 year old doesn't? Now, I realize how much that wish has effected my life. The day I found out about COVID was a day like any other; I was at school that day, you know, normal things. After school, I checked TikTok and saw all these random videos about some virus that had popped up. At first, I thought nothing of it. When the district announced that school was shutting down, I was told it would only be 2 weeks; just 2 weeks! I thought it would be like a short break from the day-to-day school life, so if anything, I was happy. As the weeks went by, though, I started to panic. What was this coronavirus and why was it ruining my life? I thought eventually it would end, but then we got the alert we were out for the rest of the school year, then the alert that COVID cases were rising once again, then we got the alert that there was no chance of us going back to school in the Fall, and during all of this, as you can imagine, I was going crazy, wondering if life would ever go back to normal. Life right now is bizarre, but we just have to keep pushing because nothing lasts forever. When I think back to February, oh so long ago, I realize how much has happened throughout this pandemic; the rallies, BLM, the election, and above all, change. I have changed as a person, everyone has. Now if that change is good or bad is questionable, but whatever the case, we need to embrace it because we can't change reality; all we can do is hope for the best and keep pushing on. -
2020-04-27
COVID-19 Memory Archival Project
This is a project that aims to collect as many personal stories as they can. Through archiving the pandemic, they want to assess the impact of COVID-19 on people. -
2020-08-06
Jewish Melbourne: Stand Up zoom session with Mt Scopus students
"Yesterday, students at Mount Scopus Memorial College had the first of two opportunities to meet with (over zoom, of course) Hosna Hamouda and hear her story. Hosna was born in Sudan, her family fled when she was just one and arrived in Australia at the age of 5 after being in transit in Egypt. Hosna spoke to students about the challenges of beginning school without any knowledge of English and her experiences growing up in Melbourne coming from a Sudanese background. In the next session, kids learn more about the Sudanese community in Melbourne and will brainstorm ways to make a contribution! #StandUpStandOut" -
2020-06-05
Singing A Little Louder
For as long as I can remember, there has always been music playing in my house, whether it be as my two sisters and I wake up each morning or up until the moment we fall asleep. Over the years, we have memorized thousands of songs and have connected with thousands of artists as we listen to anything we could find in the depths of our parent’s music collection. Our parents soon realized that they could teach us anything by means of a good song. As we would press play on the little radio that used to sit in our room, each CD would expose us to a different place, time, or mindset, while also subtly infusing messages of acceptance, equality, culture, kindness, and more. My sisters and I memorized songs in different languages, while also learning about the history and experiences that shape good music. Music became our life’s foundation and soon, in addition to listening to music for hours on end, my sisters and I started singing at various places in the small town of Smithfield, VA, where we grew up together. Hungry for more, we each picked up an instrument and learned to play guitar from listening over and over to our favorite albums and the occasional YouTube tutorial. We started to dissect the harmonies that we would hear in our favorite songs and ultimately formed our own sound that we loved sharing with the people we met within our little southern town. After learning hundreds of songs to play together, we soon realized that we wanted to start writing songs of our own. We were excited to create something that was inspired by our own experiences together, whether it be derived from feelings of happiness, sadness, heartbreak, anger, or excitement. Since we had listened to and interpreted music since we were born, the importance of songwriting is was not lost to my sisters and me. We understood the power it holds, as it frees the minds of thousands who desperately want their perspective to be represented and encourages storytelling that is inspired by real love or real loss. We were intrigued by the strong beliefs, wild imaginations, and raw emotions that ensure the timelessness of great songs. Being provided a space and a medium to write down unbridled and heartfelt ideas in addition to working with artists who inspire a safe and collaborative environment has allowed the intricacies of songwriting to come naturally to my sisters and me. Sharing my songs to audiences of all ages and sizes is absolutely exhilarating and I view my passion for meaningful lyrics as the greatest gift that has been given to me. My sisters and I began traveling to and from Nashville, meeting and collaborating with songwriters and artist to create meaningful lyrics and beautiful melodies. As our music began to directly represent what we were feeling as individuals, over the years my sisters and I started to use our original songs to communicate with each other and those around us. On March 13, for the first time in our lives, the music in our house stopped. It was replaced by the sounds of live updates from the news. As we watched the death toll rise and the heartbreaking stories of people who lost their loved ones to the virus, we were silenced by the impact of the disease. We realized that people were unable to interact with each other and that the effects of virus was attempting to strip humanity of things it needed to survive. As for my sisters and I, our entire lineup of summer performances was canceled, as well as the final trip to Nashville we had planned before I left for college. My sisters and I finally had to come to terms with the reality that we may not be able to sing out together again, as I would leave Virginia to move to Boston at the end of the summer. We struggled with the fact that we wouldn’t have the time to say goodbye to the thing that had connected us the most throughout our entire childhood and as we came to terms with our new reality, turned to music to help us get through this challenging time. With the rest of my senior year canceled, I had the time to sit and think about a lot what music has given me throughout my life. I discovered that even though I loved the songs and albums I listened to over the years, it was the time spent with my sisters that meant most to me. I thought about all of the different experiences we have shared over the years and how hard it is going to be when I would venture off on my own soon. My sisters were truly the thing in my life that I loved the most, so how was I going to be able to live 700 miles away in the middle of a global pandemic? My sisters faced the same uneasiness and uncertainty, and as usual, music served as our escape. We realized that while our situation may have been difficult to navigate, we are so incredibly lucky and grateful for the experiences we have shared and the opportunities we have been given. In the end we understood how fortunate it was that we were healthy and committed ourselves to always staying grateful even in times as unprecedented as this. We discovered that all we ever really needed was each other, and that there is more power in the relationships that you build with the people that you love than any virus or other obstacle that may come our way. I think that throughout this pandemic, the world is coming to terms with the same lesson: that human connection is one of the most impactful aspects of our lives. I hope that in the aftermath of a world redefined by a global pandemic, we all hug each other a little tighter and sing a little louder. Attached is my sister and I singing on Zoom for the first time. -
2020-05-20
A weird dream!
I think the pandemic just gave us a lot of time to do things we missed, and I know a lot of people have been having bizarre dreams/nightmares so I thought it would be interesting to one day look back on this period of time through my imagination. -
2003-05-31
Eekum Bokum
The story I uploaded is my personal and serious experience with the pandemic. I outlined my thoughts and feelings, and every important detail that I felt was a highlight of the COVID-19 experience. What I've submitted is important to me because it captures my story. I have a voice to finally represent what is possibly one of the most pivotal times in not just America, but the world as well. -
2020-05-29
Andante: Short Story on this pandemic
I have written this short story around the circumstances in which we found ourselves in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Short story based on actual events in the current health crisis. -
2020-05-19
Rewilding (Part I)
This is a literary response to Covid (one of three parts) from the point of view of someone far away from the worst of it. -
04/30/2020
The Impact of Virtual Story Time During Coronavirus Stay-at-Home Orders: "Why We Stay at Home" Book for Children About Coronavirus
A woman uses her YouTube channel dedicated to virtual story time to read aloud a book about Coronavirus written by two doctors who hope to help kids understand why it's important that they stay home during this time. Fordham University, SOCI 2800 -
04/19/2020
The Impact of Virtual Story Time During Coronavirus Stay-at-Home Orders: Michelle Obama Hosts A Weekly Virtual Story Time For Kids
Michelle Obama works with PBS Kids to virtually read aloud a popular story book to kids once a week for a month. Fordham University, SOCI 2800 -
04/20/2020
The Impact of Virtual Story Time During Coronavirus Stay-at-Home Orders: Oakland Teacher Hosts Virtual Story Time for First Grade Students
A first grade teacher hosts a virtual story time for his students while they can't be together. Fordham University, SOCI 2800 -
03/20/2020
The Impact of Virtual Story Time During Coronavirus Stay-at- Home Orders: Teacher Takes Story Time Online With the Help of Her Daughter
A California teacher and her young daughter film story time for her students. Fordham University, SOCI 2800 -
05/19/2020
Safety Guidelines Doing Their Job
Sloth memes have various meanings depending on the emotion conveyed on the sloth's face. This meme is supposed to showcase a happy sloth, excited that safety guidelines put in place to keep people safe are doing their job. Even if you are coughing and sneezing, you can still do your part to help keep other people safe. Joey Dorion found it online and is uploading the meme. -
03/20/2020
The Impact of Virtual Story Time During Coronavirus Stay-at- Home Orders: California Teacher Hosts Virtual Story Time With Her Daughter
News segment about a first grade teacher who, with the help of her young daughter, hosts a virtual story time for her students. *Gretchen Grewe, Fordham University, SOCI 2800 *News segment -
2020-03
Extraordinary Times: A COVID-19 Visual Journal
A visual diary of life with a young child during the COVID-19 pandemic and mandated social distancing in greater Boston, starting in mid-March 2020. It's updated twice a week, sometimes more if the situation demands it, or if I feel the need. It's drawn with pencil and watercolors. This visual journal is my way of recording and coping with these extraordinary times. -
2020-03-18
What we do as the plague approaches: Post 1
Melbourne writer Arnold Zable began regular posts on Facebook in mid March about his thoughts and feelings on the pandemic. He has given permission for them to be reproduced here. -
2020-03-24
People look, but no one ever finds it.
I just finished making dinner. Day 2 of distance learning. My emotional bandwidth is low. A cat is meowing, persistently. Can you guess which one? This afternoon, I went out today to shop for food. I felt the acute weirdness of distancing bodies on our quiet neighborhood sidewalks. This and the occasional thank you from folks who appreciated me quite literally going out of my way to avoid them. I go shopping. Not every day. I don’t know what else to do. I wash my hands. I wipe down the high-touch surfaces in our apartment. I wear a glove and wash that and my hands afterwards. I don’t know what else to do. A package arrived today containing Tylenol, Wet Wipes and a small bunch of pussy willows and lavender. Thank you. At home, I could hear Brendan opening the box and telling the girls to take it to me, seated on the couch, distantly learning how to teach something. I opened up the bundle, smiled, and put my face directly into it. I inhaled deeply, then burst into tears. Where is outside anymore? I’m so very sad about this loss today, one that I picked out of a field of so many other losses. Later, outside for a moment, I wanted to hug a tree, but my sister, standing 8 feet away from me, told me not to so I put the sole of one shoe onto it and leaned back like the most awkward senior picture for a school year without a graduation. I used to (a couple of months ago) volunteer at a hospital in the city. This was separate from my other hospital work and each year, for my medical clearance, it would be required that I take a respirator fit test using an N95 mask. Spoiler alert: I’m a size small. During the test, which to me always seems a bit like a bizarre performance art task and/or good modern dance, the person administering it asks you to do a variety of tasks: move your head slowly side to side, slowly nod up and down, deep breathing, normal breathing, and speaking. The text they ask you to recite is printed on a piece of paper taped to the wall at eye level in front of them. Here is the text: When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act like a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I don’t have to look all that far. There are rainbows all over the place if you have the right map. -
2020-04-19
A Light
Story -
04/07/2020
My COVID-19 Story
My name is Christian Weisse, it is Tuesday, April 7th, 2020 at 2:00 am, and I have been in self-quarantine for the last three weeks. I am writing this from my bedroom in the early morning because I can’t sleep. I haven’t been able to sleep for the last few weeks due to my anxiety surrounding COVID-19. I stay up worrying: worrying about my mom, worrying about my dad, worrying about my family, worrying. The only other time I have experienced anxiety was during loss or trauma. Even though this pandemic has not caused physical loss to me directly, COVID-19 has created mental and spiritual decay, traumatic dreaming when I am able to sleep, and constant emotional distress. My mom is a nurse working in a local hospital. She has been in the field for over thirty years. There have been other health crises prior to COVID-19, but she has never seen anything like this before. My father is a police officer at a local college. Growing up, it was certainly difficult to see my parents go through their experiences as first responders. There were times when Christmas was with Nana and Papa because Mom and Dad had to work on Christmas Eve, times where Dad missed my concert for chorus because he needed to work overtime during a crisis, and times when Mom couldn’t get me off the bus because she was home sleeping after a 12-hour shift the night before. As a kid, I knew we had to make sacrifices so that my parents could save lives. As an adult, I never saw this coming. Every day, I see my parents leave for work as one person and return as someone different. This virus has mentally and emotionally drained my parents each day. Nothing is more difficult in this world then to see your parent’s stress and not be able to help them. I feel helpless. I feel empty. We are a family-centric house and faith-based as well. We need to get back into our routine as a family. We miss going to mass every Sunday. This week is Holy Week and we won’t be able to attend Easter services. This virus needs to leave. I need my parents back. I have always tended to be the pessimist in the room. However, this pandemic has taught me to be optimistic and to slow down in life. I am taking one day at a time. That is all I can handle at this moment and time. My new discovery of optimism has me conducting “The 5 Things Countdown.” To help me calm my anxiety and to stay positive each day, I tell myself 5 things I can see, 4 things I can feel, 3 things I can hear, 2 things I can smell, and 1 thing I can taste. I do this whenever I feel my anxiety rising. When my parents come home from work, I see my Mom, my Dad, my sister, my dog, and the couch. When my mom tells us about the stress of work, I feel the floor beneath my feet, me trying to slow down my breathing, the vibrations of laundry from across the hallway, and my scarf around my neck. When my parents leave for work, I hear the dog barking across the street, the birds chirping, and the newscasters on the television. When my parents talk about COVID-19, I smell the chicken my sister is roasting in the oven, and the candle in my room. Whenever I lay awake at night worrying about my family, I taste the mint from an icebreaker I had. This situation is local, state-wide, national, and across the globe. I can’t go out there and fight the virus myself to make my anxiety go away. However, I take each day at a time. I focus on the blessings I have that I take for granted. I am blessed to have both of my parents, alive, healthy, and around. I have a roof over my head and food to eat. I have schoolwork to focus my time and energy on. I have my sister to talk to. I have my dog for comfort. I have friends and family checking in. I have things to be grateful for. I just need to stop, breathe, use “The 5 Things Countdown,” and take one day at a time. To all of the first responders, healthcare professionals, and folks who are helping during this pandemic, thank you. They are the true superheroes and my Mom and Dad are my superheroes. UPDATE 4/21/2020- This past week has been one of heightened anxiety, stress, and emotion. My family learned that my mother was moved from the clinic side where her permanent job was and “deployed” to the hospital side. The hospital uses the term “deployed” and it carries multiple meanings. For my Mom, it symbolizes going off to war; no say, no choice, follow the order. For me, it creates a drastic increase in anxiety. She was told that they will put her in a COVID unit. Currently, we are still waiting to see if they will since she is on a clean unit for now. At first, she was going to self-isolate in our home so that she would not get my Dad sick, who is at high risk. However, we saw other households doing showers before leaving for work, and as soon as healthcare workers came home from work. We decided to try this before taking the drastic measure. I feel helpless and sad. I know my Mom is strong, smart, and capable of doing the job, but I worry each day about her. I can’t focus on my school work. I can’t focus on my laundry. I have never felt this much anxiety. “The 5 Things Countdown” is helping temporarily, but I just need this pandemic to be over. I see the anti-lockdown protests in Virginia, Michigan, and other states. It doesn’t sadden me...it pisses me off how people can be so arrogant, ignorant, and pathetic. They’re protesting for their right to get a haircut while my mother is being “deployed” to in-patient units and possibly a COVID unit?! I have some words for those people, not very nice words. However, I don’t want to give them the power of attention. Let them complain all they want. My Mom and my family are the epicenters of my world right now. I know this pandemic will be over eventually. I just have to keep my faith, continue to do “The 5 Things Countdown,” and try to focus on what I can control. My school work, my laundry, me. -
2020-05-12
Mixed feelings
Biography -
2020-03-24
LCMC Health Creates Webpage to Share Stories, New Orleans, LA
In a Facebook post, LCMC Health recognizes that even though the virus has caused us to be a part it has brought the community together by everyone stepping up and helping each other out. LCMC created a webpage to share positive stries from their family of hospitals. -
2020-03-16
A season cut short, Suffolk seniors reflect on their love of sport
The Suffolk Journal, Suffolk University's student run newspaper, reports on Suffolk's sports during the pandemic. -
2020-04-18
In Sickness and In Health
My brother and I have an argument that has been going on since we were children; regardless of our age, however, it has always been a rather vicious, stubborn battle, comprised wholeheartedly of hubris and the unyielding belief that one is right and the other wrong. He’ll say, You have a weak immune system, not me! And in complete disregard of the trap I have already drawn myself into, I will retort without fail, You get sick more than I do! In this situation, we’re both playing the role of the fool, blindly ignoring the vast number of individuals who struggle with legitimate health problems and compromised immune systems, purposefully sticking our heads in the sand as we burrow further and further into the gilded age of misguided youth and immaturity. Perhaps this can be said of me more so than him, given that I am older and also usually the one who instigates these petty squabbles. The question of physical health and strength has always been a sensitive spot, a result of my years spent simmering under a household ruled by gender roles and conventions. But I like fighting, even if I can never win any of these fights, even if the blatant lies I tell my younger brother are merely pitiful attempts to dissuade the truth. In all honesty, Jonathan never gets sick; I do. Like most people in the day and age of COVID-19, I used to take my health for granted (and no, this won’t be a post about having an existential crisis regarding my mortality). But after being hauled in an ambulance twice––got exposed to the perils and fallacies of the American health care system real quick!––both for stupid reasons and resulting in a pair of pale blue socks and two missing front teeth, I have begun to realize more and more how futile my argument is whenever I try to prove to him that I am the child with the stronger body, the stronger immune system, the stronger sense of self. My body has endured a good bit of wear and tear, thanks to several instances but most infamously when I cruised down the roads of Clifftops, a gated neighborhood in Monteagle, TN, going 20 miles per hour on a longboard. Gravity, speed wobbles, and naiveté caused me to faceplant into the ground. I spat out a mouthful of blood when I finally regained consciousness, full-body abrasions wrapped around my arms, legs, and knees, skin seemingly marred beyond repair and my face looking like a swollen, beat-up punching bag. At first, the doctor thought I might’ve broken my face (maybe I wasn’t destined to be a cool skater and carve roads after all). I had two black eyes and pus for days. Taking a shower and unwrapping and wrapping my bandages was a two-hour hassle, one that I dealt with myself, determined to do alone without the help of my parents. Afterward, I would wipe the glass mirror, stand atop the cool tiled floor of my childhood bathroom, and ogle at myself and the mass of wet, rugged flesh sagging along with my wounds. Even when I was in a drug-induced haze of Percocets and could hardly walk, I was afraid of revealing to my mother and father what my body had become after accumulating ink at various tattoo parlors. Aside from the black pigment that permanently stained my skin, I was also scared of them seeing what I’d become after skidding across the pavement. I finally learned what it meant to be selfish when my grandmother saw me after the accident. She turned on the light and moved to look at me, taking a few hesitant steps. Then she came closer, cradled my face in her hands, and stroked the unscarred side of my cheek with her coarse, callous-ridden fingers as tears began to streak down the corners of her eyes. She murmured to me in rough, unbridled Chinese, her voice cracking at the edges and stumbling over words. My father stood in the corner. When she began to quietly cry, he looked away. My reply got mangled in the lower parts of my throat, my voice splitting at various intervals when both of us would falter. With our heads bowed in unison under the dim light of the kitchen, I imagined our two dark silhouettes of hair merging into one. It was then that I also learned what it meant to be loved. I never tell this side of the story because it reveals the ugly, careless parts of myself that constantly depend on others to pick me up when I have been the cause of my undoing. This is the part of me that I love and hate the most, this selfish, childish impetuousness that has allowed me to experience the world, unencumbered, but at the cost of others. Usually, when I explain to people what happened at Clifftops, I am laughing, joking, making myself seem hardcore and dumb all at once. It is pretty funny if you think about it. Over time, though, while I’ve learned that my physical body is fragile and my soul and spirit deceivingly invincible, I myself am still an uncompromising idiot. Despite everything, I am reckless to this day, still very aware of how I have hurt my loved ones being like this and the many ways that I will continue to do so. Just as I sit in a black leather chair and feel the needle prick into my skin, knowing the anger that will make its way towards me if my family finds out how my skin has been violated, I throw myself into hopeless fights with my brother I will never be able to win. Just as I have grown accustomed to hiding my tattoos in extra-large clothing whenever I go home, I cling to the lies that I tell Jonathan, to the fresh, pink flesh that slowly grows along my face and allows me to forget about my grandmother’s tears. The other day, my brother called me sickly, once again setting off another debate. I’d been coughing and developing symptoms of COVID-19, except for a fever; I was sequestered into my room for around a week and a half, and when I came out, I felt victorious. Allergies, I told myself. Just annoying allergies. I went on bike rides and wore makeup. I listened to music and made art. I still coughed, though, which he’d pointed out. And when I woke up at 2 AM with a raging 103-degree fever for the first time in years, I found myself curling up in a ball once more, grieving for something I didn’t quite understand or know. -
2020-04-03
Why This Pandemic Terrifies Me:
Why This Pandemic Terrifies Me -
2020-03-04
Isolation
a page dedicated to documenting LOCKDOWN. -
2020-03-21
Drawing of an Orange Instagram Story
This image is a screenshot of an instagram story trend that became popular at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in the US. People drew a picture of an orange, then posted it on their temporary instagram story and tagged their friends, friends then reposted the story with their own drawing of an orange - similar trends went around with drawings of carrots and strawberries. The instagram fits with a larger social media trend, developed during COVID19, of various story posts and reposts, used as a tactic to "kill time" while people are social distancing. -
2020-03-27
Story
My buddy caught COVID-19. He sought out alternative medicine and was referred to a woman who went by the name Miss Frizzle. She got in a school bus that became microscopic in size. She flew into my friend's nostril and destroyed the ever living shit out of the virus. Now my buddy is doing much better still has a mild cough though. -
03/21/2020
Jason E. Bowers Letter to St. Johns
A first hand letter on a husband and wife handling their personal Covid Situation.