Items
Subject is exactly
Conflict
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2020-08-11
Learning through a Pandemic
From my senior year in high school to my Freshman year in college, the way I would attend class had drastically changed. However I wasn't alone in this change. Students, teachers, and professors all around the world found themselves having to adapt to a new form of teaching. A tool that we all had to learn to use was zoom. Unable to attend in person class led to the development of this so-called new “classroom”. Across the world we would now find ourselves logging in to zoom on our computers to attend class. For many of us, me included, the college experience had simply become waking up in my room. -
2021-08-02
A complex decision: Deferring International Students
In the Center of International Programs, during Summer 2021, some decisions had to be made in the office. Due to internal changes, some applications could not be processed, and I-20s could not be developed. Between 10 to 20 undergraduates and graduate students had to be deferred to have more time to issue their visas. This impacted students as some had already made arrangements to come and each case had to be taken into consideration and also be taken personally. The Center of International Programs has over 20 students preparing to go to the university by Spring 2022. -
2021-10-01
HIST30060: White Rose
I found this sticker while I was walking to pick up a click-and-collect order. I was struck by it because of its reference to 'The White Rose', an anti-Nazi movement begun by Sophie Scholl in 1942 Germany. The insensitivity and total misunderstanding of what constitutes oppression is a touchstone to the anti-lockdown and anti-vaxxer movements. It made me wonder how they could appropriate histories of discrimination - do they simply not understand the Holocaust, or do they genuinely believe that their situation is similar to it? -
2021-09-18
Biden Administration Sends More Agents to Texas Bridge to Move Haitian Migrants
It is utterly dismal that this is taking place, and being written about, as if it were compartmentalized from the crisis of mass death facing the entire planet. Face masks are required on all U.S. public transit and on all flights, yet migrants seeking asylum are treated without regard for even their bare minimum safety. -
2021-08-24
The proof is(n't) obvious.
Memes denoting the deep irony of our current moment in time seem to have become very popular since the start of the pandemic. Early on, someone used this meme to draw a comparison between the developing movement of people who claimed that COVID-19 was/is a hoax, and that refuted data by mere denial. -
2021-02-19
Absurdist (pandemic) humor
Sometimes I feel as though the people grifting off of the pandemic and people willingly sharing misleading information for political reasons just do not care about the harm being caused. It is also strange because many people seem to enjoy, like Squidward here, being a bearer of “fake news”. -
2021-06-05
Someone else on the internet told me different!
This is what I imagine people doing when they turn off NPR’s latest COVID vaccines update before heading to the feed store to buy Ivermectin for COVID treatment. -
2021-10-14
Biden Says Port of Los Angeles Will Operate 24/7 to Ease Logjam That’s Fueling Inflation
The global supply chain crisis has led to some unprecedented steps to regain efficiency. How much more recourse do the public and private sectors have? -
2021-10-15
Tense and Tempestuous Tones
In the year 2020, I was a medical assistant working for a cancer surgery clinic. The pandemic posed huge challenges for people working in healthcare and created new staggering standards for cleanliness and infection control. With limited personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies, it made everyday clinic operations very challenging. With cancer patients, most of whom were undergoing treatments that lowered their immune system, and many of whom had just had surgery which can increase risk of infection, medical staff took COVID safety precautions very seriously. Dealing with people battling illness can be challenging under normal circumstances because they are often feeling emotional and scared, but during COVID, tensions were running even higher. I will never forget patients using condescending, edgy, and outright angry tones with me when I would call for a COVID symptom screening prior to their appointment, inform them that they had to wear a mask at all times while in the clinic, or that they were unable to bring a family member to the exam room during a follow-up appointment with a doctor. Over the phone and in person, many patients used tense and tempestuous tones to take out their anger over a situation none of us had any control over. Often, there were political connotations to any discussion of clinic COVID policy, which was unusual in a conversation about infection control. Many patients would protest getting their temperature taken or question the accuracy of their oximetry reading (a started part of vitals even before the pandemic). It was always a relief to have a patient who took a dignified breath and calmly understood that the rules were in place for everyone's safety and were an inconvenience to all involved. There were several days where I would go off to an empty exam room during my lunch break and cry. Tension during the first year of the COVID pandemic was audible. -
2021-10-09
Family
Since the pandemic began, I was not able to see any family members that lived out of state. One of which is that no one was wanting to travel to see anyone for a family gathering. Instead, there have been a couple of times we would be together in a zoom video call meeting to see how everyone was doing. It is not the same as being able to hug a family member that you haven’t seen in over a year since they live out of state. -
2021-10-09
The loss of an Aunt
Recently, I have lost a beloved aunt due to Covid-19. The loss has greatly impacted my family and I during the pandemic. -
2020-03-17
Performance Cancelled a Day Before Opening Night
I am the board president for a local theater company, in a small town in Northeast California. For over 20 years, the production Susanville's Best of Broadway has produced a yearly concert series that features snippets from several different Broadway shows. Our production is 100% volunteer and is run by a production manager and a production team. Our cast runs over 100 people every year and includes community members of all ages. Our 2020 production was an epic year for us, as we had spent a lot f money on props, backdrops, and costumes. Several of the shows included Hamilton, Waitress, and my personal favorite Wizard of Oz (to name a few). Our production team started in April of 2019 to plan and the cast started to rehearse in January 2020. The cast would show up to rehearsals 6 days a week for 10 weeks. Two days after the pandemic was announced nationally, was supposed to be Susanville's Best of Broadway Opening Night. We schedule a total of 7 shows over two weekend. The day before opening night, our local public health team reached out to me. In a stressful meeting with the public health team and the Broadway board of directors, it was determined that we had to cancel our show. We attempted to do whatever we could to modify and change things, including social distancing, but pubic health was worried that if someone got sick from our show, we would end up with some sort of lawsuit we couldn't handle. They did, however, allow for us to present to anyone who had been at rehearsal, which included some family members and we called it a rehearsal. It was a sad night. Performing to an empty hall was sad. The cast cleaned up their belongings with hope that we would reopen in a couple of weeks. Not only were we unable to open the show, but we were unable to perform a concern series in 2021. Thankfully, plans are underway to have a performance in 2022. -
2021-08-16
False Promises?
After 20 years of bloodshed, the Us military forces withdrew from Afghanistan, leaving it under Taliban rule. The departure was followed by a , two week process of which more than 120,000 people tried to evacuate (Council of Foreign Affairs, "The US War in Afghanistan" The tweet depict the heartbreaking images of crowds of people trying to cling to the sides of Us military planes at the Kabul airport and tweets from US civilians sympathizing with the troubles overseas. -
2021-08-16
False Promises?
After 20 years of bloodshed, the Us military forces withdrew from Afghanistan, leaving it under Taliban rule. The departure was followed by a , two week process of which more than 120,000 people tried to evacuate (Council of Foreign Affairs, "The US War in Afghanistan" The tweet depict the heartbreaking images of crowds of people trying to cling to the sides of Us military planes at the Kabul airport and tweets from US civilians sympathizing with the troubles overseas. -
2020-04-06
The Year 2020
2020 was supposed to be everyone's year. The year when everything would be alright. Well, Covid-19 had other plans. -
2020-03-13
We don't talk about 2020
We are all traumatized by 2020. So much so that we don't talk about it. If we had time machines, we would avoid visiting the year 2020. -
2021-09-29
Vaccine Apartheid
A post from the RedFishStream Instagram page, which details the ways in which the West has dominated vaccine production and distribution, resulting in a disparity between available vaccinations for overexploited nations, particularly in Africa. Largely, this can be traced to patent restrictions either for medical equipment, or for the vaccines themselves; which make producing these vaccines almost, and if not impossible for these nations. As the description reads, "Less than 1% of the almost 6 billion COVID-19 vaccines administered worldwide have gone to low-income countries, while more than 80% were delivered to just 10 wealthy countries. Fewer than 4% of Africans have been fully immunized, with African leaders speaking out against Vaccine Apartheid at the UN General Assembly last week. According to the WHO, only 15% of the promised vaccine donations from rich countries have been delivered to low-income countries. An Amnesty International report published last week highlighted that when world leaders met at the G7 Summit to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out last June, the English county of Cornwall, where the G7 Summit took place, and which has a population of just over half a million, “had administered more vaccinations than 22 African countries combined.” -
2021
Another Hospital
My mother worked at several hospitals throughout the beginning of the pandemic, as there were nurse shortages. At this particular location, she working in several units including the ICU, outpatient surgery, and distributing vaccines. This is important to me because seeing my mom dressed like this and hearing about how she worked in multiple places any given day put into perspective how dire the situation was and continues to be. -
2021-10-06
COVID-19 and the Family Divide
My submission details the drastic shift in the lives of the family unit after the emergence of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. It is important for me to discuss the pandemic's effects within the household as they pertain to internal religio-political affairs. -
2021-09-30
HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 129
"My party, right or wrong" -
2021-09-30
A YEAR IN LEBANON WITH COVID-19
It all started suddenly. I was visiting my family in the states during Christmas break 2019; everything was perfect life was just fine, and my vacation had to end as planned. I packed my luggage flew back to Sidon, Lebanon, where my husband was waiting for me. I got married in August 2020. I had to leave the state, settle down with my husband, and work because he did not have a green card or American visa. After a few months passed, I decided during the holiday break to visit the U.S. and apply for my husband's alien visa, which is what I did. I went back to my work in Lebanon in the American school after the Christmas break. Our school started again, but all children were sick every day; one of the children did not come at the end of January; almost all the class were absent for a long time. It was the beginning of an immense tragedy. All the news started talking about a new virus spreading fast around the world. I did not even think one percent of the virus would spread worldwide, which was only the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. The economic situation in Lebanon was destroying every day, and many revolutions plus when covid-19 began, it started to get worst every day. We did not know what to expect my family away from me, which made me more anxious. Our school received a letter from the secretary of education all schools must shut down in two days or less, and this was the situation around the world, not only in Lebanon. By the beginning of February, all schools, government places, even private, malls almost the whole country shut down for more than six months completely. The street was like a horror movie. My life routine got missed up, and the entire planet, many people lost their lives and the people of my family as well. I was so worried about my family, praying that nothing would happen to them, especially I was away. I did not even work from home because I was only a teacher assistant nothing much left to do; even the gym closed, so I started working out at home. One day my lawyer called from the states and told me my husband's case pended because the immigration was closed till further notice, my mental health was distorted and duplicate as well my husband. Due to my husband is a refuge and has no citizen, we could not do anything about it besides waiting. Days passed by, and the situation was getting worse, and nothing was changing. August 4, 2020, we went to my family law spent the day there. Everyone likes to nap through the day, and this was what we were about to do till a one-time big explosion happened in Beruit, Lebanon Hundreds of people lost their lives the country got into a whole tragic pandemic plus outbreak. Two days later, we received an email from the U.S.CIS asking for the rest of the documents to make an interview appointment. We received another email that said my husband's interview would be on November 15. I felt that everything was going in the right direction after months of depression, especially with the covid-19 pandemic and the economic and political situation. Life in Lebanon is not safe for living anymore. There was a lockdown from nowhere; the governor used to pick random days for the lockdown as if it was a puzzle. A day before the interview, the Immigration lawyer called asking me if we received an email about canceling the interview, which I did has no idea what was going on. I was crying so hard felt like life would remain this way called the embassy emergency said, we can not help; this is an emergency for life and death. It would be best if we waited till they decided on a new interview appointment. We got into a massive fight with my husband called my family crying nonstop, telling them how much I missed them and wanted to come back home. Covid-19 is a curse destroying our dreams. I emailed the embassy hundreds of times and called the immigration office in NYC, but nothing they could do for me. I asked them why the embassy canceled my husband's interview, and the answers were like the covid lockdown. They told me you could leave Lebanon and come back without your husband. I would never leave him behind depressed. The next day I received an email that I needed to keep checking the embassy's available interview days, and this is what we kept doing. We felt like we were hopeless and had no more powers. One day at night, my husband told me to check if anything was available for December because the rest of November days are unavailable. We were lucky enough to find one on December 9, 2021. We were so worried about getting canceled again, but luckily it did not, few days passed, and the date had come he got the visa, and obviously, they did not allow me into the embassy due to covid-19. We waited a week to get his passport back. Once we received it, it booked tickets right away and flew to New York. It was the first time for us traveling during covid-19, nothing is easy PCR test is required even though no one asked for it, we wore the face mask for almost 24hours it felt like hell. We arrived safely in the states after months of struggling. We asked not to leave the house for 15 days, filled an application with our phone numbers and address. Before and after Covid-19, nothing was the same hugging my family after a long time was like heaven. For me being by their side was all I needed during these days. I pray for better days, days without covid-19. -
2021-06-12
Renovations
During COVID-19, and how difficult things have gotten with people losing their jobs, my house had quite a few problems to contend with. First and foremost, my room was leaking; second my downstairs was also leaking, which caused some parts of the ceiling to collapse and was just a huge mess to deal with. Funny how it had to be when COVID-19 forced people to start pinching pennies, because who knew when you might have gotten laid off from work because of it. We called someone to fix it, and we thought he had found it - after paying a decent sum to get the job done - but the leak was not fixed. Water still came down, forcing my father to tear down the wall in order to get to the problem, or at least attempt it. I talk about this because a lot of people will blame COVID-19 for their misfortune, and to join them, the house did not have to be in need of some much restructuring, especially with how much it costs. Not to mention the refurbishment of our kitchen and dining room took a fair amount of money to get done. And it's been nothing but more spending. -
2020-01-01
The real pandemic
during the covid 19 pandemic everybody was panicking and worrying about getting a vaccine. i just moved here from another state and i left my mom and brother back home. they lived in a bad neighborhood so during the pandemic they was not only afraid of the covid pandemic but the violent pandemic that plagued the streets where they lived. during the pandemic i lost both my mom and brother to gun violence. -
2020-04-01
Lockdown Troubles
When the pandemic hit, our whole way of life completely changed. One day I was at college constantly around all of my friends and all different types of people. The next day, I was back in my house and trapped there. At first it felt nice to be home for a change after spending a lot of time away from my hometown. Then a couple of weeks passed, and the isolation started to kick in. It was only my mother and I for that 3-month complete lockdown but looking back at it now, I would not have wanted it to be with anyone else. With that being said, we drove each other absolutely crazy. I know that she was happy at first since I am far away at school, but I know as we got deeper and deeper into isolation, that we were getting very annoyed at each other. It was a rough situation we were in during that time. She was very busy with her job working remotely and I was getting adjusted to zoom school which was not a good time. We were both stressed from the work we had to do and the fear of not knowing when we would be able to leave our house and be with other people. We then reached a boiling point and had a screaming match at each other. At this point, I truly do not remember what we were actually yelling at each other about. But we both recognized that we were both just going crazy from being in our house all of the time. We had our anxieties about the virus which did not help our mental states. Our regular life stopped for a long time, and it took a toll on us with the huge change. But we stayed strong and thankfully made it through and we are slowly getting back to regular. -
2020-06-25
Hats Off: Finding Closure Amid Uncertainty
This screen recording, a small snippet taken from a live video posted on the Richardson High School Eaglettes Facebook page on June 25,2020, takes place in the back parking lot of my former high school. The fixture in the middle of the video is a "stick chick", and just beyond the stick chick is the stadium where I performed at every football game for the last three years as a member of the Richardson High School Eaglettes, a Texas style dance team. What you witnessed was the senior hat-hanging ceremony, meant to be performed in our big auditorium at the end of our final show that is usually held in April. This moment is meant to be the pinnacle of the drill team experience, a last bow in front of your teammates, family, and friends as they celebrate and applaud you for your hard work and dedication. Every early morning, every sore muscle, every tear of frustration was meant to be justified in this moment, when I could finally hang the heavily sequined hat that carried the makeup, sweat and troubles of my three-year experience and inwardly declare "I did it". But that moment never came. When school closed indefinitely in March amidst the raging global pandemic, our final show was the first event to be cancelled, followed shortly after by prom and graduation. The disappointment was crippling. I felt my world cave in as every important moment I had waited months for was stripped from me, and soon sadness made way for anger. Then one day I received an email, announcing the date of an outdoor and socially distanced closing Eaglette ceremony. And funny enough, the moment you see here almost didn't happen. I was so content with my anger that I contemplated not attending the ceremony, controlled by the belief that denying myself of this moment would show the pandemic that it could no longer hurt me. But with some motherly encouragement I gathered myself up at the last minute, making it just in time to hang my hat. I recieved honks instead of cheers, headlights instead of stage lights, and the ages old concrete of the parking lot as my stage. But I wouldn't have had it any other way. What you witnessed was my moment of victory, my realization that good can spring forth amid bad, and the moment that I decided I would not let the pandemic defeat me. -
2021-06
Lasting pandemic effects of overexercising
This page from my bullet journal displays the workout I conducted each day during the month of June, 2021. The viewer should note three pertinent pieces of information to understand the necessity of this piece for the archive: the bullet journal itself, the exercise habits, and the timeline between the beginning of the pandemic to the actual entry. Primarily, I picked up the hobby of bullet journaling itself during March of 2020. I wanted a method to record my own habits – such as exercise, eating, music taste, and TV shows - in a scrapbook type format during the pandemic. Truthfully, the entire book would contribute to the archive, due to the personal detail and day-to-day routine recorded. Secondly, the workout tracker shows a slight addiction to exercise, with runs or walks every day, in addition to tens of thousands of steps I already took. These overexercising habits began for me during quarantine, with time and stress on my hands, and no healthy ways of coping. Finally, the reader should also acknowledge that I wrote this entry in June of 2021, a full 15 months after the start of lockdown in the US. That timeline shows that lingering effects of the pandemic remain, perhaps even grow with time. This artifact expresses more about my experience with the pandemic than I can articulate due to one central reason: learning self-love through exercise. Though I’d always struggled with having time on my hands, the pandemic left me feeling more uneasy with loneliness and boredom. Without a healthy way to deal with my emotions, I turned to exercise for the release and endorphins that I needed. Before I knew it, a casual workout each day led to apple watch addiction, calorie counting obsession, and cycles of binge eating and overcompensating through exercise, etc. While this sounds like my own personal journey, quarantine kickstarted and exacerbated these issues for adolescents all over the nation. With the recent introduction of tiktok “What I eat in a day” videos and Chloe Ting’s workout videos, people grew obsessive about wellness and moving their bodies. I learned so much about my body and my brain through this struggle with overexercise and obsession – and I feel grateful for that. Still though, I notice these effects in myself and others. This small contribution of a workout tracker speaks volumes about habits of teenagers after months of loneliness and free time – whether teenagers obtained an obsession with appearance, food, or exercising. And if those issues did not resurrect for some, I’d argue that the pandemic brought many other mental health challenges to surface for my age group. While this submission does little to express my emotions or challenges surrounding my exercise routine, it conveys the lingering effects of mental health tolls and body challenges from the pandemic. -
2021-09-16
How I Adapted
Starting a new chapter in your life can always be a little stressful simply because of the new change it brings. Coming from a farming county, I had just begun becoming comfortable moving into a big city during my freshman year of college. Second semester rolled around and out of nowhere COVID-19 immediately impacted my life. My once comfortable lifestyle I have adapted to in the big city changed back to my home where I started online classes. This was quite unusual because I had never taken any online classes and found myself struggling to learn from a screen rather than in-person classes. Weeks went by where I struggled to pay attention and succeed in the “classroom”. Although challenging, I adapted to something unfamiliar in my life and found my niche to succeed in a new environment once again. Adapting to something new can certainly be challenging for people. COVID taught people to adapt to something new in their lives. It brought people together in the community in ways that I had not thought possible. One example of this is when I found out my grandma of 88 years of age became ill with COVID. It was an unfortunate event for my family that took a toll on all of us when we first heard about the news. It became real. Real enough to worry, real enough to take action. Real enough to show the importance of family in times of pain and struggle. Our family had to adapt to my grandmother’s lifestyle for the next couple of months. This meant no big grandma hugs for 5 months until her body recovered from this foreign virus. This took some getting used to as I had not realized the real impact of COVID and perhaps did not see it as dangerous as I thought. Again, I adapted. I adapted to realize that the people around you can make situations like this less painstakingly hard. The comfort and prayers received from family and friends made it comforting to know people cared and were there for me and my family. COVID was something that impacted everyone in different ways. Just remember people listen and people are there. -
2020-06
Pandemic Protests
These images from June 2020 were captured during Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in New York City following the killing of George Floyd. The first image shows City Hall the morning after BLM protests. In this image of a landmark building covered in spray painted cries for change, graffiti depicts the frustrations over the cruel injustices institutions place on people of color. The second image depicts one of many protests during summer in quarantine when New Yorkers came together on avenues, bridges, and squares. Citizens marched and chanted as police followed alongside to ensure protests remained peaceful. These images capture uniquely complex dynamics when people were forced to pursue creative avenues, reinventing social justice movements to come. My time in quarantine was not solely spent on COVID related activities, I also educated myself on how and why many US institutions remain racist, discovering ways that structural change can address unjust attitudes. I read articles written by advocates for the BLM movement and also by conservatives opposing it. In exposing myself to differing mindsets, I was better prepared to engage in conversations with others opposed to change in the hope of educating them on the pressing need for progress. Furthermore, my high school friends and I frequently Zoomed to discuss how our alma mater contributes to racism in both subtle and overt ways. These conversations allowed us to work with fellow alumni, as well as current students, to create a document clearly listing racial inequities within the student body, the faculty, and the curriculum. For each issue that we highlighted, we provided multiple alternatives for how the school could fix the matter in question. While these conversations were unexpected before the BLM protests occurred, they became productive and fulfilling conversations that in and of themselves began to address long held biases, racist representations and undercurrents of injustice within our alma mater’s community and programs. -
2020-08-15
The Covid Guard
The beginning of the pandemic almost perfectly overlayed with my beginning in the coast guard. From my first unit to A school, to my second unit as a rated member, Covid 19 has been a major part of every pit stop. I endure endless safety briefings to the now mandatory Covid 19 vaccine, the military did not fall short in its education and preparation for the pandemic. -
2020-03-01
COVID through the eyes of others
Going through the pandemic myself has had a lot of highs and lows. Despite having to be relatively locked down and isolated from most people until vaccinated, I was able to pick up a lot of hobbies and overall just learn a lot more about myself. As I look back, I can't help but think about how this experience has been different for others, with one of these groups being the elderly especially. There's one couple that is friends with my family who are both just over sixty years old and starting from March 2020 has been on complete lockdown. They order their groceries, don't see anyone outside their immediate family, and rarely leave the house. While COVID for me has its positives and negatives, I can't imagine how different the experience has been for them, both out of isolation and fear of getting sick. Thankfully, they have been vaccinated and have extended the bubble of people they see slightly. I just can't get over how while some who are skeptics of the pandemic run around carefree, others are locked away in their homes fearing for their health. -
2021-09-15
A Story From A Chinese Immigrant In The US
I will share my story that is about racism because of Covid-19 -
2021-09-14
Rampant misinformation and disinformation continues
This is a screenshot from a group several friends are in. The group is holistic-minded which, in itself, is not anti-science but folks who are into holistic medicine seem to be particularly vulnerable to the misinformation and disinformation out there. This screenshot shows one person asking the OP if they’ve tested their child for COVID. The OP answers that they’ve swabbed their child several times. A third person warns the OP that sterile swabs contain ethylene oxide and so they cause cancer. Reuters did some myth-busting regarding this claim. (Link included). It’s so disheartening to see this rampant disinformation and misinformation, especially in communities I formerly felt a part of. -
2021-09-14
The Start to the School Year is Unlike Any Other
I wrote an opinion piece for Idaho Education News last week after the latest school board meeting in Nampa, Idaho. Since March of 2020 educators have worked tirelessly to ensure that our students continue to receive a quality education. Initially, educators were seen as 'heroes' of the pandemic. However, over the last 9 months, the rhetoric surrounding schools and teachers has turned nasty. Yet, teachers continue to show up every single day and offer learning experiences to all children. At last week's board meeting, the discussion focused primarily on a mask mandate for our district as hospitals in our state began rationing care given the soaring number of Covid-19 cases. There was an even split between the trustees who were in favor of masking and the trustees who were against masking. This split did not come as a shock to me. However, the line of one trustee hit me in my gut, "I guess I go back to the mission statement. I'm here for the kids, so I'm not going to worry about the adults." The mission and vision statement the trustee is referencing states that teachers offer "exceptional learning experiences" for every child. Given the largely unvaccinated population of our community, the high numbers of teachers out sick, and the alarming number of students out sick as mask mandate seemed like a simple request. However, the board did not vote in favor of helping teachers ensure we are able to provide 'exceptional learning experiences.' Are masks the only answer? Not necessarily. Last year, students attended school 4 days per week while the 5th day was reserved for students to connect with students who were in quarantine/sick and unable to attend school. This year, all of those requirements are gone. That being said, students and teachers attend school 5 days per week and there is no time allotted for teachers to connect with students who are quarantined or sick. Given the latest numbers, about 25% of our entire district is out sick. That is 25% of students who do not have access to their teachers. The article was published on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, and Idaho Ed News shared it on their Facebook page as well. Shortly after 7 pm MST the post has over 160 comments (mostly in favor of teachers), 250 reactions, and over 50 shares. In addition, I have received numerous private messages and emails from other teachers who thank me for giving them a voice during this 'unprecedented' time. While I am still a fairly new teacher with only 3 years of experience, there are veteran teachers who are being pushed to the brink. Many would like to think this is an Idaho problem but the reality is that teachers across the country are feeling unsupported and unappreciated by the communities they serve. I am fearful this will be my last year teaching - I LOVE my job. I remain hopeful that this year turns out to be something amazing. -
2020-09-16
Vanderbilt Covid Testing
This photo is a screenshot of an email that I received during the Fall 2020 semester at Vanderbilt University. Throughout the semester, I received many emails that looked exactly like that one. The email is proof of a negative Covid test result, which every Vanderbilt student had to receive each week during the fall semester in order to remain living in their dorm. If a student tested positive, they would be taken from their dorm into quarantine housing. For some context, in March of 2020, all Vanderbilt students were sent home early due to the coronavirus. From March onward through the summer, Vanderbilt students worried about their fate as students. Would we be allowed to return to Nashville in the fall? Would we be subjected to more online “college”, trapped in our childhood bedrooms? This anxiety physically ate away at me, keeping me in a constant state of unease. When we finally heard that we would be coming back to campus, it felt as though an immense, invisible weight had been released from my shoulders. We were told, however, that there would be restrictions to college life. At that moment, I did not care an ounce. I would happily take any variation of college, as long as I would be able to live on campus. One of my major stressors entering that year was that we would be kicked off campus a second time. Callous students loudly proclaimed that this was inevitable, there would be no way that we would last this upcoming year. Comments like this brought the anxiety right back to the pit of my stomach. As a student who was going to be living on campus, what would I do if I was kicked off? Where would I go? I did not even want to think about that as a possibility. But that was the energy that charged the air at Vanderbilt that year: there was a fear and a deep distrust that Vanderbilt would stay open. One of the key differences between this year and other years at Vanderbilt was the weekly Covid testing (In the spring semester, the Covid testing was twice weekly). Students were required to enroll in times in their schedule when they would trek over to the Rec, or the large gym on campus, to spit in a tube. At the beginning of the year, I would go with my friends during our allotted time. We soon learned, however, that it did not really matter when you went, as long as went sometime during the week. While this was in some ways comical, to walk into the Rec center, with pop music blaring, and spit alongside your college peers, there was something stressful about it as well. It was like constantly turning yourself in; if you did have the misfortune of having Covid, you had willingly given yourself over for the school to come and take you away. Especially at the beginning, fear of Covid was rampant. Even if you felt fine, a scratchy throat may seem like your doom. At the beginning of the semester especially, waiting for the emailed results felt like eternity. And we all knew what would happen to people who tested positive, or those unfortunate enough to be contact traced: they were shipped off in a golf cart for everyone to see, and were banished from the rest of campus. But this was worth it, all of it was worth it for us. The stress of getting tested and the fear of being quarantined was a miniscule price to pay for being able to be on campus, with our friends. It was an escape from our summers of restriction. Or at least, it was for me. And for that, I give Vanderbilt tremendous credit for opening and following through successfully with the covid-testing of all the students each week. -
2020-03-11
The Vanderbilt University COVID Shutdown
This is a photo of an ABC news segment that was aired on March 11th, 2020, at the very beginning of the pandemic in the United States. The photo shows an interview of a Vanderbilt student (me!). The caption reads “Undergrad Students Must Move out by Sunday”. The interview was taken on a Wednesday, which had been the day that the students were notified that they would need to vacate the campus. The Monday of that week, March 9th, had been our first day after spring break. That same day, we received the first email about the Coronavirus. It stated that classes would be cancelled for the next two weeks. At that time, some students and parents began to panic. Some students decided to leave campus for those two weeks, and believed that they would simply return after those two weeks. These students only took the belongings that they would need for those two weeks, and many of them left the majority of their things in their rooms. Two days later, on the Wednesday of that week, the students received a second email that we would all need to leave campus, and that we had until that Sunday to move all of things out entirely. Naturally, mass chaos ensued as students struggled to figure out how to move all of their things. Most students did not have any help from parents or family, as many people were afraid to travel. This time was a blur of stress, fear, and sadness as students mourned the year that was left unfinished. It was a charged frenzy of packing and moving, but despite this, all around the Vanderbilt’s campus, friends could be seen hugging and crying, particularly the graduating seniors. It was truly surreal in the worst way possible. For me, this picture represents that entire, horrific, move-out experience. On the day that I found out that we would need to leave for the remainder of the year, I was in a practice room in my dorm with one of my friends. He had just been telling me how he had been fighting with his father over whether or not to leave during the two weeks without class. He, of course, wanted to stay on campus, but his father was convinced that he needed to come home. I had already conceded to my parents on that battle, and had plane tickets to come home for the Friday of that week. I, like everyone else, thought that I would only be going home for two weeks like the email had explained. I also was willing to be home for the two weeks to see my family, as I had been in the UK over spring break, which had caused major tensions with my parents. Wednesday’s email confirmed our worst fears: we would all be forced to leave for the rest of the year. I remember feeling completely numb. I walked out of the room to call my parents, while my friend called his. As I spoke to my mom, I realized that I would need to pack up all of my things extremely quickly. She advised me to go to the UPS store to get boxes; as soon as my friend and I were both off the phone, we went straight there, buying up many boxes each to begin packing. While we tried to smile and be upbeat, both of us were still in utter shock. With every ounce of my being, I did not want to leave. It was my sophomore year, and college finally seemed to be mine; I had a phenomenal group of friends who I loved deeply, I was involved on campus, and I loved my classes and professors. The tragedy of it all reverberated through me in waves. As devastated as I was, I had a more imminent task to focus on: moving out. Once we had bought our boxes, we realized that we could not carry them back to campus, and ordered an Uber. As I struggled to carry my boxes from the Uber, I noticed a news crew stationed outside of my dorm. “Could we ask you a few questions?” they called to the pair of us as we labored with our boxes. My insides swirled with anger and frustration about the whole situation, about the unfairness of it all. “Yeah, for sure!” I responded. Maybe someone would actually listen to us, and understand the insanity that we were experiencing. While I don’t remember the exact questions asked, I remember telling them that we had just picked up boxes as we were required to leave campus later that week. I attempted to communicate how upsetting this was to the entire student body. While I have never actually seen this news clip, a friend of mine sent me this picture of me being interviewed. For me, this picture captures how surreal the move out was. I was on the news, and I forgot all about it. It honestly meant nothing to me in that moment, as my world was pulled out from beneath me. -
2020
Quarentine and Self-Reflection: A Time To Work On Oneself
When the pandemic started, I was told that we were staying home for two weeks. My first thought was “Sweet. An extended spring break.” I thought I would have to come back to school after those few days and continue on with my life as it always has been. I was wrong. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and before I knew it, I had lost an entire year of my life. I had no human contact outside of my family that entire time. I was kept in my room all day, everyday. After a while of online school and nothing else going on, I think that's when something had snapped inside of me. I experienced self reflection. With all of that time and no one but me, I just looked at myself, looked back into everything I have done and pondered on what I wanted to do with myself. I was already aware of how insignificant I was and how little I have done in life but I did not really understand just how little until I had that time to myself. I already had a list of things I wanted to change about myself and things I wanted to do so I think that is when I began working to be better. I spent a lot of time alone practicing how to act more patient and be friendlier. I practiced baking, I took care of babies a lot, I appreciated the little things I always have since I was young like a video game I play called Minecraft, I began documenting and recording everything I did, I studied foreign language, etc. Soon I started to make changes to myself. When I got mad, I would think of my nephew or I would imagine I am watching the kids and remember that I have to be patient with them. I practiced self love so when I got major depression episodes or anxiety attacks, I was able to comfort myself easier and walk myself through my struggles. I also cut back on the food I ate and the types of food I ate. I lost about 10 pounds in one week and I was super proud of myself especially since I was working out like every day. I was in really good shape and proud of myself for that. I had better stamina and my clothes fit better and I was getting a lot of foreign language practice in and I finished learning how to read and write korean as well as some simple vocabulary and sentence structure. I improved on writing since I wrote a lot more and helped develop my techniques and practiced some drawing. I spent a lot of that time sitting alone in my room and adjusting to that silence. I've improved as a listener and began to crave silence all the time. My life has not been peaceful in the least bit but I have been able to find peace within myself which has really helped in the long run so far. Having improved on myself and re-exploring hobbies and interests of mine, I was reintroduced to the loud and crowded public abruptly to which I responded with an anxiety attack but then I got more comfortable. I was super shy at first but now I feel generally happier all the time and I believe that has helped people around me relax and enjoy my presence more. I am glad I seem less threatening or mean because that is all I have been called my entire life. I am still weird and awkward and I am not anyone’s first option but I am glad I am not the last option now. My goal now is to enlist as soon as I can and go into community college. Once highschool ends for me then I will begin my life and I am super stoked about that. I have a few ideas of what I can do after highschool so I am just waiting it out now. At least this much good came out of quarantine. -
2020-03-20
The city does sleep
At the start of the pandemic, I was facing home insecurity and was living in a shelter for three months and special housing for 6 months. The city was the most empty I have ever seen it. Ive seen so many people, homeless people, because of the pandemic and it was devastating. It isolated people. -
2020-09-08
From always on the go to no where to go.w
Before the pandemic had hit the United States my family and I had always been on the go between work, school and sports. A father who works crazy shifts a mother who works your typical eight am to five pm shift for her company then going to pick up her children for any after school activity that may have been going on at the time. We had family time but not enough, not like we had during the beginning of the pandemic. Once we were put into lockdown both my sister and I had been stuck at home, no more sports or clubs. While my mom also started working from home and still is today. It was kind of a blessing with the fact she wasn't driving an hour back and forth everyday. But my dad was still working. Even though my father had still been working on his days off, we had played many uno games, my sister and I had also learned how to play scatt a card game. But overall covid did bring us closer as a family, giving us time to really focus on each other. The photo I chose to send in is a photo of my sister on her first day of high school. High school to a ninth grader is already an unknown territory but going to classes through a computer at your desk at home is not ideal. Which I do have to say she handled it like a champ but it was something new, something so scary. From my experience it was unsettling to never know truly when you were going to go back to the classroom. The lack of interaction too just makes things worse. We got better as time went on but the Pandemic definitely had changed things, some things for the best and some for the worst. -
2020-03
Rural Connecticut: Covid Doubters
I lived in a rural part of Connecticut during the 2020 Covid lockdowns. Despite the widely publicized nature of the pandemic, at least half of the citizens in my town didn't believe the disease was real. There was a real divide over wearing masks and closing down schools/work because many people felt the disease was over-blown, not deadly, or simply wouldn't strike a rural place as hard as a city. While my town didn't suffer as much as places like New York City did, we still had Covid cases and deaths across the county. It was frustrating to live in a rural place during the outbreak, because even though we were "safer," than city-dwellers, nobody took measures to preserve that safety. This mindset continued when vaccines became available, and the latest rage in rural areas is using Ivermectin (horse medicine) instead. -
2020-04-01
Finishing my Undergraduate Degree during the Pandemic
I was starting the last semester of my undergraduate degree when the pandemic hit the globe. At this time (around March 2020) I was planing to work on my senior honors thesis and happy to start my master's degree in October 2020. But in order to finish my thesis, I had to do some intensive research first: my plan was to visit a big German archive in Berlin and also to do some research in a couple of libraries. But just before I could do so, all German institutions went into lockdown and closed for months due to health precautions. As somebody who studied History and had to visit an archive for my thesis, I felt like I was totally stuck in my academic studies. I felt like it was impossible to finish my studies in the scheduled time, and for months I didn't know how to continue my academic work. Luckily, my university was considerate enough to extend the submission date for my thesis. After a couple of months of not knowing if I could start my master's degree in time (and in general not knowing how my academic and financial future would look like if I didn't finish my undergraduate degree in time) the archives and libraries opened up again, and I could continue my research and finish my thesis. -
2020-09-24
The Mask
I wrote this poem during my senior year shortly after Providence College began its campus lockdown in September of 2020 in response to a major spike in COVID-19 cases. Unable to leave my apartment on campus for days at a time except to go for a walk by myself around campus, I felt the weight of the emotional impacts of the pandemic. I wrote the poem from a place of hurt and concern that my fellow students could not abide by guidelines to keep the campus community and the surrounding community safe. Masks were simultaneously hiding our fears while also being a constant reminder of them. I published this poem in the Portfolio section of The Cowl, Providence College's student-run newspaper. It appeared in the October 1, 2020 issue. -
2021-09-08
Relative Distance
A couple of weeks before lockdown began in March of 2020 I had reconnected with someone I met in college years prior. We went on a few dates before I left to study abroad and nothing developed further, but we had struck up a conversation over text and had made plans to meet in Boston the weekend that New York City declared a state of emergency. Needless to say, we never met for drinks that weekend, yet we talked every day without fail for the rest of 2020. Our initial conversations typically revolved around the different developments of the pandemic but we started to get to know each other as text conversations became phone calls then video calls. Our connection grew as a reaction to the large amount of time we suddenly had and by a new reality where distance meant something very different than before. Although I had not seen him in person for almost 2 years, he was there for me in the only feasible way a person could be during that time. He was there through personal tragedies or minor irritations in an evolving and confused stretch of months. Sometimes we did not have much to say at all - I deferred to topics like what I cooked for dinner or we compared notes on the new show that we had just watched. I called him first when my pandemic furlough turned into a lost job. I called him first when l was chosen for my Executive Assistant position many months and numerous applications later. He texted me on my first day of remote work to wish me luck and he consoled me over video chat through my tears of frustration and defeat as I navigated the new reality of learning a remote position in the typically highly visual and highly performative art world to which I was accustomed. On one of these calls he told me that he had to go back home to Italy. There were many more months of having a friendship and possibly relationship in a state of limbo with this person who now knew me better than most. We had become close through untraditional means; it felt strange at times but then again so did everything else. He came back to the United States in January of 2021 and we have been dating ever since. Connection to others took on a new meaning during that year. How we interacted and who we kept in contact with changed. Speaking with him was something I looked forward to and it gave me a sense of routine. More importantly, our conversations provided a dose of levity and joy to each day throughout a very tumultuous year. -
-0021-08-31
Anger, Frustration, and Hope
In December of 2020 my family went to Florida to pick up our eldest daughter. All but one of us tried to be diligent in wearing masks, distancing and reducing the risks as much as possible. Yet despite that a week later, on Christmas day, my husband started feeling tired and slept most of the day. That was as bad as it got for him. The following Monday we were all feeling ill and I was in the car line being tested, it was positive. On New Years Eve I went to the hospital by ambulance with my oxygen levels in the low 80's. I couldn't say goodbye to my four kids (two in college and two in high school) because I didn't want it to be a final goodbye. I spent ten days in the hospital. Thankfully the constant oxygen, medications and antibody therapies did their job and I didn't need to be intubated. However, the virus wreaked havok on my body. My eyes hurt and would not focus, my body and joints ached, my focus and cognitive function was shot. I struggled to find balance and felt like I weighted a thousand pounds (heavy, oppressive weight). I struggled for breath yet the oxygen took its toll as well leaving painful ulcers in my nasal cavity and after two months of oxygen, a hole in my sceptum. My sugar levels were dangerously high and difficult to regulate and I shifted from a daily pill to needing four shots of insulin a day. It has been eight months and my body still has not returned to any sense of normalcy. I still struggle with controlling my sugar levels. My cognitive recovery has been slow and things that would take an hour in the past now take three or four (like reading and analysing text). I struggle with exercise as my lungs still have not healed. Even walking up a flight of stairs leaves me in tears as I struggle for breath and feel like I'm drowning. I have to divy up my workable time because my body will only do so much before it gives out. I struggle with odd symptoms. I struggle to sleep and struggle to stay awake. I also struggle with depression and self worth. I now feel like a burden. No, I am not suicidal, but I would be lying if I didn't admit that there are so many times when I feel like my family (my spouse in truth), would be better off without this new version of me. They don't understand why I can't do what I did before and doesn't believe in COVID or vaccines or wearing a mask. It's all media propoganda meant to promote a socialist agenda. I only got this sick because I was overweight and had diabetes before COVID. It cuts like a knife when you hear things like that and when it feels like someone doesn't care enough to want to do what they can to protect the ones they say they love. Maybe that's my biggest takeaway from all of this. It's redefining who I am and how I percieve the people around me. The people I thought loved me the most, who I loved the most. It's opened my eyes to the divisions and the anger that run deeper than just the pandemic. But I've also seen the depth of human compassion and love. Friends who made sure my kids had food and whatever else they needed when they were quarantined. The staff at the hospital who ran themselves ragged caring for patients. My nurse practitioner who has been on this journey with me the past eight months and worked diligently to help me recover. The students I've worked with who adapted and were more accepting and flexible in all of this mess than their parents, as they learned new ways of learning. It gives me hope that while there is bad in this world, there is so much good. -
2021-08-28
hermit HERALD, ISSUE 126
U.S. biometric database in hands of Taliban -
2020-12-01
How history got me through lockdown
A story I wrote about using history to keep a sense of perspective and gratitude through Melbourne's long lockdown in 2020. Coming against a background of university job losses and policies disfavouring humanities degrees I also wanted to let historians know that their work is important and has relevance. -
2021-08-16
hermit HERALD, ISSUE 124
Afghanistan government falls -
2021-08-14
One person stabbed as COVID anti-vaxxers and counterdemonstrators clash in front of L.A. City Hall
The title of this article quickly caught my attention and then I immediately felt saddened by the reality that this pandemic has been politicized from the beginning. People have become so passionate that they have lost all reason. There are always two sides to every story but I find it so hard to understand who oppose vaccinations and reject science. Its not at all surprising that the anti-vax side of this particular story showed up in MAGA hats, its further proof of the political foundation of their argument to "fight for their rights". I understand that people want the right to decide, but then those same people refuse to get tested regularly. This issue has been a messy and passionate one from the beginning and its really hard not to blame Donald Trump for the misinformation that is still being used by the anti-vax community. -
2021-08-11
Sorry, Not Sorry. Vaccines Are Necessary.
In two years of everything under the sun becoming political, it’s not a shock that vaccines are yet another unnecessarily politicized topic. Of course, unlike masks, which were not a part of our daily routine prior to 2020, vaccinations and anti-vaxxers are not new. And honestly, if my two elementary aged kids could be vaccinated I would care a lot less about anti-vaxxers. I think they’re selfish, but for the most part, they’d be hurting themselves (and the immuno compromised that cannot be vaccinated.) But my kids can’t be vaccinated and I have been trying to stay positive knowing next week they’re walking into a classroom with only a mask for protection. I asked my mom “what is their teachers are unvaccinated?” I mean, every unvaccinated person poses a risk - what is the adult in charge is an anti-vaxxer and anti-masker? So it was with complete and utter shock and total relief to get the official word that teachers in the state of CA must be vaccinated. It’s a shame that this seals the fate on governor Newsom’s recall. I don’t love the guy, but I sure as heck want him more than a DeSantis and considering the last time CA recalled a governor, we ended up with the Terminator in charge…well. With Florida’s teachers being threatened with losing their pay over mandating masks, I am relieved to live in a state taking the opposite approach. Call us Commiefornia, I don’t care. Like I’ve been saying for a year and a half, this is a public health crisis. This isn’t about politics, it’s about an invisible virus that is continuing to mutate and spread. And as a teacher, I truly believe it’s my responsibility to do anything to help mitigate the spread. -
2021-08-01
Ableism and Vaccination
This is a complaint that I don't know whether to officially lodge about the treatment my partner and I experienced at the mass vaccination hub in Homebush. It is a complaint regarding ableism, and invisible illness. -
2021-08-06
Covid Gardening Story and Okra Recipe
I chose to focus on my garden and our chickens that we began right before the pandemic hit. I never realized how lucky I was to live in a rural environment until Spring 2020, when living in the country meant having a bit more freedom than in the city. Our garden and chickens provided us with foods that sometimes were out of stock in our small, local store. However, we also faced other things in our community that made the psychological aspects of the pandemic really hard, such as living with those who deny the reality of the disease and mitigation efforts that people like my husband promoted, as an ER physician. I suppose this story is a bit of a love letter to our little property out in the country, despite the differences in values that we have with our town.