Items

• 
  05/27/2022

  Erika Franco Quirós Oral History, 2022/05/27

  En esta entrevista Erika Franco Quirós es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Los temas que tocan son sobre el empleo, familia y hogar, la comunidad, salud, fuentes de información, gobierno, y para terminar hablan del futuro. Esta entrevista es la tercera de una seria de tres (2020, 2021, 2022)
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  06/08/2022

  Flory Chacón Roldán Oral History, 2022/06/08

  En esta entrevista Flory Chacón Roldán es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Los temas que tocan son sobre el empleo, familia y hogar, la comunidad, salud, fuentes de información, gobierno, y para terminar hablan del futuro. Esta entrevista es la tercera de una seria de tres (2020, 2021, 2022)
• 
  05/24/2022

  Silvia Azofeifa Ramos Oral History, 2022/05/24

  En esta entrevista Silvia Azofeifa Ramos es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Los temas que tocan son sobre el empleo, familia y hogar, la comunidad, salud, fuentes de información, gobierno, y para terminar hablan del futuro. Esta entrevista es la tercera de una seria de tres (2020, 2021, 2022)
• 
  2020-07-21

  I think I want to start a garden with you

  I decided to start a garden during the pandemic with my girlfriend at the time (now wife). It was my senior year of college and life changed drastically in the spring when the pandemic hit. My wife and I had somewhat recently started dating at this point and suddenly we had to go on lockdown together to avoid any potential spread to her family since we both were required to go in person for our jobs. We went from dating to living together in an instant and it made us grow even closer. Together we tried to find quarantine hobbies to bide our time originally thinking that quarantine would only last a few months. I remember one day suggesting we start a garden in the backyard. My yard in Lubbock got so much sun it was just perfect for a garden. We slowly built a garden adding various plants from cactus and aloe vera to hot peppers, bean sprouts, and sunflowers. I loved going out there and caring for all the plants with my wife it was a real bonding experience. It was beautiful watching the whole process of our plants transform from little seeds to baby sprouts. I remember the way the new sprouts smelled crisp as they became verdant green and leafy. When we would water them on a particularly hot day it had a scent that reminded me of rainy summer days in Dallas when it got humid. I enjoyed getting to start this hobby that I most likely wouldn't have picked up at the time if I kept to my usual college routine. It was also a good distraction for both of us from the worries and anxieties of the pandemic.
• 
  06/23/2021

  Danitza Guzman Solano Oral History, 2021/06/23

  En esta entrevista Danitza Guzman Solano es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Los temas que tocan son sobre el empleo, familia y hogar, la comunidad, salud, fuentes de información, gobierno, y para terminar hablan del futuro. Esta entrevista es el seguno de una seria de tres, el primero fue el año 2020.
• 
  05/21/2021

  Erika Franco Quirós Oral History, 2021/05/21

  En esta entrevista Erika Franco Quirós es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Los temas que tocan son sobre el empleo, familia y hogar, la comunidad, salud, fuentes de información, gobierno, y para terminar hablan del futuro. Esta entrevista es el seguno de una seria de tres, el primero fue el año 2020.
• 
  2020-03-21

  A Sudden Flight

  It emphasizes the suddenness of the pandemic through sensory history.
• 
  05/21/2021

  Flory Chacón Roldán Oral History, 2021/05/21

  En esta entrevista Flory Chacón Roldán es entrevistado por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Los temas que tocan son sobre el empleo, familia y hogar, la comunidad, salud, fuentes de información, gobierno, y para terminar hablan del futuro. Esta entrevista es el segunda de una seria de tres (2020, 2021, 2022)
• 
  06/11/2021

  Carmen Caamaño Morua Oral History, 2021/06/11

  En esta entrevista Carmen Caamaño Morua es entrevistado por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Los temas que tocan son sobre el empleo, familia y hogar, la comunidad, salud, fuentes de información, gobierno, y para terminar hablan del futuro. Esta entrevista es el seguno de una seria de tres, el primero fue el año 2020.
• 
  05/19/2021

  Silvia Azofeifa Ramos Oral History, 2021/05/19

  En esta entrevista Silvia Azofeifa Ramos es entrevistado por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Los temas que tocan son sobre el empleo, familia y hogar, la comunidad, salud, fuentes de información, gobierno, y para terminar hablan del futuro. Esta entrevista es el seguno de una seria de tres, el primero fue el año 2020.
• 
  2022-08-02

  HST 580 Professional Experience/Archives course

  The online history MA program in conjunction with the public history program at Arizona State University ran an internship for history graduate students to work on the JOTPTY archive. Internships were held in summer 2020, fall 2020, spring 2021, and spring 2022. Students were asked to submit to the archive and were often given guided assignments. The nature of the submissions varied from contributing to a specific collection to conducting an oral history. In the first internship participants developed collections and began creating calls for submissions and collecting for specific collections. In the Fall 2020 semester, students continued adding to collections and worked more extensively on oral histories. In Spring 2021, more interns experimented with the Omeka exhibits feature and finally in Spring 2022 a large portion of the internship was dedicated to data cleaning and a self-directed project. As part of their 180 hours, students were always encouraged to share their own pandemic stories or respond to varied prompts. Internship Director: Kathleen Kole de Peralta
• 
  2020-06-11

  Effects of Covid in 2020

  I started college to attain my Bachelors degree in 2014, despite setbacks and working a number of part time jobs along the way I successfully graduated in 2020. Unfortunately 3 months into my final semester the world was put on pause In a way. Everyone across the world was asked to quarantine, to limit physical contact, and not gather in large crowds. Years of yearning for the recognition of graduating in front of my friends and family as I walked across the stage to get my diploma became a mere dream in my head. My graduation took place digitally and while I am grateful for the recognition and fully aware of the circumstance the world was under, it is still something I wish I had experienced in my life. The pandemic put many events on hold but I surely wish the events that transpired weren't so poorly timed and that I experienced the recognition of graduating in pre pandemic era.
• 
  2022-07-20

  Graduating in A Pandemic

  Disclaimer: I understand that my story is not as unique or impactful as others. Many people's lives were ruined beyond repair. My derailment is quite insignificant when compared to the devastation of others. It is however, my story, and I have decided to share it anyway. Perhaps it will add to the narrative of why recent graduates are struggling the way they are. In May of 2021, I graduated from one of the top public universities in the United States with honors, distinction, a 4.0 GPA, and the outstanding senior award for my department. Despite the pandemic, there was still an expectation to do great things. All of my professors, friends, and family constantly told me what an exciting future I had ahead of me. The pandemic had other plans. All of the graduate programs I had decided to apply to were not accepting applicants due to the pandemic. They did not have the funding or ability to allow new graduate students to conduct research. Instead I tried to apply to jobs within my field, but because their buildings were closed to the public, they were letting people go, not hiring on. Without scholarship money or a well paying job, I could no longer afford my apartment. Many of my friends had moved back into their parents house and I thought to do the same. Unfortunately, like many other couples during the pandemic, the forced proximity had made my parents' house volatile. I could not move home, because my parents decided to move across the country and get a divorce. I tried to move in with my paternal grandparents, but my grandma was to ill. She ended up dying that summer. After a summer of floating around, living out of my car and random family members houses, I moved in with my maternal grandparents. At this point I felt miserable. It seemed like my entire life had fallen apart in the span of two months. I went from the top of my class, a bright future ahead of me to working minimum wage. Just as I was beginning to feel like I was back on solid ground after moving in with my maternal grandparents, my grandfather died too. I felt cursed. A year later, I am working an amazing job within my field, living in a condo with friends, and on track to receive a master's degree this winter. Things are finally looking up, but I don't know if I will ever fully emotionally recover from living through this pandemic.
• 
  2020

  From Upward Momentum to a Downhill Plummet

  Before the pandemic, things were going really well for me. I was in the second semester of my Masters program at Columbia University, putting together an exhibition that was to be displayed at the American Museum of Natural History, and had just started an internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Pandemic started, and I flew home to Louisiana to quarantine with my family. In June, I realized I had two months to secure a job to stay in my apartment in Jersey City. After vacationing in Gatlinburg, I returned to spend my 24th birthday in the big apple. Unfortunately, I was unable to secure a job, forcing the breaking of my lease. I returned home October 1st.
• 
  2022-07-06T10:19

  Adulting On Lockdown

  I was 17 and a freshman in college when lockdown started. At the beginning of the year, COVID was just a blip on the news; the first time I'd heard of it, my mother was sharing an article on how the flu was deadlier and telling me I should get vaccinated. That February I got my first flu vaccine. A month later, I was packing up my dorm in a day and getting sent home. We went to McDonald's for lunch as fuel for the two-hour drive back to my small hometown. I wouldn't step foot in another business for a year. I spent the fall of my sophomore year away from all my newfound friends, too scared to risk infection on campus and too disappointed with the idea of spending the semester locked in a dorm room. I didn't return until the spring, now a legal adult. It would take another year for the mask mandate to be lifted; by then I'd been accepted into my school's Masters program and had moved out of my parent's place permanently. I haven't hit my 20s yet and the world still seems to be falling apart. A new variant, another mass shooting, the world burning... it's hard to believe it's ever going to end. But I keep working. Right now I'm doing research on the parallel's between Marvel's "Blip" and COVID. People ask me how I got a grant to do that, but to me it's the only way to make sense of the event that's marked my whole adult life. Superheroes make sense. They at least had control over their plague.
• 
  -2020-09-29

  My feelings on the Coronavirus Pandemic

  I have come to this platform as the stay-at-home mom of 2 adorable little girls, Emily 8 and Sara 11, who are simply the loves of my life, during the gut-wrenching time, last year, of the Coronavirus Pandemic! I also teach Part-time at Concordia University in the Department of Women's Studies and Journalism! :) I could never have done this without the genuine love and kind-support of my loving husband Dennis, throughout our 43 years together! :)
• 2020-03-19

  LockDown

  So this was the beginning of lockdown for covid-19 when it first started to get out of hand, I was trying to start my first year at my new college DePaul University. Yet it was going to be online for the first year and that is when it started to get rough from all the work I had to get done with little to no help at all from professors. They weren't opposed to helping it was just the fact that we could only find them in office hours and after class online and most of the times it was software problems that would take so long to be fixed to where it would take almost a couple of weeks to fix. When if it wasn't for covid I would be able to go in and fix it asap. It's just that the reason for this is because Covid can really affect ones learning progress and if it's something tech related it really can cause a delay for many not just students but office workers and professors etc.
• 
  2020-09-20

  Northeastern University HIST 1219 Assignment Prompt

  This assignment was given to students in Northeastern University's HIST 1219, History of Global Pandemics, taught by Dr. Streets-Salter in Fall 2020, and then taught by a graduate student in Fall 2021.
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  2020-12-04

  Northeastern University HIST 1323 Optional Assignment Prompt

  This is an optional assignment given to students in Northeastern University HIST 1323, History of Boston, taught by Dr. Rabinovitch in Fall 2020.
• 
  2022-05-10

  Jaime J. Godinez Oral History, 2022/05/10

  Jaime Godinez is a high school U.S. history teacher in Yuma, Arizona, and an ASU graduate student being interviewed for a class assignment. Jaime gives some background on his life, including the fact that he was born in Arizona, but raised in Mexico. He discusses how his feelings have changed about COVID before the world was shut down and everyone was forced into remote work, but also more recently. Still, Jaime endured when he became unemployed and began to study at Arizona State University. However, Jaime was disappointed by the fact that he could not coach basketball. Finally, Jaime tells us how he and his family dealt with living together during the COVID-19 lockdown, including when he bought dumbbells online so he could work out at home. Jaime would have preferred to work out in a gym, much like many others, but this was a compromise that he had to make. Jaime reminds us that we must listen to medical professionals in the future and we must be socially responsible when interacting with the public.
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  2022-05-26

  Relocation in Isolation, Reconnection in Solitude

  When Covid first kicked off, I was in the final months of my undergraduate degree, weeks away from obtaining my B.A. in history from CSU Stanislaus in December 2020. I had made plans to travel and work in Japan, teaching English, doing cultural work, and generally immersing myself into the culture I found so fascinating in my studies. However, the world's shutdown would put an end (or a pause) to this plan. Now working remotely from home, I stayed in my room working on my senior thesis, looking out the window to the often empty street. My family had decided to move, as we had decided years before but loose ends such as my degree were the final threads to be cut. Remote work had given us an unexpected leap in our time-frame, and so in the midst of the Paradise fires, to which I vividly remember the dark orange skies blotting out the sun and the ever present ashy, smoky stench on the air, carried by the warm breeze from the north, we began the process of transitioning our lives to be on the road, and to be resettled in northern Idaho. For the next year and a half or so we settled in to our new home, however the world was still largely in lock-down, and so I spent most of my time inside or in the basement where I had set up a study space to finish my senior thesis and to earn my degree through my last online semester. It was a self reflective and solitary time, in which I would often take many breaks to venture out my backdoor, which quite literally lead into the forest. Not fifty feet from my home, we have a circle of trees where we would eventually put a fire pit and often sit around together around the warmth on cold nights, talking and sharing fun with one another. When alone however, it serves as an incredible spot to simply sit back and become immersed into our natural world, an amenity I often take advantage of to this day while working on my M.A. through ASU's online program. This audio recording is a sample of that, and in it, you can hear the spring time birds chirping away, the low rumble of the highway just over the mountain, feel the breeze through the trees and the valleys from the lake, and imagine the smell of pine and flowers on the forest floor.
• 2020-03-23

  Solid Wall of (No) Sound

  I was a college student during the initial phases of the pandemic. Classes were moved to all online, and I moved out of the dorm back home, since most of the campus was closed. My most distinct memory of the time is of walking my dog on the first Monday morning of the lockdown. The world was so still. The only soft noises that could be heard were birds chirping and squirrels chittering to each other as they ran around. I lived right next to a major road, so the sudden silence was almost oppressive. That vacuum of sound was the loudest thing I heard on the walk, and it came with the sudden awareness that the area I was walking in was completely alien to the one I had grown up in. I have visited home again since then, but have been completely unable to ever capture that eerie feeling again. It felt special, like a completely ethereal place in time that would never be recreated again.
• 
  2022-05-07

  Ashley Hampton Oral History, 2022/05/07

  An ASU graduate student reflects on her career, school, and life throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.
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  2022-05-09

  Predominantly Black college to shut down after Covid-19 and cyberattack burdens

  This is a news story from CNN by Omar Jimenez. After more than 150 years, Lincoln College in Illinois will be closing its doors due to struggles on cyber attacks and COVID. This college is significant because it was the only college to be named after Abraham Lincoln when he was still alive, according to the US Department of Education. COVID created many economic burdens for the college with the transition to remote learning. COVID also created drops in enrollment.
• 
  2022-05-13

  How the Pandemic Affected Me

  It's about the Pandemic disrupting my plans for graduating from college with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Performance. Being a clarinet player, I took a year off since the pandemic prevented us, musicians, from collaborating live with each other in person.
• 
  2022-05-04

  Erika Groudle Oral History, 2022/05/04

  Erika Groudle is a resident of Monroe, Washington. She lives in a tiny house with her partner on her mother’s property. In this oral history interview Erika discusses working with kids during the pandemic and her opinion on how they handle mask wearing. Additionally, Erika discusses her “pandemic garden,” caring for her grandfather, staying connected to friends and family during the pandemic, how she first realized the pandemic was close to home, and the realities of living in a state that not only had the first case and death of COVID-19 in the United States of America, but also highly publicized protests in Seattle. Interviewer: Jason Inskeep Interviewee: Erika Groudle
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  2022-05-10

  BA Oral History, 2022/05/11

  A student describes their experience working during the Covid-19 outbreak.
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  2022-05-10

  JA Oral History, 2022/05/11

  A student describes their experience working during the Covid-19 outbreak.
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  2022-05-10

  GC Oral History, 2022/05/11

  A student describes their experience working during the Covid-19 outbreak.
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  2022-05-10

  WC Oral History, 2022/05/11

  A student describes their experience working during the Covid-19 outbreak.
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  2022-05-10

  DH Oral History, 2022/05/11

  A student describes their experience working during the Covid-19 outbreak.
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  2022-05-04

  Jason Inskeep, Oral History, 2022/05/04

  Jason Inskeep lives in Chandler, Arizona with his wife and daughter. In this oral history Jason discusses the way that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected his work and personal life, as well as the way that it impacted his wife’s career and his daughter schooling. He reflects on the polarization of the United States of Americas politics through the lens of Covid-19 with the impacts of mask wearing and vaccinations. As well as his feelings of worry and the USA’s 24/7 media cycle.
• 
  2022-02-01

  How I've dealt with COVID

  My feelings and how I've dealt with COVID and its restrictions
• 2022-05-07

  Covid

  I have never been one who went out and played or had activities. I like to play video games. However, during the past couple years everything has been pretty tough on everyone. I find myself getting frustrated that many places are closed to me and how boring college life is. I started college two years ago and it was miserable. All there was to do was just to sit in my dorm and play games, watch movies, and do homework. There wasn't any fun in college anymore with the effects of covid. As of now I feel drained in almost every way possible, I am usually an A student and now I am becoming a more C student and it frustrates me and angers me yet I still can't find any motivation to try harder. With the past couple of years all I would like to do is just take a break from everything and just work for a year or so then jump back into it.
• 2020-07-08

  Motherless Immigrante Through Covid-19

  Before the covid-19 pandemic, I immigrated with my father to the U.S. after my mom's death. It was a fresh beginning, I was living like in a dream, exploring, and being mesmerized by how beautiful and advanced LA is. However, one day everything changed and a lockdown that was supposed to last for 2 weeks, ended up lasting more than a year. At first, it was fun. I was looking at the positive side, doing times I haven't done in a while, watching movies and shows with my dad was incredible fun. However, with time my dad started to worry because he lost his job and did not receive any type of help. He eventually find a job for the summer, but I had too much time by myself that everything I could do was miss my mom. There were days that I didn't see my dad for the entire day because he needed two jobs to be able to pay our expenses and his dad's expenses outside the country. I started to get depressed. School started again but my cheerful character and interest in school never came back. Now, I feel like I am in airplane mode all the time.
• 
  2022-01-13

  A Day of Travelling

  I created this handwritten story that I wrote in the airport and never thought that I would share it with someone
• 2022-05-04

  Covid-19 Experience (school)

  The impact on covid-19 brought upon an experience, an experience of both good and bad. I shall talk about my experience on Covid-19 more specifically on how it has affected me in terms of school. I was half way through my junior year when I got the news of how we would all be quarantined and won’t have school for three weeks. I was relieved, 3 weeks off from school who wouldn’t like that. The school district during that time (and all schools around the country) decided that we must continue with school, but online. Thus we stayed online for school for over a year. Through zoom, it was very beneficial because I had more free time, but sometimes being online distracted me and so it was very difficult to pay attention. During zoom I also did not like being in my house all day as it would be very tiresome and boring. There would be days or sometimes weeks where I wouldn’t leave the house at all. However, school during the pandemic allowed for such things as having hybrid classes which can present as a new school system, especially in college it could make managing students time more easier and efficient. Overall, my experience through online school during covid-19 brought upon a new change and experience that altered my perspective of school.
• 2020-06-04

  Reality Check

  When the pandemic began about two years ago, I vividly remember thinking, "Okay, this should not last very long." But I was completely wrong. The pandemic took a lot of things from society, the ability to operate like we would normally would and instilled a fear that many of us had never experience. In my situation, it took the opportunity to have a traditional freshman college experience. Although, it allowed me to have classes on-line and have flexibility in my schedule, it took the one- in a lifetime experience of going from high school to post-secondary education and experiencing all that goes with that transition. This was a dream for me to accomplish, attending a recognized institution and having that ability to dorm, make friends, experience the college life. However, this pandemic made that possibility very surreal. This pandemic in a way was a reality check for me. Never once did I ever think that this type of situation would happen, you heard about it but you always thought about this like if it were something in the past.
• 2020-10

  Applying to College Blind Eyed: Class of 2021

  The pandemic has forced students to come up with new routes of navigating the college application process while fighting against COVID-19. I graduated from the class of 2021, and I spent my whole senior year online. Although, I have to say applying to college wasn't easy. My high school hosted a few college zoom workshops at the beginning of my senior year, but my counselors were unable to assist each student's question as there were 70 students in the class of 2021. Because of this, I resorted to watching a few youtube videos on how to navigate the CSU/UC application as I had an array of questions that couldn't be answered in an email. At the time, the most reliant form of communication was emails during the pandemic, despite taking 1-2 business days. I and my peers alike were quite patient with our college counselors. Applying for FAFSA was another mess on its own. Applying to FAFSA is intricate as we students had to ask for our parent's tax information, and that comes with its own problems. Many parents don't want their children to know how much they've made in a year, especially my parents. I had to schedule an appointment with a college counselor to inform my father that FASA isn't a scam. Once this was established, finding my parent's password for their IRS account was the worst part of the college application process. The IRS had to send my parent's password through the mail. I eventually was able to submit my FAFSA within two months. I’m not entirely sure what applying to college was like before the pandemic. I have to say though that the pandemic made it much more difficult for the class of 2021 as we had to face the anxieties and struggles of the pandemic itself. I tested positive for COVID-19 on the day I started my UC application. I was already stressed out with college apps, and having COVID-19 made me physically weak. Although, I have to say COVID-19 made me independent, much like the class of 2021. We had to navigate the world of higher education with little guidance from our faculty.
• 2022

  Experience of COVID-19 in China and USA

  As an international student, I have witnessed the spread of covid-19 in both China and the United States. While the virus harms humans in the same way, each country does it differently to humans facing the pandemic. I was in high school in Boston when the covid first broke out (in December?). At that time, there were only two cases in Boston, so everyone didn't care much about the virus far across the ocean. As a Chinese, I know that coronavirus has caused countless pain in Wuhan, China. Therefore, I wrote a petition to the school to advocate wearing masks at school to avoid infection. However, the absurdity of things is far beyond my imagination. My high school principal sent an email to all international students (most of us are Asians) telling us that masks do not help people stay away from the virus. He also required us not to wear masks in school because it would cause panic among other local students. This implicit discrimination against Asians is a hurt. In March, I decided to return to China from the US to visit my family. It was a tough decision, not only in the sense of risking my life but in the process. I overcame the flight's cutting off and was cancelled by seven flights to get on the plane home. But when I finally returned to China and was quarantined for 14 days, I discovered the maliciousness toward international students on the Internet. Everyone was repeating the sentence, "you can't serve the motherland, but you can be the first to poison your country flying from thousands of miles away". This exclusion of outsiders is another harm. These hurt far more than covid did to me.
• 2022-04-29

  It's The Little Things

  The pandemic was full of many things that turned the world upside down: the loss of jobs, death, and the decline in mental health for many students. I remember when the semester was transferred to fully online, many students like myself celebrated for the extended Spring Break and the ability to attend Zoom classes in pajamas. However, months passed and the daily lack of contact with acquaintances and friends, isolation, and lack of activities turned the days quite mundane quickly. The drastic change in an active lifestyle to such a slow paced one definitely had a negative impact on conditions such as depressive symptoms, health anxiety, and an overall learning curve of the lifestyle. Digging deeper, I know many families whose breadwinner of the family lost their job because many places were letting their staff go due to the lack of demand of labor. When dealing with a global pandemic, death was also a central topic to deal with. Many countries did not have access to medical equipment such as ventilators and thousands of people were dying in my motherland. I personally lost some family members and many people I know have as well. While the pandemic introduced our lives to a dark state, there was a slight silver lining, and that was spending time with the loved ones. Over the years before the pandemic, I feel like the world moved at an unbearably fast pace. My days consisted of going to class and work, possibly spending some time with friends, doing homework, and sleeping for the most part. As the world started to slow down because of the COVID pandemic, my father was finally able to work from home, my sister had online classes, and my mother didn’t have to rush to pick my sister up from school. Often, our meals during dinner would be inconsistent and spent near the TV as everyone had their own schedules. However, when the pandemic hit, it was advised to not eat at restaurants and take out fast food. Such restrictions led to trying out new recipes and laughing in the kitchen. Little moments such as conversations at the dinner table are still some of my favorite memories. In addition to cherished time with my family, I was able to finally rediscovered some hobbies that I used to enjoy years ago. Before the pandemic, my life had begun to revolve only around academics and I had forgotten what it felt like to spend the evening painting or trying out a new dance. However, spending months at a time at home forced me to redirect myself to other forms of entertainment when there was no use of travelling to other places. This really helped me define myself as someone who has so many other interests rather than just a student who studied 24/7. I still try to carry these hobbies into my schedule now that the world is slowly coming back to its fast pace.
• 2022-04-28

  Growing up with COVID-19

  I wouldn’t consider my experience during the COVID-19 pandemic unique. What my experience was was life-changing. I was a graduate of the class of 2020 which was the first graduating class during the pandemic. What was unique about my situation was that I graduated in December 2019 a semester earlier than I was supposed to. I got a last day of high school, I’ve got a last football game, I got my last class. I think this is different because many people in my graduating class didn’t get these things they left for spring break in March and came back to their freshman year of college. I’m definitely grateful for the decision that I made to graduate early. Even though I didn’t understand the decision that I was making at the time I got to live more lasts than most people my age. Going into freshman year of college was difficult without walking across the graduation stage. We are taught that that is the moment where you become an adult and a member of society. It’s the closing of a chapter when you walk across that stage. With all that closing of the chapter I felt like I was just rolling through the motions coming to college. Even though it was just rolling through the motions they were the best motions of my life. Freshman year I rushed my sorority on zoom. This was the first time A zoom rush has ever been conducted and there were definitely some learning curves associated. I did end up finding my place within that process but I couldn’t be more grateful that it didn’t work out for me. I went through freshman year with the best friends I’ve ever made in my life and I would’ve met them without my decision to come to ASU. Coming to ASU almost feels like a fluke, I wouldn’t have committed to come here if Covid hadn’t happened. It was the only school that I had a chance to tour therefore the only one that I had enough knowledge about to make the decision to attend. This was the best thing that came out of corona.
• 2022-04-29

  College & Religion ft. COVID-19

  When I was in the second semester of my freshman year at ASU studying Computer Science, we had started hearing word of a virus slowly spreading around the world. Halfway through that semester, it had reached a point where my universities had shut down in-person sessions and ASU had announced initially a 2-week online period, which then quickly ended up being the rest of the semester. For someone who was extremely to get the full college experience, it was very disheartening to have to cut out a decent chunk of our college life. However, with time and acceptance of the current world situation, I was able to quickly adapt and thrive with the new fully-online learning environment. Although, amidst being able to adapt to the new university online life, it was a very different story when it came to my religion. As Muslims, we are very accustomed to being a close-knit community. It is an obligation to attend a group prayer on Friday afternoons on a weekly basis. This is something I have been attending ever since my parents had taught me this at a young age. However, with the way the virus was spreading and considering how crowded mosques tend to get at Friday prayers, they were forced to close down. This had a major affect on many Muslims as it is a big part of our daily routine. On top of that, when the month of Ramadan had come around, mosques could not stay open for the late-night prayers that everyone was so accustomed to attending on a daily basis. With a little more time and a lot of prayers, this year mosques has opened at full capacity for weekly Friday prayers and nightly prayers at the mosque for the month of Ramadan. From a religious perspective, COVID-19 had taught a lot of us to develop more patience than we were initially used to and have faith in our religion that at the end of the day, whatever happens in this world always has an underlying reason.
• 
  2020-03-01

  Life During Covid

  Life during Covid has been anything, but consistent for anyone. However, I would say that for me and for many others, it was a huge wake up call. When all this started, I was still in my second year at Arizona State University, and truthfully was a bit out of shape which was out of character for me being that I grew up playing sports and being active for the vast majority of my life. As sad as it may sounds, this pandemic woke me up in a way I do not think anything else could have. It gave me so much time that I did not have previously, and I had more time to think, more time to realize the bad habits I had accumulated over the past couple years, but most importantly, more time to act and change. With the help of my brother, who also viewed the pandemic as a wakeup call, I managed to become more active again and become healthier in general. During this time, I also came back to my faith in God. For a long time, I had lost my faith and questioned it, but I never actually researched the questions or doubts I had. I finally had time to do so and in doing so, I realized the truth and fullness that can only come from our relationship to the one, true, living God. I became much happier during this time as, not only was I getting back into shape, but I had mended my relationship with God, and I felt a peace that I had not felt in literal years. Ironically enough, I look back very fondly of 2020 and when Covid broke out. Yes, this time was messy, it was chaotic, it was confusing, but for me, it was a time for reflection, growth, and maturity. I know Covid has negatively affected so many people across the world, and I have been blessed to not have been affected that much by it myself or in my immediate family, but this pandemic truly awakened me. This pandemic brought me out of a depressive, lonely, and unhealthy state of living and I am incredibly grateful for the experience I had.
• 
  2022-01-10

  life at NAU during 2022

  in this journal I have mentioned many times how COVID really never effected me or the work that I had to do.
• 
  2019-03-17

  My personal COVID 19 experience

  I submitted a screenshot of a test from a coworker taken on March 18,2020. I chose to submit this because it shows what the beginning of the pandemic was like for me. I had got laid off from my job at my retail job, I was nervous to leave my house, and the unemployment office was backed up more than it ever had been. Some of my coworkers had trouble filing with unemployment, and couldn't get it figured out. I waited an extra week to file just so I didn't mess it up, and do it wrong. I wanted all the errors and bugs to be worked out. It was such a unsettling time for me, and I had to move back in with my parents. There was such a large adjustment for all of us. I remember sitting on the phone with my states unemployment hotline on hold for 6 hours and getting hung up on. I cried for the rest of the night. I never thought it would end, or it would be my turn to get the help I needed, to get my questions answered. I look back on this time and am so proud and happy for how far we have come. Everyone had their own struggles, and had to think on their feet. The world had never had to deal with something like this in such a manner of urgency before. Here I stand, 2 years later with a job that is paying for my college, living in a different state, able to see finally be happy and relaxed and stable again. I am so thankful I had such a helpful and supportive group around me to get through that time. It is so refreshing to see the growth of everything and everyone the last couple years. The world can now move forward and progress as normal again.
• 
  2022-04-26

  Time Machine

  As many have most likely stated, living through the COVID-19 pandemic is like living in a time machine, or fast forward. At the beginning of the pandemic, I was an eighteen year old who had no idea where she was going after high school. I had about five outstanding college decisions at this point. I know - I applied to a lot of schools. Since then, it has been two years that flashed before my eyes. I am in a completely different state and a completely different person. However, it does not feel like two years have passed since I graduated from high school. I remember the last time I stepped foot in my high school. It was March 13, 2020. I was so stressed out about exams and was just ready to get out of there. I know now that if I knew it was my last real day of school, I would have lived it very differently. My graduating class (the class of 2020) was referred to as the pandemic class, or the champions of senior skip day. Believe it or not, my graduation was a drive through that took place in my high school’s parking lot. My senior prom was canceled twice. The second time, I was getting ready and Idaho (my home state) went back a COVID recovery stage. So, they canceled the dance two hours prior to its scheduled start time. Beginning college during a pandemic was a weird experience. We were not permitted to have guests in our dorms and had to eat our meals outside or in our own dorms. Making friends was so hard. My only friends were my suitemates until second semester. All of our classes were on Zoom. This made my parents question why they paid for my dorm. I still think it was worth coming to school last year because I made my life long friends here.
• 
  2022-01-10

  Journal from an NAU student

  My journal is a week by week deptiction of my everyday life going to college during an pandemic
• 
  2022-04-25

  COVID-19, Religion, and Public Life Reflection #REL101

  this is a look through my point of view living in the year 2020
• 
  2022-04-19

  GB Oral History, 2022/04/19

  The interviewee discusses vaccine hesitancy and life during the pandemic without having received the vaccine.