Items

• 
  2023-04-15

  Las Vegas Wedding April 2023

  The weekend of April 15, 2023, I flew to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend the wedding of one of my best friends from college, Anthony Dramisino and his soon to be wife, Amy Menegay. I realized I was attending my first post-Covid wedding after the government lifted CDC recommendations and restrictions. I flew United Airlines in economy that Friday afternoon and touched down around eight in the evening due to the time zone difference from Washington DC. The airline did not force us to wear masks but recommended we do so due to confinement in a small space with a lot of people. Other than the presence of a lot more hand sanitizer stations around the airport, Harry Reid Airport in Las Vegas bustled with the activity of people enjoying Las Vegas to its fullest. The first thing I saw when I deplaned was a group of slot machines. I ubered to the hotel, the Flamingo Resort, a Las Vegas icon since the mob sponsored its initial construction in the 1940s. Renovated in the 1990s, it stood as one of the oldest still running hotels in the city and this is where the wedding party reserved a venue for the ceremony. Overall, one could not tell there was ever a pandemic by how the hotels and casinos functioned. People strolled in and out of the building at all hours and the Strip pulsed with noise, lights, and activity. I met up with the wedding party and we stayed up till 3 in the morning on the casino floor socializing unimpeded. The next day, I got lunch with Anthony and some of the wedding party. We went to a Yard House restaurant on the Strip. Like many restaurants, it converted to a QR code menu or optional touch pad ordering system. The server still took our drink order and brought out the food. I had a steak frite bowl over quinoa to steel myself for the wedding day. The ceremony took place in a private outdoor garden grotto that somehow blocked out the noise from the surrounding resort. The moment stood out as strange but beautiful as an Elvis impersonator married my two good friends to each other. Afterwards, the reception dinner lasted well into the night. The balcony at the Caesar's Palace stood isolated from everyone, but overlooked the Vegas Strip glowering in its nightly desert beauty. The venue let us stick around well past the end of the reservation. I went back to my hotel room at midnight to pack for my six am flight back to Washington DC. I took a picture of the new massive globe telescreen built during the pandemic. It danced in a complex light show at night, but apparently it can play full videos as well. I would say my first major post COVID trip was a rousing success and an excellent first time experience in Las Vegas. I would definitely go back again.
• 2021-06-14

  Family Trip to Florida 2021

  My father is a world class powerlifter who has podium placed at world championships before. He was planning to do the qualifier for the next world championship in 2020, but that was understandably delayed. When stay at home orders were lifted, he competed in the state level qualification event, in his case North Carolina, for the national championship. He had to lift in a mask, which was uncomfortable and potentially dangerous as lifters could not always get enough oxygen during and after a lift causing some to pass out and need medical attention. He did well enough in the qualifier to proceed to the national championship in Daytona Beach, Florida. On that trip, COVID restrictions were very few, if any, with the hotel, lifting event, and restaurants/stores not having mask mandates or vaccination checkpoints. Unfortunately, my dad did not win this championship. He did, however, come back the next year and won the 2022 championship in Orlando, Florida. When we went on that trip, COVID precautions were not really present at all, and it almost seemed life it was before COVID.
• 
  2021-06-07

  A Pandemic Wedding

  My friend had been planning her wedding for nearly two years when the pandemic hit, and suddenly, she had to put all of her plans on hold. It was a devastating moment for her and everyone who was looking forward to the special day. When travel restrictions were lifted, her bridal party (including me) rushed to get plane tickets to ensure our presence by her side in small town, Texas. We wanted everything to go perfectly for her considering the delay she endured and the preparations that were now unclear. It was an outside wedding filled with beautiful twinkling lights, neatly placed wooden benches, and masks, sporadically, spread throughout the crowd. A year after the lockdowns and restrictions, Covid 19 still affected people enough to don masks outside during a wedding. Despite the residual fear, my memories of spending time with friends, eating good food, and cheering on the beautiful bride are happy ones.
• 
  2020-03

  Postcards From the Pandemic

  I intended to record the lived experience of the COVID-19 pandemic through the mundane details of our coping strategies, set against larger, national events.
• 
  2021-06-16

  Golden Knights vs Canadiens Game 2

  I am a huge hockey fan and going to games was definitely something that I really missed during the pandemic. Once my family and I were fully vaccinated we were able to travel to Las Vegas and see playoff game. As a result of Covid-19, the NHL only had a 56 game season in 2021 and teams were placed in new divisions and the playoffs had some changes to its formatting, hence the weird matchup of Golden Knights/Canadiens in the Stanley Cup "Semifinals." The Golden Knights lost 3-0 but overall, it was still a really fun experience because I had never been to a Stanley Cup Playoff game before. There was still many Covid-19 restrictions in place during this time, but if I'm remembering correctly these restrictions were more prominent when I returned in December, especially at the arena.
• 
  2023-06-20

  Finally got COVID

  I finally got sick with COVID after 3 years. I went on a cruise to celebrate my fiancé’s graduation and had to remove my mask when the heat was so bad in Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. I’m mostly worried about getting my fiancé sick who is disabled, but hopefully we don’t live together just yet. I’m currently being isolated in my parents house watching people stream on Twitch.TV and playing Animal Crossing. I had a fever of 101 yesterday, and hopefully am able to return to work on Friday which means I’ll be able to represent my work at Hampton Roads Pride on Saturday. Since it’s pride month, me getting COVID feels very homophobic
• 
  September 2, 2020

  BLM

  BLM
• 
  July 12, 2020

  Arch of Washington Square park during BLM demonstration

  Screenshot of washington Square park arch before a BLM demonstration from the CSI Public History Coronavirus Chronicle Facebook page
• 
  2021-08-11

  Venturing to California Once LIve Concerts Resumed

  As pandemic restrictions began to ease up, we decided to travel with our family from Arizona (where things had been less strict) to California (where things had been more strict) to see a concert. Many of the music artists we enjoy had only been performing via live stream for the prior year and a half, but now a band we enjoyed was having an outdoor concert at a large venue. After buying tickets though, we worried because we began to see information on the venue's website that indicated only California residents would be permitted. We tried calling, but there were no responses. We went on the trip, not knowing if we would be turned away. Luckily, the website for the event updates the day off and we were able to enter. It was an awkward feeling as masks were still required for an outdoor event, but the vast majority of participants didn't have them on. The picture is my son in outdoor seating wearing his mask despite everyone around us not. This was much less an act of social defiance or morally based compliance, and more of confusion about what was really expected and fear of stepping across unclear lines in a neighboring state.
• 2021-06-06

  My Reverse Homecoming

  The first trip my wife and I took after the COVID travel restrictions were lifted was a doozy. Our first flight in over a year was a three-hop journey from our small Montana town to Alaska for an old friend’s wedding. With a six-month-old. On our laps. The whole time. My wife and I had our first round of vaccines but worried about our daughter, who was still far too young to have a dose. After much risk assessment and consultation with our pediatrician, we decided to go for it. Mask wear was strictly enforced on the airplane and in most of the public places we found ourselves, and there was a profound and somewhat discomforting sense that we and our fellow travelers were searching for a way to exist comfortably in this new not-yet-maybe-never-post-COVID world. The thing I remember most, though, was how incredibly freeing it felt to be somewhere new again. So much time spent at home, however necessary, had inflicted an unhealthy solitude on much of society, and my first time solidly stepping away from that felt energizing. I’ve always loved to travel and doing so after the darkest days of the pandemic felt like a happy return to form. A reverse homecoming, if you will.
• 
  2020-11-18

  "Grocery chain apologizes after releasing 'super spread' ad for Thanksgiving"

  For generations that had never experienced a pandemic, the Coronavirus was not the only novel thing to adjust to. New nomenclature became the norm, including "Super spreader". The term was used to describe large groups gathering, especially during the holidays. Any other year, "plan a super spread" would be understood as a spread of food items. But for a population that was being restricted from large gatherings, in 2022, from holidays to Weddings to funerals, the company's attempt at clever advertising came off as tone-deaf and offensive. After backlash, Giant Food Stores formally apologized.
• 
  2020-10-17

  Caravanning Through the Eisenhower Gala

  I try to attend the Eisenhower Gala every year. It is scheduled for the Saturday nearest to Dwight D. Eisenhower’s birthday. During the first year of the corona lockdown, in 2020, we got together to celebrate Ike’s birthday without the Gala. We caravanned around Abilene to different places of significance in young Dwight’s life with Mary Jean Eisenhower, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s granddaughter explaining the significant place to Ike’s life. We went to the fairgrounds where Ike announced his candidacy for President. We went to a historical building where Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower watched a parade to honor him. The building is now apartments for folks of modest means that, somehow, seems fitting. I’m confident Ike wished everyone well and to be happy. We went to the cemetery where Dwight’s father, Jacob, and mother, Ida, were buried. I was struck by how modest the graves were. I thought Eisenhower’s lived modestly like us. The tour finished at Ike’s favorite restaurant in Abilene, the Farmhouse Restaurant, where we had an excellent dinner. Though there was no Gala dinner with elegantly clad ladies and gentlemen enthusiastically lost in gregarious conversation, I thoroughly enjoyed visiting all the historical places of significance in young Ike’s life. The 2020 Eisenhower birthday celebration was once educational and engaging.
• 
  2022-12-17

  Been through it all

  I got married on April 4, 2020. We had planned 125 guests. I was so excited to celebrate with everyone. I remember hearing about covid in China in February and thinking that it was so far away I shouldn't worry. While my daughter was on Spring break everything started shutting down. At first it seemed temporary. Like it would just be a week or two. Just until things died down. Then local governments started getting strict as it became apparent how dangerous covid was. As the rules changed, I had to send apologetic emails disinviting guests due to limits on gatherings. We went from 125 to 100. Then it went to 75, 50, and 25. Each time it was agonizing figuring out who would be cut from our wedding. Finally it came down to just our parents, the pastor and his family, and the photographer. I got my wedding dress back from alterations the day the shop closed down to the public. We had the wedding in my parents' backyard. The pastor's children played guitar and sang. Our honeymoon was canceled a few days before the wedding because the small county in the mountains wasn't letting anyone in who wasn't local. We had a staycation for a honeymoon and played video games together.  We are a blended family. I often tell people we got married at the beginning of the pandemic. It was like "Congratulations on your new sister! You'll be with her 24/7 and never get away from her!" They quickly became sisters. They were each other's only playmate. At the same time they irritated each other just like normal siblings. It bonded them as sisters. It was hard for us when my step-daughter started kindergarten in the fall and my daughter started 2nd grade. We had alarms going off all day to try to manage their classroom google calls while my husband and I attempted to work from home. It was very stressful.  My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2020. At times they refused to allow my dad to accompany her to appointments. She was found crying in a hallway unable to get to the correct room. It was awful. I had to be so careful as my kids started hybrid school to not get her sick. It was hard to balance my kids' need for some stability and trying to be with my mom as much as possible. We made the decision to try for another child so my mom had the best chance at meeting her grandchild. I got to share my positive pregnancy test while visiting. It was such a happy moment in the midst of so much sadness. Adding to that stress was a difficult custody battle over my daughter. We couldn't have extra people at court to support me. My husband had to leave early to get the kids from school. Being left at the courthouse after testifying about how my ex abused me was one of the loneliest moments of my life. I had to take a Lyft ride back home and try not to break down in a stanger's car. My mother's condition got worse quickly. We were able to have a family reunion in June. I was nervous about so many people traveling in, but we needed to have mom see family again before something happened. My mom was admitted to the hospital at the beginning of July. I couldn't visit her because of being pregnant and the risk was too high to go to a hospital. My mom and dad supported this and wanted me to keep the baby safe. I had to record a goodbye message to play for her when she was awake. My mom passed on July 5th, 2021. Even at the funeral, I stayed in a separate room and had a friend read the eulogy remarks I prepared.  I had my youngest daughter in February 2022. We were limited on visitors, so only my husband and dad came to the hospital. So many day cares closed in the pandemic, we had a very difficult time finding child care. Despite getting on the list in early pregnancy, we couldn't start at day care until September. We had to use social media to find part time nannies and alter our work hours to cover child care until she could start day care. She actually just tested positive for covid yesterday after another child at daycare was positive earlier in the week. Thankfully she's vaccinated.  I've been through so much since the pandemic. I'm thankful for what I have, I crave rest. I'm worn out. I lost so much. No bridal shower. No honeymoon. No baby shower. No support for happy and sad moments. It's been really hard.
• 
  2022-03-01

  HIST30060: A Birthday and a Case

  For my 21st birthday, I tried to be sensible. We didn't go clubbing, even though they were back open and we hadn't really had a chance to go for three years, and we didn't even go to a bar. 5 of us went to a private karaoke room. We should have been safe. Unfortunately, however, the next day one of my friends texted us that he had tested positive, and pretty soon we were all locked in our apartments. On the 7th day, I tested negative, so, fortunately, was able to go out again. It was a difficult week: I didn't know that many people in Melbourne, and the few I did were equally as infected and were in their own quarantines. I knew no one who could drop off groceries and medication, and online ordering was difficult due to my location. I was incredibly lucky that it was no longer 14 days, but I can certainly say that the 7 were not enjoyable. Fortunately, I was also generally not that unwell (just a fever and a bad cough) and lived in a studio apartment so I had no risk of infecting anyone else. Nevertheless, it was lonely and miserable and I was running out of food. Happy Birthday to me.
• 
  2020-06-04

  HIST30060: Loneliness

  The past three years have been incredibly lonely. I've included here a picture of my younger brother on his 18th birthday: a picture I find eerily reminiscent of Edward Hopper's Realist paintings from the 40s and 50s. My brother has always been the most popular person in any room, constantly surrounded by friends, a real party animal. But on his 18th, he was alone (with me and my parents) and couldn't celebrate in the way he would have liked. Since then, he has had a makeup party, but it isn't the same. He also finished high school during this period, and god I feel sorry for the classes of 2020 and 2021. It is easy to be sorry for myself, who has only experienced university through the lens of a post-COVID world, but I was fortunate enough to celebrate my 18th with my friends, finish high-school not on zoom, go to schoolies and travel on a gap year before we were prevented by the pandemic. Poor Sam didn't get any of that, and that really makes me sad.
• 
  2022-10-20

  HIST30068 China’s Zero Covid Policy Story 5

  Me and my sister have been wanting to go back to China for quite some times now – we haven’t seen our grandparents for years due to the pandemic, and they are not getting any younger. But the crazy flight ticket price and the concern that China’s strict covid policies will make it hard for us to come back for school made us postpone our plans. It is also difficult for them to come here, also due to China’s covid policies. This June, my cousin gave birth to a girl, whom her grandmother and great-grandparents deeply wanted to meet. The pandemic born baby is growing very fast: she used to be too small for the hat that I knitted for her birthday, but now she’s already too big for it.
• 
  2022-01-02

  Quarantine Post Lockdowns

  HIST30060: This was a photo taken before dinner during my self quarantine at the beginning of this year, as I had come into close contact with my mum who had COVID on Christmas day. I was then promptly messaged by the Department of Health and Human Services to quarantine for the next week, which also meant I had to self isolate on my birthday (New Year's Eve). This dinner was the final night of that quarantine, in my apartment with my girlfriend and her dog, eating a dinner we had organised through having our groceries delivered for the first and only time. This quarantine reminded me and still reminds me of the presence COVID still has in our lives even in 2022, years on from the beginning of the pandemic and outside of lockdown restrictions. The virus still restricts us in ways we had not experienced before 2020.
• 
  2021-09-15

  Going home party - HIST30060

  When the new Delta variant led Melbourne’s COVID cases to explode over the second half of 2021, smaller states looked set to shut borders with Victoria. Consequently, I had to leave my new home at in Melbourne to get back to Tasmania in late September. Not knowing when we’d all see each other again, my flatmates held a small party for me. We stayed up until 4am. This is a picture one of them took at the event.
• 
  2020-04-05

  Zoom birthday party - HIST30060

  My 20th birthday party, held on Zoom. We tried to convince George that his microphone was muted, and he proceeded to abuse us via Microsoft word and the “share screen” function. While they didn’t compare to real life interaction, Zoom provided many new creative ways to converse which we had a lot of fun exploring.
• 
  2020-03-10

  A covid birthday

  It was hard because we could not sing happy birthday to her.
• 
  2022-06-26

  Memories

  This is an Instagram post from janelhickox. It is about a COVID wedding, and part of the wedding included masks with the couple's date.
• 
  2022-06-09

  Columbia Pride Month events to return to full capacity, celebrate LGBTQ community

  This is a news story from Columbia Missourian by Chloe-Ryan Woolfolk. After two years of either cancellations or limited capacities, Pride Month events in Columbia will be returning to full capacity. Listed in the article are local events that people can attend now, with lists of fees and general details.
• 
  2022-06-04

  After coming out during the pandemic, many LGBTQ+ folks look to 2022’s Pride with a mix of emotions

  This is a news story from The Seattle Times by Scott Greenstone. Pride has changed quite a bit over the last two years due to COVID. For a while, Pride celebrations were held virtually. The in-person events in 2022 will now resemble what Pride was like prior to the virus. Included in this article are personal stories of people who did not come out until the pandemic, with this year being the first year they will attend Pride in-person. For some, they didn't realize they were trans until the pandemic hit. Rhys Hutton, for instance, did not know he was trans, and is also coming to grips with having autism. Hutton's story of how he came to the realization started on TikTok when the algorithm kept showing videos of trans-masculine people. This exposure helped him figure out his identity more. Stories like this are not uncommon, according to a recent Gallup poll, ten percent of Millennials and twenty percent of Gen Z identify as LGBTQ+.
• 
  2022-06-08

  Moderna says updated Covid-19 vaccine booster shows stronger antibody response against Omicron

  This is a news story from CNN by Jamie Gumbrecht. Moderna believes that their COVID-19 booster is effective against Ominicron, and more effective compared to the normal two doses. The claim is that the booster provided a stronger antibody response than the initial two doses.
• 
  2022-05-20

  What Parents Need to Know About Sharing Breast Milk

  This is a news story from The New York Times by Catherine Pearson. Due to the nationwide baby formula shortage, new methods of obtaining milk have come about. One of those ways is sharing extra breast milk. There is some risk involved in getting donor breast milk. Informal sharing means that it won't get checked for things like HIV or hepatitis B. There are some health benefits to using donor milk though. One of them is immunity to COVID. For example, mothers who have been infected with COVID or have received the vaccine can pass down those antibodies to babies through their milk.
• 
  2022-05-21

  Is monkeypox the next big pandemic? Here's why it's not time to panic.

  This is a news story from NBC News by Tara C. Smith. This is comparing COVID to the recent monkeypox outbreak. Unlike the COVID, Smith says that monkeypox has had more understanding due to it being related to smallpox. Monkeypox is milder than smallpox and is more difficult to spread compared to something like COVID. However, monkeypox and COVID do have some things in common. One of them is that both are respiratory viruses, meaning that they can be spread through cough, sneeze, and sometimes breathing. One very good thing about monkeypox is that there are already vaccines available that can work against it. The smallpox vaccine is similar enough to monkeypox that it can help prevent both.
• 
  2022-05-21

  Arizona governor OK’s ban on school COVID-19 vaccines

  This is a news story from Fox 10 News by Bob Christie. Governor Doug Ducey has recently signed legislation that would prevent state health officials from adding COVID-19 vaccines to list of required school vaccines. This legislation was done by the GOP to prevent government overreach.
• 
  2022-05-15

  The Great Reset Pandemic Skeptic

  This double-sided A4 leaflet provides an extended summary overview of the supposedly 12-step plan behind the COVID. This leaflet was taken from the dissidentsignposts.org, and they hope to inform people about the “real” reason behind the COVID pandemic. This leaflet says that the billionaires want to impose new ways for global corporations but for their plan to work, they need to acquire everyone to be tagged with a unique digital identity number and surrender their privacy. As this leaflet points out, the “New Normal” that billionaires want to accomplish is to be depopulated, cleaned-up, high-tech, dehumanized, totalitarian dictatorship, genetically modified, digitally tagged, nano-chipped, etc. this leaflet tries to persuade the audience by pointing out that the COVID pandemic is just a big scheme in hopes of taking control of the total population. The 12 step that is mentioned explains the different reasons why the government is pushing for people to take COVID and the vaccines seriously. I have heard of this idea before from my friends. They were talking about it, but to me, I believe that COVID is real. I have seen my family members getting infected by the virus. I will never believe things like this and I will never let anybody put a chip or something within me. Although our world is getting more and more highly advanced, I believe that this so-called “Great Reset” will not take place.
• 
  2022-05-13

  Non-profits celebrate return of LoveLoud music festival

  This is a news story from KUTV by Hayley Crombleholme. After a two year break, LoveLoud will return, and will feature acts like Neon Tress and Imagine Dragons. This event is to help raise funds for LGBTQ charities. COVID has been hard on non-profit organizations. While this festival is meant to raise money for LGBTQ youth, some are excited to be back for in-person events.
• 
  2022-04-19

  Pride month events return with new mission to uplift people of color, trans civil rights

  This is a news story from USA Today by Bill Keveney. Pride parades will be returning to full-scale since 2019. With the events that happened during COVID, some changes have been made in how it is celebrated. For 2022, more people of color and trans people have been added to leadership positions. Participation is also going to be more accessible for disabled and low-income as well, by making some events online for easier access. Police brutality will also be addressed due to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. Seattle Pride has banned police from Pride. Along with this, there is also the theme of speaking out against the anti-LGBTQ legislation that is happening across the United States.
• 
  2022-05-13

  INDY PRIDE FESTIVAL ORGANIZERS HOPE TO RECLAIM CROWDS AFTER COVID

  This is a news story from WIBC by Chris Davis. According to the article, the Indy Pride Festival will be back after a two year hiatus due to COVID. The event will be held Indianapolis. Since the hiatus, some changes have been made. Cops at Pride will be in softer uniforms to make them more approachable. This will include shorts instead of the standard pants. There will also be police on bicycle patrol during the event. Shelly Snider, an executive director of the parade, says that the goal is to help queer people feel safe from major incident, but understands the rough relationship queer people in the past have had with the police force in general.
• 
  2022-05-10

  Athens Pride and Queer Collective to host first local Pride Parade

  This is a news story from WUGA by Sofi Grates. According to this article, it says that Pride Month will be back in full swing in Athens after it being canceled due to COVID. It will be hosted by Athens Pride and Queer Collective. The parade that is sent for June 12 will include vendors, music, and a cookout
• 2021-12-26

  Gifts on a Line

  Last Christmas, one of my cousins contracted Covid. This threw a wrench in our entire plans for the weekend. We stayed with my grandmother instead, but we were debating whether or not to even show up to my cousin's house or if the trip was all a bust. My dad convinced me to go but to stay distant. It turns out my cousin had come up with this elaborate line system that allowed her to slide us our presents from the house down to the street on a hook. It was the craziest gift-giving moment I have had and I hope not to experience that again if I don't have to.
• 
  2020-06-03

  Covid Birthday

  My 21st birthday was just a few months into lockdown. Like millions of other people, something I was looking forward to was affected (not ruined) by the pandemic. There were so many instances of things changing due to the circumstances that we had to stay positive about how we viewed the adjustments. Thankfully I was still able to see my friends although we were keeping our distance. In the photo, you can see all of my friends and I standing far apart from each other in my yard. This was just one pandemic event of many to come.
• 
  2022-05-11

  Fact Checkers

  This is an Instagram post by covid_antivax. This post is in criticism of social media removing posts deemed "misinformation" about COVID and the vaccine. The tags from this user, like #depopulation, suggest that the goal of COVID and the vaccines is to reduce the population size. The censoring of information regarding the virus and the vaccine has been troublesome for myself. I do not think it is the right of social media to dictate what can and cannot be said, barring anything illegal, like death threats. I think it is a dangerous trajectory when these multinational companies start deciding what governing bodies and people should think. It brings into question people's actual rights to speech. People should have the right to voice their opinion on subjects like this. If people are prevented from speaking out as much on social media, they will get driven to more niche websites and forums to discuss things, which in turn help create more echo chambers. The great thing about free speech is the ability to bounce ideas off with other people and be given the opportunity to decide for myself what is right with more information available. Taking this away will make it harder to really test ideas and make them more refined. This is more my criticism of social media in general, but the talk on the virus and the vaccines has noticeably made it worse for any side to reconcile.
• 
  2020-11-26

  Thanksgiving 2020

  This was the homemade stuffing I made for Thanksgiving of 2020. Due to social distancing my family had in order to protect people, my extended family ate at two separate locations. For me, that meant going to my parent's place next door and dining with my aunt and uncle. My grandparents had their own celebration with other family members. One interesting twist to this was that we all ended up eating the same food between both houses because it was split up. This is why I ended up making a lot more stuffing than I normally would for Thanksgiving. In addition to this, I brought over some homemade cranberry sauce and homemade jam. I had learned to make canned jam during 2020, and I had some leftover to give. Everyone enjoyed the food I made and my aunt said it was some of the best stuffing she ever tasted, and she isn't really a big fan of stuffing. Sadly, the stuffing was not enough to ease tensions on the politics happening at the time. Other parts of the day included my family getting into a political discussion on the 2020 election. I had different views on it than my family did, so I left once that started. Later on in the evening, me and my husband went over to my in-laws. My sister-in-law was sick with COVID, so my father-in-law gave her food from the evening for her to take home. I was bummed about that, but people did not want to take their chances of getting others sick, which I understood. My father-in-law invited someone that year from Egypt for the occasion. It also turned into a political discussion there. I felt more comfortable voicing my opinions there than I did with my immediate family, but it was still draining. It made an otherwise okay evening into something that I don't want to think about. 2020 was a hard year for many people, and the election being so close to Thanksgiving made it very awkward. It has toned down since then, but I think people being locked down and exposed to constant social media and news coverage made it harder for people to actually discuss things. I think it's a good thing to be informed, but I do not believe the information overload many dealt with during 2020 was healthy. It even took a toll on me, as it made my mental health worse. Between the lockdowns, protests, and election, it was hard for me to take all at once. My only real solace was school and my husband, as both forced me to think of things not happening at the very moment. As a history major, I find it easier to think of events in the past than I do the present at times. It's why I really like the medieval period in Europe because it is far enough removed from the current era, so I am less likely to get heated about some of the topics brought up. With current events, I need to take a break at times. It was very obvious that the Thanksgiving from 2020 was not something that really made my mental health better. I enjoyed the food and the company, but I had a hard time wanting to discuss politics with people that I interact with regularly. It's one thing to discuss with strangers I might never see again, but completely another to talk about it with people that you need to interact with daily. Now that things are back to normal, for the most part, the tensions are not as high. I find myself being able to discuss politics again with some family members without it going badly. Overall, I would say that Thanksgiving 2020 was a good social experiment on how much overexposure to media and lockdowns can be detrimental to personal relationships. Seeing things behind a screen too often and being away from others takes a toll on humanity. This is why I was so glad when things started opening up again because people need to be out more and with others. As much as technology has helped us communicate, it still can't make up for the human interaction everyone needs. My own mental health has been much better since the ending of the restrictions and I don't want to go back to them again.
• 
  2020-05-25

  Drive-Thru Graduations

  As a 2020 graduate, my entire graduation experience with all its long-awaited anticipation was completely reimagined and all commencement proceedings were changed because of the pandemic. Seniors across the globe were forced to celebrate their years of hard work through drive-thru graduations, virtual ceremonies, and diplomas delivered via mail.
• 
  2021-03-31

  Pandemic Object: My Movie Ticket

  My pandemic object is a picture of the first movie ticket after the lockdowns of March 2020. Godzilla vs. Kong was meant to release in May 2020, but due to rewrites and the pandemic, it was pushed to November 2020 then to March 2021. Since the Godzilla franchise is my favorite movie franchise, it was only fitting that this was the first movie in theaters in a pandemic world. My dad, brother, and I traveled to the more comfortable Queensgate theater in Richland, Washington on the movie's premiere night. While I found the movie had some pacing issues and missing plot elements, I think that people needed an action-packed, fun monster movie to escape to. Two giant monsters fighting and destroying cities can be easier to deal with because we know it is not real, but they are tangible, we see the monsters. COVID is the opposite, it is real, but also an unseen threat without certain technologies. Godzilla and Kong have human characteristics we can identify with while COVID feels inhuman and impersonal. This is just something that I have noticed.
• 2020-09-02

  Horrible Online Testing experience during COVID

  Online testing during COVID is definitely horrible, especially if you need to write the answers on paper and be monitored only by zoom. For me, I had a pretty important trial exam in August. But on the test day, the sound of house renovation on the floor above is so loud that it is impossible for me to concentrate. Thus, I was forced to hop on a taxi to travel to my parent's friend's home, and since there is no table left for me to write my test, I had to sit and write the test on a piano. Moreover, since I don't have much preparation in summer as I focused mainly on my personal statement, many questions on the test seem unfamiliar. Even worse, when I finally complete the exam in a scratchy manner, the internet connection broke so I couldn't upload my answer for 10 minutes straight! With these circumstances, it is foreseeable that my score come out miserably. After that day, I started hating online testing to guts.
• 2020-03-13

  Living through A Pandemic

  I can clearly remember when the pandemic began and as it progressed. I was in my senior year of high school. Before we understood the magnitude of what was going on there was a general consensus that it would be over in a few weeks. There is a culture with the media that trends only last a short time and we move on as a society. We all thought this would be another trend. A few months later and many things were still shut down. I finished school online and got my diploma in my car. We wore masks everywhere to stop the spread and everyone kept hand sanitizer on them. I also worked in food service at the time which was considered an essential business. We got extra pay and had extra precautions to follow. A few steps that were put into place were timers to wash hands at least once every 30 minutes. When masks started to be required they were sold out. I made a makeshift mask out of hair ties and a bandana. Soon Covid-19 tests became widely available and that created individual quarantines. People would test every time they came in contact. In the beginning, people were worried about paying their bills. Both of my parents owned small businesses. We had to sell our home to scrape by. As time passed the country made accommodations to open businesses up again. Two years later and we are still majorly affected. Now we are affected by product and labor shortages. Often grocery stores are out of certain products. However many businesses created contactless services such as grocery pick up, and delivery became more widely common.
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  2020-01-02

  My Faith During The Pandemic

  This photograph was taken right around the time of the announcement that Covid-19 has hit the U.S. This was the last picture to be taken from me before most churches were shut down and were moved to online only. This picture is fairly important because it marks a great shift in the faith I have when it comes to my religion. Since I wasn't always an online person when it came to church, I found it very hard to focus on all parts of the service when it came to me watching a live feed on the screen. For this reason, I've always had a deep desire to experience events fully in person, or I usually don't feel like I experienced them at all. After this photo was taken, about a month later my home church decided to move services online. Not only did I feel like this was going to weigh on my faith in my religion, but I felt that I wasn't going to be able to be at my best when it came to following God. This was true, I found it hard to find community around Christianity without church and because I felt isolated, my faith in God took a deep dive. At the point of all churches closing in person, I found myself in a state of senseless life. Many days went by when I did not feel like I was following my path in life the right way, but Covid-19 did not leave me with just all the bad experiences in the pandemic, there were some great outcomes that I would never change. Not having an in-person church exposed how I didn't really have a community in my walk with God. When most churches closed it forced me to actually seek out a friend group or community that had similar goals as mine. Not only have I found so many good friends and people that I can call family, but Covid-19 broke the shell that I placed over myself when it came to not socializing with anyone. The pandemic made me grow fast in many different ways and having good support in my life was one of those. The support from friends and family has allowed me to shine a light on the many things that I've struggled with internally in which I've neglected to solve.
• 2022-04-28

  Covid

  It may be neccessary to inform the reader that the following reflection was writing in the spring of 2022, at the end of the ‘pandemic’. The pandemic had began initially with my graduating from high school in the spring of 2020. Disappointed at not having prom or a real graduation ceremony, I prepared for college and ended up taking a gap year. The lockdown and safety measures enforced by the government and institutions around the country jointly impelled me to take a gap year. It was during this time that I began reflecting on life without social interaction, entertainment and structure. Perhaps the most apparent realization was coming to terms with the abnormalities wrought by the pandemic such as the lockdown and vaccine rollout/enforcement. The lockdown in particular, was quite pernicious. It prevented myself from going about daily errands and activities. Spiritually, I found comfort in reading scripture to cope with the deficit of worldly pleasure in my life. This was ultimately a good thing because it brought me closer to God. However, I was distanced socially from my peers and friends darkened my view of life and increased my pessimistic outlook. Man is religious because man was created by God. A lot of people dont find God and thus the suicide rate spiked durning the lockdown, damning many souls to eternal hellfire.
• 2022-04-29

  Covid Impact

  Covid has had a huge impact on everyone throughout these past two years. Many people lost their lives, jobs, and it has impacted people mental health. Living through covid hasn't been easy for many of us we went from living our day to day life and all of a sudden a virus was infecting the whole world and we were stuck in quarantine. Personally this had a huge impact on my mental health i felt like i was going crazy being stuck all day inside with nothing to do. Not just that i was stuck with all my thoughts and feelings that i was avoiding and now they were all there with me making things harder for me. I would typically have some sort of distraction but at that moment i had none. My motivation for school decreased heavily i wasn't able to learn good through a computer screen although i did like just waking up 5 min before class started. When covid started i was a junior in High school and i thought by the time i was a senior and graduating it would all be done but i was wrong. Its been two years now and it is still a thing. It does suck knowing i missed the last half of my high school years i didn't get to experience all the fun senior activities but the thing i am grateful for is i did have a graduation ceremony which at that point is all i really wanted. Recently things have been slowly going back to "normal" and i feel like many of us have gotten used to this.
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  2022-04-29

  Life in The Pandemic

  The story I have uploaded goes over my own personal feelings with the pandemic. It is important to me because although being in a pandemic is negative, I feel that I have really grown and been shaped into the person I am today because of it.
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  2020-04-06

  2020 is One for the Books

  This collage represents the main events going on in our lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. Like one of my pictures says "2020 A Year Like No Other." I wanted to represent the election of Trump vs. Biden because it will more than likely go down as one of the largest and craziest elections in history. It divided the country like no other and is still an ongoing battle of Republicans vs. Democrats. I wanted to show the black square and the protests for George Floyd along with The Black Lives Matter movement. I added the air pollution of Los Angeles before the pandemic vs during. With everyone staying inside and not driving around, air quality improved tremendously. We gave the Earth a minute to breathe and heal. A quick photo to shoutout the flight attendants who have had to deal with some craziness on board for the last couple years. It has not been easy, and everyone needed a vacation after 2020. The media has been a huge factor and enemy for this pandemic. I wanted to show an illustration towards facts and fake news. A huge debate on that especially with my final photo of the protests on the vaccine mandates. The world is divided more than ever and hopefully one day we can reunite we can reunite and look back on this pandemic and remember to love each other and this planet. There were many lives lost to Covid, to suicide, and addiction. Rest in peace to everyone who didn't make it and my prayers with the families who lost someone.
• 2020-03-16

  March 16th, 2020

  On the morning of March 16th, myself along with millions of other people around the world woke up to go to school and work like any other day. There had been talks in the news recently of some new disease in Asia, but us Americans weren't too worried. As the day progressed, whispers and talks around campus began to swirl, with the rumor that we would be getting a free week off of school to see what affects COVID-19 will have as a few cases began to spurt up around the country. Me and my friends were just excited to be getting a 2 week spring break, but what we didn't know was that this would be the last time at school for awhile, and this would change our lives forever. After that first week had passed, it was announced we would not be returning to campus in person for the remainder of the school year. Fear of the unknown began to sink in. What had life become? How will I live my every day life now? Will I survive? People always learn about history in the classroom and on the internet, and now I was living through a part of history that will be talked about and remembered forever.
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  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.
• 
  2020-07-24

  Birthday present

  A comic strip about Covid-19
• 
  2020-09-16

  Classroom in Preparation of Students Returning

  This screenshot is of a post from Barry Goldwater High School, which is part of the Deer Valley Unified School District in Phoenix, Arizona. Though the school year started virtually, they began bringing students back to in-person learning in September 2020. The photo included shows desks that are spaced apart (using tape). Students were to be 3 feet apart should-to-shoulder. This shows methods used by schools during re-opening.
• 
  2020-09-14

  High School Return to Learning Phased-In Opening

  This item is a screenshot of an Arizona high school's return-to-learning plan. When public schools were able to reopen, this high school chose a phased approach. For this, different grades would start in school at different dates. For the grades that were not in school yet, they would continue to attend online. Teachers were to teach students virtually and in-person at the same time. This method was used so that the schools could monitor and adjust for social distancing and disinfecting with less students on campus.