Items

• 2020-03-13

  my covid experience

  My covid experience this year is probably a lot like others. I've lost family members to this pandemic my close friends lost loved ones as well. There are a plethora of people I know who have lost their jobs, gained severe diagnosis of anxiety and also depression. Being stuck in the house for all those months with family was a very strenuous task and it was also very debilitating as well. While the covid outbreak started my family and I were sent into a frenzy mentally and physically. My mother lost her job due to the pandemic and I had to pick up more hours at work and do other side jobs to somewhat help with the expenses as well also during this pandemic i was also in school. Attending Brooklyn College during the pandemic was a very difficult thing to do especially due to the fact that we had transitioned to online learning, something I or my teachers haven't really done in some time. The social distance learning that was implemented was a very difficult concept to grasp because one day we go from attending class everyday to the bombardment of information being thrown at us and us as students expected to keep up and also the teachers having to make sure they kept up with the requirements. School, going to work and worrying about the well being of others and myself put me into a state of worry at all times sort've giving me mild ptsd. I hope that this time next year this covid situation will be gone and we can go back to living the way we were.
• 2021-01-25

  My Covid-19 Reflection

  I caught COVID-19 in January 2021 after being around a family member who was positive. The trail of transmission could’ve been my aunt to my cousins to my mother then to me and my brother but it is still unclear. I firstly got a headache one night then went to bed. I woke and felt my throat feeling tight and dry and had a very bad headache, with congestion, fever and body aches/pain all over. I did not want to eat, just wanted to stay in bed and sleep. It was very difficult because it was also my brother and mother who were sick with the virus as well. I tried to make as many herbal remedies as possible for me and my family. I made teas that helped expel mucus from the lungs and throat as well as garlic, honey, elderberry, zinc and vitamin C, B-12 & D. The first two days that I was sick, my fever was over 100 degrees and I had to take Ibuprofen. To help with my body pains I tried to stay out of the bed and keep my body moving. I lost a lot of weight from not eating as much and my body working hard and using energy to recover. What was very interesting about this experience was that I would feel empty even after I ate food. This strange feeling lasted few days after my COVID symptoms were over. It was discouraging because I got my regular appetite back and could not smell or taste at 100%. Everything tasted very plain no matter the amount of flavor. During this experience I was not very worried. I just knew I would get better quickly and remained positive.
• 
  2020-04-12

  Living in a pandemic

  Losing opportunities and losing family makes us think about many emotions and things that should be cherished.
• 2020-06-11

  Taking Charge

  COVID has definitely impacted all of our lives. Despite all the damage it has caused, the virus had some positive consequences. Some of us developed closer relationships with our families. Many of us found new hobbies and developed new passions. For myself, I found a passion for healthcare. Hearing stories and watching news reports on the chaos occurring in our hospitals, made me feel impotent. So, after 3 semesters away from school, I decided to come back and focus on finishing my bachelors so i can enroll in a nursing program.
• 
  2021-02-12T12

  The Celebration of Chinese New Year

  I photographed this picture at the time of Chinese New Year. Even though we all live in Brooklyn, we reduce the time of visit because of the high infection rate. Finally, we got a moment to sit together and chat about the things that happened this past year (After making sure everyone is safe to attend this short and small dinner time).
• 2019-04-16

  The one where we were quarantined

  quarantine has truly been an experience like no other although there has been plenty bad there has also been some good I enjoyed being able to be home with my family more and get to bond on another level much like how we did when we are younger we got to do things like bake, tie dye and watch movies I do wish it was under different circumstances but none the less I am happy I was able to be with my family.
• 2020-04-09T13

  Adapting to New Life Style

  I was one of those people that when the warnings of a virus was coming I did not think much of it, and me being an only child, my parents were always concerned about my safety. They made me wake up early in hopes to catch a bus with less people to go to school, made sure I washed my hands for 20 seconds every time I came back home. I still always went out with my girlfriend and hanged out with friends. Luna Park was also reopening and I got an invite to work there again. I was really excited and then we hear the news that quarantine has begun. I decided to not take the offer even when they send the email that they promised great care for the staff. Most of friends and their parents got sick and I started to take it seriously when my best friend's father died. It was a big group of friends that knew each other for a long time so it was a very sad time for all of us. Later however my mother did get sick but she did recover quickly and me and my dad were lucky not to get sick. We were not able to return to work however our church did help us when it came to food and our landlord was very understanding and allowed everyone in the apartment to pay rent until 3 months. It was difficult to make that money. Things have progressively gotten better and I've always been much more careful outside especially with me having asthma effects of the virus could be much deadlier to me. These experiences made me learn to take the pandemic more seriously and take care of myself and my family
• 
  2021-02-28

  When The Impossible Becomes Real

  The item I am submitting is about how I saw things changing during this pandemic and how it affected me.
• 
  2021-02-28

  Surviving the pandemic

  It is my personal experience of the pandemic. It's important to me as I've fought my inner insecurities and battles. I'm still coping with the stress caused by this pandemic, but it is getting better and I hope it gets better for everyone else too.
• 
  2021-02-17

  #JOTPYPhoto from Gina Heart exclamation

  Staying home cuddling with my dog = work @mollyc @mollycho @Gee_La_Dou @edgartoo12 @Lightskill1
• 
  2020-12

  Black New Yorkers within the Pandemkic

  The piece is detailing the real experience of Black New Yorkers specifically Black immigrants within the pandemic and the lack of governmental support afforded to these marginalized groups.
• 
  2021-02-15

  #JOTPYPhoto from Rebecca

  #joptyphoto
• 
  2021-02-17

  #JOTPYPhoto from Amanda Lehew

  Everyone should check out Journal of the Plague Year ( @covid19archive1 )and submit a photo for the chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card, plus be a part of history! #jotpyphoto A moment for me is capturing this beautiful picture of my daughter and our pandemic pup :)
• 
  2021-01-26

  Teachers Are Being Pushed To Their Breaking Points

  From article: “At first it was, ‘Oh we love our teachers’ and now it seems like people are sick of having their kids at home and want their babysitters back.”
• 
  2021-02-26

  Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition's Holiday Social Distancing Message

  This twitter post by the Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition features a video warning Boston's Black community not to gather with their families during the holiday season. It was also shown on television as a PSA announcement on a local news station. The video shows a family celebrating Christmas dinner with their grandmother, a group of children receiving gifts from their uncle, and a dining room decorated with lots of party decorations. These happy scenes are interrupted by the grandma vanishing (to represent her death from COVID), a child critically ill with COVID in the hospital, and a coffin sitting alone in a funeral home. These stark images are meant to remained the Black community of their vulnerability COVID deaths and encourage them to avoid meeting their families in an attempt to stop their community from getting COVID-19. This twitter post shows the self-activism of Black community by showing how it mobilized to create COVID warnings and resources to help their people be informed and to warn them of the dangers of becoming a source and recipient of the virus.
• 
  2021-02

  #JOTPYSilver submission from Ashley Mueller

  @lashymueller If not for Covid we would only have two children (I kid LOL baby number 3 is a blessing and we are so so excited) #jotpysilver
• 
  2021-02

  #JOTPYSilver from Marissa Rhodes' Instagram

  @purplegenevre My kids haven’t gotten sick with the perpetual sniffles all year. #JOTPYSilver @lashymueller @resilvies @antonjac @ms.tanya.b.c @daniel.wascak
• 2021-02-25

  Conditions of Release

  My 80-year old mother got her second vaccine dose on January 25. She is now anxious to get out in the world. She wants to resume doing her own grocery shopping, and she really wants to get her hair done. I half-jokingly told her that the family would have to confer about her "conditions of release" (the kind of term used when people are released from jail or prison). After having just such a conference, we decided that after the second shot had two weeks to become effective, we thought it would be all right for her to start shopping in stores again, under the condition that she of course wore a mask and went out when stores would not be crowded. We advised her not to get her hair done, as that would put her in close proximity to one person indoors for an extended period. Mom was disappointed about that, but accepted the conclusion.
• 
  2021-02-14

  Essential vs. Expendable Workers

  When the pandemic broke out, I was caught in the whirlwind of being an essential worker. I was a manager at my local McDonalds, so I've seen just how cruel people can be, and how corporations have continued to neglected their workers. Many people are minimum wage workers, and its frightening to know that such a large population is suffering so much, only to receive little appreciation and change. Through my personal story, I hope to have readers step in the shoes of a minimum wage worker than a pandemic, so when they step out, they'll raise awareness on the issue of lack of support and care for minimum wage workers.
• 2021-02-25

  A Strange Way to Grieve

  My father-in-law had an accident last April and passed away about ten days later. He was brought to the hospital in the middle of the pandemic. Nobody was allowed to visit and be with him. My husband was able to speak to him over the speaker phone. He missed seeing him in person. The doctors only would allow visitors in the last moments near death. My husband did not make it in time. Later, he had to retrieve his cremated remains from the car in a sort of curbside pick-up fashion. It was very awkward for him. The usual quiet moments in this situation did not happen. We wanted to hold a memorial for my father-in-law, but because of covid19, we kept pushing it back saying to ourselves, “Well, maybe in October…Maybe in December…” Now we have decided to forgo a traditional memorial for an online one. Soon in March we will have a Zoom memorial with a slideshow of pictures, video, and music, and it will be on his birthday. We hope people will make some remarks. It is stressful getting this together, and I hope it goes well on Zoom. None of us are experts with any of this technology. Handling the affairs of a loved one’s life when they have died is hard enough in normal times. It is even harder during a pandemic. As I write this journal entry I think about my husband and the hardship he and his side of the family has gone through during this time. Knowing them, they would not want to share anything like this on a public archive. I am involved in this grief, but it is different for me. My role is mainly to support. For an archive like this, its collection is all decided on what the public wants to share. Emotionally difficult stories like this may not be shared firsthand as often. My story is also not in depth as it could be if I were the person centrally involved in this grief. I hope that future historians read stories like mine and realize how strange and difficult this time was for grieving people. Nothing is normal. Having a memorial where people get together and support each other through grief with kind words, pats on the back, and long hugs is totally out of the question. We just have to do the next best thing and move on with our lives as we cope with an uncertain future and wonder when life will go back to the way it was before the pandemic or if we have truly lost this aspect of our culture, customs, and traditions.
• 
  2021-02-14

  My Story: I Got COVID-19 Because of ICE

  I am sending a diary style writing where I share my experience during the pandemic. I focus on the issue of ICE during the pandemic. Before the lockdowns, my uncle was detained by ICE and was deported during the pandemic. My uncle has been living in the US for 25+ years and Mexico, my uncle's home country, has changed a lot since he last lived there. For that reason, I went to Mexico to take him home. This made me get COVID.
• 
  2021-01-06

  Impact of COVID-19 on my mom and parents in my community.

  My story focuses on my mom's experience in raising kids during COVID-19 from a variety of ages. This comes with a variety of issues that she has to deal with. For example, dealing with a shortage of baby products, dealing with children with mental illness, and alongside other responsibilities of being a parent. I also provide data to show how many parents were impacted by these same issues. Moreover, I use this data to point out how the government was unprepared to deal with COVID which put more of a burden on parents. This is important to me because the government has a responsibility to prepare for pandemics like these. This Government's lack of preparedness costed many lives and negatively impacted many people's mental health.
• 
  2021-02-15

  #JOTPYPhoto submission from Dr. Marissa C Rhodes

  In our endless search for diversions, my husband bought a resin 3D printer last spring and this was his first print. No matter how much we distract ourselves, #COVID19 is never far from our minds. #JOTPYphoto @lmansley @publiccurator @hotdogsssss @keil_jkeil @erin_bartram
• 
  2021-02-08

  #JOTPYSilver submission from Morgan Keena

  Silver lining - I got to spend far more time with my husband over the last year than I ever imagined. He’s a busy 3rd year med student but this pandemic really slowed things down for both of us. @covid19archive1 #JOTPYSilver
• 
  2021-02-08

  #JOTPYSilver submission from Brianna Walker

  One silver lining is that I got a puppy, (along with pretty much every millenial during this time), but he's a great cuddle buddy and a source of so much joy ❤ @covid19archive1 #JOTPYsilver
• 
  2021-02-12

  #JOTPYSilver submission from Lynn Okiec

  We had a quiet and peaceful Christmas! @covid19archive1 #JOTPYSilver @DM_JayKelly @ohsochelly @BernieSanders @BuffaloHistory @NicoTortorella
• 
  2021-02-14

  #JOTPYSilver submission from Siobhain

  I got to take up baking again and spend more time with my family. @covid19archive1 #JOTPYSilver @kher0461 @nicole_perez1 @xoxoxdarlene @momochompers @ChaoticKarma23
• 
  2021-02-14

  #JOTPYSilver submission from @grace5star

  Spending time with my partner, having lunch and dinners together and connecting with some old friends #JOTPYSilver @LoriMartini @janagram80 @gruffalo4u @SandraSchreiner @martinaf678 #JOTPYSilver
• 
  2021-02-14

  #JOTPYSilver submission from Rebecca Gupta

  #Jotpysilver i got to spend a lot of time with my son! Will cherish these moments @Shivani10516489 @shah_saaya @rajjain88448229 @devadevallama @rani_doshi
• 
  2021-02-08

  #JOTPYSilver submission from Kat Bezaire

  Beginning my Masters in public history, meeting so many amazing people and getting to work with @covid19archive1 also getting engaged to my best friend @TastelessPastry @cartkait @victoriburnett @LisEdwards3 @missmarujo
• 
  2021-02-08

  #JOTPYSilver submission from Victoria Burnett

  My friend of 5 yrs became my roommate and she is now my loving girlfriend so sheltering together is v convenient @covid19archive1 #JOTPYSilver @LaughLoveLarry @hlafweard @heatherhedderly @alexofthewyatts @BezaireKat
• 2021-07-18

  Vaccination #2

  Relief!!! That is the feeling I had when I drove away from the injection station after receiving my 2nd Covid shot. I just hoped that there would be no side effects since those who had gone before I had complained of side effects from the 2nd vaccination. I was lucky in that the next day after receiving the shot I only had a headache, stiff muscles and a queezy stomach - nothing that knocked me down and out. I just functioned at a slower pace. My entire household has been vaccinated and although exposure and contraction of a variant form of Covid is still a risk factor for everyone, at least I do not have to worry about the devastating effects of the illness for myself or family.
• 2021-02-23

  How Covid-19 effected me

  Around March 2019 I was a freshman in college. At this time I was attending an HBCU in North Carolina 10 hours from where I live. Around this time Covid was relatively new and we didn't know much about it. About mid March the whole school received an email that we all had to pack up and leave campus by the following week and for some people that was easy because they lived either in North Carolina or in a close distance. After finding put this information I had to contact my parents and let them know of the situation. My family isn’t poor but we are not rich either so the finical stress that was put on them to call off of work and try and get some type of rental car big enough for all of my things without paying a bunch of money because we didn't have that to spend and rental companies already knew that this time was coming so of course they used it as a way to get more money my raising all the rental prices. So fast forward I come home and now were doing virtual school which was okay I really missed campus and my friends and class was so much more boring staring at a computer screen all day all the stores were closed it honestly felt like the world around me just completely stopped grocery stores closed no tissue or paper towels it was just everything happened so fast but I’m so grateful for my parents for coming to get me because they could of easily made me stay with a relative but they sacrificed a lot to get me home and I really appreciate it so much
• 
  2021-02-22

  How Coronavirus Affected Me

  **story in file
• 
  2020-04-20

  During the War... or A Gift of Time

  When the going gets tough, the tough get going... I think I understand the meaning of hunkering down and getting to work now. I have always loved creating and now more than ever am embracing its healing powers. During these last six weeks I feel like we have been dodging bullets. We have become hunter gatherers looking for supplies to combat the germs. We are obsessed with stocking our little fort with enough of everything (art supplies), to survive the war. Through it all, my husband and I have also been obsessed with creating. Me in my home studio, learning how to collage, make books, creating paintings, greeting cards and finding new techniques to immerse (distract) my self. My husband in his shop behind our house making cigar box guitars! I read a quote from J.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, that sums up, like most things, will be our attitudes that will help us accept this interruption of life..... ”I wish it had not happened in my time”. said Frodo. ”So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what we will do with the time that is given to us.” Since the start of the pandemic I have created over 65 paintings. I need to create in order to find sanity and feel productive and not scared and anxious. The photograph is a painting I created using Rohrshadk blots as inspiration.
• 
  2020-03-15

  Remorseful Disaster

  This story is an ongoing experience for me as my family and I try our best to continue bearing with the lockdown. I wanted to share how things are at home because not every family is taking this situation with the same positivity.
• 
  2021-02-21

  Mini Oral History with Michele Lebsack

  On 02-21-2021, I sat down with my mother-in-law to ask about the positive experiences she had since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 2020-03-24

  Covid-19 affected my life on eating habit, sleeping habits, and emotional wellness

  When the pandemic started, it affected my life. Before the pandemic, I attend class on campus from Monday through Friday. I will have to wake up super early around 7 am or 8 am to get ready for class. After class ends, I will rush to my part-time job and begin working. This is what I do every day and I feel like this is what life is supposed to be like. After the pandemic started, I needed to stay home and attend an online course. When attending online courses, it gives me the anxiety of worrying whether I will pass the course or not. It is my first time attending the course online and I’m scared that I might not catch up with my education. I lost my part-time jobs and my parents stopped working due to the pandemic. I started to worry about the family income and planning to get a job. However, it is hard to find jobs during the pandemic and it is too risky for going outside. I started home every day and felt bored to the point I felt emotional numbness. My eating habits and sleeping habits change. I sleep almost the whole day at home and it causes some aches in my head. I often feel like I am lacking energy and easily tire. I also lack the motivation to do anything and think that the world is boring. I sometimes skip breakfast and lunch when I wake up at 4 pm when I sleep too much. These eating habits and sleeping habits are bad for my body. I decided to change a little to fix my health and I will start from sleeping and eating first. I feel like I need to find a goal or something to do in life to keep my motivation.
• 2021-02-19

  Looking back at 2020 - A COVID 19 infested year

  As a student in my last semester in Brooklyn college, I was looking forward to an easy semester with electives since I was done with all of my major classes. However, a downfall for me was that there was a very interesting internship which I wanted to proceed with but couldn’t because the program was no longer available because of budget issues that were caused by the corona virus. This internship was going to provide me with an insight of what my career will look like but that never happened. As an employee of the city of New York, I was still required to work in some form. For example, instead of coming to work physically we transformed our workplace to “zoom” meeting where our work would be done in 2-4 hours and we would still get paid for 8 hours. I saw this as an opportunity to take advantage of since I heard other employees who requested to still show up physically and were dropping like flies with the corona virus, one after another. However, mid-year, around June or July, employees were required to help out in other agencies such as the 311 center because of the increase of food shortages and other aid citizens needed. Eventually, in September we were allowed to go back to work physically – something I was looking forward to since I was more comfortable being where I knew the place and the people. Mentally and physically, COVID 19 prevented me and many others from staying physically active which led to me gaining unhealthy weight. It was a nonstop binge of eating and just sitting down. Granted, there were opportunities to go out for a walk or work out in the park – but those were chances that I wasn’t going to take because I knew I have a mother with underlying conditions which I had to do everything to prevent her from getting the virus. One thing that I did learn to do during these times is to cut and trim my own hair. Also, this was a perfect time for me to enhance my skills in freehand sketching since thats something I'm good at. Nevertheless, COVID 19 was an experience like no other that everyone had to grow through, and we continue to just learn and grow from it.
• 2021-02-18

  Early Retirement Reflection

  While I am grateful and privileged enough to have quarantined at home with my family, it was certainly frustrating. Once I had conquered my first taste of online learning all I had ahead of me was an uncertain and potentially endless summer. As someone who is a high-risk individual, I didn't feel comfortable going back to my summer job in retail immediately. Thankfully, both of my parents were able to continue to work and I was able to stay home. Being able to stay home for the summer and relax in my hammock most days was unsettlingly different than how others experienced this past summer. I regret not better using my free time to help those that lost jobs and housing and support, while I still had mine. Shockingly the gleam of my extended vacation wore off pretty quickly with my parents. When my parents finally got fed up with me drinking an afternoon coffee in my backyard every day they told me I had better find something productive to keep busy. After sending an unbelievable amount of e-mails and a couple of phone calls with some busy executives I landed an under-the-table research internship. The only issue? Not being able to research through their physical archives. Go figure. While my research wasn't extensive it did keep me fairly busy for my remaining time at home. My early retirement this past summer was a substantial setback in accordance with my previous plans, but it was thoroughly enjoyable.
• 
  2021-02-18

  Watching My Baby Cousins Grow Up On Zoom

  At the beginning of the pandemic, when everything went into lockdown, my uncle started weekly family Zoom calls on Sunday mornings. Through these weekly calls, we actually saw each other more often than before the pandemic, and they became a nice time to check in with everybody and share stories and what's going on with our lives. My favorite part is seeing my two baby cousins, both of whom don't live near me. When we started, my youngest cousin was four months old, and through Zoom, we have watched her learn to walk and we celebrated her first birthday together. My other baby cousin loves to talk to the family and share her toys, clothes, and food through the screen. It is all very cute, and I am grateful for the family time I get to have through Zoom.
• 
  2021-02

  My Grandmother Watches Over Me

  Beep. Beep. Beep. I open my eyes and stretch. I smack that snooze button. The eagle stars at me. During these Covid-19 days, I’m able to spend time thinking about memories. Eyes close; I see darkness. I walk into my Grandmother’s house. A room has the eagle statue and a large window to see the birds. The eagle stars at me. All of a sudden, I am around family members at my grandmother’s memorial service. Beep. Beep. Beep. I open my eyes and stretch. I smack that dismiss button. The Eagle stars at me. My Grandmother is watching over me.
• 
  2021-02-12

  After Vaccines, Joy, Relief and Game Night

  As the COVID-19 vaccine rolls-out, nursing and retirement homes across the United States are starting to open up again. In many places, this means dinner, game night, and a select few visitors.
• 
  2020-03-12

  Such is life in Covid Time

  On February 21st, 2021, one of my professors—while on an exceedingly off-topic tangent during a lecture about Medival Spain—flippantly remarked that in the age that we currently live in, there is now such a thing as “BCT” (“Before Covid Time”) and “CT” (“Covid Time”). According to him, we are currently living in both the year 2021 AD (or CE) and the year 1 CT. Our life as we know it, in the eyes of my professor and Julius Ceaser, is measured and marked by the birth of Jesus Christ and the contagious disease known as Covid-19. And just as it was for the birth of Jesus Christ, it exceedingly easy to pinpoint the exact moment when such a shift in time, from BCT to CT (at least in the United States), had occurred. It was the second week of March. Or, to be more exact, the 12th of March, the day when everything changed for a college student such as myself. On March 8th, 2020 (both AD and BCT), I had awoken as an average American college student in my dorm room. I had just gotten back from a spring break study abroad trip to the country of Cuba, and I was excited for classes to start back up the following day (and continue for the rest of the semester). Nothing was out of the ordinary. Life was continuing as we knew it. Covid-19 was an intangible construct at that point in time, some unseen nightmare way off in the distance that could not reach us. Nothing we needed to worry about, especially as young college students. There were hardly any reported cases yet if any in the United States. Everyone used to say, “oh, that Covid thing? Yeah, it’s just in China. Or Spain. Or Italy,” and then they would go about their day, not giving it any more thought. It was hardly even anything newsworthy. When I was in Cuba that first week of March, the only news we ever received (when we got signal or wifi, which was not often) was about the election, nothing Covid related. People even made jokes about it. That was just how life was in BCT, even a week before everything changed. Hell, even a few days before. On Monday that week, everything was normal, college life as I knew it continued—I saw my friends, got my meals in the ever so crowded dining hall, and went to classes with the max capacity of students. On Wednesday, the college Instagram meme page had posted a Covid update for the first time—there was a confirmed case not too far from campus—yet things continued as usual. However, on Friday, March 12th, 2020, almost a week after I had been partying it up in a packed club in Cuba with absolutely no awareness of the elusive plague that thrived halfway across the world, the shoe suddenly, and finally, dropped. I had shown up to my “Basics of Math” class to find that there were only five people (other than me) in attendance, and not even six hours later, we were given three hours to pack up and leave campus (pictured, me in the midst of packing up). I did not know it then, but we would not be allowed back on campus for another five months, almost 160 days in total. It is no exaggeration when I say that from that moment on, I felt as if I were a Depression Era family, evicted from their home, with all their belonging out on their lawn, with no knowledge of where to go from there. Even though I had my childhood home to go to, I felt, for lack of a better term, “out on my butt.” It was as if I was displaced, uprooted, cut adrift, and lost. I had not even unpacked any of my belongings when I arrived back home. I lived out of my haphazardly packed—and it was haphazard; I had packed up my dorm room in a sweat-inducing and crazed rush—suitcase until it was time once more to pack up and go back to college five months later. And my physical being was not the only thing that felt disoriented. Just as I imagine it was with most other college students during this time, the 2020 spring semester was one of my worst academically performing semesters to date. Although now, almost a full year later (entirely in Covid time), I am most adept at zoom life and the socially-distanced way classes are held, at the time, absolutely not. With every single one of my classes now on Zoom or some virtual variant, it became most difficult for me to adjust to the new way of things. Not even the professors knew what they were doing. Everyone was struggling. And it certainly did not help that my house had now taken on the most distracting nature ever to date. My sister, my mother, and my father were quarantined with me at home. That particular combination of people and location was about as conducive for my studies as it would be if I were studying amid an active circus. Not even when I was in class could I be completely unbothered. With no desk in my room, which I shared with my sister at the time, I was forced to partake in class and do my assignments while sitting next to my mother taking business calls, my sister playing on her Nintendo switch or watching a tv show, and my dad listening in on his own classes or playing the drums. It was a breeding ground for distraction. I would go as far as to say that I was lucky I even got the grades I ended up with that semester. It truly was an abysmal time. Although I certainly do not have to tell anyone that. Life as a college student during CT had proved most difficult. And it still has not entirely let up. Although for the 2020 to 2021 academic year we have thankfully been allowed back on campus, student life has not yet reverted to how it once was (for better or worse). Classes now have a capacity limit (with socially distanced desks, six feet apart), the dining hall tables now only sit two, we have to make reservations for every meal (to limit how many people there are at a certain time), you are not able to frequent any dorms other than your own, masks must be worn at all times, some classes are held over zoom, or even outside, off-campus travel is prohibited, and there are only specific entrances and exits you can use for every college building. College life—a time which was always regarded as the free-est time of one’s whole life—is now the most massively regulated. And all I can say to that is, “c’est la vie.” Such is life in “Covid time.”
• 2021-02-17

  Living Like An Immunocompromised Person

  I have been living in fear of getting others sick rather than what will happen if I were to be the one to get sick. My brother is immunocompromised, so I have spent most of 2020 in my house. I have not been scared of coming back positive because I have had cousins who have been sick but have had no real issues. The reason I have lived a full year with fear and anxiety is the idea of giving the disease to my Diabetic brother. Part of the reason I came back to campus when the semester started was to get away from my brother and the fear that I could be the one to kill him. Coronavirus has made this past year one full of fear, but the main character of my fear, meaning my brother, has talked me into feeling comfortable enough to return to college. I knew people who had impaired immune systems had to watch what they did even before Covid-19 came into the picture. These days, immunocompromised individuals can barely leave their houses so I have followed the actions of my brother. If he has felt comfortable enough to return to teaching for middle schoolers and working at a camp with young children who were just learning to wear masks during the summer then I can go live on campus. I actually have a close friend in my dorm family unit who keeps me in check. My brother and my friend do a great job but sometimes, I think I stay home and away from people more than some individuals I know with compromised immune systems or pre-existing conditions that put them at risk of dying from the disease. That thought will not dissuade me from continuing with my partially-quarantined lifestyle. I am confused and hurt by those who have not even tried to protect others or change anything in their daily life. With the numbers that are currently being released in the United States and at my college, I will keep living in a way that will not increase my anxiety or the chance of my fears coming true. If my college continues to see rising positive cases, I hope we get put into a full campus lockdown or I have a little warning of being sent home so I can be tested and have a place to quarantine away from my brother. Everyone has Covid-fatigue but I will push through and stay as safe as I can. This year has taught me that when this pandemic is over, I need to live my life protecting immunocompromised people even if I do not know them. If I get a cold, I will wear a mask. I never want to be the one to blame for someone else falling sick or dying.
• 2021-02-17

  Mourning Limbo

  It’s strange, losing someone during this pandemic. We saw grandma on her birthday last month and probably wouldn’t have planned to visit until Easter. Before the pandemic I would have taken her out a couple times a month and other relatives would make sure she had plans other weeks, even if it was just a trip to Walmart or the grocery store. But after nearly a year we had settled into this new normal. So I find myself checking Facebook to see if grandma liked a picture of my cat or picking up the phone to give her a call and then remembering. We haven’t had any sort of memorial, of course. My aunt wants to go to grandma’s favorite beach this summer, assuming we’re all vaccinated (and that seems less likely all the time). I’ve never been to that beach without grandma. Maybe then it will feel real.
• 
  2021-02-17

  A College Athlete's Pandemic

  The story I uploaded explains how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed my experience as a college athlete. This is important to me because playing a sport in college is a huge part of my overall college experience.
• 2021-02-17

  New York, New York- ravaged by COVID-19

  The pandemic made me realize just how no matter how prepared you think you are, diseases don't discriminate. Living in New York, 10 miles from the first epicenter in the state and 30 miles from New York City, my quarantine was different from my peers living in New England. Upon being told on Friday, March 13, 2020 that my campus was closing, and I only had until Sunday to call my parents for them to make the five hour drive to campus the next day, I was instantly filled with anxiety. I knew from the news that New York City had many cases and was only increasing by the day, so getting home with all my things in one trip was a necessity. I did not have the luxury of driving myself home, as I did not have a car with me, so waiting the night before going home was one full of stress as threats of state boarders closing flooded through the halls of my dorm. Upon arriving home, my family quickly hunkered down, trying to figure out what we were going to do in regards to taking care of my parents' elderly mothers. One was in assisted living and the other needed frequent trips to the doctor, so our priorities were focused on them being safe, while ensuring we would not be at risk. This included not traveling outside or near the ten mile radius that was infected in my county and buying non perishable goods for two months while my mother was the one to venture out to take care of her mother and my dad calling every week to keep up with his mother's health. This was our life, staying inside, everyone working within their own rooms trying to adjust to the new normal. That was until my mother came down with a cold. This happened when New York was short on ventilators and hospital beds and doctors had to pick and choose who got the chance of living. This cold turned into a fever, and since our area was short COVID tests, the only place she could get was thirty minutes away and she ended up waiting in a line for two hours- only to yield a negative. But her symptoms persisted, losing her smell and taste, and every doctor she called said the same thing, her test was most likely part of the thirty percent of tests that had false negatives and she did in fact have COVID-19. The worst thing we had heard was an ominous warning from my uncle working in the ICU, where he said not to go to the hospital or emergency room unless my mother was no longer able to breathe on her own because the chances of the hospital killing her if she went in for an in person visit were much higher than COVID-19 itself. This disease that was supposedly "no worse than the flu" quickly turned sour. My mother had isolated herself in my parents' room, my father had decided to sleep on a spare mattress in our family room and we all shared one bathroom so as to limit our exposure to our mother. We would leave food outside her door and use tongs to carry her empty dishes down to be washed and she would text us if she needed anything because talking became too much work. When she started shaking violently and her breathing became more labored after a week and a half, it was then that we were faced with a difficult choice- keep treating her at home with fluids, food and any over the counter things we were told could help ease her discomfort, or take her to the emergency room and let a doctor assess her risk. Luckily, my mother is alive and well. Three weeks after she began showing symptoms, my mother came down from her room, refusing to get within twenty feet of us and spoke very softly that her chills were gone. Things began looking hopeful again. Every day my mother was getting stronger and was checking in with doctors about her progress and we were able to breathe a little easier that we wouldn't need to go to a hospital and be faced with the uncertainty that her life would be deemed less important than another persons'. There is no fear quite like thinking your mother is going to die in the room next to yours and all you can do is sit on the other side of the wall and hope for her recovery. I am forever grateful that my family was one of the lucky ones and we have not lost anyone to COVID-19 so far, but nearly losing my mother made me aware that even a healthy woman in her early fifties can be rendered helpless by an illness that was not taken seriously. COVID-19 was and is a very real threat and with the soaring numbers my heart goes out to all those who have lost loved ones; I could not imagine being without my mother, so I can barely imagine the pain this pandemic has caused countless people around the world.
• 
  2021-02-17

  My At-Home Gym

  During this drawn-out pandemic, I have had the misfortune of living alone in my apartment, essentially stranded. This was not helped by the fact that I have recently been left without a car. I have no family that lives close by and I have relied a lot on my friends' willingness to carpool with me if I need to get anywhere. I generally must walk to and from the grocery store and have many things shipped to me. Additionally, my commute to work is always on foot. These minor inconveniences are not as unbearable, however, as my inability to travel to the gym. The gym had become a daily routine for me pre-pandemic. On occasion, I would drive to the gym twice in one day to stay occupied. My lack of transportation was, thus, a major hit to my daily routine. About a week had gone by without exercise before I hatched an idea. I purchased a simple, $20, 25 lb weight to be shipped to my apartment. This weight would become the nucleus of my workout routine for the next year. With This 25 lb weight, I can mimic virtually any exercise that exists at the gym. Instead of 20 lb shoulder raises, I do 25 lb shoulder raises for a shorter set. Instead of 35 lb dumbell curls, I do 25 lb curls for a longer set. If an exercise would usually be done on a bench or mat, I could simply set down a few pillows and achieve the same effect. The transition was a bit awkward but easier than I expected. My pandemic-grade, simple, at-home weight room may appear underwhelming. It is, indeed, cheaper and of lower quality than gym equipment. However, my make-shift gym has kept me busy throughout the entirety of this pandemic. I am now back to my daily "gym" routine, sweating just as much in my apartment as I would be at a gym.
• 
  2020-07-22

  Funerals of Family Abroad: Losing a Grandfather in the Heat of the Pandemic

  Covid-19 has taken many things from me over the almost year that it has been running rampant around the United States, however, the biggest thing that Covid-19 has taken away from me was the opportunity for me to attend my Opa's funeral this summer. He, unfortunately, passed away from complications related to a stroke and my grandmother was able to see him in the hospital, but it was heartbreaking to not be able to attend his funeral in person. His death was rather sudden and so my family had not really been expecting it. When I first heard of his death I immediately thought about the fact that I would not be able to go to his funeral and that the last time I had seen him the year before would be the last time that I would be able to see him.