Items

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  2021

  High School Yearbook in 2021

  Included is a picture of the page of a yearbook from the school that I work at for the 2021-2022 school year. This school year was very unique in that we started the year online. All classes were held virtually through Zoom from August to the end of September. At the end of September, students returned to school using a phased-in approach where one grade level at a time returned. After Winter Break, the school was held virtually again for two weeks. During the time that we were in-person, teachers were required to teach students in-person and online through Zoom at the same time. Because of that, I would have students in the classroom, and students listening to me and interacting with me through Zoom. Many students with health concerns never came to school in person. For everyone else, masks were required at all times. In addition, teachers were required to move desks in a way that students were at least three feet apart from each other shoulder-to-shoulder. This yearbook page shows different ways that teachers and students were affected during this year. The top left picture showed a Zoom screen with the students attending Zoom class. The large picture underneath shows a masked teacher standing in front of her students while also showing her students on Zoom behind her. Other pictures show teachers with their Zoom classes and empty classrooms. The text on the side was written by students who took the Yearbook class. It shows a student perspective on the pandemic and why classes were made to be held virtually for students. The 2021-2022 yearbook as a whole is an important object to me as this is the first and only school year that was affected by COVID-19 in its entirety in a way that can be seen visually. This year was unlike any other and forced me to have to change and adapt constantly. During this school year, I had to space students apart and had to make a seating chart for every class. If a student needed to move for a few minutes for any reason (like needing to charge their laptop), I would have to update the seating chart with the date to show where that student was and who they were sitting by. If a student tested positive for COVID-19, any students within three feet of them then had to stay home and learn virtually for a set amount of time. This time changed throughout the year but could be six to ten days. Looking back on these memories, I believe that it is so important to see what students and teachers went through during this time, as we are all still trying to catch up and adjust to the way that the pandemic disrupted and changed beliefs, attitudes, expectations, and ways of learning.
• 2022-04-28

  COVID-19, Religion, and Public Life Reflection

  The COVID-19 pandemic has created a one-of-a-kind situation for our generation, causing many countries to go into lockdown and many people to lose their jobs, loved ones, and social life. The pandemic affected people of all races, religions, and genders and continues to do so. Businesses, schools, and job offices around the world were forced to close, store shelves were emptied of canned food and toilet paper, and people were limited to the amount of food they could purchase. Covid forced me and many others to work and attend school from home via Zoom, which was a new and interesting experience for me because I was accustomed to having a daily routine, such as waking up in the morning and getting ready to go to work and school. During covid, on the other hand, all I had to do was roll out of bed, fix my hair, and attend a zoom meeting in my pajamas. I'd have to say that physically separating myself from people I cared about, such as friends, family, and coworkers was the most difficult part for me. Another effect of Covid was the cancellation of religious activities and in-person services all over the world. Family members who died as a result of covid-19 had their funerals virtually streamed on zoom, which was especially difficult for many people because they couldn't go pay their respects to the deceased and loved ones. Many debates erupted about whether covid is real or not during this time period, and the issue quickly devolved into a religious/political one. People began to align with various political parties and religious leaders, and the power and opinions of these politicians and religious leaders exerted a strong influence over their followers. In terms of religion, one of the most noticeable effects of covid on me was that it weakened my religious faith, whereas it strengthened the religious faith of others. I lost a sense of joy and support that came with participating in prayer and holiday services because I couldn't attend them. Even though covid is still affecting people all over the world, we're learning how to try to return to life before covid. It may never be the same, but we can hope it just gets better.
• 2020

  How the Internet Saved My Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  Prior to the first major COVID-19 breakout in the US, I was already doing online school. I had some health problems that led me to take my senior year of high school online; this was already a little hard, as my school had many senior year traditions that I, unfortunately, missed out on, so my general motivation was already pretty low. The main thing that really helped was being able to hang out with friends in person and talk to people using social media. I remember very vividly when COVID-19 first hit. It was sometime in March; I remember it so vividly due to a joke that my friends and I made. Senior skip day happened right when the news about the virus started to spread everywhere - my friends and I started joking about whether or not they skipped the last day of high school they would ever attend. This joke eventually came to fruition; first, it was a two-week "vacation." Then it was a month. Eventually, the rest of the year was called off, and my friends joined me in the ventures of online schooling. The beginning of quarantine was relatively easy from a mental health standpoint. We were too busy being excited over the "vacation" we were given, and all the time we had to play video games with each other. This excitement soon began to fade, however, mainly when the weather began to get warm again (I live in Massachusetts) and the seasons started to change. The feeling of being trapped inside during the only time of year truly worth being outside for is pretty suffocating. It is no surprise that my mental health started to suffer, mainly in the form of motivation issues and increased anxiety, and depression that was normally seasonal began to manifest itself in the only season it usually didn't. If not for the internet connecting my friends and me, I would have had a much harder time throughout quarantine in general. Despite my mental health being worse than usual, it was not nearly as bad as it could have been given the circumstances. The horrible statistics and lack of hope for a vaccine that clouded my thoughts when not distracted disappeared while I was in my own world talking to friends through a computer screen - escapism was my main source of comfort, and I have the internet and my friends to thank for that. Eventually, the feeling of hopelessness went away. Vaccines started to be distributed, and life returned to (slightly) normal. We got used to wearing masks in public, and avoiding crowded areas, but this was a small price to pay considering how bad it was before.
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  2022-04-03

  Teachers reflect on covid struggle

  This article details the reflection of a few Arkansas teachers as we reach two years since the beginning of the pandemic. The teachers highlight the drastic changes not only in safety precautions, but also the adjustments in order to provide meaningful learning in an entirely new landscape. Many of the teachers reported excitement at the prospect of a return to normalcy, however they desire some aspects of the pandemic adjustments to remain in place. Flexible learning, new and creative ideas of conveying topics, and more individualized learning methods have seen an increase in retention of material, which is fundamentally what education is all about. The teachers would also like an end to the stigma surrounding the covid learning adjustments, primarily the notion that education is now "entirely computer based". This notion is quite the contrary, according to educators, rather the new methods not only encourage flexibility and invite individualized learning but also promotes computer skills which will be vital for adulthood. I think this article is interesting because it highlights the fundamental change covid has made and continues to make on society. In order to promote public health and safety, teachers were forced to adjust and were forced to rework how they educated. This compelling of behavior has rendered some positivity. I think it is critical that children are able to have the safest and most effective education, and while covid seems terribly negative, there is a small glimmer of improvement from the pre-pandemic world. This article was published in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
• 2020-07

  Covid-19 and my Experience with High School + Religion

  I remember when I received the news that we would be taking 2 weeks off of school due to covid-19. I thought that the world would quarantine, and life would proceed to normal. I was a sophomore in high school and very religious at the time. Soon enough the 2 weeks passed by, but now we had to spend even more time at home. After a month or two, and the grocery store shelves started to empty, that's when I finally realized how much of an impact covid-19 was going to have on my life. I realized that my now temporarily online school was going to remain that way in the foreseeable future. My weekly Sunday church services were canceled as well. School quickly became an unbearable chore for me. My high school was not efficient in the slightest at conducting school online. Their idea of an ‘improved’ online course was simply to assign more work. I had had enough. I decided I was going to be in control of my education, not covid-19. During junior year, I decided to get high school over with and graduate early. It was not easy, but I buckled down and completed two years of school all during my 3rd year of high school. Because I was not attending church or in-person school anymore, I was able to dedicate more time to complete high school early. By the time my church was open again to the public, I had other priorities in my life. I no longer had the time or motivation to keep attending these meetings. Even when I officially graduated high school, I found religion to no longer be an interest of mine. I had become accustomed to life without church. Now that I am almost done with my first year of college as a 17-year-old, I find that covid-19 is not much of a stressor in my life anymore. I am also glad that quarantine allowed me the opportunity to see what my life is like without religion. If it weren't for the pandemic, I’m almost certain I would still go to my church services and dread it every single time. As hard as the pandemic was for me, and as difficult as it was to get through quarantine, I’m grateful that it changed my life in the ways it did. I grew a lot during this time period and it made me grateful for the freedoms I already have every day.
• 2022-03-30

  The Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on Students

  At the beginning of the pandemic there was mass confusion and scares about what was to come of this new, unknown virus called SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19. Once widespread outbreaks were prevalent, everyone was sent home from work and schools. A lot of smaller businesses could no longer make rent and went out of business, and many people did not know how they were going to make ends meet. However, one of the most vital impacts, was on our students in upper elementary and above. Many public and private schools, from elementary to high school, did not make any school work necessary to be completed in Oklahoma, and as a result, created a gap in the knowledge needed for the continuation of schooling in the years to come. For freshmen college students, as I was at the time, if you were living on campus, in the dorm rooms and apartments, many of us were given notice that we had two weeks to move out unless we had extenuating circumstances. Additionally, all of our classes after spring break were moved online (in the best way possible) but often times were unsuitable to the in person experience. As a Microbiology Major enrolled in several different science classes with labs, it was nearly impossible to get the necessary experience to properly understand the laboratory material. As a result, this made it more difficult in the semesters to come to understand what was required of me, due to the lack of knowledge of materials I would have learned had I been able to attend my labs. Because of the severity of this virus and the rapid spread which sent everyone quarantining in their homes, we may see a lasting impact, not due to the viruses long-term side-effects, but due to our educational generations having a detrimental gap in proper school education.
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  2021-07-15

  High School COVID-19 Expectations and Procedures

  The document is the "COVID-19 Parent/Guardian Expectations" section of a school handbook for the 2021-2022 school year. For this school district, the 2021-2022 school year is the first year since the pandemic started that would be entirely in-person. Due to this, school staff, parent/guardians, and students were expected to comply with essential health and safety standards. The handbook covers when students should be kept home from school, how to report symptoms of COVID-19 or a positive test, bus protocols, sanitation policies followed by teachers and school staff, mask expectations, cafeteria and food procedures, accommodations for social distancing, requirements of school volunteers, and athletics. This document shows how schools worked to create policies and procedures in order to keep students in school in-person. These procedures were created in anticipation of the first school year that would be completely in-person, since the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years were partially online.
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  2022-03-20

  A Day in the Life of the Pandemic

  My daily routine has definitely been affected during the COVID-19 pandemic in multiple ways. During the height of the pandemic when most classes at ASU were virtual, I took advantage of the fact that I didn’t have to leave my house and got used to sleeping in late most days I could do so. I also noticed that as a result of being home all the time, I tended to order less food out, and regularly started making my meals on my grill again. Unfortunately, another thing I began to notice is that since began isolating at home, I have been very tempted to procrastinate on the work I have to do for classes. As a result, I sometimes had a hard time getting started on my classwork in a timely manner, so I would end up stressed trying to submit it closer to the deadline than I would have preferred. Additionally, since I have been stuck inside more than I would like, I have been using my bench and dumbbells much more to keep in shape. COVID-19 has also just made me instinctively feel very naked without a mask on, and it has just become a habit to wear one everywhere at this point. On another related note, I also have made it a habit to avoid large groups or crowds of people in general because of COVID-19, so I unfortunately not seen any live music since the start of the pandemic. I have however gotten into the habit of playing more music and video games, which has been a fun way to keep myself occupied when I am not busy with work or school. Although my daily routine definitely has changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have gotten used to it in the many months that have passed since it began.
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  2020-09-08

  Remote Learning

  This was my son on his first days of remote learning in Kindergarten. He was a great trooper and worked hard to have the sense of being in school. Some days were more difficult than others, but overall we made it through and we continue to prosper through this pandemic.
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  2022-03-19

  Change can be good? Sometimes.

  I am submitting my Day in the Life of COVID. This document shows how the aspects of my life have or have not changed. My life has changed a lot when we were put into lockdown, but it also changed again when I returned to working in person. Yet, work is not the only thing that has changed. I would like to think some of the changes I have discussed will inspire some positivity in my life and others' lives. I think that it would be good to add some more positive stories to the archive.
• 2022-01-16

  Still On Spring Break?

  As a teacher and a parent, navigating the tricky educational waters after COVID-19 in 2020 has proven challenging. Many of my teacher friends left the profession due to unsafe working conditions and the emotional distress resulting from unsupportive school districts, irrational demands from parents, and severe behavioral issues exhibited by students coping in their own ways. In March 2020, we went on Spring Break, and some of us never came back, some literally and others emotionally. Teachers that are still teaching – whether online or in person – are now contending with the aftermath of school closures and the intense pressure put on them to return despite concerns about safety. Teacher burnout has hit hard, and there are even some days I have to remind myself why I became a teacher. I know students are dealing with their own transition back into some kind of normalcy. My own daughters exhibit an anxiety that’s hard to miss – and something I can relate to, and I’m devastated that they missed out on junior prom and an in-person 8th grade graduation. The little milestones and memory-makers that they’ll one day look back on as adults have been replaced by a year of quarantine, Zoom classes, and missing their friends. Many of my students have also expressed sadness and frustrating having missed some of the hallmarks of “the high school experience”. Likewise, teachers missed milestones and cultivating relationships with their students. There’s still a lot of ground to make up on both sides.
• 2020-09-09

  The Four Walls of Insanity

  The day my life completely changed, QUARATINE had been announced in my district. What had begun as a light conversation with no expected impact on us later came to crumble our walls of reality and how vulnerable we really are. We live in a time of the future a virus wasn't expected to take so many of us out the thought that we've evolved beyond this point was false. We were unprepared for anything that was to come. I never got to enjoy my senior year complete my senior year, a year I'll never get back. I had begun with so much excitement it was my senior year in cross country I gratefully got to finish my season with all my teammates and some of my best friends from high school. However that would later come crashing down as I was getting excited for prom season shopping for a new dress and planning the night out with friends we were sent on a "2 week spring break" I never got back. Classes continued online, I no longer was able to do my daily routine of going to school then practice with friends. From now on any interaction was via Zoom or FaceTime we longed for reconnection. I'm someone who thrives off interacting with my friends especially pre quarantine the lack of interactions was draining me. I had to find a new way to cope which as you can see led to many hair color changes within a couple months. The four walls I would be so excited to come to after a long practice now became a prison cell. I would't change the way I chose to quarantine because I saw the negative affects of socializing with sadly one of my neighbors passing during that height of pandemic. However we are all only human and selfishness is part of who we are and I think it's fair to say my mental health took a large toll during the couple months that felt like years. Once my family as well as others became more lenient I was a able to hangout in small groups of people but never large and still fear it a little over 2 years later. I don't believe I have fully recovered from the situation this time period put us through. The isolation did allow me to discover new interests and how to spend time with myself which can be difficult, as well as an appreciation for long walks on your own. However it was a confusing time and one that only brought about more anxiety and fear with someone who deals with this struggles on the daily.
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  2020-03-31

  Ending the School Year in COVID-19

  I described how ending the school year during COVID-19 was. I am a high school teacher, and we went on Spring Break and never came back. I include an e-mail I sent to my students.
• 2022-02-06

  Covid: College Edition

  In March of 2020, all SUNY schools were sent home because of the Covid pandemic. It was unknown how long I was going to be home for, little did I know it would be over 11 months and a year and a half to go to in person classes. Almost half of my college experience was spent virtual. This is a time that you will never get to live again and it was cut short by almost half. I am very grateful to be in person again and seeing my friend's even thought things aren't 100% back to normal, I am very happy to be back. I am praying that this never happens again for future college students or any students in that matter. Enjoy the time you have because you never know what the future holds.
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  2020-05-07

  Finally Seeing My Best Friend

  The pandemic has been a rough time for me. I decided to take a gap year in the middle of my college experience in order to work. Online learning isn't the easiest, and it was the best decision I could've made. However, it was very isolating living in my parents basement for 18 months. Humans are supposed to be social creatures. My father is immunocompromised, which means that I have to be as careful as possible to keep him healthy. For the first few months of the pandemic, I didn't see anyone besides my mom and dad. I couldn't even see my grandmother, who I missed so much. Finally, things started to feel a little bit safer, so I was finally able to see my childhood friend. I sat in her backseat with a mask on, while she drove us to a hiking trail, where we were able to have a socially distanced picnic. Being able to spend that time with her was crucial. I needed this time with her to keep myself sane. We decided to take a picture of us wearing our masks, posing like the characters in The Fault In Our Stars movie poster. We talked for hours, grateful to be in each other’s presence. We made it a routine to try to do something outside together every couple of weeks. She lives in my neighborhood, so it was easy to meet at a corner and walk our dogs together. Being able to see someone that was outside of my immediate family was like a breath of fresh air, both metaphorically and literally. As time went on, she became part of my “COVID bubble” as my family called it. It was hard not seeing other friends, but I’m glad that at least I had her from the very beginning.
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  2020-03-12

  Class of 2020

  On March 12th, 2020, the Community College of Allegheny County emailed out a letter in response to the COVID - 19 global pandemic. The college had suspended credited classes for five days until faculty and administration had figured out how to stop the spread of COVID – 19 by having a smooth transition from in-person learning to online learning. I was aware that COVID - 19 was starting to become a large problem in the U.S. and other countries, but I did not think that we were at the magnitude that we would need to go online learning. Nonetheless, I was fine with it. I would rather be safe than sorry because I wasn’t sure of the seriousness of the virus and the online learning period was only supposed to last from March 18th to April 19th. And then on April 1st, 2020, the whole state of Pennsylvania had gone on lockdown for COVID – 19, I had then selfishly started to become worried about what the future would hold for me. I was in the last year of my two-year degree program and extremely excited that I was finally eligible to graduate and walk across the stage and graduate with my family cheering for me like every other graduating class before me. I figured there would have to be some type of celebration for the graduating class because, before the year 2020, I and many other students had never even imagined what alternate graduation would look like or how it would even work. I think I and any other student who was a part of the graduating class of 2020 in hindsight are glad that we didn’t have the traditional graduation because we did celebrate our achievements and kept our family and friends safe while doing it.
• 2020-03-15

  The Quiet of a Pandemic

  At the beginning of the COVID-19 quarantine, I was recently married (about two days) and had to immediately shift to online teaching. My school believed this was only going to last two weeks. We hadn't shifted to a live online class and were still teaching asynchronously with online meetings once a week for anyone who needed help. Since I taught U.S. History rarely did my students feel they needed help (even if they really did). My husband was still working, since his oil job was considered essential, so I found myself with hours of empty quiet time. Of course, I found myself originally spending hours watching tv and streaming countless tv shows. After a couple of days of this, I decided it was time to step outside. I'm from southern Louisiana so every good house has a porch you can sit on, and mine was perfect. My neighborhood was never incredibly loud, but I live only a few blocks from I-10 (the busiest interstate in the U.S.) and there were always traffic noises. For the first couple weeks or so of quarantine, you could hear a pin drop. It was an eerie quiet, and it took some getting used to; however, I would learn to love that quiet. I would spend my days on my porch (thanks to some unseasonably "cooler" days) reading, watching Netflix, and watching my neighborhood. Birds I had never seen or heard before were in my oak trees. I also learned that Robins are very territorial and would watch my cats like a hawk during nesting season. Blue Jays didn’t wait to see what my cats would do if they got too close to a nest the birds were swooping down on them. I learned that my oak trees have a fungus that grows on the branches and can help me learn about the health of my tree. People I had never seen before were walking with a quick hi as they walked by me. I had never heard my neighborhood so quiet before or since. While I dealt with anxiety that my husband would get sick at work, or I would somehow transmit the disease to someone who couldn't fight it I also learned to relax and enjoy the moment. I had very limited responsibilities, my students only had about 3-4 assignments a week and they were assigned on Sundays. I would certainly never wish to return to that time; I would however wish that everyone could learn to relax and enjoy the quiet even if it is from your front porch
• 
  2022-02-01

  Patio Sounds

  I never heard the sounds of my backyard and cared – now, it is my favorite sound, and my patio is my favorite place to work. I work in education, in March of 2020 our campus went virtual, and we began to work from home. My two kids, age 3 and 6 were home with me as well. Fast forward to today February 2022, our campus is still working virtually, however my kids now age 5 and 8 are away at school for 6 hours a day; this is the first time in my work history I have been able to work from home, and the first time I have been able to work kid free in two years. Prior to the pandemic, I was a busy person, work, school, kids, home, husband, dog – I did it all – what I didn’t do, was stop and listen to the peace I literally had in my backyard. Now, I sit on my patio from 9:00am to 3:00pm, rain or shine, and even though I am working, I listen and take it all in, I feel recharged to take on all my daily tasks. The calm and quiet time on the patio is much welcomed in the hustle and bustle life can become. Listening to the bird’s chirp, leaves rustle, dogs bark, sometimes the hum of a hummingbird, or the light drops of rain – it is therapeutic. The pandemic has been many things, but for me it has given me time to discover the peace the sounds around me can bring. This recording was taken on my patio, listening to the sound of my backyard as I wrote this description, appreciating the time I have.
• 2021-02-08

  Tweets that reflected life during online school

  These tweets reflect how I felt while doing my senior year from behind a computer screen in my room. I would put my zoom class on and then spend time on my phone. Life was really boring, I had school everyday and couldn't see many of my friends. My school used Microsoft Teams for class, and it was really bad compared to Zoom.
• 2021-06-20

  My Story of How COVID-19 Changed My Life

  When the pandemic first hit, I was one of those people who believed it was just like the flu and that it wasn't going to be as bad as people said it was going to be. Over time I came to realize that this was no ordinary illness and that the world had changed drastically. Streets were empty, school was online, and it had felt like a zombie apocalypse had gripped the world. One thing the pandemic taught me was to appreciate the time you have because you never know when it may come to an end. Spending time with friends and family helped me realize the joys they bring to my life and how important they really are to me.
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  05/07/2021

  Janice Hughes Oral History, 2021/04/22

  Janice Hughes, currently living in Madison, WI, is a medical abstractor for UW Health. Within the interview she talks about how the workplace has changed, along with day to day life during the COVID pandemic. She talks about her experiences with COVID and how her community around her has been dealing with it. She talks about how mental health has been affected with the pandemic along with physical health. Janice Hughes discusses what it was like to receive the vaccine and some of the lessons she has learned overall with the pandemic.
• 
  04/29/2021

  Kristina Jordan Oral History, 2021/04/08

  This interview was recorded as part of The Covid 19 Oral History Project, a project of the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute associated with The Journal of a Plague Year: A Covid 19 Archive. Tina is an essential worker, working as a paramedic for an ambulance service in Southern Wisconsin. She is also a full-time faculty at the technical college where she trains EMS students. Her husband is also an essential worker as a volunteer firefighter. In this interview she discusses changes to clinical hours for her students, transitioning to using human simulators. Issues with PPE shortages. Transitioning to online learning and how teaching was different. How her local Governor response affected her and her community. Changes to her day-to-day life with family and friends. Fear for her parents getting covid, staying isolated and missing family during a years’ worth of missed holidays and getting vaccinated. The effects on her community and the political aspect that crept into the COVID pandemic. Frustration with COVID deniers, mask refusal and social media blasting false information. Seeing the realities of COVID as an EMS driver and transporting COVID patients. Her feelings for those who lost loved ones during covid and their grieving process. Political, both state and federal, response to COVID. News outlets and how she chose to receive news. Comparing COVID to other world events like 9/11 and Desert Storm. Living in a rural area. Her hopes for the future and the lessons she hopes we have learned.
• 
  12/09/2020

  Reed Engle Oral History, 2020/12/09

  C19OH
• 
  11/30/2020

  Dang Yang Oral History, 2020/11/30

  Dang Yang is the Director for the Office of Multicultural Affairs at UW Eau Claire. He identifies as a Hmong American that was born and raised in the Midwest of the United States. Dang discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic affected his personal life as well as his professional life. In this discussion he emphasizes the challenges of operating an office at a higher learning institution as well as the issues of racism that came about with the onset of the Coronavirus and isolated racially charged events that happened during the pandemic. He focuses on equity in his discussion.
• 2021-12-20

  How Covid Affected me

  Due to the unexpected virus “Covid”, my life has been impacted in many various ways. My life has changed in many different perspectives both good and bad. My life feels pretty good at the moment however it's a little bit stressful. It's been very hard to do online schooling rather than going in person. The homework didn't seem as mandatory as it does when you go to school. However I can say I'm getting used to and trying my best to do the best I can. I can say that this virus has made me experience a new perspective on life. It has taught me that it's very important to appreciate the smallest moments and not take anything for granted. As well, it had an impact on my social life because I'm not able to go out with my friends like I used to. I haven't traveled either because it's very easy to become infected with this virus. Everything has been going back to normal slowly, but I'm adapting to all the new regulations that are rising.
• 
  2020-01-28

  Predicting the Future

  I remember very specifically sitting in my Econ class my senior year of high school; we had to watch a CNN 10 video every week and explain how the things in the video could affect the economy. I remember looking my Econ teacher in her eyes and telling her that I thought the Coronavirus was going to be very serious and deadly. She told me that a few dead in China and a few cases in other countries doesn't mean that it will be a big problem. My whole class laughed at me because I was worried that the Coronavirus was going to come to the U.S. and kill a lot of people. That was January 28th, 2020. Cut to March 13th, 2020 Corona was in the U.S. and was spreading very rapidly. March 13th, 2020 was the last day of my senior year without me knowing it. We were told that we were getting an extended spring break and would be out of school for 2 weeks then we would be back. That did not happen. I never stepped foot into my high school again. We started Zoom classes on March 31st, 2020, and I never saw my high school teachers in person again. I didn't get a senior prom, proper graduation, or a school picture to show my future kids. Covid-19 ruined my senior year and would go on to ruin my first year of college, forcing me to drop out for the safety of my family and friends.
• 2020-08-01

  Schooling during covid

  At the time of August 2020 I was a new student going back to college as a 30 year old. Now this was during the pandemic so there were many challenges. Firstly we had to wear mask in class and this made it very difficult to understand the teacher at times. Not to mention we had to be socially distant so we were spaced out throughout the classroom which made things more difficult to hear. And this is all if you were lucky enough to get into a hands on class that would be held in person. As most classes had moved to a virtual classroom (zoom) at this time. The classes that I had on Zoom presented their own challenges as you didn’t have that personal touch as if you were in person. There was also lots of time where students were talking over each other. As these obstacles presented challenges I’m very fortunate to have at least been given the opportunity to go ahead with my education instead of it being put on hold.
• 2021-12

  How My Life Has Changed

  My life feels weird. I feel like everything almost moved too fast, but not fast enough. I think due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we all have a weird feeling of how time works. It seems almost as if the days pass by faster than I can imagine, let alone each month. I blink and the semester is practically at a close. My life feels busy. My days are consumed with school work and nannying, as almost every week feels the same. I try to incorporate different aspects of my daily life into each day to have a feeling of change, yet also normalcy. I personally have faced academic and personal challenges. I feel as though I do not have the same energy I did when in the classroom. I felt like I have lost my passion for learning, as it almost feels more forced than it did before. To do all your work through a computer screen is not easy, let alone to do it for years on end. Personally, I have had a hard time with a lack of communication with family and friends. Some of my peers and I discussed the difficulty with just talking to people now! It just feels so strange. The sudden change to college was weird. I started off at a University and hated it. I think due to COVID, I had a hard time picking out what I needed in a school, as I also didn't know how the upcoming school year would look with the pandemic. I feel as though I have adapted, but I wish things could go back to the way they were. Nothing feels the same anymore and I feel as if my life is slipping through my fingers. Therefore, I try to embrace the time I do have, even though we are still living through the midst of a pandemic.
• 2020-03-17

  Senior Year of High School

  Back in March of 2020 when Covid first hit, I will never forget when my school was on an extended 2 week spring break because of Covid scares. At the time, I was a senior and we were getting ready for all of the end of the year fun things going on. Unfortunately, that got cut short. During this 2 week time off- it continued to get extended and eventually we got officially put online until the rest of the year. It was very sad for us seniors as we had no idea that day back in March would be our last day of high school. I cried as well did many of my friends as we did not get a proper end or proper goodbyes to our high school experience. Never did I think walking into school would I not be able to have a real graduation because of a virus. Graduation ceremony was online as they put photos of each graduate. It was all very depressing and a sad way to end the year. No one saw this coming and I as well all high school or college seniors around the world will never forget it. I cannot wait till tell my children about this in hope everything is back to normal in the way future and that they can properly graduate.
• 
  2020

  New England Student in COVID

  It seems as though every winter all of the kids in schools get a cold. Classrooms have a chorus of sniffles and coughs until springtime and we all suffer sickness together. At least, that’s how it started. My college sent an email to all students, staff, and faculty, saying the school would be monitoring the COVID-19 situation in other countries on February 10th, 2020 and there was no threat to worry about. Everyone left for spring break on March 8th, 2020, expecting to be back in a week. Instead, we got an “extra week” of the break to make sure anyone who traveled could quarantine, just in case. That week turned into a handful more and started online classes ASAP. Students were given the opportunity to go back to the college in a 3-hour window to retrieve any materials necessary for a few weeks online until the surge dies down. Fortunately, I am studying computer science, so a majority of my professors had minimal difficulty making the change, but others were not as fortunate. Quickly, the handful of weeks became the remainder of the semester. All courses would be graded on the basis of pass/fail if the students elected for each individual course they were enrolled in, due to the nature of this huge and unprecedented turnaround. All exams were online, many professors canceled their midterms to alleviate stress from the students and fears of cheating. We would receive semi-weekly updates from the college, mostly fluff pieces about missing the student body with information that was important sprinkled in. Eventually, we were permitted to sign up for a window of time to go and move our belongings out of the dorms, once the state allowed outside travelers in. In the midst of all of the chaos, I transferred colleges and started the next academic year attending one that was much larger and had more resources at its disposal to deal with COVID-19. This school had planned to welcome students back to campus in fall 2020 with a few expectations in place. They had devised a “COVID-19 Compliance” system to keep the population safe and maintain records of who was following protocol. Students would have a “green badge” assigned to them in the morning if: they had completed a daily symptom check-in that was negative, they were up-to-date on their twice-weekly COVID tests and had not been marked as a close contact to someone who had tested positive. Had one of these not been completed, you would have a yellow badge to mark non-compliance, a red badge for isolation, or an orange badge if you were symptomatic. Students must show a green badge to enter ANY campus building. Some classes were online, others hybrid in-person/online at the discretion of the professors. Masks were to be worn at all times, students must get vaccinated once they were eligible, dining areas were to-go only, the campus was littered with signs to promote 6 feet of social distancing, and a student-run campaign called “F*ck It Won’t Cut It” was started to bring attention to the urgency of staying compliant to stay on campus. We would receive weekly updates about the status of the campus’s overall positivity rate. It felt like a shell of a college experience, as students could not visit other students’ residences, no clubs could have in-person meetings, attendance at sporting events was prohibited, and students reporting other students for non-compliance created an atmosphere of disdain. We are now in the second full academic year of the pandemic and there are a few deviations from what I described for fall 2020. Now, COVID tests are once weekly rather than twice, students can now visit other residences and attend sporting events, all of the dining spaces have opened up to sit-in dining, masks are still required at all times, all classes are in person, and the “F*ck It Won’t Cut It” campaign has been retired. It seems as though we are creeping towards the idea of a “typical” college experience, but it feels like this will have an everlasting impact on the next few incoming classes of students and change college as people know it.
• 
  04/07/2021

  Abby Sobolewski Oral History, 2021/07/04

  [Curator's Note] Abby Sobolewski talks about her family, education, and work. She then answers questions about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her job as a teacher, her everyday life, and her family.
• 
  05/16/2020

  Kevin Secker Oral History, 2020/05/16

  University of Wisconsin Eu Clair student, Glenn Walborn interviewed Tyson factory security worker Kevin Secker. In this interview Secker discusses how the pandemic has impacted his life. Secker is also a student and discusses how his classes have changed to accommodate online learning. Also discussed is Seckers new job as a plant security guard for Tyson factory in New London, Wisconsin. He discusses the changes that factory workers had to adhere to and their reaction to all those changes. He also discusses his opinions on government response to the pandemic and skepticism he experienced in the factory. He briefly discusses conspiracy theories he has heard and remedies that some factory workers have been sharing. Secker finished off the interview with hopes for the future and lessons he hopes we as a society have learned.
• 
  2021-11-30

  Alicia S Trevino Oral History, 2021/11/30

  The sometimes overlooked part of this pandemic has been the experience of the educators and their side of the story. Here I sat with my mom to gather her experience and thoughts on what's been a rough year. We talked about the changes she witnessed and how it affected not just the kids but herself and the teachers around her as well.
• 
  05/21/2020

  Sue Buettgen Oral History, 2020/16/05

  University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire student Jack Nord interviews a Minneapolis-based six-grade teacher, Sue Buettgen. In this interview, Sue discusses her initial feeling when she first heard about the COVID 19 pandemic and how it changed her day-to-day routines. She discusses her transition from classroom to online teaching and all the new struggles that presented. She talks about her fears for her student’s safety and their individual home environments are affecting them. Sue dives into discussing social disparities and how the pandemic has highlighted the issue. Sue also discusses science experiments that she was trying to still make fun for her students and how her community has come together to help others. The interviewer, Jack Nord, also chimes in to briefly discuss his life as a college student. They both discuss farming and agricultural problems that have arisen. Sue finishes off by discussing how her home life has been impacted, how her family is coping and keeping safe. She discusses her hopes for the future before ending the interview.
• 
  12/11/2020

  Damir Kovacevic Oral History, 2020/11/16

  Professor Damir Kovacevic was born in Bosnia before coming to the United States. He has lived across the midwest but currently lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Damir works as an assistant professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a focus on international relations. In this interview, Damir Kovacevic discusses how the pandemic has affected his life, profession, and emotions. Damir provides insight into how the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has handled the pandemic with testing and closing the college for the remainder of the Fall 2020 semester. Damir also touches on how Eau Claire, the state of Wisconsin, the United States, and foreign countries on the international scale handled the pandemic. He discusses how teaching as a career has changed and adapted to the pandemic. He discusses topics such as the media and misinformation when it comes to healthcare and the virus, but also the general decay in trust.
• 
  2021-11-30

  Mario A Trevino Oral History, 2021/11/30

  In order to get a better understanding of the situation in schools during these trying times I felt that we needed to talk to teachers. Getting their side of the story is just as vital as talking with students because in many cases they were just as new to this virtual world as us. So I sat down with my dad who has been a teacher for 20 plus years. I wanted to get his perspective on the situation and talk with him about how teachers felt during this period of transition.
• 
  2021-11-09

  Professor Perspective on University Changes

  Dr. Sara Ronis, a theology professor at St. Mary’s University, gives us a faculty perspective on how she believes the university handled the COVID-19 pandemic. She feels that despite being in such difficult positions, the university made the decisions they knew would be best for the St. Mary’s community. As a professor, she immediately thought of her students when COVID cases began to rise and the possibility of being sent home became an even more real possibility. She admires how St. Mary’s students, new and returning, have adapted to these new learning environments.
• 
  2021-11-11

  Commuter Student Perspective on University Changes

  Chelsea Osorio is a commuter student at St. Mary’s University and among the many personally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In her interview she highlights key points about what changes she noticed around the university that were used to protect our community. From a student perspective, she explains how safe she felt at school, especially with all the guidelines that were put in place. This goes to show how St. Mary’s students, faculty, and staff were committed to ensuring not only a healthy online environment but also making sure we returned to a safe and healthy community.
• 
  2020-08-12

  From Notebooks to Ipads and Chromebooks

  Following the reopening of schools through the virtual world a number of students across the country were faced with a new problem. They lacked the technology needed to attend their online class. Schools who fell under the title 1 classification , which is where children from low-income families make up at least 40 percent of the enrollment, were disproportionately affected by this problem. These families which often consisted of more than one child simply couldn't afford multiple computers. As a result many kids were still unable to attend their classes or do any work at all. This lack of technology was a problem that not only younger kids faced. Students ranging from all ages had to adapt and make due with whatever technology they had or were forced to go out to buy another computer.So in order to help fix the problem for younger students schools began to hand out chromebooks and ipads. By providing them with the technology to access their new classroom setting they could begin attending school again. While there were still other problems such as the lack of internet, handing out chromebooks and ipads definitely had a positive impact by providing a number of students with these new school supplies.
• 
  2020-08-26

  Emily Karreman Oral History 2020/08/26

  C19OH
• 
  2020-03-14

  Oral History: Sarah Uhlig

  During this interview, I am talking with my classmate Sarah Uhlig about our experience in the program of Empower: Ecuador, since we were both on it together. The main purpose of this interview was to get an insight into what it was for another student like me, to have missed a trip to Ecuador due to COVID-19. Just to clarify, this was not any trip. This was a missionary trip for which we were preparing ourselves to go for most of the semester. As the trip was canceled, we recognized that the program was much more than just traveling to Ecuador. Rather, the program was about our personal lives and the way in which we relate to others around us that are in different seasons and circumstances in life. Another very important thing, was self-reflection into how we were utilizing our gifts and field of interest to not only serve others but be present with others. Many things were learned from this course and Sarah, will be sharing with you her experience despite the challenges and messiness that COVID-19 brought.
• 
  2020-08-11

  Ipads and Chromebooks: The New Notebooks

  Following the reopening of schools through the virtual world a number of students across the country were faced with a new problem. They lacked the technology needed to attend their online class. Schools who fell under the title 1 classification , which is where children from low-income families make up at least 40 percent of the enrollment, were disproportionately affected by this problem. These families which often consisted of more than one child simply couldn't afford multiple computers. As a result many kids were still unable to attend their classes or do any work at all. This lack of technology was a problem that not only younger kids faced. Students ranging from all ages had to adapt and make due with whatever technology they had or were forced to go out to buy another computer.So in order to help fix the problem for younger students schools began to hand out chromebooks and ipads. By providing them with the technology to access their new classroom setting they could begin attending school again. While there were still other problems such as the lack of internet, handing out chromebooks and ipads definitely had a positive impact by providing a number of students with these new school supplies.
• 
  2020-05-13

  The Little Things

  The pandemic hit and many new college students were forced to enjoy their admission celebrations from their homes through their computer screen and Zoom. Still, St. Mary's University pushed forward to make this event memorable and celebrate future incoming Rattlers to their new school. This screenshot is a still shot of the emotions and celebrations early freshmen experienced during the pandemic. Being accepted into university is no small thing, but a Zoom celebration is a small gesture of congratulations that feels very big.
• 
  2020-04-17

  “Can You Teach Art Online?”

  “Can You Teach Art Online?”, published on Art in America online, examines the questions artists-instructors are asking amidst a transfer to online learning. Different instructors who teach in various mediums are interviewed and expose difficulties of teaching art virtually as well as the positives and new innovations that have come out of necessity. I found the argument by Carissa Rodriguez, a Harvard professor in the arts, very interesting. She discussed the limitations of platforms like Zoom and how it is difficult to engage others in an artistic subject behind a screen. Rodriguez teaches a screen-based artistic medium and she explains that for her subject matter “the platform seems a notch too self-reflexive, collapsing screenings, critiques, and discussions onto the equalizing plane of her students’ monitors, the same site where they browse social media and binge-watch TV shows”. The article highlights how instructors are using lockdown to explore ways to make art and complete projects without institutional resources. Therefore, questions of shifting models in academia arise.
• 
  2021-08-17

  Last Minute Changes in Teaching

  For Fall 2021, some teachers gave the option to zoom into class for students who were not comfortable being present in person. Out of my five classes, only two had this option specifically stated. I planned to attend all classes in person but the day before class was due to start one teacher switched to remote only. Initially, I was okay with it. It was the first class of the day so maybe I wouldn't have to get up so early. Then I realized I would have to wake up early anyway. The class after the remote one was ten minutes after. I would of had to rush even if the class was on campus. Situations like these showed that things were even unexpectedly changing for teachers. While the situation may have slightly inconvenienced me, I'm sure it wasn't ideal for the teacher either.
• 
  2020-11-01

  Concrete Engineering at Home

  In 2020, the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Melbourne posted a tiny bag of cement to each second-year engineering student to create a miniature concrete column for their final assessment. In ordinary times, these students would have visited one of the city’s megaprojects to watch a concrete pour, but with construction barely operating and site visits banned, this was how the theory of the concrete mix was put into practice. There was a “slump test” to gauge the pliability of the mix and then the finished product could be assessed for its strength. My slump was good; my column, I suspect, would have failed at its base due to an overabundance of aggregate. For me, it was the highlight of a year of online study, and perhaps even more rewarding than it might have been in ordinary times. Now, I have a treasured (and very heavy) paperweight by which to remember my experience. Submitted for University of Melbourne HIST30060, Semester 2 2021.
• 
  2021-10-23

  Dancing on the Beach

  As Melbourne moved out of its second winter in lockdown, my Irish dancing classes moved from Zoom to South Melbourne Beach to take advantage of the rules allowing outdoor sport training in small groups. Having to contend with the sun, wind and rain was a new experience for a very indoor activity; so was training in full view of the fascinated public. It was a spectacular chance to post on social media in the setting sun, however. The beach was packed every weeknight with people like us enjoying their outdoor exercise, more than it had ever been before the pandemic. At the rules eased and allowed more indoor activities, people disappeared from the courts and walking paths. Eventually, we returned to indoor activities too. Submitted for University of Melbourne HIST30060, Semester 2 2021.
• 
  2020-04-04

  HIST30060: Enthusiastic Journal Entry

  This is a photograph from my first journal entry after lockdown began. It shows what I think was a fairly common welcomed feeling to the lockdown, before we knew how serious things would get. I recall being excited to have some time to focus on writing and exercise without the distractions of work. How quickly those feelings changed...
• 
  2021-10-08

  Home Study for Secondary Students

  During the lockdowns, my younger brother had to study at home, as such he asked for mum to buy him a desk that he could use to study on. He ended up using this desk for the entire 5th and 6th lockdown in Melbourne. Often times his desk was filled with sheets of paper and open books, pictured here is the desk in a far more cleanly state.
• 
  2020-09

  Details in Days

  I was in the tail end of my eighth grade year when COVID uprooted the world. This story describes my experience as a Freshman in high school through a computer screen.