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Mediator is exactly
Pandemic Pets
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2020-03-20
Fresh Air, But For Only So Long
During the pandemic, specifically between March and June, there wasn't much for me to do with work. I would help my Dad with his now unfamiliar school work. I did play games and watched the entirety of Parks and Recreation, but couldn't stave off the boredom. I needed to do something. So, I would go on walks. Sometimes I would go by myself and sometimes I would take my dog Carolina. She loves taking walks and it was something new for her with every walk. I lived in a rural part of town and the air was fresh. The smell of flowers drifting in the air, while also smelling cow manure as well. All I could hear was the sound of the birds, neighbor dogs and the farm animals. Carolina would stare at those dogs or animals, but never approach them. It was wonderful to breathe in the warm air. Cars were a rare sight and sound when I would walk along the asphalt with no issues. It was so quiet. It was nice to have the road to ourselves. Prior to COVID, people would be driving along our road frequently and we could hear them even from the end of our driveway. There seemed to be less garbage in the ditches too. Sometimes, I would see whole families walking along the road, probably wanting to inhale that fresh air that I was enjoying. Mid to late summer though, the air became thick with smoke. The fires around Washington, especially from nearby Selah, were suffocating and my walks stopped. There was even a fire on the ridge behind our house and I was worried that we would have to evacuate. The sky was muggy and the area was too warm, thankfully, since we all started wearing masks, we could cope with the fires. Mostly, I was disappointed that the fresh air I breathed towards the beginning of summer was gone. The picture I chose to share was a picture I took of the fire that started on the ridge behind our house. It's not the best quality, but that smoke was what closed out the summer. There was a lot to deal with this summer; COVID and fires mostly, but somehow, we made it. *Photograph, this is something that I took myself. -
2020-10-11
In the Pandemic Journey
I am an international student from Colombia. I was in the middle of my fourth semester as a sophomore in college when I heard that the pandemic hitting the world just entered the U.S. I was excited at the time because my girlfriend and I bought tickets to go to New York City during spring break. I thought we were going until I heard that New York City was a hot spot for COVID-19. We did not want to risk anything, especially if we were going to encounter a virus that was completely unknown to us, so we cancelled the trip, but the airline still gave us the tickets to fly anytime between then and the end of 2022. After that, spring break came, and it was announced that the university was closed after spring break and we would have to go completely online. I live with my girlfriend since I first came to the U.S., so I stayed with her at her home that is two hours from the university we are enrolled in. We finished the rest of the semester there at her home. We then stayed for another month there and while we were in complete isolation we took advantage of that to go running together to be healthy, we did not let ourselves get bored, we were always doing something, we would do zoom video calls with our friends, watch movies, play video games, etc. After that we came back to Stevens Point to work on campus for the summer (with the required restrictions) so we could make some money to pay for our tuition. Though this is considered by many one of the worst years they’ve lived in, I had the most fun summer since I first came to the U.S – me, my girlfriend, and our friends had a blast; we hung out almost every day, we went to isolated beaches and went on boat rides, we had bonfires, we partied amongst ourselves, we went hiking, we went biking, we played soccer, etc. When the summer was over, we went back to classes and I got also got interested in learning new languages, so I downloaded the app called Duolingo to learn Portuguese and practice some other languages. Since Spanish and Portuguese are so similar, I am quickly picking up the language. I started my junior year in college, and I could not be happier with the classes I picked. My girlfriend and I thought that since we have classes online and more time at home, it would be the perfect time to get a dog, so we adopted a Doxiepoo, the combination of a Dachshund and a miniature poodle. She is 4 months and we have had a lot of time to train her and we couldn’t be happier with her. Everyone has their ways of coping, and with this ongoing journey through a global pandemic, I have learned that my way of coping is not only adjusting to the situation but also taking advantage of the variety of opportunities that arrive and make the best out of it. This pandemic has taught me in a way that just because we are adjusting, we should not stop living in the moment and while I understand that for some people this pandemic might be harder, it is up to us to either make it a living hell or make it one of the most memorable experiences of our life. -
2020-09-18
The Ruth Bader Ginsburg Catio
I work at Brooklyn College, but since we have been working remotely, I have been staying in Maine. I have two cats, and perhaps foolishly, I was letting them go out into the great outdoors every day. It wasn't very long before they began hunting and killing little animals-fighting with other cats-even disappearing over night one time. I was getting very stressed out worrying about the cats-this also seemed a ridiculous concern to me in the middle of a terrible time when it has been a struggle to deal with bad news every day; people losing their work, their art, their friends and relatives. Some inspiring news as well, like the #blacklivesmatter #BLM protests, but always the good was in reaction to some atrocity. It seemed as if there was constantly some piece of toxic news as well as some dead animal from the cats every day. I'm not sure how I stood it so long; the whole summer, really. Finally, I woke up on the morning of September 18 to read that Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died. I thought, there is absolutely nothing now to stop all of our civil rights from being curtailed, the environment from being ravaged, the election from being stolen; so many things that the world has had really for a very short time may well soon be taken away, all because RBG has passed before an election could wrest control from the vicious party in power. When I read the headline I think I screamed out, Oh, no! and started crying. I cried all day long; I had to leave my husband by himself and go for a long walk in the woods alone. I came home completely drained, but calm. The next day, when I let the cats out, they both returned in about 10 minutes, each with a dead animal clamped in their jaws. I thought, I've had enough. I made the decision in that moment not to let my cats out anymore. Since they are now indoor-outdoor cats, that has been very difficult. Yowling, door-dashing, vomiting, even peeing on things: they have done everything they could to make me change my mind. To make it possible for them to enjoy the outdoors, but without killing squirrels, chipmunks, voles, moles, snakes, baby gophers, field mice, and even the occasional bird, also to keep myself from going wild with grief and fear after RBG's death, I took a bunch of scrap lumber from the shed, bought netting and staples, and I built the "Catio" (an outdoor enclosure for cats). While I worked on it, I couldn't hear the miaows of woe from inside the house, and by the time it was finished my heart had poured out some of the bitterness that it holds, for the fact that a new, right wing, anti-liberal supreme court justice can be voted on at any moment. It's just a matter of how soon. I am no carpenter, so my hands were full of splinters and I was bone-weary when I was done. The cats went into their catio with excitement, and tested every corner of it to see if they could escape. I followed them with my stapler and my zip ties, tightening it up. They are not completely satisfied with the catio, but it is a whole lot better than nothing. I've started to supplement by taking them for walks on leashes in the front yard, and who knows, when the next really toxic news cycle comes around, I may well build a bigger, better catio. I want to be a responsible pet owner, and protect the environment-maybe I can't control the terrible big things that go wrong, but I can do just a little bit that I can in my own way. -
2020-09-28
Dealing with Covid-19 and School
Last semester (spring 2020) was only my second semester in college and as I was already struggling to get a grasp on my school work and manage a social life outside of school and my part time job I had found myself back at home in my childhood bedroom having to teach myself the material. I am now a sophomore at Florida Gulf Coast University. This semester I have only one class in person and we just meet to complete the labs therefore I am basically teaching myself five college level courses. I also have a part time job at PetSmart and as they are pretty flexible since I am in school it is still hard to fully manage my free time to the best of my abilities without wasting any of the time I do have outside of work. I, like probably many others have found the past few months some of the most challenging yet evolving times of my life. Despite the challenges I've encountered over the last 6 months I was very thrilled to be back at home with my parents and my cat that I was very upset to leave to begin with. But, I shouldn’t have been home that long. Us, the students of America, need to be in classrooms learning hands on, we need that time out of the house to prospere, we need those social interactions with teachers and peers. We should not be forced to take classes via a computer. This is America we should have the right to decide whether we want to return to our lives normally, as we should and be in the classroom learning with our teachers in front of us. As we are now in week seven of the fall semester for students in higher level education across America there have been numerous instances of universities closing due to Covid-19 outbreaks and some not even opening back up to give the students a chance. My university has opened with the majority of the classes still being online which has been challenging. Most of the resources they provide to us have either been moved to online formatting or just simply closed which is unfair. Why should we the students who want to succeed in our lives ahead of us be stuck behind computer screens teaching ourselves the material for our coursework? America should be able to handle this pandemic a lot better than it has been to get our students back in the classrooms. -
2020-09-20
Radika Barot Oral History, 2020/09/20
It is the experience the average high school senior had during the Corona Virus Pandemic recorded on voice memo by interviewer. -
2020-06-12
Fur Friend to the Rescue
2020 has not been the best year... for anyone probably. Wildfires, pandemic, riots, protests, poor economy, all things that bring stress to people. People handle and deal with stress in different ways; some turn to their pets. Your pet doesn't know anything about what's going on with the world, they just know you are their human and they love you. They are always willing and excited to give you a cuddle and be near you. Every day you come home, they are super excited to see you, and sometimes, that can make a terrible day so much better. This is a photo of Maya the Papaya, aka Jellybean! She is my moms dog and is the super cuddly-est dog and is always so. super. excited. to be near you! -
2020-09-15
Constant interruptions
Developmental milestones always throw off the routine. I deleted the “Wonder Years App,” so I couldn’t look up what is happening at about 30 months that makes it unlikely a child will nap, and very likely that they will cry and cling to you over the seemingly smallest of issues. It has been weeks of no naps or naps only in the car. This means that I don’t get my normal break in the day, when the 2yo naps for 2 hours and I can let the 6yo have her media time. This was our routine; this was when I got to knock out work in peace without interruptions. That precious window has been gone for weeks. Until today, finally for the first time in what feels like for freaking ever, Julian napped in a bed at home. Did I have to lie next to him to make it happen? Yes, was I anxious that it was too good to be true and he’d wake back up any second? Also yes. The 6yo, unaware that anything was different walked in the room and started chatting. I waved her away, and she ran off, presumably delighted that her media time was a go. The dog, ever aware that food was on the stove and that her dinner should occur in about 1.5 hours pushed open the door and trotted in. She’s stuck now. No one goes in or out until this nap concludes naturally. Maybe I shouldn’t be this worked up about a nap, but the extra layer of pressure has felt much more present ever since the school year started. There are more meetings to attend, and they all seem to last more than an hour. Emails can stress me out easily if they’re filled with questions. And the 6yo needs about 2-3 hours of support in the morning with distance learning and homework. Which is fine, that’s my job, I’m supposed to help her, but it also means that an important chunk of my workday is interrupted. And it’s hard to recover or snapback from constant interruptions. I feel like it's not possible to get it all done, and then I think...not getting it doesn't feel like a choice I can make. It all feels like it's my responsibility. -
2020-05-05
Quarantine ferrets
For the longest time, I had been wanting ferrets. I had talked about them all the time, not only at home to my mom but also to my friends at school as well. My mom finally gave in and we had planned to drive out to a place for me to adopt two ferrets. But when COVID struck, my mom pushed it off and said we'd have to wait. Eventually, I found someone selling their ferret on craigslist. He was the cutest thing and I named him Bean. I loved him more than anything and would spend all my free time either playing with him or napping with him. I knew I needed to get him a friend since they are very social animals. So I did just that about a month and a half later my dad and I went to get Bean a friend. We got a little shy fella, and I named him Turtle, soon enough he opened up and was very playful and frisky. They kept me busy during quarantine and made my life a whole lot more fun. But then three months after I got Bean I noticed his energy decreasing. He wasn’t playing that much and was sleeping more than normal. He seemed very weak and even when he seemed like he wanted to play he couldn’t. I was very worried about him and knew something was wrong. We took him to the vet and found out he had leukemia. This was heartbreaking because I assumed we had years together. But he was getting weaker by the hour as his bone marrow stopped creating red blood cells. This was the most heartbreaking day of my life as my first real pet, my first baby, was dying. Turtle and I went to say goodbye. And even though everything seemed to be going downhill, when one door closed another one opened. The vet said he had a ferret that he didn’t have time for and who he was looking to re-home. Even though another ferret could never take the place of Bean but I knew Turtle would need a friend as a few days later I could already tell he was getting lonely and with school approaching I wouldn’t have as much time to be his playmate. A week after Bean was put down we took in the ferret, I renamed him Astro. These ferrets have done much more than keep me busy during quarantine, they have kept me sane. Bean: March 27th-June 27th, 2020 Turtle: May 5th, 2020 Astro: July 2nd, 2020 -
2020-09-02
Proper way to wear a mask
Humor has become so important to our everyday lives. If the mainstream media were to be believed, it would be all doom and gloom. Sometimes, a laugh is just what the doctor ordered. Wearing a mask as one goes about their daily routine is a new concept for many, especially children, who might not really understand the reasons why and might be afraid. This particular photo of a German Shepherd demonstrating the proper way to wear a mask is both funny and helps make wearing a mask seem not so scary for children. -
2020-04-20
New Dog
In late March in the height of quarantine my mom saw a breed of dog that she really liked, a mix of an English sheepdog and a poodle. So, 5 weeks later, we headed into the heart of Appalachia to retrieve our puppy, Annie. Now, while this is a generic story of a family getting a dog, the only reason we went ahead with this was because everyone in the family had significantly more free time on our hands, as a direct result of the pandemic. Her arrival caused a shift in everyones daily schedules, and shows an impact of the virus. This is important to me because it is my new dog. -
2020-05-10
Watching Netflix Together but Apart
In the months before social distancing due to COVID-19 started in California, my friend and I had been watching our way together through the series Call the Midwife on Netflix. She'd usually come over to my apartment once or twice a week and we'd watch a couple of episodes together. Once COVID-19 became an issue, this was no longer an option, but we still wanted to continue watching Call the Midwife together. Fortunately, we discovered that we could use Netflix Party to watch the show simultaneously on our laptops in our separate homes. Netflix Party also provided a chat box so that we could easily maintain a conversation about the show as we watched. So now, when we want to watch Call the Midwife, I get on my Netflix account, create a link through Netflix Party, text my friend the link, and there we go! As much as I miss being able to watch with my friend in the room with me, it's nice to be able to watch from wherever I want. Like from my bed with my cat rolling around! -
2020-03-19
Fighting Creative Blocks During Quarentine
Of course the pandemic hit everyone's motivation and zest for daily life pretty hard, but as an artist whose social circles are mainly comprised of other artists, I noticed an especially hard hit to the creative output of my peers. I've heard before that suffering and despair is supposed to bring out the best artists have to offer, but in reality the inverse is often true- Van Gogh painted the Starry Night while he was getting specialized care in a mental health facility, after all. It's hard to find your spark when it feels like the world is caving in on all sides, but I was determined to find a way to keep myself from falling into a months long creative drought I knew I'd find myself in if I didn't do something about it. I didn't have the energy or desire to touch full sized pieces, but I reasoned with myself that I could stand to go smaller scale to save on both energy and time without sacrificing the feeling of accomplishment that comes with a finished piece, and so the day before every non-essential business in town shut down, I ran to my local Michael's and picked up the cheapest acrylic paints I could find and 3 packs of six 2 inch square canvases. I tried to think of a subject that could easily be captured on such a small surface, but was also sure to spark joy in myself and perhaps others if i chose to share them, and landed on the topic of pets, since they were easily one of the biggest comforts for myself and everyone else I knew during our prolonged stints sitting at home. It was a good move, I think- looking at an an image of an animal for long periods of time never hurts your mood, and sharing photos of the finished paintings with my friends who own the animals pictured brought a boost of serotonin to both parties involved. More than one person suggested I start an etsy page and sell them, but I think I'm content to just let them be a quarantine hobby and act of kindness during a deeply depressing time. -
2020-06-10
Pets and their effect during the pandemic
During the pandemic, to help deal with the new stresses my family decided to adopt a cat from a family friend. This animal actually helped to relieve some of the newfound issues that quarantine has brought on (fear, loneliness, etc.) . I feel this photograph is important because it shows a valuable tool that can help people to better make it through quarantine. It also helps to showcase the struggle I am going through in quarantine and what has helped to keep me going. -
2020-06-10
What Did I Do?
I BOUGHT ANOTHER KITTEN! I don't know why but I wanted a third little kitty and now I have a hamster and 3 kitties. Clea, Pebbles, Ivan and Bananas are there names. Next on the list is a Pit Bull. I also moved to a townhome in symmes township and played lots of golf. -
2020-07-19
Many Odd Firsts
My family is just in its beginning stages and with the onset of the covid-19 pandemic some of our firsts have been made a bit strange to experience. Whether it was my daughter's first haircut, her first ride in a go-cart, or getting our first doggy Lucille, we have had to make accommodations in order to protect ourselves and the people around us. In some of these instances it has been extremely difficult because we have no clue how someone is doing any longer. Gauging how someone is feeling in the midst of their first time trying something isn't very easy any longer, especially if it is extremely loud. Getting a veterinarian appointment isn't the easiest thing to do just as waiting for salons to reopen wasn't either. These experiences where you crave seeing the happiness on your loved one's face or faces has been robbed from some of us due to this pandemic. -
2020-04-26
Covid pet
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_nwTGJJ1FA/ -
0020-08-23
Five Months At Home
When COVID-19 began, I was in San Francisco with my roommates. The stay at home order seemed to come so suddenly; our families told us domestic travel may be shut down and encouraged us to fly home. So, I packed up a single suitcase and flew home to Colorado the next day, not really expecting that I would be home for the next five months. It was a relief to see my family, but it was strange spending so much time at home after being in college in another state for the better part of two years. What happened the week before I went back to San Francisco seemed to be a sign that it was good that I had been able to be home with my family for a while. In Colorado, I live with my parents, younger brother, and yellow lab Sundance. We got Sundance when I was 8 years old, and he has been my best friend for the past 12 years. He has had epilepsy and arthritis from a young age, so I always knew there was a chance he would find his way to doggie heaven while I was away at college. Because of this, every time I went back to SF after visiting home, I'd have a small talk with Sundance, telling him to hang on until the next time I saw him. I had this talk with him a few days before I planned to start my road trip back to San Francisco. I told him I was leaving, and that I knew he could hang on until I got back. The next day, Sundance couldn't get up. We brought him to the vet, who told us he had bone cancer in his elbow, causing him too much pain to want to put any weight on it. Sundance was 12 and a half at this point, so an amputation would do more harm than good. Since he couldn't do anything on his own - go to the bathroom, get up to eat or drink, or get up to greet us, we decided it was his time to go to doggie heaven. My mom said he knew I was leaving, and he wanted his "whole pack" to be there when he had to move on. It's always too soon to say goodbye to your best friend, but I think that this was true. After all, he did wait until I was back home again to say goodbye. Quarantine has been hard, but it gave me time with my family and my dog that I will forever cherish. -
2020-08-23
A Diabetic's Quarantine
Quarantine was incredibly tough for all of us. I am a Type 1 diabetic so I was limited to what I could do with friends and family. School and other activities did keep me busy as I was stuck at my home. My family and I decided to create a shrine to our family dog, who passed away last year. With the help of a family friend,. we were able to create this shrine. -
2020-06-17
Sophie
This image is of a shadow box in memoriam to my cat Sophie. Her health started declining in the beginning of the pandemic. My family had to call multiple vets just to get an appointment due to short staffing and were not allowed in the room with her in order to tell the vet things. When she had to be put down the news was told to us over the phone and we had to say our final goodbyes on a porch in front of other people. To me, this image represents my loss in the time of coronavirus. -
2020-07
Finding Beauty in a COVID World: Dog Lake Hike, Salt Lake City, UT
In mid-July we decided to travel to Salt Lake City to visit family. Downtown SLC was pretty shut down due to the pandemic so we chose to find some outdoor activities that we could participate in while still remaining safe. These two images are from a beautiful hike we did called “Dog Lake,” a dog friendly hike with a lake (shown in picture 2) for the dogs to go cool off in before heading back down the mountain. -
2020-08-06
Forceful COVID-19
COVID-19 impacted my everyday life for the past 7 months. It has deprived me of socialization, a steady income, and the ability to feel “free”. It forced me back to New Jersey for a few months with my parents in order to save money. Adopting a cat was almost forced onto me, since its’ owner was unable to take care of her since COVID-19 had also effected the owner in negative ways. COVID-19 also made me realize what’s important to myself, who I choose to associate myself with, and how important being self motivated is. -
March 31, 2020
COVID Share Your Story #RITtigers #21, Accounting Major's Point of view
It has been very difficult. I just finished moving into a new housing assignment after dealing with a demon roommate, then less than a week later RIT made us all leave. Two times in a week I had to move all my things by myself. My family lives in Los Angeles and all my friends were home so I had no one to help me. I've been fighting with both the California and New York DMVs to get my car registered for the last year, so my car is unregistered and I couldn't go anywhere. Luckily my aunt rented me a car so I could drive to St. Louis to stay with my grandfather. My mom didn't want me to drive to LA by myself, even though I've driven from LA to Rochester twice, but with my mom. My cat Poppy and I drove the 12 hours from Rochester to St. Louis in two days. I don't really like St. Louis or LA, I'd so much rather just be in Rochester, mostly because I've never been able to get a job there and I have a job on campus. In terms of classes being all online, I think it will be helpful for me. None of my professors are doing synchronized zoom meetings so I don't have to get up for class anymore. This is good because I didn't go to class all the time anyway. I can do the coursework more on my own terms now. I'm retaking a class I failed last semester and I think I'll pass this time not only because the class is exactly the same, but because the tests are open book and aren't under a time limit because they're online. If I could give a message to myself at the start of this semester, what would I say? Be ready for challenges and approach them creatively. Adapt to the situations at hand. -
07/27/2020
Jason Zackowski Oral History, 2020/07/27
Jason Zackowski describes what science education has been like during a global pandemic both in schools and on the internet. He discusses the transition to online learning in schools as he is head of the science department and a teacher at a high school in Red Deer, Alberta. He also shares his concerns for the planned return to school. Jason runs a science podcast as well as a popular twitter account for his dog "Bunsen Berner" which he uses to share scientific facts, research, and methods in a fun way. As such he discusses the "blowback" by members of the public on social media to scientists when it shares information regarding the virus and pandemic. -
0020-04-19
During the Covid-19 quarantine I was living alone with my dog and cat in a 3 bedroom town house after losing two of my roommates to a financial crisis.
during the stay at home order i could not take my dog on our daily walks in the beach. She has a huge personality so she got mad at me and would poop on my carpet in my dressing room. The bissell green machine is important to me because it helped me save a-lot of money of a real carpet cleaner and it helped keep my house sanitary when thats all I had to stay. -
2020-04-12
Me, My Water, and my Dying Cat
My cat was the only routine I actually was able to keep during quarantine and COVID precautions. Every morning when I woke up, he would state his presence with a loud meow and proceed to cuddle with me for the forseeable future. Every night, he would curl up at the end of my bed and lull himself to sleep with his own purring. He was the only consistency I had while isolated from the rest of the world. -
03/23/2020
Anne McKim Oral History, 2020/03/23
In response to COVID-19, the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science launched the mini-series, "Cultural Insights: Interviews in the Creative Sector," to highlight colleagues and professionals working in the same or similar field of museum professionals. -
2020-08-03
Mar
It finally gave me the time to get a fur baby. With all the time at home due to the pandemic, I knew I had the time to train and give him the attention needed. It wasnt easy even with all the time at home but we got throught it. -
08/01/2020
Carrie Brown Oral History, 2020/08/01
Carrie Brown is currently a flight nurse employed with Mercy One- North Iowa in Mason City, Iowa. Carrie has worked a Mercy One- North Iowa since getting her degree in nursing (then called Mercy Medical Center- North Iowa) and has worked as a flight nurse since 2012. Carrie’s day to day life is currently outside the normal as she is living with her husband, Don, and their dog in a camper for the summer while they build a new house. In this interview, Carrie reflects on her interactions with friends and family and how her routines at her job have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Carrie offers a unique insight as to the current state of the pandemic by providing firsthand knowledge and perspective as a medical care provider. Carrie also addresses her personal stance on the pandemic as seen through the eyes of a medical professional and through conversations with other medical professionals. -
07/25/2020
Anonymous Child Oral History, 2020/07/25
Shanna Gagnon interviews an anonymous 8 year old girl about the COVID-19 pandemic. She explains her initial reaction to learning about COVID-19. Anonymous describes how the pandemic has impacted her daily life. She discusses how her family and friends are responding to COVID-19. She talks of the things that are important to and worrying people right now. Anonymous details the most difficult parts of the pandemic for her. She shares how COVID-19 is impacting local businesses and schools. She also discusses how she thinks life will be different moving forward and includes her thoughts on vacations and milestone celebrations, such as Halloween and birthdays. -
2020-04-17
Point Counterpoint Editorial from Cat and Dog Regarding Humans Staying Home All the Time
Along with the humans, the pets are affected by us hanging out at home 24/7. Here is a humorous take on how a cat and a dog feel about us around all the time. -
07/24/2020
Stephanie Kelley Oral History, 2020/07/24
Stephanie Kelley, a seventh-grade science teacher from Carlsbad, California, discusses her school district’s decision to terminate in-person instruction, the implementation of distance learning strategies, and the future of K-12 education in the United States. As a nationwide debate over the effectiveness of distance learning ensues, Stephanie believes that technological platforms can be a powerful tool when utilized correctly. Stephanie shares how community building in the classroom at the beginning of the year helped establish higher levels of student trust and participation during virtual instruction. Beyond the classroom, Stephanie discusses her hobbies during the COVID-19 pandemic, including television, reading, and accompanying her husband to local dog parks. Looking ahead, Stephanie believes that schools in her region are not ready to fully reopen, citing a persistently high number of positive cases. Stephanie shares that public health officials should be listened to when deciding whether schools should close due to a pandemic. She also expresses extreme disappointment at the level of political interference in children’s education. -
2020
Funny Videos Made During Quarantine
This is just a few of the many thousands of humorous videos people made during quarantine. They show animals playing Tic Tak Toe, a woman exploding Coke into her face, a bulldog hating garbage cans, a small dog taking flight with helium balloons. It's encouraging that people have retained their sense of humor during a most difficult time. -
04/13/2020
Laura Spindler Lempke Oral History, 2020/04/13
Oral history interview with Laura Spindler who lives and works in Indianapolis, Indiana. She shares she just got married, bought a house, and a puppy. She works as a biologist at Eli Lilly and while she hasn't worked on the virus, she has assembled test kits. As an extrovert she is really missing time with family and friends but between walks with her new puppy and time spent playing games via Zoom she is managing. She also credits virtual therapy appointments with maintaining her mental health. She also discusses her mother who is alone and her grandparents who were wintering in Texas but drove back to Indiana anyway. -
04/15/2020
Alma Madrid Oral History, 2020/04/15
Liza Black interviews Alma Madrid, an American citizen in lockdown in Valencia, Spain. During the interview, we learn Alma is an English teacher whose visa is soon expiring, and will soon need to move back to the United States. Alma’s wedding plans and future educational goals have been ruined by COVID-19. Alma shares her experience with the difference in reactions between the United States and Spain. -
05/13/2020
Sam Hauke Oral History, 2020/05/13
Sam Hauke, a high school senior, initially learned about covid 19 from online memes and jokes, then saw it come to the US and started to take it more seriously. Sam then talks about online school experience and how there is almost no live interaction with the teachers and that they just watch videos and this isn’t the best way to learn. Sam stays connected with friends via online games and zoom meetups. He also describes the challenge of having to seek another job as his usual summer jobs were pool related and the pools are all closed. Sam describes that a positive of the pandemic for him has been that it has brought his family closer and that other people have been spending more time in nature. Sam then talks about how he gets most of his information about covid from one of his friends and from advertisements and commercials on social media. Lastly, Sam describes how he feels he took for granted hanging out with friends and will spend lots of time with them when the pandemic is over. -
2020-03-13
While in Quarantine, Send the Dog for Groceries
We were stuck at home in quarantine during COVID-19. So this humorous video where the dog goes out to get supplies instead of the people who are safe at home! Then there was a follow up video of a large dog staring into the glass door captioned: when your dog gets home and see you sharing the supplies he bought without him. -
05/27/2020
Kinza Hagerup Oral History, 2020/05/27
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07/11/2020
Morgan Keena Oral History, 2020/07/11
Morgan Keena, a seventh-grade social studies teacher from Meridian, Idaho, reflects on her personal experience with the COVID-19 pandemic. Addressing several topics, ranging from politics to parking lots, Morgan discusses distance learning, life in quarantine, and the response of the local officials. Suddenly bound to the confines of her apartment, Morgan vividly describes the difficulties associated with teaching students virtually and provides insight into at-home entertainment, including running, puzzles, and video conferencing with friends and family. Morgan examines the response of government officials in both Idaho and her home state of North Dakota, including Mayor Robert E. Simison, Mayor Lauren McLean, Governor Brad Little, and Governor Doug Burgum. Morgan also reflects on the experience of finding out her sister tested negative for COVID-19 after possible exposure at a bar in Scottsdale, Arizona. Looking ahead, Morgan expresses concern about members of the public not wearing masks and the prolonged process of developing a vaccine. -
2020-04-17
Life In Isolation: The Coronavirus... Liz Belilovskaya Campese
A virtual exhibition by the Evansville Museum of Art, History and Science -
5/20/2020
Katherine Schneider Oral History, 2020/05/20
The interviewee is an older blind person who discusses their experience with the pandemic lockdown in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They discuss some of the challenges with living with blindness and continuing to work online and the non-inclusivity of other disabilities in teleworking and regular life during the pandemic. Additionally, they describe the challenges of being blind and trying to maintain social distance from people when you cannot see them. They also talk about how a good aspect of the pandemic is the sense of community and neighbors helping neighbors by checking in on people. Lastly, they talk about how they feel that people with disabilities are an afterthought during disasters and one way to remedy this is to have people from the disabled community on planning teams to help identify issues such as access to information and emergency planning. -
2020-05-12
Olive and Mabel Have a Company Meeting. Olive and Mable are Labradors
During the Coronavirus period, people worked from their homes. Meetings were held via video chat which had its own set of problems--things such as getting the software to work, positioning the camera, looking presentable, keeping the kids and the pets under control, etc. Remote school had the same problems with the additional challenge of keeping the kids involved and learning. This is a funny look at those meetings. Youtube user MrAndrewCotter holds a business meeting with his two dogs, Mable and Olive. -
2020-06-14
Dogs in Quarantine
Although its mostly been humans that are being affected by the quarantine and coronavirus, our pets are also feeling the struggle. Parks both human and dog alike have been closed to enforce social distancing guidelines, leading to some sad dogs. Here's hoping that as summer starts a little bit more time outside is in store for everyone. -
2020-05-09
Window
I am including this selection of two photos of my bedroom window, as this has been the dominant view and my sole saving grace throughout lockdown. The photo on the left was taken in my first week of lockdown on the twenty third of March, which was the first week that I began to stay at home as I am asthmatic and was very concerned about my own health making me more vulnerable. The second photo was taken on the first of June, and marks ten weeks since my own ‘lockdown’ began, I have somewhat lost track of the various stages of lightening of restrictions as I was still mostly avoiding going out up until the point when the second photo was taken. In many ways my asthma and anxiety made this experience pretty traumatising, I stopped walking my dog because I people kept patting her and I had too much anxiety about the conflict of constantly asking people not too, and I was worried about the contact risk to myself from people touching my dog. After the rate of community transmission stabilised, I felt safer going out to places, but then I found the secondary anxiety of people behaving in rude and hostile ways towards me in public due to my obvious coughing or wheezing from asthma after I had an obvious asthma attack in Officeworks. My isolation has thus been pretty intense and long lasting compared to some others and combined with anxiety has induced an intense sensation of feeling trapped in my bedroom. The access to sunlight and fresh air through this window, as well as my beautiful view has been a literal visual lifeline, I found myself taking lots of photos of the window and my view. In many ways I feel like this has made me far more attentive than I have ever had the opportunity to be to the changes between night and day, and the slow seasonal change into winter. -
2020-06-05
How your furry friends (pets) at home help
My dog stays with me everyday and it is important that I feel my dog's feelings more than ever -
2020-04-06
Life with my cat
Because of the virus, I have more time to play with my cat, Tofu. -
2020-04-24
PANDEMIC, The empty spring leading to the river
These photos were taken by my friend in New York. She usually used to work out in the gym. However, all the gyms had been closed because of the Covid-19. She had to carefully find a route for walking to avoid people. She hardly did so since she didn't like the crowded street but now it is hard to see people on the street. These photos record an empty spring in New York. We can see a cat looking outside the window which is rarely seen in usual because cats are afraid of the crowd. -
2020-02-02
A Shiba Inu With Facial Mask
During the beginning of the pandemic, the Chinese government appealed people to wear facial masks everywhere. I put a facial mask on my dog for fun. -
2020-05-14
Please! Wear Da Mask
A image of the instagram famous dog Bert the Pomeranian, looking forlorn and holding a sign which reads, in mock childish writing to make it appear that he is the one that wrote it, "Please! Wear Da Mask." This image has been frequently shared on other people's Instagram stories as a plea for wider-spread use of masks. It taps into the influence of social media stars and popular accounts, such as those dedicated to dogs to promote healthy habits during the pandemic. By having a dog say it the message is softened for those who find it confrontational while still getting its point across. -
2020-05-18
Very good boys are joining the fight against coronavirus
A screenshot of a instagram post sent to me by a former roommate showing a pug wearing protective equipment so it can work as a therapy dog with reduced risk of spreading the virus. -
2020-05-12
Letter to the Neighbourhood Puppy Tweet
A tweet from the WeRateDogs account which features pictures of dogs and gives them a rating, usually above 10/10. The tweet shows a golden retriever puppy, named Arthur, and a letter the dog's owner received from a young neighbour which reads "Hello neighbor,/ My Name is Troy/ I'm in 4th grade and I'm just wondering if maybe after this virus you need a dog sitter and if so I can Take your dog on walks and more"