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Date is exactly
2020-08-22
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2020-08-22
Yellowstone Park in 2020
It was in the late summer of 2020, and we thought that we would have the whole park to ourselves by going during the pandemic. We were wrong! It was as busy as it usually was, however people were keeping their distance from each other, and everyone was even more courteous than usual. The park required masks inside the buildings, but didn't enforce it outside. Many of the usual amenities inside the buildings were closed, and they were working with a skeleton crew. When we were waiting for Old Faithful to do its thing, many people were keeping to their own groups rather than packing in to see the geyser as they typically did before social distancing was a thing. -
2020-08-22
Finding peace during the pandemic
During the pandemic, like most people, I experienced high amounts of stress and feeling kind of hopeless. I would spend the majority of my day playing video games in my house which doesn't really seem like a bad thing to be doing, but over time I could feel myself being lost and not the same person anymore. This was because before the pandemic, I was constantly on the move and interacting with people, so when this was taken from me I was unable to resume the things that I had always done. I began school at a local university and found myself unable to make friends as I had easily done in the past, because my social skills had taken a huge fall due to the pandemic. I found myself being a really quiet person and would only talk when I was talked to, and also found that I did not have the drive to complete tasks that should have been easy to complete. The way I began to overcome this was when I joined a local dance group. They were practicing at a park following social distance regulations. I did not instantly feel comfortable because I was unsure of myself and was not very confident when I first joined. However, the group was very welcoming and friendly towards me and they gave me all of the time and space I needed at the time to begin coming out of the shell that the pandemic had formed around me. Within about a year, these members have become some of my closest friends and we hang out daily. My confidence has reached an all time high that honestly I think might have caused me to become bored whenever I know something is a waste of time but is something that I have to do. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because it is definitely an improvement from before where I would not attempt to do things because I did not feel the confidence to complete them. Had I not joined the group, I would've stayed in my shell and would not have made the friends I have today. They gave me a chance to become active again and become socially active as well. -
2020-08-22
HIST30060: Lockdown Knitting
(HIST30060) Like the people that learnt to bake sourdough, completed dozens of puzzles or took up running; I decided that learning to knit would serve to occupy the time between work and study that didn't involve Netflix. This represents how I benefitted in part from Melbourne's lengthy lockdowns, as opposed to people who may have struggled with added responsibilities like guiding children through schooling on zoom or working in healthcare on the frontlines of the pandemic. Knitting also acted as something I could mark my time with; this picture was taken on my birthday when I decided to make my first jumper. Instead of remembering this time as purely disheartening, with the news of a re instating of lockdown in late August 2020, I also remember it as an exciting period where I really honed in on my new craft. -
2020-08-22
The Difficulties of a College Student During a Pandemic
During the start of the school semester of spring 2020, talks of a very contagious illness stated to spread. Most students on campus believed COVID-19 to be a threat nut one month later, all colleges across the world shut down. While moving out, my friend's dad said we would be back that same semester. I believed him until infection rates increased across the United States. States started to shut down including the one I lived in. Restrictions, isolation, and guidelines were enforced to ensure public safety. Instead, thousands of people went into depression including me. Not being able to leave my house during the pandemic was difficult. Not only was I hundreds of miles away from my friends at school, but I couldn't see my friends at home too. My experience with online class didn't make interacting with people any easier. Most of my classes didn't require the camera to be on, while the other class didn't even meet online. This was very difficult for me because I was used to being around friends everyday. I started to become depressed as I spent 2 months without interacting with anyone but my family and my teacher. Fortunately, restrictions eased up as the spring semester came to a close. I was able to get a job at a donation center for the summer. I still wasn't allowed to see my friends which made for a disappointing summer but working helped the time go by. When it was time to go back to college, I was relieved. My college was fortunate enough to have students on campus for the fall 2020 semester. I was overly excited to see any friends after months. I counted down the days until we moved in. But I knew the semester would be different. When arriving on campus, I learned that several rules and regulations were implemented to "keep the community safe." Some of these included no visiting anyones dorm room, scheduling when to eat, certain doors were entrances while others were exits, no guests from off campus, must wear a green bracelet at all times, must get randomly tested, etc. I made sure to read the rules and regulations but unfortunately, my roommates didn't. The very first night on campus, my roommates decided to have friends over. I told my roommates that it wasn't allowed but it did not matter. The guests stayed until there was banging at the door. The Resident Assistant working that night wrote us up, and we had to meet with the Dean. While meeting with the Dean, I explained how it was not my fault and I was against having guests over, but I was charged with a $200 fine. Completely upset, I change all my classes to online classes and moved back home. I did not trust my roommates enough to stay. The last thing I wanted was several fines that weren't my fault. When I got home, I was really depressed. I was the only one home out of all my friends and I was back to remote learning. I couldn't see anyone while home and I felt betrayed by my roommates. I felt like my life was crumbling as another semester of my college experience was being wasted. This caused me to have a mental breakdown, and lose all motivation to do work. Four months passed by slowly and I escaped the semester with mediocre grades and a crippling mind. Fortunately, my parents noticed I was not in the best shape of mind. They had me see a therapist and find new activities to do during the pandemic. This got me back on my feet and my friends from home started returning from school. The gap between semesters when well and I was joyful again. However, it was time to decide if I wanted to return to campus for the 2021 Spring Semester. I was torn because some of my friends were staying home that semester and I still did not trust my roommates. I thought rationally and contacted them to see our their semester went. To my surprise, they received 4 fines and one of them had to quarantine. This gave me reassurance that I made the right choice on leaving campus during the fall semester. Currently I am taking the 2021 Spring Semester all remotely and I am happy. I am seeing friends and have synchronous classes. I am confident that I will keep seeing my friends at home and keep a good mindset throughout the semester. I wish for everyone to stay strong during the pandemic and seek help if you're depressed. -
2020-08-22
Facebook obituary
My husband's aunt died from COVID. She had complications with a previous lung condition, and went to the hospital, but ultimately didn't survive. His uncle held a virtual mass to commemorte her life, held by the Santa Ana church. His uncle is absolutely gutted, and tested postivie for COVID as well. Luckily, he survived, but it pains him to survive without his beloved by his side. Peru, loss, grief, mass, death, virtual, obituary -
2020-08-22
‘We don't turn anyone away’: As virus forces some nonprofits to cut hours and services, refugee aid group works overtime
by Jessica Myers for the Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
2020-08-22
“We are car”
This is a photo I took when my friends and I (a total of 3 of us) came together for the first time in 5 months. We had masks on and went to Mcdonalds on skateboards. Because of covid, mcdonalds only had a curbside pickup or drive thru. We decided to do curbside pickup so we didn’t get in the way of cars. We ordered online, stood in a parking spot and pretended to be a car. Hence our saying “we are car”. This photo shows how teens now persevere through these tough times while following corona regulations. -
2020-08-22
Jewish Melbourne: "Happy Birthday Opa"
This article appeared in The Weekend Australian Magazine, marking the 99th birthday of Max Arnott, a Dunera Boy, which happened in May, under Melbourne's lockdown. Max's granddaughter, Zoe Arnott, took a photo of three of her children outside Max's gate, celebrating his birthday. -
2020-08-22
Don't Release Inmates, We Need Them to Fight Wildfires
In an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19 incarceration facilities across the nation have released a small number of people earlier than they would have been otherwise. This has created a unique situation in California, a state that relies on prison labor to combat wildfires every year. As the writer of this Tweet calls out, much of the general public and the nation's politicians believe "if you do the crime, you do the time" and feel this extends to using inmates for fighting fires. -
2020-08-22
Social Distance
2. A simple sticker has now become such an important concept in my current life. At first, I remember seeing them and thinking that this measure was a little extreme and really not needed. Now, my whole mindset has changed. At stores, I am now that person that dislikes if you’re too close to me. It makes me feel like I’m covered with germs if we have to squeeze by each other in an aisle. If I’m paying for something and you’ve already started unloading your items in your cart to pay and moving near me, it makes me feel very disrespected. Something so small such as personal space is now a thing that I think about every day. While at times it helps me to feel safe, it also impacts my personal life too. Things like random hugs, hanging out with friends, playing soccer, or just being able to touch another human being. Socially distancing represented by this small sticker has taken over how I live my life. -
2020-08-22
Lactar y ponte mascarilla
It’s really interesting to me that this recent public health promotion is advocating for nursing and responding to your baby’s changes. The parents are wearing face masks, so it’s clearly tying into the Coronavirus pandemic and larger public health concerns. From the Instragram account of the Ministerio de Salud del Perú. -
2020-08-22
The meadow people: lessons from homeschooling day 1
Do I have what it takes to homeschool my kid? I never thought I would consider homeschooling, though I find myself in this unusual position. I am working from home, teaching online, and the current online curriculum isn’t working for my daughter. So after talking to one of the ASU JOTPY interns (Chris Twing) who also homeschools her kid I had the chance to look at 3 different homeschool programs she sent me. In the end, I liked the curriculum from Blossom and Root. It seems to encourage creativity and individual expression, and I love that. The math will require a supplemental program, but if she wants to go back to the bilingual school she’ll have to pass a math exam in Spanish anyway. So, either way I’ve got to come up with a Spanish math plan. This picture shows one of the activities from the literature lesson. We read two stories from The Meadow People, the “Selfish Caterpillar,” and the “Lazy Snail.” She had to make characters out of clay and retell the stories in her own words. It was honestly a lot of fun, and much better engagement. I love working, but this is helping me see a way to support by child and connect with her through education. -
2020-08-22
COVID 19 and its impact on a small town in Hawaii
The COVID 19 pandemic is devastating to even to a small community like my own. People continue to live in fear of the virus and it is only worsening for my own small community. This picture helps to show one of the positives of this devastating disease which is being able to get closer to my family members. During isolation I ended up spending a lot of time with my grandparents and we were actually able to get closer. I feel this says a lot about the pandemic. It shows that times are tough to people and this disease has got everyone concerned. During these harsh times it is now more important than ever before to have a good support system. The support from families and friends I feel is what kept me going and a lot of my other colleagues felt the same way. Through COVID 19 then I was able to get closer to my own family and I think this one positive despite these difficult times helps to make my time during this pandemic a little more manageable. I think both this picture and story helps to document both the effects of COVID 19 on a small town and one way that people have adjusted to the new environment. -
2020-08-22
Stephanie Berry Internship Portfolio
Before starting this internship, I had little to no knowledge of working behind the scenes in public history. My focus is on public history, but I am still learning the ins and outs. I learned many valuable lessons on not only public history but also working with the public in an academic field. For me, some of the most useful parts of the internship were the oral histories and the ethics of the archives. I learned about the importance of transcripts and how much work goes into recording oral history. When it comes to ethics, I am still learning, but I am grateful to have experienced how JOTPY protects people's privacy and sensitive information. I am now aware of when and how to redact sensitive information and the best practices for redacting in an archival setting. I am more aware of the best file types to use when preserving digital items. I am eager to learn more about the digital side of public history from Omeka to apps. I chose to preserve the impact of the pandemic on the food industry, food habits, and body image because of my tie to the industry, my interest in food history and fat studies. It has been a difficult topic to work on, but the experience I gained working on the Foodways collection has been priceless. In hindsight, I wish I had chosen a more relatable collection because I often felt like I was alone in left field. Other interns were able to share and exchange items, that did not happen with my collection as much as others. Besides a couple of interns, I did not get the chance to network with others. Food is a relatable subject, but the industry is not. I found areas that I need to develop, including my networking skills and being confident in what I bring to the academic table. I gained a lot of confidence in my abilities through this internship, and I am grateful for the areas; it helped me see where I have room to grow. As a student with learning disabilities from a non-academic background, I was the fish out of the water, but so many of my skills did translate. The internship also gave me the push I needed to leave my comfort zone and view myself outside of the industry I've been working in for decades. If I could keep working on this archive, I would in a heartbeat, I am grateful for all that I have learned this summer. -
2020-08-22
New Opportunity
This story tells you how thanks to the pandemic, the opportunity of a summer class has benefited me in many ways and has opened up a clearer first year. -
2020-08-22
Incarcerated firefighters give 3 million hours
This Tweet expresses dissatisfaction with incarcerated firefighters who give so many hours and save the state of California millions of dollars every year, but none of that savings is put into supporting them with re entering society. -
2020-08-22
Conspiracy Folk Art
These photos have been selected from material uploaded to the subreddit /r/InfowarriorRides and depict various bumper stickers, graffiti and 'folk art' applied to vehicles and captured in snapshots by various users of the subreddits. These are highly ephemeral sources that capture a fascinating and important aspect of the public response to COVID-19, demonstrating a wide breadth of artistic expression ranging from urging people to take common sense precautions to expositions of elaborate conspiracy theories. -
2020-08-22
Shanna Gagnon Internship Portfolio
I first heard about the A Journal of the Plague Year: An Archive of COVID-19 (JOTPY) internship opportunity through Arizona State University's History Master's Student's Facebook page. I decided to pursue my M.A. in history degree for a variety of reasons: I love learning, I love history, and I hoped to gain exposure to potential career opportunities. I chose to attend ASU because it was clear to me that the faculty prioritize community. When I saw Dr. Kole's Facebook post, I was instantly captivated. It was precisely the type of experience I was looking for without even knowing it. And it was an opportunity to work in real-time with ASU faculty and with other M.A. students, which created additional avenues to build community. I contacted my faculty advisor and decided to drop my upcoming courses to open up my schedule for this once in a lifetime experience. Before JOTPY, I had very little knowledge of public history. As a high school educator, I have always believed in the importance and power of public history. Outside of teaching, however, I had no experience working in public history. My experience with JOTPY taught me that public history requires professionals to simultaneously use high-level critical thinking skills (i.e., how can we fill silences within the archive) and pay attention to details and minutiae (i.e., make sure that curator’s folksonomy terms are lowercase). One's ability to think "big picture" while not losing sight of the building blocks is crucial to the success of projects such as JOTPY. I have developed the ability to easily transition my thinking depending on the type of archival work that I am engaged in. Additionally, I have developed my ability to write in various modalities (i.e., blog posts, collection plans, press releases). I have fine-tuned working remotely, sharpened my problem-solving skills through innovative thinking, and learned a variety of new software – from Omeka to Slack to otter.ai. I have also developed an understanding of ethics and best practices in public history. Although I am not sure in what capacity, I would like to continue to work within the field of public history. As expected, the JOTPY internship was indeed a once in a lifetime experience. It felt good to do something for the very first time again. I felt challenged by the different types of writing we were asked to produce. Having never written a collection plan, a press release, or a blog post, each of those assignments pushed me outside of my comfort zone. As a result, I learned that I indeed do still love learning new things. Perhaps the most fulfilling aspect of this experience for me was working within my internship cohort. Our team's ability to directly communicate with each other, to offer constructive feedback, to step in to help others when needed, and to adapt to ever-constant changes characteristic of working in a rapid response live archive, was simply incredible. I also really enjoyed engaging with ASU faculty. Dr. Kole was an incredible leader whose guidance and support truly brought out the best in every single intern. She cultivated our strengths and presented opportunities for us to further develop our interests and passions while supporting the overall mission and work of JOTPY. I am not sure where I am headed next. However, I do know that by leaning into unique opportunities is something that I enjoy. I plan to continue to look for various ways to further develop myself academically, professionally, and personally. I developed the San Francisco Bay Area Collection as a way to ensure the diversity of the region was captured within the archive. One of the Collection's strengths is its ability to intersect with other major collections within JOTPY. While I do not have an official role within JOPTY, I plan to further develop the San Francisco Bay Area Collection through the curriculum I develop for my own students. -
2020-08-22
Transferring in Trying Times
The story and personal photograph illustrate my experience as a transfer student during COVID-19. This includes the locations of colleges to which I applied and what factors ultimately led to my decision. -
2020-08-22
The Shift Due to COVID
Before news of the coronavirus broke, there was no idea of social distancing. Everyone would lay on top of each other and connect. But, with COVID, there was a dramatic shift and people quickly became scared of each other. I think this video is important because it can offer hope for people that one day we might be able to sit next to each other and talk without any fear.