Items

• 2020-12-04

  Remote Education

  It has been a few months now since I 1st started Online Learning. How it would work is all the students would enter a ZOOM Room online with a provided URL. (ZOOM does not mean anything in particular, other than it being a company name) We had the ability to mute our mics so others in the room would not be able to hear us, we could turn off our cameras to not be able to be seen, and other small things which barely anyone used. Every day that I would need to enter a ZOOM Room for educational purposes, I would create a routine. I wake up 7:00 AM PST (Pacific South Time), relax and make sure any and all work that needs to be done is complete, eat breakfast, change (if needed), and went onto my computer to enter the room at the given time. Whenever I had a break, I would relax and take a snack if I felt hungry and waited for the next given time. This worked wonders, and felt super relaxing for a Monday. Although Virtual learning through ZOOM is far more relaxing and free, you can't learn as well, since there are most likely more distractions around you, you can't ask questions nearly a easily, and being in the classroom zones you into the lesson more.
• 
  2020-12-29

  Happy Birthday to Me

  For my 25th birthday I found myself sitting in the passenger seat of my girlfriend's car. As we entered hour two of waiting in line at the Orlando Convention Center for free COVID-19 testing, I kept myself busy playing Animal Crossing on my Nintendo Switch. A week earlier I had thought I was getting a cold. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary since coronavirus had already passed through my house and I made it out safe. Then, on Christmas day, I took a bit of pizza and realized there was just nothingness. I could feel the sensation of what I knew the taste was supposed to be, but there was only texture. I didn’t immediately panic, thinking it was probably due to the congestion of my cold. It wasn’t until my girlfriend mentioned that loss of taste is definitely a COVID-19 symptom that the realization dawned on me. The soonest I could get tested was on my birthday, which also happened to be the day I noticed my sense of smell had completely disappeared. Even though I still had two fully functioning eyes, I felt like I was operating completely blind. It never occurred to me how much the taste and the smell of food was so essential to my enjoyment of eating. It was a humbling experience, and I’m incredibly grateful that the loss of senses was my only real symptom. I tried to use my tasteless time wisely and eat all the undesirable food that has long since been shoved to the back of the pantry. Though, I would be lying if I didn’t say the day I got my tasting back, I ordered all my favorite foods for contactless delivery. It was my little 2021 belated new years celebration.
• 
  2020-05-28

  Trail Runs

  A close-knit family can mean a lot of noise, a lot of home cooking, and a lot of downright work. Care in a large family doesn’t understand the word pandemic or isolation; it only understands that you’re there or you’re not. COVID meant to my family the opposite of what it meant to everyone else on the planet, we would need to be physically closer to help care for those who need it. Instead of focusing on the smells and noises caring for others, I choose to remember the feel of damp earth under my feet and the smell of new ferns in the forest. I remember the whisper of water in the creek signaling the halfway point on Thursdays or the smell of the rainwater pond at the end of Tuesday. I can laugh at the smell of a wet dog; who got into both and had to be bathed twice a week for the entire summer. We took turns going for morning runs or hikes so that one person would always be home with my grandparents. My grandfather was needing more and more supervision daily that my grandmother couldn’t handle on her own. Ironically enough without COVID, we wouldn’t have been able to do the things we did. Now, instead of remembering the smell of hand sanitizer; I remember the clean air in my lungs and the smell of the trail on those morning runs in northern Arizona. I have downloaded a sound effect from https://www.freesoundslibrary.com/mountain-river-sounds/ that reminds me of one of the places I went to get away from the chaos of COVID.
• 
  2021-05

  Smelly Hands Are Clean Hands

  I welcomed my first child into the world at the very beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in the United States, leaving my fiancé and me isolated at home with a newborn. After three months, we desperately needed a night away from our precious bundle of joy. The only restaurant open was a sketchy looking German beer garden blasting accordion music, but we were just thrilled to be spending some adult time together while our son was with my mother for the evening. Upon walking into the restaurant, I readily pumped some off-brand hand sanitizer into my hand, and nudged my fiancé to do the same. I rubbed my hands together as we were seated, and breathed a sigh of relief that we were free from the colicky cries of our beloved child for the night. Suddenly my nostrils filled with the stench of bottom shelf tequila. The hand sanitizer wasn’t simply off-brand, it had been homemade by the restaurant. It was as if whomever had concocted the sanitizer was convinced that the best way to ward off the COVID-19 virus (and the fear attributed to it), was to completely bombard the olfactory system with the smell of alcohol. My fiancé remarked that because the sanitizer smelled so horribly, it must be killing all of the germs; unknowingly, he became a perfect example of how individuals have come to associate certain scents, like alcohol, with the illusion of cleanliness. Thinking back on that experience, I find myself pondering just how effective their homemade hand sanitizer really was. Or, more than likely, was it a last ditch effort (forced into action by society’s panic buying of cleansers), to provide their customers a sense of security through unconscious sensory associations.
• 2021-01-11

  COVID is all part of a plan

  COVID was not a mistake or an accident. It didn’t just come here like other viruses did it was on purpose. The far left, Germany, Italy, and other countries used this virus to shut down people, shut down opinions and anyone who thought otherwise. Their main goal was to get President Trump and company out of the White House. They rigged the election, rigged the senate races and put in a fony President Joe Biden. Joe Biden isn’t the problem it is his Vice President Kamala Harris, she will bring socialism into this free country. You see, mail in ballot votes are safer cause of COVID, we can’t voice opinions cause of COVID, we can’t live cause of COVID. It’s all fit into a plan to turn this country into China, the left have used COVID to get rid all that we have loved about this country.
• 
  2020-10-31

  Halloween At Home

  Halloween is usually a month long celebration at our house. We plan our costumes months in advance. We go to Disneyland at least a dozen times to enjoy the special Halloween treats, decorations, and to wear the insane amount of Disney Halloween shirts we own. On Halloween night, we serve at our church running game booths for the community and come home just in time to trick or treat (and usually get A LOT of candy because we’re some of the last trick or treaters). This year, of course, every single thing listed above was cancelled. With so many disappointments this year, we committed to making Halloween a celebration from morning until night. Making our own backyard carnival, the kids bobbed for apples, carved pumpkins and played Halloween soccer (okay, it was just soccer but we were in costumes!) My daughter was over the moon to have us all dress as Hogwarts students, except for her little brother who dressed as her owl. Lunch included ghost shaped chips, jack-o-lantern quesadillas, grape “eye balls,” and guacamole in a jack-o-lantern pepper. To make dinner extra special, we brought out the fondue set we registered for when we got married over 15 years ago and never opened. The kids loved a dinner of dipping into cheese and chocolate. The one thing my son repeated all of October was he wanted to “trick or treat to all the doors in the house.” Undaunted, we turned off most of the lights, put a bowl of candy inside every door in the house, and put either an adult or a dressed up stuffed animal (there’s only three adults here and way more doors) at each door. The kids were genuinely excited to trick or treat and actually knocked at every single door, and gleefully filled their bags with candy. It’s easy to focus on all that has been lost this year, but this simple, stress free, at home Halloween may have ended up their favorite one ever.
• 2020-01-09

  THE19 (Metaphor)

  Imagine a hurricane approaches your beachfront community, a beautiful place of both cottages and mansions on heavenly stretching strands of sand and coconut trees. The storm started far out in the ocean as a tropical storm, an abstraction a week or more away. Then it developed into a category 2 as it approached the continent and crossed Cuba, still days away but becoming a concern. Before long, forecasts by experts confidently showed exactly where landfall would occur, the strength of the winds, the height of the surge, the flooding that would accompany it, the millions it would impact, the estimates of the extent of damage and disruption (and death tolls) predictable. You do the right thing and with your family and neighbors evacuate and move inland and find safe shelter. It’s inconvenient and uncomfortable at times, sharing and aiding your fellow refugees. They don’t have the brand of cereal and chocolate milk your kids like. They run out of Coke. But pitching in until it’s safe to go home seems the best and only course. And soon you’re glad you did because by the time the hurricane makes landfall the news come in that it is a Cat 5, indeed, “the second most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the United States.” Imagine as you watch the pummeling rain and listen to the ominous wind and wait, you already know this story: “In 1969, Hurricane Camille claimed 259 victims along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Most were guilty of only being on the wrong place at the wrong time, unlike twenty who perished while attending a beachfront “hurricane party” beer bash and barbecue. Despite evacuation warnings delivered by vehement emergency teams [experts], their festivities continued unabated. The partygoers definitely declared that the concrete foundations and the second floor location of their party provided plenty of protection from the impending hurricane. Their confidence proved to be tragically misplaced when a twenty-four-foot wave slammed into the apartment, destroying the building and subjecting the partiers to gale-force winds and violent ocean surges. Most of these hurricane worshippers were killed. A few survivors were swept miles away, ….” (The Darwin Awards, 1999) Imagine you know there are old folks in your very own town who chose to stay. Folks who just couldn’t imagine leaving the idyllic homes in their idyllic locations where they have lived in for decades, and who have weathered previous storms and thinking this one too “isn’t that bad,” or thinking. “Unless it has my name on it, it won’t get me.” You pray for them. But you also know some who stayed defiantly, the young and strong, and the middle-aged but “free” who resented being told by anyone what to do--especially by “experts.” And some of those protestors (an alarming number of whom you know) raised the bar, rebelled blithely, partying practically on the beach, posting selfies and videos on Facebook as the storm intensifies--to prove it was safe. As final proof, a video is posted of an engorging wave, a wave as large as any building you could hide in, a dark seething mountain of water. The video records shrill, exhilarating, victorious whoops of glee of the partiers it approaches. Then nothing. Now imagine, immediately you are asked by experts to stay in your shelter a little while longer, not forever, but much longer than you had ever expected to stay. Why? you ask. We’ve been so good. We did everything we were asked. We deserve to go home. We’ve run out of Lucky Charms and Quick and Coke. Despite your pleas and imploring, the experts are firm. Because, they say, a second hurricane is already coming, practically on top of the first. It’s not a Cat 5, yet, but…. This is unimaginable. This wasn’t forecast before. But, it’s here now, the experts nod somberly. Enough is enough. Enough is enough. Enough is enough, you hear yourself say, but…. Finally, imagine, dozens and dozens of your neighbors, even members of your own family, saying, I can’t take it anymore. This is not my life. I haven’t had a beer or a Buffalo Wings in days. You watch them, so impatient and tired of waiting and angry for the fun they miss. You watch them rush back to the beach. W. K. Sheldrake (Wayne) is the author of Instant Karma: The Heart and Soul of a Ski Bum, #1 on Outside Magazine Online’s list of “6 Adventure Books We’d Read Again and Again,” and Foreword Magazine’s ‘Gold Medal’ Adventure Book of the Year (2007). He is recording his pandemic experience of Pandemic Disability in a memoir The19: Confessions of a Mad (American) COVIDodger. He lives in Southern Colorado with his “high risk” wife where there is plenty of wide open space. They do not currently have a dog.
• 2021-01-07

  A COVID Christmas

  Every year, all of my relatives that live in Europe fly to California and celebrate Christmas with us. We make our traditional lamb on Christmas morning along with our favorite Armenian food. I look forward to Christmas every year but this year was different. The airports were all shut down and they weren't letting people who don't live in the U.S fly in. Because of this, all of my relatives stayed in Europe for this Christmas and we missed them greatly. I woke up my family at 8:00 am dragging them out of bed. Still wanting to include our grandparents we called them on Christmas morning once we were all up and opened presents over facetime. We told them how much we missed them and could not wait to see them again. We still enjoyed our Christmas this year, but there were just some things that we needed to fix to have a safe COVID free Christmas.
• 
  2020-11-04

  The Harry Styles Cardigan

  I'm an artist. That has been my path since I was five years old. It was in 2016 that I narrowed down that path to film. It's been my concentration ever since. I now attend Columbia College University where I study screenwriting. However, the pandemic has allowed me more free time than I have been allowed since I was twelve years old. Due to this, I knew I had to pick up a hobby. It could be anything as long as it made the time pass a bit faster. I tried doing a few different things from learning a new language to reading one of the books that have been collecting dust on my shelf for a year. However, the one hobby that stuck was crochet. I started out with small, easy projects such as sample squares. I then decided to take on something I had been wanting to make for months. The "Harry Styles Cardigan," otherwise known as the JW Anderson cardigan that rock star Harry Styles wore once. I knew it would be hard work, but I was ready for a challenge. The cardigan took me months to make. I started it the last week of August 2020, and I finished it the first week of November 2020. I was so proud of myself and still am. The end product is far from perfect, but I am now hooked on crochet. I can truly say that I love making my own clothing and making things for my loved ones. The craft has brought me so much joy during such a dark time in our world.
• 2020-09-29

  The Struggles of Living During a Pandemic

  This journal entry was written as a part of the American Studies class at California High School in San Ramon, California. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I have faced a series of challenges. The biggest challenge I have faced is my emotions and accepting myself. Being stuck at home has raised my anxiety levels, and question my self-worth. I feel like when I was outside, around my friends, I was much more confident and free- but being isolated really damages you mentally and emotionally. A challenge that my family has faced is that they usually love going outside doing exercise, and they always take us out for runs. However, now that my sisters and I are extremely occupied with school, we can only manage to go together around once or twice a week. A major challenge for society is adapting to remote learning. It has been a very difficult process for myself and other students as well. Staring at a big computer screen for 7 hours is extremely draining, and I find myself falling asleep during the middle of the day, and I even fell asleep during my AP Biology lecture, and I am not the one to fall asleep during school. I also crashed to sleep yesterday immediately after school ended because I was so worn out and exhausted from school. It’s a lot, and I really hope a vaccine for the virus comes our way soon, because I don’t know how I’m going to be able to handle online school for the rest of the school year.
• 2020-09-22

  COVID-19 benefits

  This journal entry was written as a part of the American Studies class at California High School in San Ramon, California. Before this pandemic, I feel that I was constantly on the go and blind to many things. It was always go to school , do this, do that, and so on. Since quarantine, I have had lots of down time and have gotten the time to reflect on me as a person. It's been very refreshing slowing down my once hectic everyday life. Due to us being on lock down, I was able to open my eyes to a lot of things. I realized I was putting my energy places where it was unnecessary and trying with people where there was no try back. I had to figure out what relashinships really mattered to me and stop trying with those who show me no attention. Yes this pandemic is crazy but it has been very beneficial to me. I have grown as a person and bettered my mental state.
• 
  2020-12-16

  The Pandemic and Pens

  I’d like to start by expressing that when I started this paper I’d come to the early conclusion that I didn’t have an object that “helped my ride the covid crisis”. I had adopted the similar sleeping patterns of a hibernated bear and didn’t have a shiny, new hobby to show off. My thoughts mirrored the resemblance of a pinball game, half-baked ideas ricocheted back and forth in what, at the time, felt like a seemingly small head. My problem was that I didn’t truly realize the significance of this object until I was forced to introspect. With consideration, an object I’d choose to represent the duality of my life pre and post COVID would be a pen, not the type rich ladies would drape their fingers around and daintily dip into a rich, black ink in order to create the most beautiful calligraphy strokes. Just an ordinary, utilitarian pen. I guess before Corona this is exactly how I pictured it. There was nothing remotely special about a pen at the time, just a necessity for in-person schooling. The motion of grabbing my pen in the morning became just as routine as brushing my teeth; it had been a part of my routine since elementary school. In March, the static sound of the intercom interrupted derivative practice and emerged from the speakers telling students to grab their belongings from their lockers. At the time it seemed COVID would be the cause of an extended Spring Break. Thinking little of it, I tossed my pen to the bottom of my bag and blended in with the crowd of students rushing to the parking lot as if it’d just been announced everyone would be competing in a Nascar race and had to depart immediately. The thing about time is it continues regardless of circumstances. Eventually classes continued on Zoom and technology was incorporated in nearly every part of my day. Admittedly my new routine proceeded as follows: 1) Wake up and check my phone 2) Online classes 3) Homework completed online 4) Use my phone or computer on and off until bed 5) Repeat This was the most disengaged I had felt from both school and friends in years. I felt like I’d been placed on a conveyor belt and was just moving along without actually doing anything. My eyes transferred lazily between the Zoom computer screen and my phone. If my screen time was represented by a bar graph it probably would’ve looked like it pranced into a New York City elevator and rode it to the top without stops. Initially I was glad homework was switched to being strictly online. My keyboard acted as a catalyst as I completed my assignments much quicker than I would have with a pen and paper. After a couple weeks of this, the honeymoon phase had passed and reality loomed in like storm clouds. I became more aware of the growing disconnect between what used to be seemingly normal activities. Desperately trying to clutch onto life pre-Corona I picked a pen back up. Quarantine, so kindly, gave me mass amounts of time to spend alone. At first this juxtaposition was overwhelming as it seemed all the institutions I had once known collapsed around me. It was noticeably easier to fall victim to this pessimistic mindset, but instead I nervously started trying to process my thoughts on paper and journaling. The stay at home order had quite literally put up a barrier between the outside world and my friends. Journaling was the healthiest pastime I took up. It allowed me to work through internal barricades on my own time. I’d compare journaling to knitting - at first it’s just ideas (or yarn) trying to organize themselves in order to create the final product. Originally with either hobby it is both frustrating and confusing to begin, but with practice it becomes relaxing and the motions proceed with little need for thought. For the first time since pre-quarantine I felt clarity with my thoughts; the storm clouds were clearing out. If anything this was the most comfortable I had been with myself because there was no one else to compare myself to- just my pen, paper, and myself. I grew up with a negative connotation around therapy, so this was incredibly healthy for myself and allowed for tremendous personal growth. It also helped me break the technological constraints and dependency I was feeling. With this same pen, I also started drawing. Looking back, drawing has helped me tremendously become less critical of myself. I use to try to mimic other people’s art styles and would feel deflated when they encompass the same artistry. I finally learned how to doodle as a meditative purpose instead of it needing to be something I’m great at. Instead of allotting all my free time to technology, I used pens. The colors danced around each other on the page while my wrist controlled the motion. Even before the pandemic, I was aware of the social media crisis in our society, but lockdown reemphasized this concern of mine. This was a way for me to unplug. When I contrast pens and computers, I think of the theme of originality. Nearly everyone’s work on the computer follows the same monotonous MLA, Times New Roman font, double spaced papers, whereas everyone writes differently or has a different pen preference. There is more room for creativity and uniqueness to shine through. Overall, pens paved the way for me to take a step back and reprioritized. I came out of quarantine feeling more comfortable with myself and carried my writing hobby along with me from California to Washington. I’ve been staying in touch with loved ones through handwritten letters, something I certainly would not have done prior to quarantine and would have opted for a text instead. There’s something special about using a pen. Writing is so universal yet individual at the same time. Everyone writes uniquely and handwriting reveals personality traits. It’s something I’ve realized is special. The picture on the left is my mom and brother with their pens of choice, and the picture on the left is my holiday card my mom sent me in college; in a way pens unite our family.
• 
  2020-11-19

  Hyperfixations through the past 9 months

  I am submitting this object because a very common symptom of neurodiversity is hyperfixation, and with the increased amount of time spent in the house, many people, including my dad are more free to spend hours upon hours doing the tasks stimulating tasks. An aspect of hyperfixation is the way it can “turn on” and “off” at seemingly random times, so for my dad, over the past 9 months, he began writing a novel, which he has 80 thousand words in, but is as yet unfinished, he then moved on to creating card and board games, complete with art and promotional material. Throughout quarantine, he has fixated and his health, and took up running. His most recent fixation is music, writing lyrics and music on a modular synthesizer. This object could be helpful in providing an example of how people with ADHD kept themselves stimulated through quarantine, as well as how their minds often flit from one project to the next, depending on how interesting or rewarding it seems at the time. It was also important to me to contribute this item because much of the time ADHD is only focused on children, so adding this object to the collection works to give representation to the many adults with ADHD who are working as well as trying to adjust to life during the pandemic. Sean Bateman (Provided screenshots and pictures) and Megan Bateman (made collage)
• 2020-12-13

  Online Learning during Covid

  In March of 2020, My school Oaks christian was shut down and moved to online because of Covid-19. At first I was extremely excited for this and thought it would be just an easy two weeks of doing online work. It was very nice and a good break to have for the time being and I did really enjoy it, I was so relaxed by it and took off a lot of stress. After 2 months that changed fast. It went from all fun and easy then to more work than I have ever done, I was extremely overwhelmed and had to do so many things and I hated it. Lucky summer break came along and I was finally stress free, That was until the school year of 2020 came up and now I am more stressed than ever. I am a eighth grader that's getting assigned high school level work at a much higher than average work load, I do hope this gets better but this is truly hard to get through.
• 
  2020-12-14

  The Great Downtime

  The reason the object is the bed, because, during this epidemic we have had a lot of free time or in other words down time. During this down time i have been laying in bed a lot, or on my couch or in a chair. The reason this bed is important to me, is because, i like to look on the bright side of Corona. We got a break off of Sports, and school. Sometimes that's what we need.
• 
  2020

  Mind Control: Managing Your Mental Health During COVID-19

  The University of Toronto has developed a free course entitled Mind Control: Managing Your Mental Health During COVID-19, in order to equip Canadians with tools to manage our mental health, before it manages you. The course is designed to teach students about anxiety as it presents itself throughout our daily life, from the consumption of news, to the way it is discussed with our children. Understanding how our brains react to crises, students would be more prepared to manage their own mental health.
• 
  10/19/2020

  Coronavirus: The place in North America with no cases

  Covid-19 cases are rising in many parts of Canada, but one region - Nunavut, a northern territory - is a rare place in North America that can say it's free of coronavirus in its communities.
• 
  2020-10-10

  Finding time for new hobbies during COVID-19

  With the enforced lockdown this past March, Canadians had extra time on their hands and tried new hobbies such as painting, drawing, and ceramics. Even in the fall, citizens are still exploring new interests in their free time that they can either do at home or in a socially distanced manner.
• 
  12/08/2020

  Gordie Croce Oral History, 2020/12/07

  Gordie and I sat down almost three months ago to discuss the onset of Covid-19 and our introduction to college with the pandemic. Now, we look at we have learned throughout our courses about previous pandemics and relate it back to the one we are still dealing with today.
• 
  2020-12-01

  Interview with a Cat

  During the pandemic, I have been home much more than I ever thought I would. It has given me a lot of free time, that I don't know what to do with, but my cats could not be happier to have their people around more. It has allowed us to gain a better understanding of each other and the things that they help me with emotionally during this time. My cats, Waffles and Hugh, are very special to me. I adopted Waffles from a humane society three years ago, and Hugh from the side of the road 2 years ago. They have been very helpful to me as emotional support animals through a lot of my college career, and they are both very sweet boys. During the pandemic, they have each gotten a little closer to my heart because their personalities have really started to shine through because I am able to be home and watch and interact with them more. Waffles is a 14lb grey and white longhair, and Hugh is a 10lb black and white short hair. Hugh is rambunctious. Waffles is not. It has been heartwarming to watch how they each take care of each other, and piss each other off a bit (as brothers and all family do) and it has made me realize how important my cats are to me. When I have bad days, they are so much more responsive to me. They come cuddle and bug me so that I get out of bed and start doing things, rather than lay there and wallow as we so often want to do. It really makes me wonder what is going on in their heads. My cats have been my saviors through this whole thing, they have been a constant that doesn't change. They have been sources of comfort and entertainment, and I could not imagine getting through this without them.
• 
  12/03/2020

  Aidan McNaughton Oral History, 2020/12/03

  Washington county in Oregon has established several COVID-19 quarantine centers in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus among the community. A number of local motels have been converted to such facilities. Aidan is an EMT at one such motel, and agreed to be interviewed about his experience.
• 
  2020-11-30

  Protest Amid the Pandemic

  Protests are happening in Punjab, India amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Punjab government 3.330 farmers had committed suicide, from 2000-2019. Due to the high debt, 536 farmers took their lives in just 2019 alone. Will privatization of the farmer market increase or decrease the debt? The new farm bill which was passed on September 27 is stressing a lot of people, they are confused and are protesting. Earlier, the government bought directly from the farmers. The new bill makes the farmer market a free market making entry for private companies. Privatization is good for the development of the country, but what about the small farmers? They are worried, stressed and not aware about what’s going on. They need a Minimum Selling Price (MSP), which is already given to them by the government so why the protests?
• 
  2020-10-01

  Art Without Talent

  I was never an artsy person nor was I someone who terribly hated arts either. When the pandemic hit, like any normal person, I stayed at home and was submitted to finding ways to entertain myself when nothing else could. I actually bought some markers on a whim thinking they were on sale. However, when I realized they were not, I wanted to return them. Until, I tried them and immediately loved them. I couldn’t draw well with them, but I loved the doodles I would just scribble out when I was bored. The vibrant colors were wonderful to my eyes and felt so free. They became a way for me to simply enjoy mundane life in the midst of this global pandemic.
• 2020-03-11

  My COVID Pandemic Experience

  I have experienced a rollercoaster of emotions and many new situations during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Washington State, there were many people cases of COVID reported before mid-March. For weeks, there was a buzz around my high school about the possibility of us doing online school. As a senior in high school, I was excited to have an extra week of spring break because the senior-itis was starting to kick in. On March 11, 2020, my school announced that we were going to be sent home and get an extra week or two of spring break. Even though they said it was just going to be an extra-long spring break, we brought all of our school work and supplies home in case we were online for a longer time. In the beginning, I remember my friends and I talked about how we would hang out every day and do online school together. We had many ideas of how we would spend the time together by going to coffee shops, and we even considered figuring out a way to all be together in Hawaii. Little did we know that this pandemic was going to be a much larger problem than we had expected. About a week or two into quarantine, we stopped believing that COVID would only affect the elderly, and we learned more about how we could spread the virus. Naturally, my family went into lockdown mode, and we did not see anyone else except for our "germ circle" for months. When Washington went into lockdown, my senior-year activities got canceled. Unlike other high schools, we did not have a traditional homecoming ceremony or football game because we were an all-girls high school. Because we did not have a big homecoming celebration, all of our senior-year traditions were towards the end of the year. The weekend we went into lockdown, we were supposed to have our senior-skip day. I was also supposed to help host a retreat for my school that weekend after preparing for it for months. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lot of hope that by May, we would have our Senior Class Day assembly, prom, and graduation. As cases, deaths, and hospitalizations grew, these events ended up being virtual. While it was not enjoyable to be missing these events I had been looking forward to, I still managed to find ways to make the most of quarantine. I went to school every day from eight in the morning to two in the afternoon. It was nice having school online because I could do most of my work in class or between classes, so then I could have my afternoons free to talk to my friends or hang out with my family and my dogs. My family got to spend cherished time together during quarantine before I went to college. My family went on a lot of hikes and bathed our dogs a lot. It was easy to stay in touch with my close friends over FaceTime. We spent a lot of time on Netflix Party, and we Face Timed almost every lunch period. We spent many days learning TikTok dances, baking bread, muffins, and pizza, and trying to get our old Nintendo DS to work. As quarantine went on, it became more evident that I would probably not be going abroad for my first semester of college. I was going to go to Dublin, Ireland, but in June, I switched to going to London. Unfortunately, these locations closed, so I ended up going to Boston. I am very grateful that my university opened a program in Boston, so I did not have to do my first semester of college from home. Throughout the summer, I worked on picking classes, trying to meet people online, and packing up my things for college. The idea of going to college gave me something to be excited about, and I was more confident about the chances of my university remaining open. My university put many systems in place, such as getting tested every three days, not allowing indoor dining at first, and having more places to study for social distancing. Besides getting ready for college, during the summer, I spent more time with my friends as restrictions started to be less strict. I self-quarantined for two weeks, and then three of my closest friends and I went to Oregon for the weekend to stay in my friend's family cabin. It was very nice to spend time alone with my friends and still be isolated because we did not go out very much and we only spent time together. I also spent most of my time making cloth masks for my family, friends, and elderly neighbors. It was nice to have a project that made me feel like I was making a difference. During the pandemic, I kept seeing photos and videos of healthcare workers struggling with the lack of PPE and the immense amount of COVID hospitalizations. As a student who is studying to be a nurse, I felt so helpless staying home and not being in a hospital being able to help people. Eventually, the back-to-school season came around, and I got ready to make the cross-country move to Boston. My mom and I packed up all of my things, got our COVID tests, and headed to the east coast. Surprisingly, it felt somewhat safe to travel, and the hotel we stayed in had a lot of safety precautions. When I arrived, I got my COVID test, picked up my ID, and moved into my dorm. Due to all of the restrictions, my mom and I had to say goodbyes outside of my dorm. Then, I was alone in a new city, and it was the start of a strange first semester of college. First, I was living in a hotel in the middle of the city. It was so nice to have such a big room and not share a bathroom with 20 other people, but surprisingly, living in a hotel is not like "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." Without a way to be able to make food, I always had to go to campus to get food, even if I did not have any in-person classes. I spent a lot of time studying in the library to try and get out of my room, but it was often tiring because I always had to wear a mask and couldn't collaborate with others. I spent a lot of time adjusting to my new life and college classes. While I only took general education courses, it was still an adjustment to taking some fully asynchronous classes and taking rigorous courses after having easier, online high school courses. Despite these challenges, I eventually fell into a routine, and I spent a lot of time exploring Boston. My program put on a lot of socially distanced activities to help us to get to know the city. I went to the aquarium, some museums, and I went on a trip to Cape Cod. All of these activities were experiences I would not have usually considered doing. I also explored the city by myself. I walked the Freedom Trail, went to Cambridge, and went on walks through the green spaces around the city. I loved being in a new city, but this semester was also very lonely. Even though I made a few close friends, it is hard to make new friends while being safe with the COVID restrictions. I tried to have a positive attitude about this situation, but it was often difficult to think about how this first semester of college could have been. It was strange to think that I could have been in a foreign country and traveling to other countries during breaks. I often thought about how there would be more people spending time in each other's rooms and people stopping by each other's rooms if we kept our doors open. I am lucky that I could be on campus in Boston this semester because I got to join a service fraternity called Alpha Phi Omega. Through that pledging process, I got to meet many upperclassmen and other first-year students, and I got to be involved in the Boston community. Now, I am home for the holidays, but I am even more worried about COVID because cases are rising. There is some hope on the horizon with the progress that the vaccines have been making. I am hopeful that my future semesters in college will be better, and I hope that people will continue to be safe and protect each other.
• 
  2020-11-01

  Re-entry of foreign nationals with the status of residence

  From November 1st of 2020, foreign residents who have valid residency in Japan who currently are outside finally can come into Japan just like normal citizens. Before this regulation, foreign residents such as permanent residence holders had to get this “the Letter of Confirmation of Submitting Required Documentation for Re-entry into Japan” or “Receipt for Request of Re-entry” from the closest Japanese embassy. On the other hand, Japanese citizen just need to come in with a valid negative result. This applied to me, where I could not go back because that would mean I had to go to LA’s Japanese embassy to get the form, and then go back to Japan. Now, I could go back to japan, if I have a “certificate of negative result”. However, I opened the file, and it turns out I would need a signature from a medical institution and a doctor. All students from ASU can get free test from ASU, but it is not a medical institution. This means I would have to go to other places that can give me this signature, which is not that easy for me.
• 
  2020-11-17

  KW Oral History, 2020/11/19

  [KW] is a New Zealand immigrant currently living in Apple Valley, Minnesota with her husband and their three children, ages eight, six, and three. [KW] shares her experiences with COVID 19 from an immigrant’s point-of-view as well as a mother’s point-of-view. [KW] reflects upon the difference between the handling of the pandemic in New Zealand and the handling of the pandemic in America. Additionally, [KW] discusses how the pandemic has affected her children, their schooling, and her own role in their lives. She breaks down their routines before the pandemic and compares it to their routines now. She talks about how the pandemic has changed her daily life and the daily lives of children, especially her two school aged sons and their activities in and out of school. Finally, she reflects upon how different her families’ lives would be if they were still living in New Zealand instead of Minnesota.
• 
  2020-11-16

  Preston Potter Oral History, 2020/11/16

  This interview shares the perspective of not only a college student learning during the pandemic, but also a student athlete. Preston Potter strives to maintain his job, his grades, and also stay in athletic shape, while also trying to keep a sense of team brotherhood while staying safe. We explored how he tried to juggle all of this, stay sane, and lead a normal life. Preston gives a positive outlook on the struggles and challenges he faces, focused solely on achieving a dream career of being a professional baseball player. It is a unique look into how different students are handling the many balls they have in the air between work, school and practice.
• 
  2020-11-14

  A Recollection of Feelings

  This was a short paper assignment from a professor for an English class and we had free range with it so I decided to write my feelings and experiences during COVID times and this was the result.
• 
  2020-03-30

  Sewing Masks for Friends and Family

  There was a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the start of the pandemic. I was anxious for my family and friends, especially for the nurses in my life who didn’t have any face masks. Once my mom and I saw on the news that cloth masks were an acceptable form of PPE, we knew exactly what to do. We busted out our library of fabric that we had collected over the years and dusted off our sewing machines. My grandma taught my mom to sew, and my mom passed the skill down to me. We started off making free masks for my friend’s sister and her fellow nurses. None of our other friends or relatives knew how to sew and when word got out that we were making masks, the orders started pouring in. My mom, brother, and I relied heavily on our crafting skills in order to fill custom orders. During the first month of the mask making craze, it was difficult to buy fabric that our friends were requesting. Solid black, Spurs, Cowboys, and dark colored fabrics as well as elastic were hard to find. Furthermore, Joann’s had limited hours and their best fabrics were sold out online and in-stores. My brother printed custom images on heat transfer vinyl that I would then press onto the fabric, and I bought bedsheets and dyed fabric to create colors that we didn’t have in stock. My mom and I already had a bad habit of buying fabric for no reason, and now that we have an actual purpose our collection has grown even more. I look for fabric that suits the personality of my friends and try to find prints that are cute and festive for each season. My friends and family will own wear masks that my mom and I have made. I think they take comfort in knowing each mask was made especially for them. As for my mom and I, we are relieved in knowing that our loved ones are protected with masks that fit their personalities.
• 
  11/08/2020

  Christina Mena Oral History, 2020/11/08

  Christina Mena, a nurse in San Antonio, shares her experiences of working in a cardiac clinic during the pandemic.
• 2020-11-13

  College During a Global Pandemic

  I am currently a freshman in the Northeastern NU.in program living in Boston. Although initially on track to spend my first college semester living in London, I feel very fortunate to be able to attend in-person classes and get to explore the city of Boston. I know a lot of students who have to attend the entirety of their college experience online, and quite a few of my friends opted to defer to next year. 2020 has started a new era, not the roaring 20's everyone had hoped for but rather a complete cultural reset. Social activities are limited to small socially distanced groups and meeting new people in college just became 20x more difficult. It's interesting how conversations with friends has evolved to rely on heightened expressions of the eyes where most of the time you have no idea what faces lie beneath masks. I do however find that having these difficult experiences bonds the community in ways that weren't there before. Businesses ensure the safety of the public with health and safety precautions. The YMCA next to Northeastern campus has started to serve free meals, and Copley square continues to hold socially distanced farmers markets to support local produce. There is a sense of mutual understanding, shared emotions. Having in-person classes and NU.in events has helped me find a community of my own. With in-person classes however, comes cyclical COVID testing. I, myself, have become quite skilled at swabbing the back interior of my nose. It's hard to imagine life resorting back to normal, but I feel like my experiences of safely exploring Boston and navigating a bizarre college experience has proven to me that we are a resilient population that can endure and grown from the stresses of the pandemic.
• 
  2020-10-03

  Jessica Fisher Oral History, 2020/10/03

  Graduate student at ASU, Angelica S Ramos interviews mother of a new born baby. In this interview she discussed the struggles with prenatal care and her experience with birth during COVID. Fisher also discusses family support as a new mother amidst the pandemic and how her interactions with her family has changed. She mentions her worries with being high risk for contraction and how she copes with her worries. She also talks about her work as a teacher and how much that environment has changed for her and her students. In this interview, Fisher also talks about her close relationship with her grandmother who lived in assisted living and how their relationship has been forced to change. Lastly, she talks about her hopes for the future.
• 
  2020-10-03

  Jennifer Martin Oral History, October 3, 2020

  Graduate student at ASU, Angelica S Ramos interviews mother of four, Jennifer Martin of Kentucky, to get her first-hand experience of being a working mom during COVID. In this interview, they discuss the hardships of motherhood, how the routine of the household has changed and the hardships Jennifer has encountered. Jennifer also expresses excitement for moving out of the suburbs and into a farm, a decision which was made during COVID.
• 
  2020

  Ben S. and his Art

  My friend Ben has been creating art ever since lockdown started and continue to make art for his studies and own enjoyment with all the extra free time some have gotten due to COVID-19. Ben is a queer artist who enjoys drawing anything from monsters to people and every iteration inbetween.
• 
  2020-11-08

  The Bondi COVID-19 Testing Centre

  HIST30060 To accomodate the huge numbers of people needing COVID-19 tests, a screening clinic was erected in the Bondi Beach carpark. The first time I saw it, I didn’t really know what to think. Of course I was pleased, and proud, that Sydney was creating free and open spaces to test as many people for COVID-19 as possible. But seeing the clinic in Bondi, against the sunny beach, felt surreal. Even after months of living with the pandemic there’s still something indescribably strange about such a familiar place having to adapt to COVID-19.
• 2020-07-03T11:54

  COVID-19 in My Small Suburban Town of West Chester, Pennsylvania

  In my small suburban town of West Chester, Pennslyvania, the effects of COVID-19 were abundantly evident. People of all ages were impacted in significant ways. High school graduates were forced to stay home under Governor Wolfe's stay at home advisory during a time sacred to spending time with peers before college takes us our ways. The elderly worried about the safety of doing basic tasks like grocery shopping, most likely contemplating if this basic need will be an ill-made or possibly fatal decision. Another major event to be noted was the shortages of food and other necessities in the supply chain. This was a real wake-up call for many families in my town. Anxiety and panic definitely could be seen in everyday homes. I recall my one friend racing to Costco after hearing a small supply of toilet paper was in stock. He ended up spending a couple of thousand dollars, filling five carts to the brim with essentials. The sight of many bare shelves triggered this spontaneous decision to hoard. Many families acted similarly in my area, believing that the only option was to prepare to outlast a complete shutdown. While many businesses were forced to shut down, a local dairy farm called Bailey's Farm took advantage of the situation. It proposed a unique solution to the food shortage. Bailey's Farm began to increase its food output by collaborating with local farms across West Chester and Kennett Square. This agreement lessened competition among farms, allowing farms to focus on producing goods that they are most efficient at producing. Bernards Orchard grew a variety of fruits. Baileys Farm increased its milk and cheese production by adding more cows to their grassland. Northbrooke farms sold local pies, bread, pastries, and their famous apple cider donuts. Many other farms contributed to this network; however, these were the farms that I primarily worked with. These farms began to deliver goods to the doorstep of families. This solution relieved families from worrying about contracting COVID-19 in grocery stores, running out of food during a shortage, and simultaneously supported local farms. At the beginning of summer, I had hours of free time; I was advised to stay home and limit interactions with my friends. To utilize my time wisely, I began to look for work to have savings for college. Jobs were scarce because of the many closed businesses. I was beyond grateful when Bailey's Farm reached out and hired me as their new milkman to drive their refrigerated truck. Yes, I occupied the small niche of a milkman during a Global Pandemic.
• 
  2020

  Cooking with the Sopranos

  As a huge fan of the Sopranos and a lover of Italian food, my latest rewatch of the show has gotten me interested in trying my hand at the dishes that are cooked on the show. Being shut in for long periods of time during the pandemic, I found the free time to be the perfect opportunity to try out the Sopranos cookbook.
• 
  2020-09-24

  Zlatan Ibrahimović Gets COVID, Bad Idea

  During the return to play, Zlatan Ibrahimović was like any other player, he wanted to return to the game as fast as safely possible. During the next couple of months, the European leagues would open up with no crowds, cutout fans in the stands and the simulated sounds that tried to make it seem as fans were in the stands. Obviously, these players were not all free from COVID, with the traveling and the other people they inherently came in contact with play that would happen. Players were tested regularly, and sure enough Zlatan Ibrahimović tested positive.
• 
  2020-09-11

  Wisconsin School Lunch

  As a way to mitigate risks for students during lunchtime, the local agricultural society donated picnic tables to the students so they would be able to eat outside with friends mask free. This is important to the pandemic because it shows rural Wisconsin school life and how the community was able to come together to provide for the young students.
• 
  2020-11

  Red Curry Tofu Rice Bowl at Bon Banh Mi in Charleston, SC

  Bon Banh Mi is a small local restaurant with two locations in the Charleston, SC area owned by two friends. Like many other restaurants in the area, they were hit by Covid-19 and had to figure out how to continue service in order to stay open. They just recently started offering inside service, however most people sit outside to enjoy their food. Masks are required at all times, except when eating food.
• 
  2020-06

  Panang Curry at Gathering Cafe

  During the pandemic many restaurants in Charleston, SC were shut down or only offered limited service. Gathering Cafe in Charleston only offered takeaway orders with two tables for outside dining. The restaurant is family owned and has a limited staff because of Covid. They also had a new baby, so in order to keep people separate from the restaurant, a large glass window was installed. They had to do their best to keep their restaurant open while also protecting the new member of the family.
• 
  2020-09-08

  Jewish Melbourne: Caulfield Bubs online cooking

  In the lead-up to Rosh Hashanah, Caulfield Bubs (a children's program run by Caulfield Shule) organised an online cooking class: "Don’t forget to book in for this free cooking zoom session with the incredible Mia Stub!!!! Perfect way to get kids involved and these cupcakes will make the perfect rosh hashana gifts for family and friends!!!"
• 
  2020-06-09

  JBS Meatpacking Plant Outbreak

  I wanted to include these news articles about an event that happened in my community. 287 workers at JBS meatpacking plant tested positive for COVID-19 at the beginning of Summer 2020. I am ~somewhat~ familiar with this meatpacking plant. When I attended Mountain Crest High School in Hyrum, I ran cross country and one of our running routes required us to pass this building. I usually did not like this route because the smell combined with running often made me nauseous. I believe it was bought or acquired since my running days by JBS because we used to refer to this place as “Miller’s”. Fast forward about nine years later when these news articles were published. This was the first huge outbreak in Cache Valley. It took some time before COVID-19 hit Northern Utah. Yeah, I think we had a few cases here and there. But it always felt “manageable” to me before this event. But with this outbreak, I began feeling unsafe in my corner of the world. I was especially upset at the injustice of this situation because most of the workers at JBS were Hispanic/Latinx. It felt like no measures, like paid leave or free testing services, were being taken to protect these workers. According to a Bear River Health Department report for June 1, 2020, Hispanic/Latinx accounted for more than 40% of COVID cases. Yet, only about 10% of the population here is Hispanic/Latinx. I strongly feel that this is because of JBS. I feel frustrated living here in Utah during the pandemic. So many people do not care about the situation we are in. Meanwhile, there are people who make sacrifices by working on the “front lines”. For the Hispanic/Latinx community in Cache Valley, it doesn’t feel like a voluntary sacrifice. But rather, another example of unfair systemic racism. Meanwhile, it seems so trivial and unjust that my community still insisted on having a county fair and little league baseball this year. I understand the economic consequences and reasons why people are hesitant to take precautions in certain situations. It is complicated and we don’t really have a great safety net for people in America. That being said, I hate seeing the flippant attitudes while people are literally dying. This weekend, we reached a record spike in COVID cases in Utah. And Election Day is this week. I feel so anxious all the time. And I am trying to reach for some peace wherever I can find it. I really hope that soon we will start taking this pandemic seriously.
• 
  2020-10-31

  Costume Designing During a Pandemic

  My friend, Erin, had never really tried to make a costume before; however, during quarantine she found herself with a lot of time on her hands. This is just the first costume that she has made, constructed out of fabric. She has also made a Red Riding Hood costume, a casual dress, and is working on her first jacket. I chose to add this picture because of the uniqueness of the hobby. Not many twenty-year-olds that I know are making costumes from hand. And the only reason that she started to make it was because of the free time she found herself with. This was her new Covid-hobby, her new way to cope and distract herself from what was happening in the world. While she doesn't have anywhere to wear it out, I am glad to be able to document it in this picture.
• 
  2020-06-08

  When Restaurants Become the First Line of Support

  During the BLM protests this past summer, many restaurants supported the protestors by providing free food, and acknowledging that the damage to their property was less important than the damage being done to Black people by police. They also performed support tasks such as hosting makeshift medic tents for the protestors.
• 
  10/22/2020

  Gwyn Hartung Oral History, 2020/10/22

  This is an interview with St.Mary's University Public History Graduate Student Gywn Hartung. Gwyn recently graduated from UTSA with an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and classical studies. She is currently in her first year of graduate school and began it entirely online. In the interview, Gwyn described her first semester of graduate school and how her mental health has been impacted by the combination of COVID-19 and transition to online school. Gwyn's experience is significant because many students in the fall 2020 semester face various obstacles with maintaining their social lives, productivity with school, and staying physically and mentally healthy.
• 
  2020-10-06

  Pet shortage in SF

  The COVID-19 lockdown has forced many people into social isolation, and also provided the free time necessary to care for and train new pets. The resulting surge in dog adoptions has led to a shortage of adoptable animals in San Francisco shelters, and the pet sales industry made a record-breaking $100 billion this year. Since puppies can no longer be commercially shipped, a company called PuppySpot has taken to chartering private jets to transport animals bred in the Midwest to the Bay Area. With no end to the pandemic in site, demand has continued to rise.
• 2020-10-27

  Home is Not a Place, But a Feeling

  In San Ramon, I feel lonely. I don’t feel like here is where my home is. Whenever I go to San Diego or am with my sister I feel happy again and at home. I feel safe with her. I feel free driving down a winding road with the windows down, music blasting, and wind harshly hitting my face and blowing my hair in every direction. I like getting to eat good, homemade meals at her house. It’s my escape from the “real world’ or the days in San Ramon that repeat themselves endlessly. I remember going to the beach and feeling the sand in my hands as I usually nervously play with it when there isn’t any conversation. I hear my sister’s friends making a hut and blasting their speakers. I remember walking further to be alone and sitting right before the shore. I listen to my own music in my earbuds and feel the tears start streaming down my face. My sister comes over to find me and laughs, not at me but because she doesn’t understand why I’m crying and knows I shouldn’t be sad at least not now. I begin to laugh too because I’m only crying since I wish I could live there too. This memory is important to me because it was such a fun trip and I feel most comfortable in San Diego or just when I’m with her. She understands completely how I always feel and validates why I act certain ways. In the dark days of Covid and having the same conversations over and over in San Ramon, San Diego is where I go to break that cycle and stay sane to be honest. It’s my motivation to keep trying and to stay calm since I know no matter what I get to go down and see her again and again.
• 
  2020-10-27

  One Thing From The Pandemic

  Over quarantine I was felt extremely bored and each passing day felt the same. I kept seeing people talking about how this was an opportunity for us to learn new skills and take advantage of all the free time. I had came up with many ideas for what I could try and do like playing the guitar or boxing, but they couldn’t hold my interest for long and I eventually gave them up. One day my friend asked me to bake something for her dad’s birthday. I had dabbled with baking in the past, but I never took it too seriously. I was watching a video about a dessert that looked really good so I thought, why not. I got up, went to the store, bought all the ingredient I needed, and proceeded to make the dessert. It took me a lot longer than expected and I ran into some issues while cooking, but in the end I was really happy with what I had accomplished. The whole house was filled with the smell of sweet caramel and I have to say it looked really good. First I let my family try it and the verdict was that it tasted incredible. My friend and her family really enjoyed it was well. After hearing all the compliments that were bestowed upon me, I longed for that feeling of accomplishment. So I continued to make desserts for my family and friends and every time I improve just a little bit.
• 
  2020-08-13

  The Reality of Traveling During COVID-19

  ere silent and it seemed as if I was living in a ghost town. I exited the car with family who all had their masks on. I could smell the cloth of my mask and see the open building that I always remembered being packed. I remembered the people scattering around trying to make it to their flight on time. But what I was experiencing wasn’t even close to that. The building seemed empty. When I did encounter someone they would look at me and make sure to maintain their distance. As I continued my journey to my boarding gate the restaurants didn’t seem as exciting as they normally did. My mask clogged my sense of smell, as I couldn’t smell the food like I normally could. Eventually I made it to my plane. The plane was filled will barely any people. My family occupied one row and the rest of the people were far from our seats. The entire 3 hour journey to Louisiana was filled with hard breathing with my mask, admiring the scenery and the empty plane. Smelling the humid air and my disappointment that I wasn’t getting my free drink. The entire experience was different and proved to me how Covid-19 is considered a sensory revolution.