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motivation
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2022-11-08
The Sunset of covid-19
My experience with Covid 19 was all over the place. If I were to describe it in one word it would be chaos. I remember going to Kingsborough Community College at the time and just everything shutting down and not knowing what to do. I remember all my classes turning into online classes. During this time, my mother fell ill with covid before any vaccines came out. I remember seeing how ill and bedridden she was. I was scared My mother was going to pass away and started bawling my eyes out to brother. Covid hit alot of my family and I started to become depressed. I ended up dropping all my classes because mentally I was not there. Eventually, my mother and other family members recovered, but some were not so lucky. An old friend from down the block lost their mother to covid. We used to practice karate together as kids with my brothers and her brother. Her mother was Sandra Santos-Vizcaino the first NYC public teacher to die of covid 19. I used to know their mother from the karate tournament and block parties we went to so finding out she passed away made me realize how lucky I was with my family. After all of this I got motivation again to start doing something with my life because at this point i was just rotting in my room for a few months. I ended up finding a job at a covid hotel in queens where I had to always wear a mask, gloves, vizor, etc. I was working alongside some doctors and nurses. It was such a different experience from anything I worked at before. Covid 19 had such a significant impact on everyone's lives and will forever leave a scar in many family's hearts. -
2020-03-13
An unforgettable experience
I remember coming out of school, walking home to celebrate my moms birthday. Prior to this, my teacher was, once again, talking about this new virus called COVID-19. He was very adamant of this soon to be pandemic. He was always informing us to stay safe and education might take a drastic turn in the future if the cases keep increasing. I did not think much of it and honestly thought he was going crazy. Later did I know, he was right all along. I was one of the unfortunate ones that graduated high school online which I was not bummed out at first but later on realized that It was missed out on of my biggest milestones. Speaking education wise, it was really fun since all I had to do was get up and turn on my computer for class. It felt effortless and assumed that school from now on is going to be the easiest thing in the world, until I got to college. Remote learning in college was, by far, the worst experience in the world. When it came to concentrating and understanding the concepts, it was really hard. I was not doing well in any of my classes. I hit a roadblock. I was fortunate enough to manage and pass my classes with the help of my sister but I would soon hit another roadblock in my life. In my sophomore year of college, we were allowed to take in person class which I jumped to the opportunity but I struggled with on of the basic necessities every human being should have. Be social. I was always a shy person who kept everything to himself but the pandemic reinforced it to another level. I was not able to participate, or even join any clubs because all I wanted to do was rush home. I did not want to interact with anyone. It would take a toll on me since I started to go down a path of deep sadness and lack of energy to do anything. I missed a lot of my assignments. Skipped school. I did not want to associate myself to school. I, once again, was fortunate enough to find help and escape this reality I was creating in my head. That the outside world offers so much and I started to enjoy school. It is the 23 of September and I can safely say that I am reaching a level where I found impossible when I just started college. I found a rhythm that fits me and my needs and I am not stopping. -
2022-05-18
Coming back from covid
Coming into the pandemic my friend group thought of the pandemic as early vacation like many other high schoolers at the start of the pandemic phase. As many kids in the city and country it's hard to focus when you have so many distractions around you, that's what me and my got accustomed to going to the park or texting in an Instagram group chat. The reason I bring this up is many parents felt like there was much more of a burden on them as well as students feeling unmotivated to sit down in front of a computer leading to an inferior education. That transition period back into the school building gave me much more appreciation for being in school. My journey went from struggling at the end of high school to beginning of college too little by little finding a rhythm on how to study. To sum up my story is about me going from being anxious and lazy to realizing to take school more seriously and don't worry about others and do what you need to do first before helping others. Essentially don't neglect your important work to hang out. -
2020-07-29
What Got me Through the Pandemic!
The pandemic was a really tough time for me. Apart from not being able to see my friends and visit family, I was unable to work, I was taking care of my sick grandmother and I wholeheartedly took on the responsibility of maintaining a household. I neglected my mental health and ignored my physical well being and overtime the effects of stress were visible on my face. Eventually I started to neglect my responsibilities and would remain in my room for days at a time, not eating, not showering and not speaking. It was evident that I was experiencing some depressive symptoms. To combat this I had to change my habits and began writing these little manifestations and used them as mantras everyday just to get out of bed. I wrote them on a long white sheet and hung it on my closet door because it was often the first thing I saw when I woke up. They really helped me start my days with a positive mindset. Even though this was created during the mandatory quarantine for COVID-19 over the course of 2020, I find that they are still helpful when I am feeling stressed and need a mood boost. NB: this was not created all in one day. The first line was made in July when I was having a really hard day and decided to cut off all my hair. The others were added gradually over the rest of the pandemic with the latest edition being “SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY” in November 2022 because I started working again but had to be out of bed at 5am every morning. This is the name of a song by Amarae ft Moliy which I played every day taking the train on my way to work as motivation for being on time. In the picture you will see that there's space for lots of additions and I plan to add more in the future. -
2020-03-15
The Pandemic Student
Being a student during the COVID-19 pandemic seemed easy at first since we were all going to be at home for the rest of the Spring semester of 2020. I thought of it as a time to finally relax and slow down on classes now that we were going to be home. But I didn't expect the amount of change the pandemic actually brought to my life. I didn't realize how much I relied on my everyday school schedule to organize my daily routines. When in-person classes stopped, the first week of classes at home seemed easy. I thought I could do it. But as time passed, I realized how difficult it was to keep up with class demands as well as home demands now that both were in the same environment. Some of my classes became asynchronous, while others became live. Waking up on time became difficult when I was able to stay in the comfort of my bed the whole day. And being on my laptop for all of my classes made it easy to be distracted by other things on the internet. Being at home meant I could fall asleep in class without anyone directly seeing me. With no school schedule, such as common hours, walking to and from classes, meeting up with friends during gaps, the routine in my life seemed non-existent. I was at home all day, and my sense of order seemed to fade as the semester went on. The type of student I used to be was usually a lot more punctual, submitting assignments on time, taking notes during class, finishing homework early. But the type of student the pandemic changed me into was lazy, sleepy, tired, late in submitting assignments, more careless about classwork and homework, skipping a lot of note-taking in class, and delaying work. My orderly life, my daily routine, was now out of order and out of routine. It became very hard to be a good student during the pandemic because my lack of motivation swooped low. By Fall semester of 2020, I was already falling off track within the first two to three weeks. By the end of the semester, I even failed to submit an important final on time. Although I was becoming such a terrible student, many of my professors remained understanding, kind, and caring, giving me extended time on late assignments, and providing support when I needed it. I don't think I would have passed all of my classes if it weren't for the kindness of many of my professors. My worst semester was Spring of 2021. I had to take a writing intensive course. Although I was only taking 4 classes, that one class felt so heavy that it was the main course I was focusing on. The course also had a lab section, which would've been better done in-person. Doing in-person classes online was not the best experience. While in an in-person lab students would be working together and classwork would be done together, online we were just given directions and told to submit the classwork after working on it ourselves. It became so difficult that I ended up dropping the class and taking it again in the summer. Though it was my worst semester ever, my professors were still so kind and understanding, supporting my decision and wishing me well. Although it seemed being a student during the pandemic would be easy at the beginning, I quickly realized how far that was from the truth. The pandemic teared apart my routine, which I didn't realize how heavily I relied on. The order in my life felt close to chaotic at some point and affected so many aspects of my life: as a student, a daughter, a sister, my religion, and my social life. Right now, during the Fall 2021 semester, I'm still working on building up my routine and trying to stick to it, despite being at home. I've regained some of my motivation and try to submit assignments on time, but I don't always succeed. Balance is hard when two different parts of one's life—in my case, my school and home life—become one and the same. I had a hard time allocating appropriate time for school and appropriate time for family, chores, and self-care. Perhaps by now I've gotten a bit used to the pandemic, but still prefer in-person as it would bring back that order in my life: waking up, getting ready, going to class, finishing class, doing work during schedule gaps, going to another class, etc. Now my schedule is more like: wake up, class, eat breakfast during class, be unproductive during class gaps, go to another class, etc. And through all this, I'm also on my phone or watching something else, or talking to a family member, or doing something else distracting. However, since I've been trying to build up my routine and increase my motivation, it's been easier to pay attention and work harder in class. As a senior, I obviously want to graduate on time so that is definitely a motivational factor for me to do well this semester. Because in-person class options are now available, I look forward to bringing back order to my life next Spring semester. -
2020-03-24
Covid-19 affected my life on eating habit, sleeping habits, and emotional wellness
When the pandemic started, it affected my life. Before the pandemic, I attend class on campus from Monday through Friday. I will have to wake up super early around 7 am or 8 am to get ready for class. After class ends, I will rush to my part-time job and begin working. This is what I do every day and I feel like this is what life is supposed to be like. After the pandemic started, I needed to stay home and attend an online course. When attending online courses, it gives me the anxiety of worrying whether I will pass the course or not. It is my first time attending the course online and I’m scared that I might not catch up with my education. I lost my part-time jobs and my parents stopped working due to the pandemic. I started to worry about the family income and planning to get a job. However, it is hard to find jobs during the pandemic and it is too risky for going outside. I started home every day and felt bored to the point I felt emotional numbness. My eating habits and sleeping habits change. I sleep almost the whole day at home and it causes some aches in my head. I often feel like I am lacking energy and easily tire. I also lack the motivation to do anything and think that the world is boring. I sometimes skip breakfast and lunch when I wake up at 4 pm when I sleep too much. These eating habits and sleeping habits are bad for my body. I decided to change a little to fix my health and I will start from sleeping and eating first. I feel like I need to find a goal or something to do in life to keep my motivation.