Items

• 
  2020-08-01

  THE PANDEMIC

  The Pandemic change my life for better.
• 2020

  Finding Time

  Over the last five or so years, I've been dreaming about some event that would stir up some excitement in New York City, preferably some good event, but an event nonetheless. Never did I dream that it would actually come true, unfortunately in the form of a worldwide pandemic. Why couldn't it be something more fun, like aliens (although it seems like we might be getting there)? While the pandemic didn't bring anything exciting per se, it brought some change with it. When it began to be taken more seriously last year (2020), when all the shutdowns began to occur, I saw a major change in my day to day life. From being laid off of work, not being able to go to classes in-person anymore, and not being able to see any friends in person either, the normal, repetitive life that I had gotten so used to had disintegrated within just a couple weeks, if not shorter. It forced me to look at things in a different light, and as I was forced to be by myself for most of it, as we all were, I felt as if I needed to find some positivity and motivation in the few things I could do and had control over. I finally had time to focus on myself and made sure things like my physical/mental health and education were a priority. I took up cycling, as it was one way for me to be active and remain safe because it's not really something you need to do with others, and that opened the world up to me, especially with how empty the city was. Even my quiet pocket of Queens got quieter as barely anyone was outside, so while it did feel a bit post-apocalyptic out sometimes, it also gave me a sense of peace and freedom. Also, with having so much more time at home and not having to commute, I took advantage of online-learning to really give myself as much time as I needed, instead of the previous sense of rush and urgency I used to feel when it came to assignments, and actually turned my grades around pretty drastically. While the pandemic has been horrific on most fronts, by working my hardest to make the best of it, I've been able to better myself as it's given me time to enact real self-care. Something I've never taken the time to do before.
• 2020-04-16

  Happy Birthday...

  Today is April 16th, 2020. Instead of waking my mom up with breakfast in bed, she sends me a photo of herself layered in protective gear. At the time my mother was working at one of the largest hospitals in Queens. She went from working four days a week to working six-seven days a week as the rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations increased. Today is her birthday and instead of celebrating life, she is surrounded by fear, death, and uncertainty. Thank you Mom for being strong and putting your life at risk as an essential worker. Happy Birthday
• 2020-03

  Family and Community Impacted by COVID

  Well to be honest the pandemic did not effect my family too much, no one caught COVID and most of us are vaccinated as well. No one lost their jobs or their homes, or their business so I believe we were pretty good. The only thing bad would be the isolation but, that's about it.
• 2021-06-12

  Renovations

  During COVID-19, and how difficult things have gotten with people losing their jobs, my house had quite a few problems to contend with. First and foremost, my room was leaking; second my downstairs was also leaking, which caused some parts of the ceiling to collapse and was just a huge mess to deal with. Funny how it had to be when COVID-19 forced people to start pinching pennies, because who knew when you might have gotten laid off from work because of it. We called someone to fix it, and we thought he had found it - after paying a decent sum to get the job done - but the leak was not fixed. Water still came down, forcing my father to tear down the wall in order to get to the problem, or at least attempt it. I talk about this because a lot of people will blame COVID-19 for their misfortune, and to join them, the house did not have to be in need of some much restructuring, especially with how much it costs. Not to mention the refurbishment of our kitchen and dining room took a fair amount of money to get done. And it's been nothing but more spending.
• 2021-08-02

  Giving The Family Covid

  One day I woke up fine and normal like every other day and I went to work. At round 2 pm that day I started getting headaches and my body was cold. It was really hot that day too while my body was cold. I told me boss I'm not feeling too well and I wanted to go home. I called my friend who works in a pharmacy my symptoms and he said its possible to be covid-19. He went to my house and waited outside with a rapid test and I met him there. We did a test in the car and after 15 minutes it came out positive. I called my dad who was in my house to come outside so I can break the news to him before the rest of my family because they would've freaked out. I told my dad that I'm positive for covid-19 and he went to setup the house for me and seclude me from everyone else. I went upstairs and I saw my family waiting for me and my uncle had his hand out to greet me and I ignored all of them without giving eye contact and went straight to my room. I rarely ever get sick from anything really. Im sitting in my room thinking I really got covid-19 thinking I'm immune and invincible because I'm a healthy 21 year old and I never get sick. Also no one in my family previously got covid I was the first. This pandemic has showed me what I'm not and I'm just like every other person. The good thing is I mentioned it to my boss and asked my friend to test me right away. This is what everyone should be doing, check up on yourself right away.
• 2020-03-15

  Corona virus 2020

  During the beginning of 2020 everything seemed so fine. I was in school had started a new job at a plumbing company, was occasionally going out with my girlfriend. On top of making money, going to school, i was also hitting a gym and was super happy with my progress in every aspect of my life. All of this was good until, news about how a deadly virus was making its way into the United states from china and how bad it was going to be. Like everyone else i was petrified and i thought there's no way china would let a virus escape they're a powerhouse of a nation. But it did, I remember classes were shut down and shortly after my job was shut down as well, everyone, put in unemployment. During this time my parents had closed on a house and we had become homeowners. During quarantine i remember having to go to our new home and fixing it up everyday monday through sunday so while everyone was at home, doing nothing. My uncles, cousins, father and i were masked up just working in our home. But no matter how far apart we were on different floors and different days, we all got sick. We all also quickly recovered. The covid 19 pandemic didnt have a huge impact on me as much as it did for others. I know a lot of people close to me who lost their loved ones during the pandemic and its truly saddening. My progress with my daily life was lost, school that semester felt like a blur everyone was confused and scared, the gyms were closed, my jobs were closed. I remember hating my life at this moment in time because it felt like i wasn't doing anything but fixing our new family home which i wasn't eager to move in to. Once my jobs lifted in the beginning of june, i quickly picked up my tools and went back into work.
• 
  2020-03-28

  Life During A Pandemic

  Personal experience during the Covid-19
• 2021-09-30T14

  LIFE OF A COLLEGE STUDENT BEFORE AND DURING THE PANDEMIC.

  Life itself is not easy, one has to find a way to be happy and live a good healthy life because we never know what might happen the next day or year ahead. Before the Coronavirus everything was pretty normal, people were going about their daily lives. Most people were not ready to face this type of hardship. During the Pandemic schools, Jobs, places to pray, and supermarkets were kept close. I remember my friend was excited about her Senior prom and we wanted to surprise her with a graduation party, however, things didn't go as planned so we had to stay home for the lockdown. My daily routine changed. I have to take all of my classes online. Around this time the cases become worse, death cases keep on increasing each time. At some point, I began to wonder why this Pandemic had to happen to us during the beginning of the year. There were days when we had to stand in a line to buy food. The saddest thing that I have heard was how few of my friends lost their loved ones. Life was not easy for them. I have to call and check on them every day. Many people became homeless because of eviction and there were no jobs, though some were lucky to apply for unemployment, that was not enough for the people to pay their rents and have to buy food. Each day when I wake up I always pray for us to have a vaccine because even the younger children that do not know much about this virus were also affected. In 2021 when the Covid-19 vaccine was released it was great news however, some people didn't want to take it because they thought that it was risky. The most difficult thing is how people have to go back to their normal life system again.
• 2020-04-01

  COVID-19 Through My Eyes

  The item that I am submitting is the story of my experience of Covid-19, what my family and I went through and how we have pushed forward and persevered despite the many difficult challenges we faced the past year. This is important to me as it tells my story through my point of view, my journey through what I consider to be the hardest moments of my life.
• 2020-03

  Unimaginable Grief

  [March 2020] A month in time no one would ever want to go back to. My friend and I were enjoying our day and suddenly got news that campus will be closed until further notice. It was a scary and confusing moment; before you knew it everyone was talking about the virus. We definitely underestimated the virus and saw it spread in the blink of an eye. Slowly but surely we all began to realize how serious this was and prayed day and night for it to end. Cities went on lockdown, thousands became unemployed, and families grieved the loss of loved ones suddenly taken by this evil virus. I am so fortunate enough to have my close family and friends here with me today, but that does not mean these last one and a half years did not take a toll on me mentally. We've lost many loving family friends whom we never expected to lose this early. One thing the pandemic, thankfully, taught me is to appreciate those who you love because you do not know when they can be taken away from you. As hard as this experience was, I am grateful for the ups and downs and pray for the beautiful souls lost. Rest In Peace <3
• 
  2020-03-12

  Living post March 12, 2020

  I want to share my feelings and thoughts through text that display what I experienced as a senior in high school during the outbreak of COVID-19.
• 
  2021-09-30

  COVID-19: A new personal struggle

  My experience has changed overall with this pandemic. In my paper I discussed the different aspects of how my life changed given the circumstances with work, school, and personal lifestyle.
• 2020-03-16

  My life with COVID

  The COVID pandemic has affected everyone around the world. Going into march of 2020, I had a lot of pressure put on me by my parents to either quit my job, or take time off because they didn't know how serious the virus was and wanted me to take no chances. I also have an autistic brother who cannot speak so I didn't want to risk giving COVID to him. At the time, nobody knew how severe the virus was, but as time passed I witnessed first hand how serious it was. When I got back to work after taking time off, I saw what I thought was a joke. Shelves of foods completely empty, and all toilet paper sold out as well other cleaning products. This went on for about a month before people stopped buying a lot of things in fear. There would be lines outside of my job because too many people were coming and we didn't want to have a lot of people gathered in one place for safety reasons. More time passed and things sort of went back to normal but people now wore masks and practiced social distancing. Now over a year later, things are more calm and people are finally doing the right thing and wearing masks to prevent the spread of the virus and end this pandemic.
• 2020-06-01

  Covid-19 Reflection [MISSING MEDIA]

  My days during the covid-19 pandemic.
• 
  2021-09-27

  Unexpected

  It's a descriptive story of how covid has affected my life and its important to me because it has a long term affect.
• 2021-08-14

  Beware a Pandemic

  As we approached our second year of the Covid-19 pandemic things like mask and disinfecting door knobs just became a norm to me. Unconciously, I wouldn't think of Covid-19 as the virus Id just live life with the existence of COVID. I am known for my obsession of believing a single cough could mean I'm at a near death so mentally I was just exhausted. After some time I began to worry about my two year old daughter, she was starting school at a special needs program which I could not wait for. I knew my daughter's progression was one of my top priorities but what about her health and well being? I couldn't help but think "What if there is COVID in the school?" I kept my company very small as I lived alone with my daughter. The only time we were exposed to other people was when she visited her dad on the weekends, but he too was very cautious. A week into my daughters schooling I finally stoped worrying and celebrated my cousin's birthday with her. A day later my cousin had called me with the news that she was COVID positive. My mind raced as I graphically remembered my daughter sharing a bite of a burger with my cousin, it was almost no doubt in my head that we were infected. I got both of us tested that very day and we were negative but I had knowledge on this infection I still held my breath as I knew I had to retest in two to three days. After three days when I planned to get tested I woke up with soreness in my eyes and a headache, I explained my pain to my boyfriend and he had said that he felt that pain too. Minutes after I got tested and I was positive my daughter was already at her dads house so I told everyone to get tested and everyone else was fine. Two weeks, fourteen days in quarantine drove me mad. I suffer from depression and something about being completely alone triggered me. I could not eat my symptoms continued to change. I lost my taste and my sense of smell. I couldn't walk or stand for too long but honestly my common cold from a month back felt worst than this. The mental and emotional aspect of this situation is what really hurt me. I was so alone and worried I missed my child and her dad had to take off work for a week. I barely had any money and I just felt like I couldn't reach any type of human interaction even with my electronics it wasn't the same. On my tenth day of COVID I went to retest and I was negative. The after mass of Covid took a toll on me. I lost 16 pounds and I already had issues with my weight personally. My stomach felt faint and empty for weeks after the virus was gone and I felt like I did not want to go anywhere. I decided to still quarantine for the full fourteen days just to be safe and rest. My daughter's school (which she wasn't attending due to not being home) called and said someone tested positive and that school would be closed for two weeks. My mom whom I haven't seen in weeks also called on the tenth day to tell me that she had a fever and went to get tested, another positive. I felt trapped almost as if I couldn't breathe. Getting back into the real world without seeming like a hypochondriac was so tough but just like the virus things change and I was over my anxiety. All that's left now is to worry about the long term effects... Who knows what the future might hold.
• 
  2021-09-15

  A Story From A Chinese Immigrant In The US

  I will share my story that is about racism because of Covid-19
• 
  2021-03-12

  A Long Week

  Text Submission about my personal experience with COVID.
• 2020-03-20

  The city does sleep

  At the start of the pandemic, I was facing home insecurity and was living in a shelter for three months and special housing for 6 months. The city was the most empty I have ever seen it. Ive seen so many people, homeless people, because of the pandemic and it was devastating. It isolated people.
• 
  2021-03-30

  Pandemic Life

  I'm going to be discussing how the COVID 19 pandemic affected me and my loved ones.
• 
  2020-06-04

  Guerrilla Gardening in the Time of COVID-19

  The operation will take only a few minutes. I don my mask and slip the gloves and pruning shears into my back pocket and take to the streets. Walking briskly, I pass a row of 1900s brownstones, each with a small garden plot in front. On this block the specialty is roses, and every home seems to have a different variety growing. Towards the corner, there is a house with its iron gate ajar, and an overstuffed mailbox by the front door. I had already removed two small bags of garbage and moldering cardboard and a crushed toy fire helmet from the front yard, and also ripped out a row of mugwort that was blocking the big rosebush. I don’t know what variety they are – a peach-colored hybrid, with massive blooms that bent the rose stalks down. I deadhead the big old roses and the stalks spring up, attempting to gash my face. One does nick my arm, and I wipe the blood off on my mask, not thinking that I have left a red splotch of blood in its center, like a tiny pair of lips. Pretty soon I have collected about thirty roses – all massive and past their prime and bring them home in a plastic bag I brought with me. I don’t think anyone would mind, and I am sure the person who planted these roses doesn’t mind. A hybrid rose plant like this needs a lot of tending, but the blooms are enormous. As part of my quarantine routine, I take walks in the early morning. After a while, I got tired of seeing weeds hiding the “nice” plants and began reflexively pulling them. It was fun! Especially after a rainfall, when the weeds pulled out so effortlessly. After a few minutes work I would have a sheaf of shepherd’s purse, lambsquarter and mugwort under my arm. Fortunately, there is always an empty construction yard in our rapidly developing neighborhood, and that’s where most of my weeding crop ends up, lobbed over the green construction fence. Nobody has ever bothered me, except for the times older women will ask if I eat the weeds. Since the trees planted by the city have little tags on them that give tips on how to take care of them, including one that instructs citizens to keep the tree pits free of weeds, I consider that my carte blanche. “I work for Bette Midler!” I want to tell somebody, but nobody asks. Some houses show evidence that they were owned by gardeners that took a lot of pride in their plants but abandoned them this year. I see mugwort and lambsquarter cropping up in beds of well-tended plants –gardens that might have received some care earlier in the season but, for some reason, have been untouched these past few months. I reach over and – yank –problem solved. I know they would do it, if they were able. One home I pass by regularly had an infestation of mugwort that covered some nice lilies and other shrubs. After a few days I had cleared all the mugwort out, and stopped by every so often to rip the tiny mugwort sprouts that persisted – some of the roots are tough, baseball-sized clumps that live for years, and you often find odd things wound up in them like bottle caps and corks. This past week, our local news had the notice of the death a Haitian doctor in our neighborhood of longstanding repute, who had died of COVID-19. For the obituary, they showed not a photo of the man, but of his doctor’s office, which was the old house where I had been waging my war against mugwort. So many have died in our neighborhood – so many gentle people who once sunned themselves in front of their houses and apartment buildings and maintained the cheery tradition of saying hello to all neighbors. When they moved here, Flatbush was cheap, and a family from Trinidad or Guyana could buy decent homes for an affordable price, in what was then a highly unfashionable neighborhood. The untended gardens of my older neighbors are hard to miss, when you know what to look for. “Maybe they just went out of state, you don’t know,” say my kids, when I showed them the peach-colored rose bush I had been surreptitiously tending. They were horrified, and nervous that I was breaking a law. My daughter even closed and latched the small iron gate, while sternly looking at me, warning that I could get arrested, or worse. But I’ll be back. Those roses need me.
• 
  2020-03-13

  my covid experience

  My covid experience this year is probably a lot like others. I've lost family members to this pandemic my close friends lost loved ones as well. There are a plethora of people I know who have lost their jobs, gained severe diagnosis of anxiety and also depression. Being stuck in the house for all those months with family was a very strenuous task and it was also very debilitating as well. While the covid outbreak started my family and I were sent into a frenzy mentally and physically. My mother lost her job due to the pandemic and I had to pick up more hours at work and do other side jobs to somewhat help with the expenses as well also during this pandemic i was also in school. Attending Brooklyn College during the pandemic was a very difficult thing to do especially due to the fact that we had transitioned to online learning, something I or my teachers haven't really done in some time. The social distance learning that was implemented was a very difficult concept to grasp because one day we go from attending class everyday to the bombardment of information being thrown at us and us as students expected to keep up and also the teachers having to make sure they kept up with the requirements. School, going to work and worrying about the well being of others and myself put me into a state of worry at all times sort've giving me mild ptsd. I hope that this time next year this covid situation will be gone and we can go back to living the way we were.
• 
  2021-01-25

  My Covid-19 Reflection

  I caught COVID-19 in January 2021 after being around a family member who was positive. The trail of transmission could’ve been my aunt to my cousins to my mother then to me and my brother but it is still unclear. I firstly got a headache one night then went to bed. I woke and felt my throat feeling tight and dry and had a very bad headache, with congestion, fever and body aches/pain all over. I did not want to eat, just wanted to stay in bed and sleep. It was very difficult because it was also my brother and mother who were sick with the virus as well. I tried to make as many herbal remedies as possible for me and my family. I made teas that helped expel mucus from the lungs and throat as well as garlic, honey, elderberry, zinc and vitamin C, B-12 & D. The first two days that I was sick, my fever was over 100 degrees and I had to take Ibuprofen. To help with my body pains I tried to stay out of the bed and keep my body moving. I lost a lot of weight from not eating as much and my body working hard and using energy to recover. What was very interesting about this experience was that I would feel empty even after I ate food. This strange feeling lasted few days after my COVID symptoms were over. It was discouraging because I got my regular appetite back and could not smell or taste at 100%. Everything tasted very plain no matter the amount of flavor. During this experience I was not very worried. I just knew I would get better quickly and remained positive.
• 
  2020-04-12

  Living in a pandemic

  Losing opportunities and losing family makes us think about many emotions and things that should be cherished.
• 
  2020-06-11

  Taking Charge

  COVID has definitely impacted all of our lives. Despite all the damage it has caused, the virus had some positive consequences. Some of us developed closer relationships with our families. Many of us found new hobbies and developed new passions. For myself, I found a passion for healthcare. Hearing stories and watching news reports on the chaos occurring in our hospitals, made me feel impotent. So, after 3 semesters away from school, I decided to come back and focus on finishing my bachelors so i can enroll in a nursing program.
• 
  2019-04-16

  The one where we were quarantined

  quarantine has truly been an experience like no other although there has been plenty bad there has also been some good I enjoyed being able to be home with my family more and get to bond on another level much like how we did when we are younger we got to do things like bake, tie dye and watch movies I do wish it was under different circumstances but none the less I am happy I was able to be with my family.
• 
  2021-02-28

  When The Impossible Becomes Real

  The item I am submitting is about how I saw things changing during this pandemic and how it affected me.
• 
  2020-12

  Black New Yorkers within the Pandemkic

  The piece is detailing the real experience of Black New Yorkers specifically Black immigrants within the pandemic and the lack of governmental support afforded to these marginalized groups.
• 
  2021-01-20

  By Any Means

  I lost a father figure during the pandemic who also happened to be undocumented. I connected his life and experience to the overall struggle that undocumented people have been facing due to the pandemic. I also emphasized on their perseverance to survive the COVID-19's financial catastrophe by using one of the few options that they have available: street vending. In general, it reveals the systemic denial of the resources that are essential to surviving the pandemic to undocumented workers, even if they are tax-paying individuals.
• 
  2021-02-14T07

  The Covid-19 pandemic

  The document that I uploaded is about my personal experience with the COVID-19 pandemic and my feeling about it. It is important to me because I think these experiences will be record in the history, I believe in the future the COVID-19 pandemic would be wrote in textbooks
• 
  2021-02-14

  Essential vs. Expendable Workers

  When the pandemic broke out, I was caught in the whirlwind of being an essential worker. I was a manager at my local McDonalds, so I've seen just how cruel people can be, and how corporations have continued to neglected their workers. Many people are minimum wage workers, and its frightening to know that such a large population is suffering so much, only to receive little appreciation and change. Through my personal story, I hope to have readers step in the shoes of a minimum wage worker than a pandemic, so when they step out, they'll raise awareness on the issue of lack of support and care for minimum wage workers.
• 
  2021-02-14

  My Story: I Got COVID-19 Because of ICE

  I am sending a diary style writing where I share my experience during the pandemic. I focus on the issue of ICE during the pandemic. Before the lockdowns, my uncle was detained by ICE and was deported during the pandemic. My uncle has been living in the US for 25+ years and Mexico, my uncle's home country, has changed a lot since he last lived there. For that reason, I went to Mexico to take him home. This made me get COVID.
• 
  2020-03-15

  Remorseful Disaster

  This story is an ongoing experience for me as my family and I try our best to continue bearing with the lockdown. I wanted to share how things are at home because not every family is taking this situation with the same positivity.
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-12-01

  Senior Year mixed with Covid-19

  In 2020, I was a senior in high school receiving my high school diploma and my associates degree. I worked so hard for 4 years, taking so many college courses and pushing myself so hard at a young age to get both degrees. I was very upset when I had my senior year taken away from me. It was like I didn't know what hit me. March 13, 2020 was any normal day until we find out that was the last day of high school and seeing our friends for a while. I still tried to make the best out of the situation. My year was ruined and to top it all off I couldn't even enjoy time with my friends due to lockdown. Up until the summer if 2020, everyone was very cautious, but then people acted like the outbreak didn't exist. Sadly, I fell under that category of people. My friends and I decided that a good way to celebrate graduation would be going on vacation to Mexico. Of course with my luck guess what gift I came back to NYC with? YUP, covid! I'm not going to lie it was the scariest days of my life. I never took anything so seriously until after I had it. I was apart of the lucky people who had slim to none symptoms and only for 2 weeks. Ever since then I have been extremely cautious and paranoid of getting sick again, even going to the supermarket I'm paranoid. This was covid-19 experience so far and hopefully epidemiologists can put an end to this outbreak soon.
• 
  2021-02-16

  My Covid-19 Experience

  The emergence of Covid-19 definitely took me by surprise. I remember discussing in one of my classes on the Brooklyn College campus of how potentially serious the virus was in early March of 2020. The majority of the class agreed that the virus was probably not going to get out of hand and it was just being over-covered in the media. Then a couple weeks later, we were stunned of how quick the situation surrounding the virus in the U.S. became which lead to Brooklyn College shutting down the campus and going virtual online. It was an overwhelming and challenging experience adjusting to having five classes from in person to online. What made it more challenging was contracting the virus myself in April where I experienced extreme fatigue, chills and a fever a couple nights, and lost of taste and smell. Through it all, I kept my faith in Jesus and trusted Him to heal me from the sickness and get through the semester. Thankfully, I passed all of my classes at the end of the semester and recovered fully within a couple weeks. My entire family was infected with the virus including my parents but they overcame it as well. Lastly, seeing all of the death totals on the news and staggering scenes such as freezer trucks taking bodies from hospitals to be buried or cremated were both alarming and saddening. What gave me hope was the general high survival rate despite the high number of reported infections and my faith in Christ who warned us in through the Bible (Mathew 24:3-8) that perilous times would come in the last days, including pestilences. As the pandemic continues to evolve, I continue to pray for those who lost loved ones, our country and the world that we would all become stronger, wiser, and closer to Jesus after this unfortunate experience.
• 
  2020-11

  My Covid Experience

  The item that I am submitting is a collection of my experiences that I have with COVID-19, as well as starting off with an experience I had when I was younger before COVID-19. Then I write my experience present day from Thanksgiving, as well as giving it a short ending.
• 
  2020-12-05

  Media Impact on Outcomes of Criminal Court cases

  This is important as you can see the how the 3 criminal cases play out and during the court
• 
  2020-12-14

  Media Impact on Outcomes of Criminal Court Cases

  This is important because it shows that media has an effect on outcomes in a lot of criminal court cases. We need to be aware of how media affected some of the most famous cases in the United States.
• 
  2020

  The Plague Year, From My Perspective

  The writings in this piece reflect my life during the pandemic.
• 
  2020-03-30

  An unforgettable journey story

  It's my personal experience related to the pandemic. This experience prepared my to overcome greater challenges which I may still have to face in the future.
• 2020-03

  The Rippling Effects of COVID-19

  COVID-19 came as a shock to everyone. No one could have predicted the rippling effects it has had in everyone's lives. This pandemic impacts all kinds of people- young, old, single, married, rich, and poor. It is the common thread among all of us. It is what binds us together during this difficult time. This time will never be forgotten. It will be written in textbooks and taught to future generations. Many families are going through a hard time. Who knew a virus could infiltrate people’s lives like this and flip them upside down? No one saw this coming. Many families are struggling financially including mine. We weren’t prepared for this. We thought it will all blow over soon enough. Unfortunately, we were wrong. First, my school closed. Then, my job place closed. Then, my gym closed. It seemed as if the whole world was shutting down right before my eyes, slowly stripping the things I love the most. The thought of being trapped in the house, all day, every day, for who knows how long, gave me anxiety. Slowly, life began to become very boring. Waking up knowing that you’re trapped in the house. Curfews were put up in my city. It’s like we were little kids and the Government was our parents trying to protect us from the monster- COVID 19. I suddenly had so much free time on my hands and didn’t know what to do with it. I decided to pick up some new hobbies. I tried everything. From painting to reading. It was a crazy time for all of us. When we were finally allowed out, I was so happy. Happy that everything will go back to normal, happy that I could get my old life back, happy that I could leave my house again. However, it wasn’t what I expected it to be. We had to wear masks, gloves, and maintain six feet apart between people. I remember the first time I went out in months. Everyone had covered faces and only eyes of sadness and fear were able to be seen. We all looked the same, yet on the inside we were different, each of us experiencing the impacts of the pandemic in a different way. I was shocked. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that a virus, something that is not visible to the naked eye, has turned our lives upside down and forced us to deal with the consequences. As of now, September 2020, life is somewhat what it used to be, but it will never return back to the way we’ve known. The fact that this has become our new reality, is kind of scary. But we are not out of the clear yet, there’s still so much work to do. We have to cooperate with all the guidelines and stick together. Especially during these difficult times, together we are stronger. This is all my own interpretation of the times we live in now and how it has impacted me and changed our lives forever.
• 2020

  New Challenges, New Hope

  Ever since the start of the pandemic and the shift towards remote learning, I’ve faced new challenges in places I did not expect. In my home, it was hard getting used to studying and going to class whilst living in a small apartment that I share with my family; I did not having adequate space to learn and read, but my family and I worked something out and now I could/can study with ease. Additionally, I could not talk to my friends and interact with them, even online, given how I had to focus 2x more on my studies but I realized that my friends were experiencing the same thing and we soon planned several days to just talk online and interact. With COVID-19 and police violence spreading like wildfire, I feared what was going to happen to my family, friends, professor, class colleagues and more. However, seeing how people got together, helped each other, protested, united and worked in solidarity, it showed me something: hope. That even in the hardest times in life, there is still hope.
• 
  2020

  The Year(s) of COVID

  I did not expect 2020 to turn out this way, I had a year of travels planned and a summer of adventures. I remember telling patients at the pharmacy I work at that things will be fine, we just need to a little cautious but I was wrong, it seemed almost routine that we started getting phone calls informing us a patient passed away. Scrolling through any platform, I would come across a familiar face that is now gone. It became numbing when I found myself rubbing my skin raw in the shower after working 10 hour shifts, the mask tan was humorous at first now it is a little saddening this is the reality. I remember watching the news in April with my family and going "wow only 700 people died today" and wondered if that was the new reality. Sometimes all of this feels so surreal, is it really happening? I want to remain optimistic but it seems almost impossible when things never seem to get any better. This is our new normal, life before COVID will never return.
• 
  2020-03-17

  2020 Pandemic

  I was exposed to the Coronavirus almost immediately after the initial outbreak. I was already feeling sick in the middle of March. I felt a constant throbbing in my throat, sometimes I would wake up to a burning feeling in my lungs and felt pressure as though someone was standing on top of my chest. The first two weeks straight, I went from freezing cold to burning hot every few minutes, accompanied by a constant throbbing headache. The most menial of tasks would cause shortness of breath and my heart to pump excessively. I honestly felt I was going to die. After about a month, my breathing became less labored. In three months, I felt I recovered enough to start exercising again. By exercise, I mean the ability to walk a few blocks without having the wind knocked out of me. I began checking in with my family and found out that I had lost over 30 family members in Ecuador. I also lost a coworker, who was one of the kindest people you could meet and who was loved by her students. The amount of horrible and depressing individual stories of my family dying are too much to repeat, so I will say if there was ever a living nightmare, it was experienced by them. If I could describe what living through hell is like, I would say that it is the last six months of my life. Americans, as a whole, could have done better. To the people who have pretended that nothing is wrong, you deserve everything that is coming to you and I have absolutely no pity.
• 
  2020-03-26

  The day it all went south

  From the beginning of quarantine till now the simple, everyday things I used to do has now become a difficult. Such examples would be going to the bodega or going to my therapy appointments or even going to work. There’s now so many extra steps and protocols as if my job wasn’t already stressful enough. While I personally haven’t been affected by corona virus in terms of health, I can still say that it has turned everything upside down. I still can hang out with friends but I’ve missed so many events that I was looking forward to. Anime event to birthday event, all of those experiences missed. The biggest thing about COVID for me was that it showed me just how selfish and ignorant others are by not only people refusing to wear masks but some even denying it’s existence.
• 
  2020-09-27

  The Student-Teacher Experience

  When COVID-19 hit, i was in my last semester of college. The semester was already overwhelming for me because I was juggling extra-curricular activities, two part time jobs and full time education. I was student teaching, but at the beginning of march, I kept telling myself I had more time to complete the requirements and that when things calmed down in May I would be able to complete my degree. I was wrong. At first we were home, having class discussions about the possibilities of things, we never imagined that we would not be back in schools. Accommodations were made for all the student teachers, regarding our exams and requirements. This should have made it easy to finish my degree on time, but with all the factors in place: documenting the work completed in-person, completing new assignments, completing certification exams, all to get a degree to begin teaching during COVID - Subconsciously I didn't want to do it. So I didn't. I knew I had an understanding professor who would give me an incomplete, and that was the excuse I needed to put off graduating. I hated my student teaching experience, I felt cheated and underprepared. I kept trying to think of was to do it over again, from the start with no extra things on my plate, but I couldn't. I need to finish the class as it was presented to me.
• 2020-06-08

  Life during Covid 19

  During this pandemic my life personally has taken a turn, with my mother being ill with a chronic disease ovarian cancer It was and still very difficult to get through it. I have to be extra careful with going out to places since my mother is a high risk patient. This leaves me with minimal social life which can be depressing because in times like this your friends and close family is your biggest support. This pandemic have impacted many lives, New York a city where there is always a rush and hustle was dimmed down when this pandemic hit which can take a emotional toll on an individual, personally for me since i am an outgoing person It was a difficult adjustment. Furthermore, At some point the same old routine of working remotely and online school can get to you. This pandemic has caused my classes to be fully online which can sometimes be challenging in terms of time management and keeping up with all the work load. Commute has also been rough during this pandemic people are afraid to take the subways making commuting from work an added stress, Overall this pandemic has been a life changing event for many people and I am hoping we soon return to normalcy.
• 
  2019

  Far Away

  A couple months ago, the world knew nothing of COVID-19. We were going about our daily lives — going to school, sitting on the subway for way too long, hanging out with our friends, and seeing our loved ones regularly. Some went to work everyday to provide for their families while others took long walks in the park. Many of us looked forward to the summer, where we’d go to faraway places for vacation or visit the beach for a nice day in the sun. However, all of that was taken away from us. People were laid off, given fewer working hours, and paid less money. Small businesses went into a crisis, as they relied on their customers for their well-being. Everyone was ordered to stay inside for their safety as well as others. We can’t see each other anymore and have to communicate through phone screens and video calls. It’s a difficult time. Since my father is somewhat of a clean freak, he disinfects everything in our house every single day, from top to bottom. With the exception of my mother, who’s a Kindergarten teacher, everyone stays inside most of the time. I am sure we won’t contract the virus, but the same can’t be said about my family members in Bangladesh. Although I am proud of my country, it’s the truth that it’s a poor country with limited resources. Furthermore, there isn’t an equal distribution of the resources they do have, with most of it being consumed by the rich. This pandemic has proven to be a disaster for the poor in Bangladesh. A couple months ago, three of my uncles passed away from the virus. Each had a family and were the sole breadwinners of their families. They went to work almost every day to provide for their families. This has left all three families devastated, as they’re left with little to no way to support themselves on top. Events like this help me realize how lucky I am to be able to afford necessities such as disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer, gloves, and masks. My family and I constantly worry about my relatives living in Bangladesh who can’t afford these things. We’re far away from each other, so we can neither deliver what they need to them or be with them when they’re sick. This is one of the hardest things I’ve experienced during this pandemic. Only my immediate family immigrated to the U.S., so everyone of my relatives are still in Bangladesh. It’s not safe to travel, so we won’t be able to fly over there in the case of an emergency. It’s a very bad situation, and we don’t really know what to do. I hope a vaccine will come out soon, not only in the U.S. but all around the globe.