Items

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  2021-03-02

  Quarantine Silver-Lining Moments.

  It is quite obvious that the Class of 2020 all share a collective disappointment with graduating via zoom but I personally had no problem with it. I honestly believed that it was a blessing in disguise, I didn’t have to sit in the hot sun and wait for my name to be called, wait there awkwardly as the teachers give an mediocre speech about me, and lie to all my classmates face when I claim that’ll I miss them and promise to keep in touch. In the beginning of Virtual Learning, I was the happiest I’ve ever been, which was due to the majority of my teachers teachers that were having a difficult time adjusting to online learning and were only able to assign one work sheet per week. During the first week of the pandemic, I was able to actually find my true self, my dislikes and likes, my ambitions, and my fashion sense. Although it got tiring staying home for the majority of my time, I still preferred to stay home and keep my safe from this deadly virus compared to actually having a social life, I learned that I appreciate my company and being alone more than I thought. As some may find quarantine completely damaging to their mental health and are unable to spend their days inside, it did the opposite for me, It improved my mental health drastically and gave me time to begin my journey of self-love and because of this I honestly would not mind if New York implemented yet another lockdown. I believe it would be beneficial to everyone because it would not only flatten the curve but it could potentially allow us to have less restrictions during the summer.
• 
  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.
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  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.
• 
  2020-04

  The impact COVID-19 had on my mental and emotional health.

  My experience throughout this unexpected pandemic took a toll on my state of mental and emotional health. When I first found out about how quick this virus was spreading throughout our city, schools were still not closed officially and I was still traveling on public transportation to work. When taking public transportation, due to the lack of masks, I had to wear a scarf around my face because that was the only way I could think of protecting myself. I was anxious all the time, but most especially on the train and bus rides, my anxiety would get the best of me, so much that at times I felt like I had to hold my breath so that I can minimize my exposure to contracting this virus. Once things started getting really bad and schools and non essential jobs finally shut down, it was a slight relief. Switching from in person lectures to virtual learning was not as easy as I had thought it would be. I was now not only anxious and worried because of this pandemic and the health of myself and my loved ones but also because I was having a hard time trying to adapt to a different style of learning. I was taking two science courses, both biology and chemistry which were not the easiest topics for me. To prevent us from "cheating" professors had made the exams much harder which was another stressor. Throughout the spring semester I was staying up really late at night trying to study in every way possible so that I would do well on my upcoming exams. Whenever I had the time to sleep I just couldn't because my anxiety wouldn't let me. I would have never imagined this getting so bad, I thought maybe with quarantining we would have it under control but unfortunately this virus is still on going and who knows when we'll get back to what was considered normal.
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  2020-03-20

  The Real Pandemic: How America Believed the Coronavirus Proved the Existence of Educational Inequity

  I am submitting an auto-ethnography on my experience as a college student in the CUNY educational system during the transition to online learning and the pandemic.