Item
Pearl Rincon Oral History, 2020/09/18
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
Pearl Rincon Oral History, 2020/09/18
Description (Dublin Core)
I sat down for an interview with first-year Northeastern University student Pearl Rincon. We spoke about her her experience with the pandemic, her transition to online learning, and how her life changed during the quarantine.
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
09/18/2020
Creator (Dublin Core)
Heather Streets-Salter
Pearl Rincon
Emma Clifford
Partner (Dublin Core)
Northeastern University
Type (Dublin Core)
Interview
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Education--K12
English
Education--Universities
English
Home & Family Life
English
Government State
English
Government Federal
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
student
home
government
China virus
racism
politics
freshman
blended family
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
09/18/20
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
10/27/2020
10/28/2020
11/19/2020
02/3/21
04/28/2022
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
Emma Clifford
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
Pearl Rincon
Location (Omeka Classic)
02115
Boston
Massachusetts
United States of America
Format (Dublin Core)
audio
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:06:57
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Emma Clifford 00:00
My name is Emma Clifford. I'm here interviewing Pearl Rincon for the COVID-19 archive project. Could you please state the date and time?
Pearl Rincon 00:09
Right now, it is to 11pm on September 18 2020.
EC 00:14
And do you consent to being interviewed for the COVID-19 archive project?
PR 00:18
Yes, I do consent.
EC 00:20
All right. Um, so just to start out, when was your last day of school?
PR 00:25
The last day of school for me was Thursday, March 12, I believe, and everyone was actually super excited about getting out of school. I guess we were all pretty miserable there. And we all thought we'd be gone for six weeks,
EC 00:39
Six weeks? Ok.
PR 00:40
Yeah, and
EC 00:43
Alright, um, and then obviously, when you realized you were not going to be going back to school? How was your adjustment to online learning?
PR 00:52
Oh, so the problem with online learning for us was, people were really concerned about the reason why we didn't start immediately was because the administration for the school was concerned about privilege and like being able to access internet and have like a laptop and stuff like that in order to do zooms. So, it definitely took a long time for us to start. And then we also had a lot of difficulties. I know, we had like zoom, zoom bombers and stuff like that. We did have some people come on and say a bunch of racist things.
EC 01:23
Really?
PR 01:24
Yeah, it was really bad.
EC 01:25
Did you go to like a large public school?
PR 01:27
I wouldn't say it was that big. It was like 1000 people. So, it wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. Yeah, but I guess that is kind of specific to public school, unfortunately.
EC 01:40
And you said you didn't start online learning right away?
PC 01:43
No, we didn't. We started like, I like late April. So are late April, or like mid-May. Somewhere along that line. I don't really remember that much. I don't know quarantine was definitely a big blur
to me.
EC 01:58
So, between March 12, your last day, and when you started online learning? Did you just not have any schoolwork or
PR 02:02
We just didn’t have any school work, yea. Yeah, so. That was that was really crazy. I didn't really know what to do with myself, but it was kind of a lot.
EC 02:11
Did you pick up any hobbies during that time?
PR 02:14
I, no, I ended up watching the office. So I don't know. I guess that's kind of a hobby in itself.
EC 02:22
Sure. And then during this time, how did your family situation or your family dynamic change?
PR 02:29
So, we're all pretty close. We always we always eat dinner together and stuff like that. My parents are divorced. So, I have a stepdad and then my dad, he lives in Seattle. So, my dad, my my biological dad, he ended up losing his job. So that was really unfortunate. And then my stepdad, he brings in the most money for our family. He's a homebuilder. So, it was definitely, it definitely hurt us. COVID hurt us a lot. And we were all a little frustrated with each other. We felt like, we were like, my stepdad was really frustrated since you know, he wasn't selling any houses or anything. And then, I don't know, I know. I definitely felt very, like confined since I go out a lot. And then my mom and my dogs, they were pretty happy that we were all home. But yeah.
EC 03:21
And then how did COVID affect your college decision making process?
PR 03:26
Oh, that was that was really tricky for me because I honestly didn't think I would get into Northeastern. And so, when I did, I didn't know what to do because I thought that I was gonna I just figured that I'd be going to Loyola Marymount University in California. But they had a lot of COVID cases. And then Massachusetts, the cases were a lot lower. And now Loyola Marymount it, it's just doing online school. So, I'm really glad that I came here instead.
EC 03:58
Mm hmm.
And then, how do you feel that this pandemic was handled both on your state level and your federal level?
PR 04:04
our governor definitely started putting mandates and stuff like that really quickly. We, like two weeks after a school closed. We were all told to wear masks and stuff like that. And then yeah, and we all had to quarantine. I'm glad that he did it because Washington's cases they weren't horrible. They were like shockingly high, but they weren't really low either. But I'm glad that it was cut. It didn't really peak like places like New York, or the south where a lot of my family's from. So yeah.
EC 04:41
Did you feel that people in your area participated and were like,
PR 04:46
I definitely think some people did. The biggest problem for Washington was like East Washington and this place called the Yakama. A lot of their general they're generally more right-wing so they didn't really They didn't really follow through with wearing masks and stuff like that. But also, at the University of Washington, there were a lot of frat parties going on. And so, it was mostly like, frat members, they were getting COVID. And so those were basically the two causes of our spikes.
EC 05:20
And is there anything you would have wanted to see happen or now changed on the federal level?
PR 05:26
Oh, yeah, definitely. I wish that our president had taken this pandemic much more seriously. I'm also really, I'm half Chinese. And so I'm also really unappreciative of like his, all of his racist comments, calling it the Chinese virus when viruses aren't specific to one race. And then also, like, I grew up in Chinatown. And so, it's really sad to see all these places boarded up, like places where I would go to eat from like, as a kid, because people like these shops would get looted and stuff like that. So, it was really sad to look at. And I just wish that there wasn't so much racism, fuel during a pandemic, and I wish it didn't. I wish a pandemic didn't show like the divisions in our society.
EC 06:14
Yeah. And then, on a lighter note, how do you think your first year of college is going to play out?
PR 06:22
Well, I'm pretty positive about it. I've ever most people have been wearing their masks,
which I'm really appreciative of. And then I also really like how we're being tested so often. And yeah, I'm really hopeful that we're going to be staying even though our professors aren't in class, but I'm actually really happy that I'm able to go onto campus and meet new people and stuff like that. Whereas people who are just doing online, they're they're not making friends or like making any connections over zoom. So yeah,
EC 06:54
yeah. Thank you so much.
PR 06:55
Yeah. Thanks for having me.
My name is Emma Clifford. I'm here interviewing Pearl Rincon for the COVID-19 archive project. Could you please state the date and time?
Pearl Rincon 00:09
Right now, it is to 11pm on September 18 2020.
EC 00:14
And do you consent to being interviewed for the COVID-19 archive project?
PR 00:18
Yes, I do consent.
EC 00:20
All right. Um, so just to start out, when was your last day of school?
PR 00:25
The last day of school for me was Thursday, March 12, I believe, and everyone was actually super excited about getting out of school. I guess we were all pretty miserable there. And we all thought we'd be gone for six weeks,
EC 00:39
Six weeks? Ok.
PR 00:40
Yeah, and
EC 00:43
Alright, um, and then obviously, when you realized you were not going to be going back to school? How was your adjustment to online learning?
PR 00:52
Oh, so the problem with online learning for us was, people were really concerned about the reason why we didn't start immediately was because the administration for the school was concerned about privilege and like being able to access internet and have like a laptop and stuff like that in order to do zooms. So, it definitely took a long time for us to start. And then we also had a lot of difficulties. I know, we had like zoom, zoom bombers and stuff like that. We did have some people come on and say a bunch of racist things.
EC 01:23
Really?
PR 01:24
Yeah, it was really bad.
EC 01:25
Did you go to like a large public school?
PR 01:27
I wouldn't say it was that big. It was like 1000 people. So, it wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. Yeah, but I guess that is kind of specific to public school, unfortunately.
EC 01:40
And you said you didn't start online learning right away?
PC 01:43
No, we didn't. We started like, I like late April. So are late April, or like mid-May. Somewhere along that line. I don't really remember that much. I don't know quarantine was definitely a big blur
to me.
EC 01:58
So, between March 12, your last day, and when you started online learning? Did you just not have any schoolwork or
PR 02:02
We just didn’t have any school work, yea. Yeah, so. That was that was really crazy. I didn't really know what to do with myself, but it was kind of a lot.
EC 02:11
Did you pick up any hobbies during that time?
PR 02:14
I, no, I ended up watching the office. So I don't know. I guess that's kind of a hobby in itself.
EC 02:22
Sure. And then during this time, how did your family situation or your family dynamic change?
PR 02:29
So, we're all pretty close. We always we always eat dinner together and stuff like that. My parents are divorced. So, I have a stepdad and then my dad, he lives in Seattle. So, my dad, my my biological dad, he ended up losing his job. So that was really unfortunate. And then my stepdad, he brings in the most money for our family. He's a homebuilder. So, it was definitely, it definitely hurt us. COVID hurt us a lot. And we were all a little frustrated with each other. We felt like, we were like, my stepdad was really frustrated since you know, he wasn't selling any houses or anything. And then, I don't know, I know. I definitely felt very, like confined since I go out a lot. And then my mom and my dogs, they were pretty happy that we were all home. But yeah.
EC 03:21
And then how did COVID affect your college decision making process?
PR 03:26
Oh, that was that was really tricky for me because I honestly didn't think I would get into Northeastern. And so, when I did, I didn't know what to do because I thought that I was gonna I just figured that I'd be going to Loyola Marymount University in California. But they had a lot of COVID cases. And then Massachusetts, the cases were a lot lower. And now Loyola Marymount it, it's just doing online school. So, I'm really glad that I came here instead.
EC 03:58
Mm hmm.
And then, how do you feel that this pandemic was handled both on your state level and your federal level?
PR 04:04
our governor definitely started putting mandates and stuff like that really quickly. We, like two weeks after a school closed. We were all told to wear masks and stuff like that. And then yeah, and we all had to quarantine. I'm glad that he did it because Washington's cases they weren't horrible. They were like shockingly high, but they weren't really low either. But I'm glad that it was cut. It didn't really peak like places like New York, or the south where a lot of my family's from. So yeah.
EC 04:41
Did you feel that people in your area participated and were like,
PR 04:46
I definitely think some people did. The biggest problem for Washington was like East Washington and this place called the Yakama. A lot of their general they're generally more right-wing so they didn't really They didn't really follow through with wearing masks and stuff like that. But also, at the University of Washington, there were a lot of frat parties going on. And so, it was mostly like, frat members, they were getting COVID. And so those were basically the two causes of our spikes.
EC 05:20
And is there anything you would have wanted to see happen or now changed on the federal level?
PR 05:26
Oh, yeah, definitely. I wish that our president had taken this pandemic much more seriously. I'm also really, I'm half Chinese. And so I'm also really unappreciative of like his, all of his racist comments, calling it the Chinese virus when viruses aren't specific to one race. And then also, like, I grew up in Chinatown. And so, it's really sad to see all these places boarded up, like places where I would go to eat from like, as a kid, because people like these shops would get looted and stuff like that. So, it was really sad to look at. And I just wish that there wasn't so much racism, fuel during a pandemic, and I wish it didn't. I wish a pandemic didn't show like the divisions in our society.
EC 06:14
Yeah. And then, on a lighter note, how do you think your first year of college is going to play out?
PR 06:22
Well, I'm pretty positive about it. I've ever most people have been wearing their masks,
which I'm really appreciative of. And then I also really like how we're being tested so often. And yeah, I'm really hopeful that we're going to be staying even though our professors aren't in class, but I'm actually really happy that I'm able to go onto campus and meet new people and stuff like that. Whereas people who are just doing online, they're they're not making friends or like making any connections over zoom. So yeah,
EC 06:54
yeah. Thank you so much.
PR 06:55
Yeah. Thanks for having me.
This item was submitted on September 18, 2020 by Emma Clifford using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive
Click here to view the collected data.