Lucas Hynes Oral History, 2020/10/04

In this Oral history, I interviewed my brother Lucas about his experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a freshman at the University of Cincinnati, and the interview focuses on that part of his identity. It begins with us talking about campus life in general. We also discussed his perceptions of COVID-19 both at the beginning of the pandemic and now. His perceptions have not changed much, although he believes that it’s important to listen to scientists as new information is released. We then talked about government response to COVID-19, as well as the response at the University of Cincinnati. Finally, he discussed things he felt he has missed out on because of the pandemic, and what he thinks school will look like going forward.

10/04/2020

Lucas Hynes

Emma Hynes

Emma Hynes

HIST3158

University of Cincinnati

audio interview

English Education--Universities

English Online Learning

English Social Distance

English Government Local

University of Cincinnati

Ohio

volunteer

relationship

mask

party

campus

college

university

dorm

friend

recreation

Cincinnati

Ohio

College COVID Stories

Jason Inskeep

made consent private and not top media so it wont show in thumbnail. JI 05/24/2022

10/15/2020

11/19/2020

03/05/2021

04/19/2021

09/17/2021

05/24/2022

07/11/2023

11/17/2023

10/04/2020

Emma Hynes

Lucas Hynes

45014

Fairfield

Ohio

United States of America

Audio

English

00:16:14

In this Oral history, I interviewed my brother Lucas about his experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a freshman at the University of Cincinnati, and the interview focuses on that part of his identity. It begins with us talking about campus life in general. We also discussed his perceptions of COVID-19 both at the beginning of the pandemic and now. His perceptions have not changed much, although he believes that it’s important to listen to scientists as new information is released. We then talked about government response to COVID-19, as well as the response at the University of Cincinnati. Finally, he discussed things he felt he has missed out on because of the pandemic, and what he thinks school will look like going forward.

Emma Hynes 0:00
Okay, so I have my recorders on. We are recording. My name is Emma Hynes. I am here with Lucas Hynes. The date is October 4, 2020, and the time is 5:11pm. I am in Fairfield, Ohio, and Lucas is in Cincinnati, Ohio attending the University of Cincinnati. So, Lucas, I would like to briefly review the informed consent and deed of gift document that you have signed. This interview is for the COVID-19 oral history project which is associated with the Journal of the Plague Year: A COVID-19 Archive. The COVID-19 Oral History Project is a rapid response oral history focused on archiving the lived experience of the COVID-19 epidemic. We have designed this project so the professional researchers and the broader public can create and upload their oral histories to our open access and open source database. This study will help us collect narratives and understandings about COVID-19 as well as help us better understand the impacts of the pandemic over time. The recordings, demographic information, and the verbatim transcripts will be deposited in the Journal of the Plague Year: A COVID-19 Archive and the Indiana University Library System for the use of researchers and the general public. Do you have any questions about the project that I can answer?

Lucas Hynes 1:15
No.

Emma Hynes 1:16
So, taking part in the study is voluntary. You may choose not to take part, or you may leave the study at any time. Leaving the study will not result in any penalty or loss of benefits to which you are entitled. Your decision whether or not to participate in the study will not affect your current or future relations with Indiana University, IUPUI or the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute or the University of Cincinnati through which we, are running this project. Participating in this project means that your interviews will be recorded in digital video and or audio format and may be transcribed the recordings and possibly transcriptions of my interview copies of any supplementary documents, or additional photos that you wish to share, and the informed consent and deed of gift may be deposited in the Journal of the Plague Year: A COVID-19 Archive and the Indiana University Library System and will be available to both researchers and the general public. Your name and other means of identification will not be confidential. Do you have any questions about this?

Lucas Hynes 2:12
No.

Emma Hynes 2:12
So, in addition to your signed document, would you please offer a verbal confirmation that you understand and agree to these terms?

Lucas Hynes 2:19
I understand and agree to these terms.

Emma Hynes 2:21
Can you also speak up very clearly, so my transcribing program can transcribe you better, my dear friend?

Lucas Hynes 2:28
I understand and agree to these terms.

Emma Hynes 2:31
Thank you. I'm also- so, the license that you have agreed to is the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Sharealike 4.0 International license. Finally, I'm going to ask for a verbal confirmation that you have agreed that your interview will be made available to the public immediately.

Lucas Hynes 2:49
Can you say that again?

Emma Hynes 2:50
I want to ask for a verbal confirmation that you have agreed that your interview will be available to the public immediately.

Lucas Hynes 2:58
Yes, I agree.

Emma Hynes 3:00
All right. So, I'm going to start my interview, Lucas. So, I'd just like you to talk about your honest answers to these questions. Think about anything that might be relative to them. And, you know, just kind of talk about how you feel. So, first, I just want to ask you, what is the date and time at your location?

Lucas Hynes 3:21
Give me a second. It’s 5:14, Sunday, the fourth, October 2020.

Emma Hynes 3:27
So, where do you live? And what's it like to live there?

Lucas Hynes 3:32
I am at UPA North in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Emma Hynes 3:38
Yeah, well, how would you describe living in UPA North right now?

Lucas Hynes 3:43
Pretty fine. Quiet. Like, most people seem to be doing the right stuff.

Emma Hynes 3:52
Yeah, that's cool. So, what is your name? And what are the primary things that you do every day? Including your job, any extracurriculars things you do in your free time, et cetera.

Lucas Hynes 4:06
My name is Lucas Hynes. What I do daily is just like, studying, doing homework, watching, like- or like attending Zoom or WebEx calls. Just like, reading.

Emma Hynes 4:28
So, when you first learned about COVID, what were your thoughts about it? You know, and how, since then, have your thoughts changed about COVID?

Lucas Hynes 4:38
First, I didn't really care because it wasn’t in the U.S. and like, it wasn't affecting me in any way at all, and it wasn't really affecting many people at first. Right now… I don't know like, I don't want to get it, but I don't feel like I'm at a big risk to be any harm if I get it.

Emma Hynes 5:00
Do you think that's because your-

Lucas Hynes 5:01
But I don't want to get it to give it to any other people.

Emma Hynes 5:04
Do you think that you're not at risk because you're following the COVID procedures, or...

Lucas Hynes 5:11
Partially, and I'm also young and probably won't be any harm if I get it. I have a pretty good immune system.

Emma Hynes 5:24
So, building off that question, what issue is of most concern to you about the pandemic, and do you feel more or less worried about them now than you did at the beginning?

Lucas Hynes 5:42
I mean, for my career, like, I need to be able to volunteer and get out there and meet people, and it is so much more difficult to do that now than it has ever been.

Emma Hynes 5:56
That's a good point. So, in terms of, you know, your family and the people that you live around, what are some of the biggest challenges that you face during COVID-19? Including changes to your living and other things like that? Just your personal biggest challenges.

Lucas Hynes 6:18
Um, I don't know. All my classes are online; it's a lot easier to procrastinate than it's ever been before.

Emma Hynes 6:29
Do you feel like you have any other issues other than just online classes?

Lucas Hynes 6:38
Not really. Like, I can still go to the dining halls just as easily like, they do takeout. I don't have any trouble going out at all. Like, it'd be more fun to hang out with friends and stuff. And I can't really do that. But other than that, not really anything.

Emma Hynes 6:58
So, what have you and your, you know, your family or you and your friends done for recreational activities during COVID since you can't really do the normal things that you would do?

Lucas Hynes 7:19
At home, we would swim a lot. Go on walks with the dogs or just around like campus right now. Just going and walking around is pretty easy because especially during the weekends, there's not really anyone here.

Emma Hynes 7:34
How are you keeping in touch with some of your high school friends?

Lucas Hynes 7:38
I have a discord group with like, all of them.

Emma Hynes 7:43
Do you guys get together and play video games like you used to before COVID?

Lucas Hynes 7:46
Um, yeah, I mean, before COVID we would meet at each other's houses every few months.

Emma Hynes 7:54
Do you still do that, or are you doing it online now?

Lucas Hynes 7:57
We're just playing games together. I can't really play a few of them because I don’t have a compatible PC, but other than that, I can play most of the games.

Emma Hynes 8:12
How are people around you on campus in your day to day life responding to COVID-19?

Lucas Hynes 8:20
No one really seems concerned at all about it. Like, as soon as the sun sets on campus, no one wears masks. Like even in the day, if there's like a big group of people, none of them wear masks. It's only like, smaller groups of people.

Emma Hynes 8:37
Would you say that people are still having parties and stuff like, the frats?

Lucas Hynes 8:41
Oh, yeah.

Emma Hynes 8:42
And are they larger than 10 people?

Lucas Hynes 8:47
What?

Emma Hynes 8:48
Would you say they're larger than 10 people, the groups of partiers that you've seen?

Lucas Hynes 8:52
Probably. I've seen like, big groups of people walking down the alleyway by my place.

Emma Hynes 8:58
Yeah. So have you seen people around you change their, opinions their day to day activities, or their relationships in response to the pandemic?

Lucas Hynes 9:10
I mean, yeah.

Emma Hynes 9:12
In what ways?

Lucas Hynes 9:16
I don’t know. Just not going out as much.

Emma Hynes 9:21
Um, do you feel like right now, has COVID made us any more divisive or people more outspoken about certain things, or do you think it's unaffected?

Lucas Hynes 9:36
I think it's probably made people more outspoken like, people who are stupid enough or they don't want to wear masks will be stupid and have their own voice and try to be heard. Same on the other side.

Emma Hynes 9:51
So, in general, what's it like to be a student living on UC’s campus during this pandemic?

Lucas Hynes 9:57
I don't know, it's very similar to being at home except for I have less distractions.

Emma Hynes 10:05
What do you mean by it's similar to being at home?

Lucas Hynes 10:08
I mean like, I go out probably once a day or every other day, but like, I can't hang out with a ton of people.

Emma Hynes 10:19
Um, so how do you feel that COVID-19 affected your last year in high school? Did you feel like you missed out on anything? And if you did, what kind of things do you feel like you missed out on?

Lucas Hynes 10:29
Um, I mean, I missed out on like a graduation party. I missed out on like, hanging out with friends, and like, being a senior, like, didn't even get to experience the last quarter in high school.

Emma Hynes 10:44
And, and like, what sort of things do you feel like you're missing in your first year of college? I'm sure you had expectations going in about what college was going to be like, but how has COVID College met those expectations?

Lucas Hynes 11:06
I just met a lot less people. Like everyone in my LC, I've learned to know most of them, or at least the ones I probably want to know in person anyway.

Emma Hynes 11:18
Yeah.

Lucas Hynes 11:19
But I haven't really met many people outside of that because it's not super possible to.

Emma Hynes 11:26
Do you feel like you've become really close friends with these people that you've met, since they're kind of the only people you can interact with?

Lucas Hynes 11:33
No.

Emma Hynes 11:34
Hmm. Okay. So in your- in your personal opinion, how do you think municipal leaders and government officials in the community like, in Ohio, and Cincinnati, and Fairfield have responded to the outbreak?

Lucas Hynes 11:49
I mean, Mike Dewine was on it. Like, Ohio was one of the best states, but like, still wasn't good enough.

Emma Hynes 11:55
What do you mean, it wasn't good enough?

Lucas Hynes 11:57
Like he didn't do anything fast enough. I mean, is faster than most other states are like, Ohio's not doing bad, but like other states than Ohio have put more restrictions on like, not being able to go into stores a lot sooner without masks and stuff.

Emma Hynes 12:19
So, in relation to that, how do you think that campus officials have been responding to COVID-19? Do you think it's enough? Do you think the response is working on people?

Lucas Hynes 12:28
Oh God, no.

Emma Hynes 12:32
Do you just want to talk about like- well, do you want to talk about what specifically campus officials have done and how you think that sort of thing, because-

Lucas Hynes 12:40
Um, I mean, they're trying like a UC guests pass thing for like, to get into like, dining halls and stuff like that. So you have to like, fill out if you've been to campus, and like, if you've had contact with anyone but like, it's so easy to lie on that like, it's not going to stop anyone if they actually want to go to campus.

Emma Hynes 13:04
And actually, I went to a Starbucks that said that they were using that app on everyone who came in, and they did not make me use it. So, um, do you, do you think that people are following the directions at all, or if you had to guess like, what percentage? And then if not, is there any sort of like retribution? Are there any things that campus officials might do to people who aren't following the correct rules?

Lucas Hynes 13:31
Probably like, 50%, maybe? I don't know. They're not doing anything like, for UP they're like writing people up, but like, honestly, what's that gonna do?

Emma Hynes 13:46
What does writing up even mean?

Lucas Hynes 13:49
I don't know.

Emma Hynes 13:51
So, do you have any just thoughts on how local, state, or federal leaders, you know, specifically on different party lines are responding to the crisis differently, including people that you know?

Lucas Hynes 14:08
I don't know. Most of my friends are smart enough to not be stupid about anything but like, even like, no matter what party they're aligned with. But like… I don’t know; the different parties are at least being a little bit, trying to work together right now. Like, even if they don't agree with it.

Emma Hynes 14:36
So, knowing what you know now about COVID and about what helps, what doesn't, what do you think that individuals, communities, or even the government need to do in the future? You know, what things we need to keep in mind going forward?

Lucas Hynes 14:54
I don't know, listen to scientists.

Emma Hynes 14:59
Can you just tell me what that means a little bit? Listen to scientists?

Lucas Hynes 15:04
If they tell you to wear a mask, wear a mask as soon as they tell you to.

Emma Hynes 15:10
So, what do you think the future of school looks like, you know, in the next few months and then even in the next year?

Lucas Hynes 15:18
God, I don't know. COVID's not going away anytime soon.

Emma Hynes 15:22
Yeah?

Lucas Hynes 15:24
They're gonna try to open up, but they're just gonna get bad like. Fairfield's opened it up. They're doing like, what, like two days in three online, something like that, or like, every other day, I think, I don't know, something like that. But like, every so often I'll receive emails of like they have a COVID outbreak.

Emma Hynes 15:45
So, speaking of, have you been in touch with anyone in Fairfield? Do you know how they're feeling about like public schooling?

Lucas Hynes 15:54
No, I'm not in touch with anyone.

Emma Hynes 15:56
Okay. So final question, do you have any more general thoughts or things you would like to say about your experience with COVID-19?

Lucas Hynes 16:07
No.

Emma Hynes 16:09
No? Well, thank you so much, Lucas. It has been great talking to you.