MA, AP and JK Oral History, 2021/09/17

This is a casual interview about the effects of COVID on mental health, academics, family life, etc. We discuss the biggest impact COVID had on us, our experience with the pandemic, what we did over quarantine, and much more, from the perspective of college freshmen.

September 17, 2021

MA

JK

AP

Northeastern University

oral history

English Education--K12

English Education--Universities

English Emotion

English Health & Wellness

English Home & Family Life

English Social Distance

isolation

cautious

school

family

university

mental health

friend

habit

online learning

anxiety

vaccine

quarantine

school

loneliness

depression

Survivor Stories

K-12

Mental Health

From 03/2020 until 11/2022 we redacted information revealing covid and vaccination status of those other than the contributor but discontinued that practice on 11/14/2022. This note was bulk added to any item with the word "redacted" or "redact" in curatorial notes, so may not apply to all on which it appears. Erin Craft 12/29/2022

09/22/2021

10/02/2021

04/07/2022

04/08/2022

04/27/2022

06/02/2022

12/29/2022

03/09/2023

07/13/2023

09/17/2021

MA

AP

JK

MA

AP

JK

MA - 07076, AP - 13201, JK - 98101

Audio

March 2020 - September 2021

English

12:34

In this interview all three interview each other about their COVID-19 experience and their transition from being on lockdown in the last year of high school to being in college. They talk about family life, mental health, habits they created to get through it, and how being in lockdown during high school helped prepare them for college.

MA 0:00
Today we are going to be conducting an interview about COVID-19 and its impact on our lives. My name is [MA] and I consent to being interviewed.

JK 0:06
My name is [JK]. And I also consent to being interviewed.

AP 0:10
Hi, my name is {AP] and I also consent to being interviewed.

MA 0:13
And Today is September 17th. And it's 1pm.

JK 0:17
Okay, so we're gonna start out with the question, did you or anyone you know, get COVID? How were they impacted by that?

MA 0:23
Yeah, so I didn't end up getting COVID through the entire, like, full year of the pandemic, and even going now. But my dad who is in health care, he ended up getting COVID and he tested positive, so he ended up going to a hotel to quarantine from all of us. And then my mom started showing symptoms and she's immunocompromised. So we didn't want to take her outside to get her tested. So we all just quarantined in our own rooms, put on masks anytime except when we were eating and stuff. Yeah, so that was a really interesting experience. What about you, [AP]?

AP 0:54
So I actually up until just this past August, we were COVID free my whole family and I, but actually, I think my mom tested positive first qnd then my dad and then me. So we all, we all had to quarantine together. And we all had, you know, the classic symptoms, loss of taste and smell. We had a cough, a high fever and so that, that went on for about almost two weeks actually almost up until the end of our quarantine. And you know, it was actually pretty unfortunate because it was right before like, I was gonna have a little going away party. And so unfortunately, we weren't able to have that. But yeah, that was just my experience with COVID. What about you, [JK]?

JK 1:43
Um, okay, so I did not ever get COVID. But one day I was at my house. And my neighbor asked me to hang out. And so I was like, okay, of course, like, come up. And so we hung out for a while. But then after I got a text from him saying, sorry, I didn't tell you, but I was getting tested for COVID this morning. And I just found out that I tested positive. And so I was like, Oh my gosh, like how could you like come and hang out with me after getting like tested for COVID. So I told my parents and my mom she was forced to work throughout the whole pandemic. So she was like kind of freaking out because if she had to miss work, it just like would have been pretty bad. But so this was like also at the beginning of COVID. And like finding testing and organizing that was still kind of hard. So we had to drive like an hour away to get tested. And I ended up being negative but still I had to quarantine for like 14 days, which was not the best.

MA 2:38
That's awful. It's people like that who really made the pandemic worse for all of us.

AP 2:42
Absolutely. Okay, so [JK], how did the pandemic and quarantine impact your mental health and that of those around you? What was the feeling you felt the most during quarantine? If you felt sadness or loneliness, how did you cope with that?

JK 2:56
Okay, so during quarantine, I would say that I was pretty lonely just because like my parents were really strict with like, not letting me see other people. And so I was in my like, room the most, like most of the time, and my like whole family were pretty closed off about our emotions. So it's like, if one person's like sad, like we're not really the type to like, go out and like be like, openly like crying. So every one I think, like my sister and I were both like, pretty sad, but like, we wouldn't show it to each other or like our parents so we'd end up just like cry in like our rooms or something, which is like definitely not healthy. But I'd say the way I coped with sadness was like I would journal a lot. And I would try to like FaceTime friends and like, even though like I didn't do it that often just doing little things like that made me feel better.

AP 3:44
That's good.

JK 3:45
What about you?

MA 3:46
Yeah, so like you were saying I think my family's not very open about like feelings and all that too. So I could tell that me and my sister especially were having a hard time because we usually see her friends daily, she had to come back from like college. And then I was fully remote obviously, as everyone was and even prior to COVID I had like struggled with anxiety and depression so like it only made it worse to be very isolated. And just the like atmosphere around us made everyone anxious. Even people who don't like already have issues with it. So I know that just made me like health anxiety and like about getting it and then in general, I felt like super lonely because like you said, [JK], my family and like even myself, I wanted to stay as far away from people as possible. So I was just very lonely. And I guess the best way to cope with that we were just on like calls constantly like we would be on group calls. Facetimes like House Party, the app. So that was a really good way to still stay in touch and like manage all of that. What about you, [AP]?

AP 4:44
So for me personally, COVID didn't really start affecting my mental health until like several weeks into quarantine. So like my school went completely remote at the beginning of lockdown, and like everybody was kind of in the same boat so it wasn't too stressful. But after those first few weeks that started to really take a toll on my mental health. like not being able to see my friends in school. And, and not being able to socialize was really hard. But thank God for FaceTime, like you said and Zoom. Otherwise, I don't think I would have survived. One big thing that helped me stay in a good mental space was working out. So I'm very lucky to have a little home gym. So I was able to, you know, just get creative with my workouts, but that definitely kept me sane during quarantine.

MA 5:28
Absolutely, I think media is a really important part of like our pandemic, the fact that we were able to stay connected. I don't know what we would have done like, a couple years ago, you know, yeah. So [AP], how isolated were you during COVID? Did you do some socially distance activities in the beginning? Or were you alone for the majority of the time and when you were alone, what did you end up doing in that free time?

AP 5:48
So during quarantine, I was living with my mom, dad and older brother, [AP], and my family and I are really tightly knit. So we were spending a ton of time together, especially my brother and I, my brother is a he's a senior in college now, he's going to Michigan State, so having him home for you know, the majority of quarantine was really nice. And we were able to spend a lot of that time together. And like I said earlier, exercising was a big part of my quarantine. So [AP} and I would like try to get into a good workout regimen at home, which helped us both physically and mentally. And then in terms of socially distant activities, in a way I feel like I was actually able to connect even more with some like long distance friends and family who I hadn't talked to very much before quarantine so that was one positive aspect. [JK], what about you?

JK 6:41
Um, during COVID I was pretty isolated by also I have a younger sister, so I spent a ton of time with her Like, we would go to the grocery store as I was telling you guys earlier, we'd go on drives, we would try and like do like crafts on our like, deck and things like that. And I also went to go see my like family members that were kind of far away like, we did like socially distance picnics and things like that. And I would also like try to do a workout routine and read and yeah, what about you?

MA 7:12
Yeah, so I was definitely one of those people I'm proud to say I was like incredibly cautious, maybe overly cautious, but it's okay. I literally didn't see people at all like I did not leave my house to even go grocery shopping or anything until I think August or September of like 2020 and in that time like [AP]. My sister was home from college because of quarantine. So that was really nice. We did a bunch of things together like at night we would just like get on her bed and like binge Netflix or call different people and stuff like that which was a lot of fun. So like good bonding that way. But in the beginning I definitely didn't do any socially distanced activities let alone even activities on my own really. But then once we like transitioned towards like September and when things were opening up a little more I tried doing like outdoor activities with masks on like picnics, bike riding things like that. So those are really fun.

JK 8:03
Okay, [MA], what was the biggest impact COVID had on your life?

MA 8:07
Yeah so, luckily, I didn't lose anyone, or anything like that. So it wasn't a big impact like that. Um, but I think for me personally, it would definitely be like the social aspect of it. I'm already like super introverted as is, and I don't have like that many friends to begin with. But a lot of my friends the whole reason we were like in contact and super close was through being in school every day talking about like, classwork, teachers, all of that kind of thing. And during COVID basically, like, all my friends just got cut in half, I ended up only having like, a couple close friends that I actually like, stayed in contact with and then stayed like super good friends with after all of this. So I think that was definitely the biggest impact for me. What about you, [AP]?

AP 8:48
So the biggest impact COVID had on my life personally was from an academic standpoint. So going immediately from all in person to all virtual, really quickly was a major change. And so in the beginning of quarantine, I was completely virtual. And then my whole senior year, I was half virtual and half in person. So in my virtual blocks, I was completely asynchronous. So I kind of had to figure out, you know, how to budget my time and want to do homework, and when to look at different assignments. And so actually, I think that was like, really beneficial to right now in college. Like, it was kind of more like the college experience rather than high school where I kind of had to figure out, you know, when to go to class and when to do assignments. So I think that was definitely helpful. A good impact that COVID had. What about you, [JK]?

JK 9:46
Um, for me, I just feel really, like sluggish and sad when I don't set a routine. So COVID kind of taught me like how to like, make use of like big chunks of free time. So I would like wake Got early read, Workout, make breakfast, all of that. And that's also like kind of adding on to [AP] point like I've carried over those habits coming into college. And I think that's gonna help me like make sure that I don't procrastinate my work and things like that. Okay, [MA], how do you feel about transitioning back to normal life? Like being back in person classes and being able to be maskless in some places and other things like that?

MA 10:25
Yes, I definitely think it's a really big transition. And it feels very, very odd. I know like when we were first transitioning into like these new in quote, things, because they're just normal things that we used to do. It just feels so odd that these used to be so normal to us. So in a sense, that makes me really anxious. The fact that we can be maskless like, is this gonna cause another spike and like, will I get sick and things like that. But at the same time, it's really refreshing and relaxing, to be able to return to that kind of normal daily life. Like being in person classes makes me super happy. I did not like remote learning at all. And just having to being able to have that sense of freedom a little bit is really nice to know that we're going in the direction of being completely normal again. What about you, [AP]?

AP 11:08
Yeah, I would have to totally agree with everything you're saying. Like, I'm really psyched to be back fully in person, you know, with the Delta variant around it is a little bit scary. But knowing that we're all vaccinated here at Northeastern, definitely makes me feel safer. But like I said, it's great to, you know, see people in person and in some places we're maskless so it's nice to see everybody's face. But yeah, I'm really glad to be kind of transitioning back to our pre COVID life. Hopefully, things will loosen up even more, and once we get this under control, eventually, we'll be back to normal completely. So what about you, [JK]?

JK 11:52
Um, I feel like for me, during the summer, when things started to loosen up in Seattle, everyone was trying to do like, as much as they could. So it was like, constantly, like everyone was trying to, like hang out, like people were trying to like, keep, like, really busy. And it was kind of like overwhelming just because it's like, you know, things weren't completely normal, but it's like everyone's wanting to do something because they're like, given the opportunity to do it. So it's really, really nice. But again, like everyone else said, it is kind of scary, just because it's like COVID still an issue.

MA 12:23
Yeah, definitely. I think it's just like stressful, nice and everything all in one.

JK 12:28
Thank you so much for listening to our interview. I hope you enjoyed it. Bye.