Item
Brianna Biagini Oral History, 2021/10/03
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
Brianna Biagini Oral History, 2021/10/03
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
October 3, 2021 14:23
Creator (Dublin Core)
Ishmael Rolle
Brianna Lynn Biagini
Type (Dublin Core)
Oral History
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Education--K12
English
Home & Family Life
English
Animals
English
Sports
English
Health & Wellness
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
mother
petsitting
soccer
high school
ADHD
mental health
friend
mask
dog
Collection (Dublin Core)
Survivor Stories
K-12
Mental Health
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
10/06/2021
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
11/24/2021
05/29/2022
07/25/2023
Date Created (Dublin Core)
10/03/2021
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
Ishmael Rolle
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
Brianna Lynn Biagini
Location (Omeka Classic)
33579
Riverview
Florida
United States of America
Format (Dublin Core)
Audio
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:34:35
abstract (Bibliographic Ontology)
Ishmael Rolle interviews Brianna Biagini on her personal experience with life during COVID-19. Brianna talks about her personal relationships with her family and friends, discusses what college was like during the pandemic, and also elaborates on the topic of mental health.
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Ishmael Rolle 0:03
Hello, my name is Ishmael Rolle. It is October 3rd at 2:25. It's pretty sunny outside, and I am here with Brianna Lynne to interview you about your time with COVID. So for starters, can you just give us your full name?
Brianna Biagini 0:19
My name is Brianna Lynne Biagini.
Ishmael Rolle 0:21
Fantastic. And what do you do on a daily?
Brianna Biagini 0:26
A daily? School work.
Ishmael Rolle 0:27
You're a student?
Brianna Biagini 0:28
Yeah, full time student. I also scroll through TikTok for a couple hours a day. I also stare into the fridge being like, what am I going to eat today? So…
Ishmael Rolle 0:39
So tell me, do you live on campus?
Brianna Biagini 0:42
Yes, I do live on campus.
Ishmael Rolle 0:44
Wonderful. And do you enjoy it?
Brianna Biagini 0:45
Yes, I very much enjoy it. It's very close to everything. And it's just like a little fun adventure every day.
Ishmael Rolle 0:54
Before you lived on campus, where'd you live?
Brianna Biagini 0:56
I lived in my hometown of Port St. Joe, Florida, seven and a half, wait, seven and a half hours from campus. Small town, smaller than the population of the school. So…
Ishmael Rolle 1:09
Did you enjoy your time in your hometown?
Brianna Biagini 1:12
No, not at all. Too tiny. Nothing to do. Just sit there and stare at walls.
Ishmael Rolle 1:19
Well, and were you staring at walls when you first heard about COVID?
Brianna Biagini 1:23
At the start of COVID, I was basically just going through every day doing schoolwork. And I did get a, I did get a job petsitting. So that took up a bit of my time. So I had different walls to look at. But I was also playing soccer full time in the afternoons.
Ishmael Rolle 1:42
Well, how old were you when COVID hit?
Brianna Biagini 1:45
When COVID hit. I think I was 16.
Ishmael Rolle 1:49
Wow.
Brianna Biagini 1:50
Yeah. COVID hit in March. My birthday is in March. So I don't remember exactly if I was 15 or 16. But later 15, early 16.
Ishmael Rolle 2:03
Interesting. So when COVID first hit, since it was around your birthday, how did you, what were your initial thoughts when you first learned about it?
Brianna Biagini 2:13
Well, I kind of saw it coming because every like, 1720, there was a pandemic. 1820, there was a pandemic. 1920, there was a pandemic. So I was like, yep, 2020's next year, there's gonna be a pandemic, like, it happens. So I was like, Oh, here it is. It happened. Okay. Great.
Ishmael Rolle 2:36
What concerns you most about it?
Brianna Biagini 2:37
If my mom got it, she’d most likely die just because she's older. So that would leave me as an orphan. So I was like, I don't want that. But inheritance, so.
Ishmael Rolle 2:56
Let's talk about, a little bit about your family. Alright, so tell us about your mom.
Brianna Biagini 2:59
My mom is not actually biologically related to me. I am a test tube baby. So my mom basically paid for me. And then basically, I got implanted in her. Then she carried me for nine months. Well, eight months, then gave birth to me via C section a month early. So…
Ishmael Rolle 3:25
Oh, you have a weird story.
Brianna Biagini 3:27
Yeah. Not like more normal people, just like, hi, I'm here in a test tube, sat in a test tube for like 20 to 40 years just frozen.
Ishmael Rolle 3:40
Has it been like any, has this affected you at all, like?
Brianna Biagini 3:43
Oh, it does, because it's kind of like, technically I'm like 20 years older than I actually am. So, at least, I don't know exactly how long I was in ice. So like…
Ishmael Rolle 3:57
How does that work?
Brianna Biagini 3:59
Um, basically, there was a family a long time ago that had trouble conceiving naturally. So they kind of just like egg, sperm, that's extracted and then, under a microscope injected. So then you're an egg, and then they freeze you until the family is ready to try. And then they unfreeze you and put you into the mother. And if it works, the mother gets pregnant, and along with birth and pregnancy, but they had enough kids to the point where like, okay, we have enough kids, we're done. We still have some frozen, so we're going to donate it to other people because we know it works. So then I was donated, I guess I wasn't used for a couple of years, 20, 40 years, I don't know. And then my mom got a hold of me. So…
Ishmael Rolle 4:52
Has this affected any relationships in your life?
Brianna Biagini 4:56
Not really, because my mom didn't want me to talk about it when I was in high school. But now I'm kind of just out from underneath the roof. And I'm just like, Yeah, I was frozen for like 20 to 40 years. And then I thawed out, and then I made it. And now I'm here because it's like, a lot of different odds to fight against, and I made them all. So…
Ishmael Rolle 5:18
So how was how was your relationship with your mother?
Brianna Biagini 5:21
Not, there wasn't very much of one, seeing as my mom was single. And she, most of her family was dead, and she was older. She was 48 when she had me, so she doesn't really talk to her brother or anyone on his side, just because there was a lot of conflict between them growing up. So it's just my mom, and her one friend who is my godmother, but I call her my aunt. So it’s just about that. And since my mom was single, she worked a lot to support me. So she was always working, like, constantly either in her vet clinic, or renovating a house, or renting a house or whatever. So I didn't get to spend a lot of time with her, I still don't get to spend a lot of time with her. And the times I do spend with her, it's more of her lecturing me on school because I wasn't doing enough to her standards. But also, since I don't share her same genetics, she doesn't know about my learning disabilities that I have. So she kind of treated me like a normal child that didn't have any and expected me to do better. So that put a lot of strain because she would keep me up late at night, and wake me up really early. So like, a lot of conflict because a child needs their sleep, and I was getting like four to five hours of sleep as a six year old.
Ishmael Rolle 6:56
Did, I mean, did COVID affect your guys' relationship at all when it hit?
Brianna Biagini 7:00
It did affect our relationship because it was basically a big excuse for my mother to keep me indoors. So normally, I would like, I wouldn't leave the house a lot. But I would go out with friends and there wasn't the, it'd be like, hey, I'm going out with friends. And mom's like, okay, what time are you going to be back, and I'm like, I don't know, maybe this time and should be like, alright. Then COVID hit, and my mom was like, you're not allowed to leave at all, for whatever reason. So…
Ishmael Rolle 7:33
So a lot of those activities that you did with your friends, they...
Brianna Biagini 7:36
Yeah, kind of just stopped. And then, but as COVID went later, and later, I was like, okay, something needs to change because I'm just sitting in a box, a square room, basically a box doing schoolwork and then nothing else. So then I would basically leave the house and do like two hours of working out, biking, just straight biking for like 20 miles every day. That helped because it got me out of the house. And my mom was still working at the time renovating the house and renovating our rental house. And during that time, I also made new friends. And my mom kind of did push one of these friends on me just because she also picked up RV lots and one of the renters had a kid my age who also played soccer at the time. So we all would go out to the soccer field and play and that's how I met those friends. And like later months, like before school, like later summer, like June and July, like we would hang out like every day. And that did put a strain on my relationship with my mother, because it showed just how controlling she is.
Ishmael Rolle 8:58
Let's change topics a little bit. Did you know many people in the community where you lived?
Brianna Biagini 9:05
I did know a lot of people but I didn't know them personally. I know their names and like what they would do, just because they were like important people of the town. Or people with like a lot of money and high standing because my town was very much a hierarchy of money and status.
Ishmael Rolle 9:24
And where did you guys fit into this hierarchy?
Brianna Biagini 9:27
There was a great divide, like between the people with money and without money to like, these two like, the divide was like, people without money would hang out with those people, and the people with money were basically one giant family. But since my me and my mother had money, we did fit in that higher standing, but we weren't related to anyone. So we basically were just like an outcast.
Ishmael Rolle 9:54
And that must have been hard.
Brianna Biagini 9:55
Yeah.
Ishmael Rolle 9:55
So you're watching, you didn't really interact deeply with, with your surrounding community, but I assume when the pandemic hit, did you see any differences in them?
Brianna Biagini 10:07
I saw, I didn't see like the other, like higher up people just because they would stay home because a lot of them are older and vulnerable to the pandemic. So they would stay home and my mom would keep me at home, but I did find other outcasts that just didn't care and people from out of town. So it's like, okay, so the whole like, outcasts, we made our own like little group.
Ishmael Rolle 10:36
So among the outcasts are the upper or lower part of this hierarchy. Did you notice any group in particular, kind of change their minds about the, about the pandemic, one way or the other?
Brianna Biagini 10:49
Honestly, with this group, it didn't care about money. Like, the whole hierarchy thing was like out the window, no one cared. And with the pandemic, we're like, okay, we're our own little group. We're just gonna stick together, like we wouldn't, if we went out, we were out together, like out in the town, we were all together. And we're just like, COVID. Screw that. It's a small enough town, we have like one case. So we were all like, okay, just wear a mask, hand sanitizer. It didn't really, if COVID was more of like, just like a giant shut down. And there weren't many cases.
Ishmael Rolle 11:30
Did you know anybody personally, who even got COVID, that one case in your town for example, did you know them?
Brianna Biagini 11:36
I did not. But later on, I did end up getting COVID myself. So…
Ishmael Rolle 11:42
How was that?
Brianna Biagini 11:43
It was, it was a trip. Basically, I should have been hospitalized because it was really bad for me. But my mom didn't really pay attention to that. So I kind of just slept through the whole thing.
Ishmael Rolle 11:57
Could you talk a little bit about what you were feeling?
Brianna Biagini 12:01
Basically, since I slept through a lot of it, I don't remember the times like actually having it besides like, barely being able to breathe, being very lightheaded a lot. And that's like during it. But after I really saw that my breathing had been affected and my lung capacity was much smaller.
Ishmael Rolle 12:24
What was going through your head when you realized that you had COVID?
Brianna Biagini 12:29
It was kind of like a big shock, since I did not interact with anyone outside of my little group. And I was the only one in that group to get it. So I was like, how did I get it? I still don't know how I got it. It's like, well, this is fun. Now I can't even hang out with my friends.
Ishmael Rolle 12:48
How long were you bedridden for?
Brianna Biagini 12:51
Probably two weeks. Like I slept through one straight week, just completely slept through it. And next week, I was kind of up and down, but still mostly in bed.
Ishmael Rolle 13:01
Did it change your friends' reaction when you got back to them?
Brianna Biagini 13:06
Getting back together was more hesitant because I got COVID in December. So by that time school had started, and my friend from out of town went back to Ohio where he lives. And then my other friend moved to Tallahassee to go to FSU. So it literally left me and my best friend who lives down the street. And since I got COVID, she wasn't allowed to see me just because her parents are also just a tad bit older. Not as old as mine, but they're like in their mid 50s.
Ishmael Rolle 13:38
Did you guys still manage to keep contact though?
Brianna Biagini 13:40
Oh, yeah, we still keep contact to this day. I'm not so close with my friend who lived down the street just because she has been ignoring me.
Ishmael Rolle 13:49
Sorry
Brianna Biagini 13:49
That's fine.
Ishmael Rolle 13:50
Moving to college, right?
Brianna Biagini 13:52
Yeah.
Ishmael Rolle 13:54
How did COVID affect your kind of decision on where to go to for college?
Brianna Biagini 13:58
It didn't just because I was like, I'm going to do my own thing in college. So my mom was like, very hesitant on me going far away for college, just because she didn't want me to get out from underneath her roof. And she was like COVID reasons, and I'm like COVID is almost gone. Basically, it's been two years. Everyone's either getting a vaccine or like really cracking down on it. And it's like, you don't hear about a lot new cases. And everyone's basically vaccinated or has had it. So for me, I was like, I'm going to go to college, where I like the campus. So…
Ishmael Rolle 14:43
Is that why you chose this college?
Brianna Biagini 14:44
I, yeah, I chose this college just because I can walk all the way around campus. I can bike it. It's not that big of a town. It's not a big culture shock, but it's still a bit of one just because there are so many more people and, that, and I liked how I could live on campus and that the on campus dorms were pretty close to campus. And there's a bus system that takes you off campus to a mall and a shopping center.
Ishmael Rolle 15:12
Did any of your friends from your hometown come with you?
Brianna Biagini 15:15
No, I was the, I don't, since I was homeschooled. I also didn't like get along with people in high school, because we only had one high school. And I didn't know my graduating class. So I knew like maybe two people. So I don't know where anyone in my graduating class went.
Ishmael Rolle 15:39
Interesting. Since being on campus, has the pandemic, like, impacted your life at all?
Brianna Biagini 15:46
No, not at all. Like I do keep a mask on when I go to classes just because some of my friends are immune compromised, just so I keep my mask on just to protect them.
Ishmael Rolle 16:01
So tell me a little bit more about how you learned about like, where you got your information from, through the pandemic, was it like the news or?
Brianna Biagini 16:09
I don't trust the news, just because it's really, really biased with politics. And I don't like to get involved in politics, because it's just, there's too much there. So I'm like, screw the news, I'm going to go into like my own research. So I got, I found a person on TikTok who really did a lot of research on the pandemic and didn't pay attention to the news. So they've given like raw information from like health sites and everything and like the government. So I would keep an eye on that. And I'd also do my own research on some of the same sites that he was looking at.
Ishmael Rolle 16:45
And you have that same source from the beginning up until now, just about?
Brianna Biagini 16:49
Yeah, that person isn't, is no longer doing it just because they were shut down by TikTok, for TikTok being annoying, and like, you're too political. There’s no politics in it.
Ishmael Rolle 17:03
What information do you think that the main source media, mainstream media, what information, what topics do you think that they're avoiding, or they're over covering?
Brianna Biagini 17:14
They'll like pick an event and basically, look at it only from one side and say, like, the one side we're looking at is the good side and the other side is the bad side and not actually looking at what's happening. So I'm like, that's not actually what happened. You can literally go on to TikTok, and find videos of people who were actually there just recording what actually happened.
Ishmael Rolle 17:39
And do you feel like government leaders reacted pretty well to the pandemic?
Brianna Biagini 17:45
Some of them did. Others were basically influenced by politics, even though the pol-, political stance should have been taken out of it, and it should have been dealt with maturely, like, how an adult should handle their child getting sick.
Ishmael Rolle 18:03
Let's say that, let's say that we give you the power of the president, how would you have reacted to the pandemic, as soon as you heard about it?
Brianna Biagini 18:10
As soon as I heard about it, I would have probably shut down the borders, just so like, you can't get the COVID into the country. But if COVID did get into the country, I would say everything would be shut down. The only thing open would probably be hospitals open to patients who still need to obviously see health care and probably keep the grocery stores open. But at like 50 or 25% capacity. Restaurants, I'd probably just say, okay, like 10% capacity, but keep it very minimal. And since people would probably be get getting laid off of work, and say, okay, I'd forgive like anyone who's got like a mortgage, that's on hold, like no interest on that, everything's on hold that besides like, electrical bills, just because you'll be using more of it and probably AC, but cut that down a little bit. And if people are living from paycheck to paycheck, be like, okay, here's a stimulus to help pay for like food and gas. So basically, just like everyone, stay home, stay safe, like and keep your hands washed, wear a mask and try to get a vaccine made that’s actually a safe one.
Ishmael Rolle 19:37
Do you think that since the pandemic hit that some people have been acting a little irrational about it, or do you think most people are pretty much treating it the way that they ought to be treating it?
Brianna Biagini 19:51
There are some people who are overreacting to like with a point like if someone is standing six feet away, they're like, oh, you're standing too close, put a mask on, even though they have a mask on. They're overreacting. But there are some people who are underreacting, such as going out every night, going to restaurants and not caring and not putting a mask on and not social distancing.
Ishmael Rolle 20:22
How do you feel the pandemic has been affecting, on your campus for example, people's mental and physical activity?
Brianna Biagini 20:32
I do feel that for some people, it limits their physical activity. But for other people, it kind of enhances it because other things are closed. So they don't have like other things to do, so like they can exercise. And for some people, it might affect their mental health as in, they don't feel safe going to the gym or exercising outside. So they might feel kind of mentally drained because they're sitting in their dorm room all day.
Ishmael Rolle 21:04
We're gonna take it back a little bit. You mentioned that you had a job as a pet sitter, right? Tell me about your job before, pre-COVID.
Brianna Biagini 21:12
Pre-COVID I started my job January 2020. Very funny, didn't last very long. Basically, people would travel a lot. So I just stayed in their house, watch their pets, if they had plants, I'd water the plants or if they had literally was like, Hey, I'm leaving town, but I have this worker coming in. I'd be like, okay, I can come and watch over them. And I'd get paid for that. It paid really well. I really helped some people because I, one of my clients, they had a daughter in Texas who was diagnosed with stage four cancer. So I was like, Hey, if you need to go I can watch your pets. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about payment. We'll talk about that when you get back and everything’s settled. They literally go for like a week and be like, okay, hey, there's another doctor's appointment, could you stay for a couple more days and be like, yeah, take care what you need to. So really helped people but then when COVID hit it was like, they couldn't travel because traveling got shut down. So basically, everyone was staying home. So no one needed their pets to be watched. So basically COVID hit, my company died.
Ishmael Rolle 22:26
Do you have any fun stories from your time petsitting? Any interesting pets, any interesting houses you've been in?
Brianna Biagini 22:36
The most interesting thing is, most of my clients had small dogs, either a Chihuahua, a Pomeranian or a mix of both. But yeah, there was either a Chihuahua, Pomeranian or a mix, a mix of a Chihuahua-Pomeranian and I'm like, tiny dogs, people like tiny dogs. Like everyone had a tiny dog.
Ishmael Rolle 23:02
Did you ever own any pets?
Brianna Biagini 23:04
I had two pets. My cat most recently died back in June. He was 22 and four months. And I currently have a dog, a 11 year old golden retriever. He is on the bigger side of golden, golden retrievers, at like 105 pounds.
Ishmael Rolle 23:22
Nice. How on how long have you had him?
Brianna Biagini 23:25
I've had a golden retriever for 11 years; we had him since he was like six weeks.
Ishmael Rolle 23:29
So you really raised him from...
Brianna Biagini 23:31
Yeah. And he's a very sweet boy. Like, he'll stand at the door and like look in and be like, can I come in, and you just got a motion for him to come in. And he'll come in and just plop his head on your lap.
Ishmael Rolle 23:44
And how has he been handling the pandemic?
Brianna Biagini 23:48
He really liked the pandemic just because I got to stay home more. So he'd get more attention. And whenever I was going out, I'd take him for a walk just to get some exercise. So he got more attention, more exercise. He really enjoyed the pandemic.
Ishmael Rolle 24:12
So, through, since you've lived through this pandemic, you've had kind of an interesting upbringing. How has this experience really affected the way that you think about your family or friends, the people around you, your college?
Brianna Biagini 24:34
It's, COVID has really had me looking more like who people are and kind of like how they react to things. And it is helped to show me that how I actually read people is differently than how other people do it. So before it's like, I would like look at people's like posture and how their faces and like the words that they are saying that during COVID, I was like, people would wear masks so you couldn't see their face. So I was like, okay, how can I read you? And that's how I picked up on reading people's energies and kind of like their whole vibe that's coming off of them.
Ishmael Rolle 25:17
And have you been using this skill?
Brianna Biagini 25:19
I continued using the skill, and it really helps me when I walk into a room or into a group of people. I'm like, Okay, what's the whole vibe of the group? Is it like, upset? Like something, like someone just got hurt? Or is it like really happy about like someone's birthday party and everyone's excited?
Ishmael Rolle 25:41
Before, before the pandemic, what would you say was the biggest event in your life?
Brianna Biagini 25:47
Before pandemic the biggest event was probably soccer.
Ishmael Rolle 25:52
Yes, you mentioned that you played a lot of soccer, a lot of your friends' soccer. Soccer has been a big part of your life?
Brianna Biagini 25:57
Oh, yes, my high school life, it's been a huge part. Before high school, it was dance and traveling. It was like dance for eight years, then we traveled for like a couple of months, maybe a year, and then soccer.
Ishmael Rolle 26:13
What kind of experiences did you have while playing soccer?
Brianna Biagini 26:17
Through soccer, you can easily find the people that are really interested in soccer or a specific thing. Or, and the people who are just there to just get extra credit or just to hang out and not care. So…
Ishmael Rolle 26:36
And, and going back to dance. Anything interesting there?
Brianna Biagini 26:42
I don't remember much of dance just because I blank out a lot on my younger years. But most of my dance was just an escape, wasn't much feeling was put into it. So with dance, you're supposed to spend two years in each class. For me, it took me three years in each class to get through it because I didn't care.
Ishmael Rolle 27:06
What were you trying to escape from?
Brianna Biagini 27:08
Basically, my mother cause she put a lot of pressure on me. Because again, we were younger, and the only interaction was school. So like, a lot of times I'd come home and I'd get a B on a test. And my mom's like, that's not good enough. You have to get an A. So like, she would push me to study on that subject. But since she didn't know I had ADHD, and I can't study at night, she was pushing something that wasn't working. So was a lot of conflict. So my dance was basically a way for me literally to go from school straight to something else.
Ishmael Rolle 27:43
And did you find that same kind of escape in soccer?
Brianna Biagini 27:46
I did. It was the same escape. But it was also something that I was actually interested in. So it was an escape and something exciting and fun. And I mean, just completely just forget the outside world.
Ishmael Rolle 28:00
Your mother's played a pretty big role in your development. Do you, even after you moved out, do you feel like she's still kind of have has an effect over you?
Brianna Biagini 28:08
Yes, very much so. Basically, it's like, I feel like she's got like, a hand over my head with like strings attached. Just like, you can't do that because it's not good. And I'm like, it's literally hanging with friends till midnight because that's okay. I'm like, it's okay to hang out with friends. But I feel like I have to go back to my room and study for something I understand and I'm doing fine in.
Ishmael Rolle 28:35
And you also mentioned that you had a godmother who you refer to as your aunt? Can you tell me a little bit about her?
Brianna Biagini 28:41
I've known her for basically my entire life. And she was great friends with my mom. She still is. She's older than my mom by 10 years. She's 77, I love her dearly. She was a teacher. Anytime I go to her house, it's like a safe zone.
Ishmael Rolle 28:58
And did she ever take you out to go do all sorts things?
Brianna Biagini 29:02
Since she lived seven and a half hours from my mom, the only times I really got to see her where my birthdays and sometimes Christmas. And when I did see her, we would go out and go to like festivals or just hang out and do something fun in the house.
Ishmael Rolle 29:19
Did you did she teach you anything? In skills and new shows maybe?
Brianna Biagini 29:25
She taught me a lot that if you want to do something, just go do it. Like traveling like, all who wander are not lost. So she's like, yeah, I'm gonna go to this next month and just go hike in a mountain, and I'm like, that's really cool. She's like, yeah, I'm just going with the flow every day. If someone invites me to it's something I'm like, yeah, if I have time to do it, I'm gonna go do it. So like… yeah.
Ishmael Rolle 29:51
Do you feel like there's like, that your mom and your aunt are on kind of like the opposite sides of the same coin?
Brianna Biagini 29:57
Yeah, because my mom was really controlling and my aunt is like, really just go with the flow, don't really care.
Ishmael Rolle 30:05
Did you have any other relatives in your life?
Brianna Biagini 30:09
From the ages of birth to four, I had my grandmother, from my mom, she was really nice, I don't remember much of her, I only have two memories. One memory is pulling into my grandmother's house, the driveway, and going through the garage door and just running around the counter and just jumping into her arms. And the other one is a sadder one, it's go-, it's coming out of elevators in a hospital, going past the reception desk and into her hospital room.
Ishmael Rolle 30:35
So you remember those, at least those two events pretty clearly?
Brianna Biagini 30:40
Yeah. But I know that grandmother was really kind, and I spent a lot of time with her. Whenever I could.
Ishmael Rolle 30:48
Do you have any relatives that you wish that you connected with a little bit more, or that you wish you had contact with to this day?
Brianna Biagini 30:55
The only other relative I would like to have met probably have been my grandfather, just because he was a really, from the stories that I've heard, he was a really honest person and really like, kind and like, trustworthy.
Ishmael Rolle 31:11
So you didn't have a ton of familial connections through, through your life. Do you think that your friends might have kind of replaced your family in a way? Or at least the family connections that you didn't have?
Brianna Biagini 31:26
Yeah, there are a few people that I would consider, like my siblings at times. But like, as soon as I consider them my sibling, they basically back off and like disappear. So…
Ishmael Rolle 31:42
Is there anyone who you've known outside your family who you've known from, like super young, and you still keep contact to this day, and you still have that strong connection?
Brianna Biagini 31:53
There's currently possibly, probably two, one my friend who lives down the street, but things are kind of fizzling out now. And then I have my other friend who lives like 45 minutes from campus who I just got back from a birthday party with. But I don't talk to her a lot, but she's the only other person that I've known since kind of a young age.
Ishmael Rolle 32:17
So you've been you've been through a lot, right?
Brianna Biagini 32:21
Yeah.
Ishmael Rolle 32:24
Everything from your family, living through this pandemic, with your friends and all that. Where do you see yourself in a year from now ?
Brianna Biagini 32:32
A year from now? Probably over in North Lake hanging out with friends I've met from college, doing, going through classes.
Ishmael Rolle 32:40
And do you think these friends from college, think that they're going to be with you for a pretty long time?
Brianna Biagini 32:46
Yes, because I connect with them a lot more than I've connected with other people. I've gotten really close to them really, really quickly. And it's like, we all vibe together, we all have the same energy. So we all kind of just click.
Ishmael Rolle 33:00
Do you ou feel like this pandemic is gonna be gone by the time you get to North Lake?
Brianna Biagini 33:05
I hope so. I don't know. It might still be like something like the flu that comes back. And, but it might like fizzle out. I don't really know, it feels like it's fizzling out, but it's still here.
Ishmael Rolle 33:18
So knowing, knowing everything that you do now. And let's say that you could go back to the beginning of the pandemic, what would you change?
Brianna Biagini 33:27
What would I change? I, I'd probably tell my younger self to be like, hey, try not to spend as much money try to just take that money and literally just put it to the side and not touch it till you get to college because you'll need it in college for like the first couple months. But I'd also tell my younger self, hey, work on yourself more look, focus on yourself more. Because going through the whole pandemic, there was a lot of sketchy months where I didn't know if I was gonna make it to the next day.
Ishmael Rolle 34:04
Do you feel like this time in the pandemic has helped you learn anything else about yourself?
Brianna Biagini 34:09
Oh, yeah, I've learned a lot about myself. I've basically stopped trying to caretake for everyone and try to take care of myself a bit more. And focus on improving my health and my mental health.
Ishmael Rolle 34:28
I think that's it. Testing, testing 123 I am here with- [audio stops].
Hello, my name is Ishmael Rolle. It is October 3rd at 2:25. It's pretty sunny outside, and I am here with Brianna Lynne to interview you about your time with COVID. So for starters, can you just give us your full name?
Brianna Biagini 0:19
My name is Brianna Lynne Biagini.
Ishmael Rolle 0:21
Fantastic. And what do you do on a daily?
Brianna Biagini 0:26
A daily? School work.
Ishmael Rolle 0:27
You're a student?
Brianna Biagini 0:28
Yeah, full time student. I also scroll through TikTok for a couple hours a day. I also stare into the fridge being like, what am I going to eat today? So…
Ishmael Rolle 0:39
So tell me, do you live on campus?
Brianna Biagini 0:42
Yes, I do live on campus.
Ishmael Rolle 0:44
Wonderful. And do you enjoy it?
Brianna Biagini 0:45
Yes, I very much enjoy it. It's very close to everything. And it's just like a little fun adventure every day.
Ishmael Rolle 0:54
Before you lived on campus, where'd you live?
Brianna Biagini 0:56
I lived in my hometown of Port St. Joe, Florida, seven and a half, wait, seven and a half hours from campus. Small town, smaller than the population of the school. So…
Ishmael Rolle 1:09
Did you enjoy your time in your hometown?
Brianna Biagini 1:12
No, not at all. Too tiny. Nothing to do. Just sit there and stare at walls.
Ishmael Rolle 1:19
Well, and were you staring at walls when you first heard about COVID?
Brianna Biagini 1:23
At the start of COVID, I was basically just going through every day doing schoolwork. And I did get a, I did get a job petsitting. So that took up a bit of my time. So I had different walls to look at. But I was also playing soccer full time in the afternoons.
Ishmael Rolle 1:42
Well, how old were you when COVID hit?
Brianna Biagini 1:45
When COVID hit. I think I was 16.
Ishmael Rolle 1:49
Wow.
Brianna Biagini 1:50
Yeah. COVID hit in March. My birthday is in March. So I don't remember exactly if I was 15 or 16. But later 15, early 16.
Ishmael Rolle 2:03
Interesting. So when COVID first hit, since it was around your birthday, how did you, what were your initial thoughts when you first learned about it?
Brianna Biagini 2:13
Well, I kind of saw it coming because every like, 1720, there was a pandemic. 1820, there was a pandemic. 1920, there was a pandemic. So I was like, yep, 2020's next year, there's gonna be a pandemic, like, it happens. So I was like, Oh, here it is. It happened. Okay. Great.
Ishmael Rolle 2:36
What concerns you most about it?
Brianna Biagini 2:37
If my mom got it, she’d most likely die just because she's older. So that would leave me as an orphan. So I was like, I don't want that. But inheritance, so.
Ishmael Rolle 2:56
Let's talk about, a little bit about your family. Alright, so tell us about your mom.
Brianna Biagini 2:59
My mom is not actually biologically related to me. I am a test tube baby. So my mom basically paid for me. And then basically, I got implanted in her. Then she carried me for nine months. Well, eight months, then gave birth to me via C section a month early. So…
Ishmael Rolle 3:25
Oh, you have a weird story.
Brianna Biagini 3:27
Yeah. Not like more normal people, just like, hi, I'm here in a test tube, sat in a test tube for like 20 to 40 years just frozen.
Ishmael Rolle 3:40
Has it been like any, has this affected you at all, like?
Brianna Biagini 3:43
Oh, it does, because it's kind of like, technically I'm like 20 years older than I actually am. So, at least, I don't know exactly how long I was in ice. So like…
Ishmael Rolle 3:57
How does that work?
Brianna Biagini 3:59
Um, basically, there was a family a long time ago that had trouble conceiving naturally. So they kind of just like egg, sperm, that's extracted and then, under a microscope injected. So then you're an egg, and then they freeze you until the family is ready to try. And then they unfreeze you and put you into the mother. And if it works, the mother gets pregnant, and along with birth and pregnancy, but they had enough kids to the point where like, okay, we have enough kids, we're done. We still have some frozen, so we're going to donate it to other people because we know it works. So then I was donated, I guess I wasn't used for a couple of years, 20, 40 years, I don't know. And then my mom got a hold of me. So…
Ishmael Rolle 4:52
Has this affected any relationships in your life?
Brianna Biagini 4:56
Not really, because my mom didn't want me to talk about it when I was in high school. But now I'm kind of just out from underneath the roof. And I'm just like, Yeah, I was frozen for like 20 to 40 years. And then I thawed out, and then I made it. And now I'm here because it's like, a lot of different odds to fight against, and I made them all. So…
Ishmael Rolle 5:18
So how was how was your relationship with your mother?
Brianna Biagini 5:21
Not, there wasn't very much of one, seeing as my mom was single. And she, most of her family was dead, and she was older. She was 48 when she had me, so she doesn't really talk to her brother or anyone on his side, just because there was a lot of conflict between them growing up. So it's just my mom, and her one friend who is my godmother, but I call her my aunt. So it’s just about that. And since my mom was single, she worked a lot to support me. So she was always working, like, constantly either in her vet clinic, or renovating a house, or renting a house or whatever. So I didn't get to spend a lot of time with her, I still don't get to spend a lot of time with her. And the times I do spend with her, it's more of her lecturing me on school because I wasn't doing enough to her standards. But also, since I don't share her same genetics, she doesn't know about my learning disabilities that I have. So she kind of treated me like a normal child that didn't have any and expected me to do better. So that put a lot of strain because she would keep me up late at night, and wake me up really early. So like, a lot of conflict because a child needs their sleep, and I was getting like four to five hours of sleep as a six year old.
Ishmael Rolle 6:56
Did, I mean, did COVID affect your guys' relationship at all when it hit?
Brianna Biagini 7:00
It did affect our relationship because it was basically a big excuse for my mother to keep me indoors. So normally, I would like, I wouldn't leave the house a lot. But I would go out with friends and there wasn't the, it'd be like, hey, I'm going out with friends. And mom's like, okay, what time are you going to be back, and I'm like, I don't know, maybe this time and should be like, alright. Then COVID hit, and my mom was like, you're not allowed to leave at all, for whatever reason. So…
Ishmael Rolle 7:33
So a lot of those activities that you did with your friends, they...
Brianna Biagini 7:36
Yeah, kind of just stopped. And then, but as COVID went later, and later, I was like, okay, something needs to change because I'm just sitting in a box, a square room, basically a box doing schoolwork and then nothing else. So then I would basically leave the house and do like two hours of working out, biking, just straight biking for like 20 miles every day. That helped because it got me out of the house. And my mom was still working at the time renovating the house and renovating our rental house. And during that time, I also made new friends. And my mom kind of did push one of these friends on me just because she also picked up RV lots and one of the renters had a kid my age who also played soccer at the time. So we all would go out to the soccer field and play and that's how I met those friends. And like later months, like before school, like later summer, like June and July, like we would hang out like every day. And that did put a strain on my relationship with my mother, because it showed just how controlling she is.
Ishmael Rolle 8:58
Let's change topics a little bit. Did you know many people in the community where you lived?
Brianna Biagini 9:05
I did know a lot of people but I didn't know them personally. I know their names and like what they would do, just because they were like important people of the town. Or people with like a lot of money and high standing because my town was very much a hierarchy of money and status.
Ishmael Rolle 9:24
And where did you guys fit into this hierarchy?
Brianna Biagini 9:27
There was a great divide, like between the people with money and without money to like, these two like, the divide was like, people without money would hang out with those people, and the people with money were basically one giant family. But since my me and my mother had money, we did fit in that higher standing, but we weren't related to anyone. So we basically were just like an outcast.
Ishmael Rolle 9:54
And that must have been hard.
Brianna Biagini 9:55
Yeah.
Ishmael Rolle 9:55
So you're watching, you didn't really interact deeply with, with your surrounding community, but I assume when the pandemic hit, did you see any differences in them?
Brianna Biagini 10:07
I saw, I didn't see like the other, like higher up people just because they would stay home because a lot of them are older and vulnerable to the pandemic. So they would stay home and my mom would keep me at home, but I did find other outcasts that just didn't care and people from out of town. So it's like, okay, so the whole like, outcasts, we made our own like little group.
Ishmael Rolle 10:36
So among the outcasts are the upper or lower part of this hierarchy. Did you notice any group in particular, kind of change their minds about the, about the pandemic, one way or the other?
Brianna Biagini 10:49
Honestly, with this group, it didn't care about money. Like, the whole hierarchy thing was like out the window, no one cared. And with the pandemic, we're like, okay, we're our own little group. We're just gonna stick together, like we wouldn't, if we went out, we were out together, like out in the town, we were all together. And we're just like, COVID. Screw that. It's a small enough town, we have like one case. So we were all like, okay, just wear a mask, hand sanitizer. It didn't really, if COVID was more of like, just like a giant shut down. And there weren't many cases.
Ishmael Rolle 11:30
Did you know anybody personally, who even got COVID, that one case in your town for example, did you know them?
Brianna Biagini 11:36
I did not. But later on, I did end up getting COVID myself. So…
Ishmael Rolle 11:42
How was that?
Brianna Biagini 11:43
It was, it was a trip. Basically, I should have been hospitalized because it was really bad for me. But my mom didn't really pay attention to that. So I kind of just slept through the whole thing.
Ishmael Rolle 11:57
Could you talk a little bit about what you were feeling?
Brianna Biagini 12:01
Basically, since I slept through a lot of it, I don't remember the times like actually having it besides like, barely being able to breathe, being very lightheaded a lot. And that's like during it. But after I really saw that my breathing had been affected and my lung capacity was much smaller.
Ishmael Rolle 12:24
What was going through your head when you realized that you had COVID?
Brianna Biagini 12:29
It was kind of like a big shock, since I did not interact with anyone outside of my little group. And I was the only one in that group to get it. So I was like, how did I get it? I still don't know how I got it. It's like, well, this is fun. Now I can't even hang out with my friends.
Ishmael Rolle 12:48
How long were you bedridden for?
Brianna Biagini 12:51
Probably two weeks. Like I slept through one straight week, just completely slept through it. And next week, I was kind of up and down, but still mostly in bed.
Ishmael Rolle 13:01
Did it change your friends' reaction when you got back to them?
Brianna Biagini 13:06
Getting back together was more hesitant because I got COVID in December. So by that time school had started, and my friend from out of town went back to Ohio where he lives. And then my other friend moved to Tallahassee to go to FSU. So it literally left me and my best friend who lives down the street. And since I got COVID, she wasn't allowed to see me just because her parents are also just a tad bit older. Not as old as mine, but they're like in their mid 50s.
Ishmael Rolle 13:38
Did you guys still manage to keep contact though?
Brianna Biagini 13:40
Oh, yeah, we still keep contact to this day. I'm not so close with my friend who lived down the street just because she has been ignoring me.
Ishmael Rolle 13:49
Sorry
Brianna Biagini 13:49
That's fine.
Ishmael Rolle 13:50
Moving to college, right?
Brianna Biagini 13:52
Yeah.
Ishmael Rolle 13:54
How did COVID affect your kind of decision on where to go to for college?
Brianna Biagini 13:58
It didn't just because I was like, I'm going to do my own thing in college. So my mom was like, very hesitant on me going far away for college, just because she didn't want me to get out from underneath her roof. And she was like COVID reasons, and I'm like COVID is almost gone. Basically, it's been two years. Everyone's either getting a vaccine or like really cracking down on it. And it's like, you don't hear about a lot new cases. And everyone's basically vaccinated or has had it. So for me, I was like, I'm going to go to college, where I like the campus. So…
Ishmael Rolle 14:43
Is that why you chose this college?
Brianna Biagini 14:44
I, yeah, I chose this college just because I can walk all the way around campus. I can bike it. It's not that big of a town. It's not a big culture shock, but it's still a bit of one just because there are so many more people and, that, and I liked how I could live on campus and that the on campus dorms were pretty close to campus. And there's a bus system that takes you off campus to a mall and a shopping center.
Ishmael Rolle 15:12
Did any of your friends from your hometown come with you?
Brianna Biagini 15:15
No, I was the, I don't, since I was homeschooled. I also didn't like get along with people in high school, because we only had one high school. And I didn't know my graduating class. So I knew like maybe two people. So I don't know where anyone in my graduating class went.
Ishmael Rolle 15:39
Interesting. Since being on campus, has the pandemic, like, impacted your life at all?
Brianna Biagini 15:46
No, not at all. Like I do keep a mask on when I go to classes just because some of my friends are immune compromised, just so I keep my mask on just to protect them.
Ishmael Rolle 16:01
So tell me a little bit more about how you learned about like, where you got your information from, through the pandemic, was it like the news or?
Brianna Biagini 16:09
I don't trust the news, just because it's really, really biased with politics. And I don't like to get involved in politics, because it's just, there's too much there. So I'm like, screw the news, I'm going to go into like my own research. So I got, I found a person on TikTok who really did a lot of research on the pandemic and didn't pay attention to the news. So they've given like raw information from like health sites and everything and like the government. So I would keep an eye on that. And I'd also do my own research on some of the same sites that he was looking at.
Ishmael Rolle 16:45
And you have that same source from the beginning up until now, just about?
Brianna Biagini 16:49
Yeah, that person isn't, is no longer doing it just because they were shut down by TikTok, for TikTok being annoying, and like, you're too political. There’s no politics in it.
Ishmael Rolle 17:03
What information do you think that the main source media, mainstream media, what information, what topics do you think that they're avoiding, or they're over covering?
Brianna Biagini 17:14
They'll like pick an event and basically, look at it only from one side and say, like, the one side we're looking at is the good side and the other side is the bad side and not actually looking at what's happening. So I'm like, that's not actually what happened. You can literally go on to TikTok, and find videos of people who were actually there just recording what actually happened.
Ishmael Rolle 17:39
And do you feel like government leaders reacted pretty well to the pandemic?
Brianna Biagini 17:45
Some of them did. Others were basically influenced by politics, even though the pol-, political stance should have been taken out of it, and it should have been dealt with maturely, like, how an adult should handle their child getting sick.
Ishmael Rolle 18:03
Let's say that, let's say that we give you the power of the president, how would you have reacted to the pandemic, as soon as you heard about it?
Brianna Biagini 18:10
As soon as I heard about it, I would have probably shut down the borders, just so like, you can't get the COVID into the country. But if COVID did get into the country, I would say everything would be shut down. The only thing open would probably be hospitals open to patients who still need to obviously see health care and probably keep the grocery stores open. But at like 50 or 25% capacity. Restaurants, I'd probably just say, okay, like 10% capacity, but keep it very minimal. And since people would probably be get getting laid off of work, and say, okay, I'd forgive like anyone who's got like a mortgage, that's on hold, like no interest on that, everything's on hold that besides like, electrical bills, just because you'll be using more of it and probably AC, but cut that down a little bit. And if people are living from paycheck to paycheck, be like, okay, here's a stimulus to help pay for like food and gas. So basically, just like everyone, stay home, stay safe, like and keep your hands washed, wear a mask and try to get a vaccine made that’s actually a safe one.
Ishmael Rolle 19:37
Do you think that since the pandemic hit that some people have been acting a little irrational about it, or do you think most people are pretty much treating it the way that they ought to be treating it?
Brianna Biagini 19:51
There are some people who are overreacting to like with a point like if someone is standing six feet away, they're like, oh, you're standing too close, put a mask on, even though they have a mask on. They're overreacting. But there are some people who are underreacting, such as going out every night, going to restaurants and not caring and not putting a mask on and not social distancing.
Ishmael Rolle 20:22
How do you feel the pandemic has been affecting, on your campus for example, people's mental and physical activity?
Brianna Biagini 20:32
I do feel that for some people, it limits their physical activity. But for other people, it kind of enhances it because other things are closed. So they don't have like other things to do, so like they can exercise. And for some people, it might affect their mental health as in, they don't feel safe going to the gym or exercising outside. So they might feel kind of mentally drained because they're sitting in their dorm room all day.
Ishmael Rolle 21:04
We're gonna take it back a little bit. You mentioned that you had a job as a pet sitter, right? Tell me about your job before, pre-COVID.
Brianna Biagini 21:12
Pre-COVID I started my job January 2020. Very funny, didn't last very long. Basically, people would travel a lot. So I just stayed in their house, watch their pets, if they had plants, I'd water the plants or if they had literally was like, Hey, I'm leaving town, but I have this worker coming in. I'd be like, okay, I can come and watch over them. And I'd get paid for that. It paid really well. I really helped some people because I, one of my clients, they had a daughter in Texas who was diagnosed with stage four cancer. So I was like, Hey, if you need to go I can watch your pets. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about payment. We'll talk about that when you get back and everything’s settled. They literally go for like a week and be like, okay, hey, there's another doctor's appointment, could you stay for a couple more days and be like, yeah, take care what you need to. So really helped people but then when COVID hit it was like, they couldn't travel because traveling got shut down. So basically, everyone was staying home. So no one needed their pets to be watched. So basically COVID hit, my company died.
Ishmael Rolle 22:26
Do you have any fun stories from your time petsitting? Any interesting pets, any interesting houses you've been in?
Brianna Biagini 22:36
The most interesting thing is, most of my clients had small dogs, either a Chihuahua, a Pomeranian or a mix of both. But yeah, there was either a Chihuahua, Pomeranian or a mix, a mix of a Chihuahua-Pomeranian and I'm like, tiny dogs, people like tiny dogs. Like everyone had a tiny dog.
Ishmael Rolle 23:02
Did you ever own any pets?
Brianna Biagini 23:04
I had two pets. My cat most recently died back in June. He was 22 and four months. And I currently have a dog, a 11 year old golden retriever. He is on the bigger side of golden, golden retrievers, at like 105 pounds.
Ishmael Rolle 23:22
Nice. How on how long have you had him?
Brianna Biagini 23:25
I've had a golden retriever for 11 years; we had him since he was like six weeks.
Ishmael Rolle 23:29
So you really raised him from...
Brianna Biagini 23:31
Yeah. And he's a very sweet boy. Like, he'll stand at the door and like look in and be like, can I come in, and you just got a motion for him to come in. And he'll come in and just plop his head on your lap.
Ishmael Rolle 23:44
And how has he been handling the pandemic?
Brianna Biagini 23:48
He really liked the pandemic just because I got to stay home more. So he'd get more attention. And whenever I was going out, I'd take him for a walk just to get some exercise. So he got more attention, more exercise. He really enjoyed the pandemic.
Ishmael Rolle 24:12
So, through, since you've lived through this pandemic, you've had kind of an interesting upbringing. How has this experience really affected the way that you think about your family or friends, the people around you, your college?
Brianna Biagini 24:34
It's, COVID has really had me looking more like who people are and kind of like how they react to things. And it is helped to show me that how I actually read people is differently than how other people do it. So before it's like, I would like look at people's like posture and how their faces and like the words that they are saying that during COVID, I was like, people would wear masks so you couldn't see their face. So I was like, okay, how can I read you? And that's how I picked up on reading people's energies and kind of like their whole vibe that's coming off of them.
Ishmael Rolle 25:17
And have you been using this skill?
Brianna Biagini 25:19
I continued using the skill, and it really helps me when I walk into a room or into a group of people. I'm like, Okay, what's the whole vibe of the group? Is it like, upset? Like something, like someone just got hurt? Or is it like really happy about like someone's birthday party and everyone's excited?
Ishmael Rolle 25:41
Before, before the pandemic, what would you say was the biggest event in your life?
Brianna Biagini 25:47
Before pandemic the biggest event was probably soccer.
Ishmael Rolle 25:52
Yes, you mentioned that you played a lot of soccer, a lot of your friends' soccer. Soccer has been a big part of your life?
Brianna Biagini 25:57
Oh, yes, my high school life, it's been a huge part. Before high school, it was dance and traveling. It was like dance for eight years, then we traveled for like a couple of months, maybe a year, and then soccer.
Ishmael Rolle 26:13
What kind of experiences did you have while playing soccer?
Brianna Biagini 26:17
Through soccer, you can easily find the people that are really interested in soccer or a specific thing. Or, and the people who are just there to just get extra credit or just to hang out and not care. So…
Ishmael Rolle 26:36
And, and going back to dance. Anything interesting there?
Brianna Biagini 26:42
I don't remember much of dance just because I blank out a lot on my younger years. But most of my dance was just an escape, wasn't much feeling was put into it. So with dance, you're supposed to spend two years in each class. For me, it took me three years in each class to get through it because I didn't care.
Ishmael Rolle 27:06
What were you trying to escape from?
Brianna Biagini 27:08
Basically, my mother cause she put a lot of pressure on me. Because again, we were younger, and the only interaction was school. So like, a lot of times I'd come home and I'd get a B on a test. And my mom's like, that's not good enough. You have to get an A. So like, she would push me to study on that subject. But since she didn't know I had ADHD, and I can't study at night, she was pushing something that wasn't working. So was a lot of conflict. So my dance was basically a way for me literally to go from school straight to something else.
Ishmael Rolle 27:43
And did you find that same kind of escape in soccer?
Brianna Biagini 27:46
I did. It was the same escape. But it was also something that I was actually interested in. So it was an escape and something exciting and fun. And I mean, just completely just forget the outside world.
Ishmael Rolle 28:00
Your mother's played a pretty big role in your development. Do you, even after you moved out, do you feel like she's still kind of have has an effect over you?
Brianna Biagini 28:08
Yes, very much so. Basically, it's like, I feel like she's got like, a hand over my head with like strings attached. Just like, you can't do that because it's not good. And I'm like, it's literally hanging with friends till midnight because that's okay. I'm like, it's okay to hang out with friends. But I feel like I have to go back to my room and study for something I understand and I'm doing fine in.
Ishmael Rolle 28:35
And you also mentioned that you had a godmother who you refer to as your aunt? Can you tell me a little bit about her?
Brianna Biagini 28:41
I've known her for basically my entire life. And she was great friends with my mom. She still is. She's older than my mom by 10 years. She's 77, I love her dearly. She was a teacher. Anytime I go to her house, it's like a safe zone.
Ishmael Rolle 28:58
And did she ever take you out to go do all sorts things?
Brianna Biagini 29:02
Since she lived seven and a half hours from my mom, the only times I really got to see her where my birthdays and sometimes Christmas. And when I did see her, we would go out and go to like festivals or just hang out and do something fun in the house.
Ishmael Rolle 29:19
Did you did she teach you anything? In skills and new shows maybe?
Brianna Biagini 29:25
She taught me a lot that if you want to do something, just go do it. Like traveling like, all who wander are not lost. So she's like, yeah, I'm gonna go to this next month and just go hike in a mountain, and I'm like, that's really cool. She's like, yeah, I'm just going with the flow every day. If someone invites me to it's something I'm like, yeah, if I have time to do it, I'm gonna go do it. So like… yeah.
Ishmael Rolle 29:51
Do you feel like there's like, that your mom and your aunt are on kind of like the opposite sides of the same coin?
Brianna Biagini 29:57
Yeah, because my mom was really controlling and my aunt is like, really just go with the flow, don't really care.
Ishmael Rolle 30:05
Did you have any other relatives in your life?
Brianna Biagini 30:09
From the ages of birth to four, I had my grandmother, from my mom, she was really nice, I don't remember much of her, I only have two memories. One memory is pulling into my grandmother's house, the driveway, and going through the garage door and just running around the counter and just jumping into her arms. And the other one is a sadder one, it's go-, it's coming out of elevators in a hospital, going past the reception desk and into her hospital room.
Ishmael Rolle 30:35
So you remember those, at least those two events pretty clearly?
Brianna Biagini 30:40
Yeah. But I know that grandmother was really kind, and I spent a lot of time with her. Whenever I could.
Ishmael Rolle 30:48
Do you have any relatives that you wish that you connected with a little bit more, or that you wish you had contact with to this day?
Brianna Biagini 30:55
The only other relative I would like to have met probably have been my grandfather, just because he was a really, from the stories that I've heard, he was a really honest person and really like, kind and like, trustworthy.
Ishmael Rolle 31:11
So you didn't have a ton of familial connections through, through your life. Do you think that your friends might have kind of replaced your family in a way? Or at least the family connections that you didn't have?
Brianna Biagini 31:26
Yeah, there are a few people that I would consider, like my siblings at times. But like, as soon as I consider them my sibling, they basically back off and like disappear. So…
Ishmael Rolle 31:42
Is there anyone who you've known outside your family who you've known from, like super young, and you still keep contact to this day, and you still have that strong connection?
Brianna Biagini 31:53
There's currently possibly, probably two, one my friend who lives down the street, but things are kind of fizzling out now. And then I have my other friend who lives like 45 minutes from campus who I just got back from a birthday party with. But I don't talk to her a lot, but she's the only other person that I've known since kind of a young age.
Ishmael Rolle 32:17
So you've been you've been through a lot, right?
Brianna Biagini 32:21
Yeah.
Ishmael Rolle 32:24
Everything from your family, living through this pandemic, with your friends and all that. Where do you see yourself in a year from now ?
Brianna Biagini 32:32
A year from now? Probably over in North Lake hanging out with friends I've met from college, doing, going through classes.
Ishmael Rolle 32:40
And do you think these friends from college, think that they're going to be with you for a pretty long time?
Brianna Biagini 32:46
Yes, because I connect with them a lot more than I've connected with other people. I've gotten really close to them really, really quickly. And it's like, we all vibe together, we all have the same energy. So we all kind of just click.
Ishmael Rolle 33:00
Do you ou feel like this pandemic is gonna be gone by the time you get to North Lake?
Brianna Biagini 33:05
I hope so. I don't know. It might still be like something like the flu that comes back. And, but it might like fizzle out. I don't really know, it feels like it's fizzling out, but it's still here.
Ishmael Rolle 33:18
So knowing, knowing everything that you do now. And let's say that you could go back to the beginning of the pandemic, what would you change?
Brianna Biagini 33:27
What would I change? I, I'd probably tell my younger self to be like, hey, try not to spend as much money try to just take that money and literally just put it to the side and not touch it till you get to college because you'll need it in college for like the first couple months. But I'd also tell my younger self, hey, work on yourself more look, focus on yourself more. Because going through the whole pandemic, there was a lot of sketchy months where I didn't know if I was gonna make it to the next day.
Ishmael Rolle 34:04
Do you feel like this time in the pandemic has helped you learn anything else about yourself?
Brianna Biagini 34:09
Oh, yeah, I've learned a lot about myself. I've basically stopped trying to caretake for everyone and try to take care of myself a bit more. And focus on improving my health and my mental health.
Ishmael Rolle 34:28
I think that's it. Testing, testing 123 I am here with- [audio stops].
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