Item
Lana Elzein Oral History, 2021/12/09
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
Lana Elzein Oral History, 2021/12/09
Disclaimer (Dublin Core)
DISCLAIMER: This item may have been submitted in response to a school assignment prompt. See Linked Data.
Description (Dublin Core)
This story is an update to our first post where we talk about how learning about previous pandemics in our college course History of Global Pandemics has provided insight and consoled us as we experience the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
December 9, 2021
Creator (Dublin Core)
Lana Elzein
Jennifer Wren
Event Identifier (Dublin Core)
HIST1219
Partner (Dublin Core)
Northwestern University
Type (Dublin Core)
Audio
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Emotion
English
Social Distance
English
Health & Wellness
English
Healthcare
English
News coverage
English
Social Media (including Memes)
English
Politics
English
Education--Universities
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
history
epidemiology
epidemic
politics
Collection (Dublin Core)
College COVID Stories
Linked Data (Dublin Core)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
12/09/2021
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
04/12/2023
Date Created (Dublin Core)
12/09/2021
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
Lana Elzein
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
Jennifer Wren
Format (Dublin Core)
audio
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:07:07
abstract (Bibliographic Ontology)
This story is an update to our first post where we talk about how learning about previous pandemics in our college course History of Global Pandemics has provided insight and consoled us as we experience the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Jennifer Wren 00:00
Hi, this is Jennifer. And it is now Thursday, December 9, 2021, at 4 pm. And here I have Lana, do you give consent to be interviewed for the COVID-19 Archive project?
Lana Elzein 00:11
Hi. Yes, I do.
Jennifer Wren 00:15
Okay, yeah. So I just have a few questions that we can just talk about, I guess. So, first question would just be like, what are some of the ways that learning about past pandemics has like, or has not affected your attitude towards or perception of the current pandemic?
00:29
So learning about past pandemics has definitely eased my nerves, one reflecting on kind of what has happened in the past year or so. And what is still currently happening with the COVID-19 pandemic, as seeing other people go through a lot of what we're going through through their firsthand accounts, especially like on all aspects like emotionally, physically, mentally, economically, socially, etc. It really helps me realize that like, this has happened before, and society has come back from all of those previous pandemics. So it kind of helps me put into context like, what is going on. And how kind of we are able to come back from it, if that makes sense. Yeah, what about you?
Jennifer Wren 01:13
I think, well, obviously, the first like when COVID-19 first started, it was also like so sudden, I think. I was having a really hard time adapting and like accepting the situation.
Jennifer Wren 01:22
But like now as time has passed, and also like, because we've learned so much about like pandemics like I think learning more about like, all this like context and stuff has definitely like, consoled me in a way. And I guess learning about the past. Like past pandemics reminds me that like so many other people experience the same thing, I guess. Yeah. And I definitely walk away like a lot more reassured
Lana Elzein 01:22
Mhm.
Lana Elzein 01:43
For sure.
Jennifer Wren 01:46
Yeah, similarly, like how has learning about other pandemics, like helped or maybe that didn't help put those pandemics into context?
Lana Elzein 01:53
Um, so learning about other pandemics has definitely helped me put this pandemic into context. Because I've seen so many like parallels between previous pandemics and those pandemics with the COVID-19 pandemic. And kind of just being able to see the similarities and kind of how it takes its course is really eye-opening and like comforting.
Jennifer Wren 02:15
Uh-huh.
Lana Elzein 02:16
Because, again, it just reminds me that like, this has happened before people have gotten through it. And it'll like, it's not as scary or new as one might think.
Jennifer Wren 02:28
Yeah, I think I'm also very, like, I have a very similar experience that just, I feel like because we read so many, like stories, I learned, like so much insight on new perspectives, and like past experiences that, like, yeah, I can draw parallels to. And then I can also just like, because we learned so much about like epidemiology and like widespread impacts of the pandemic. I'm like, definitely much more aware of just like, also like, the social and political aspects in the world about pandemics.
Lana Elzein 02:56
Yep.
Jennifer Wren 02:58
I guess, because we're living in this pandemic, like, how does this compare to the past pandemics we learned about?
Lana Elzein 03:03
Um, so this pandemic is a little bit different, just because there's so much more like technology and transportation. So like, there's so many more ways for the pandemic to spread. Literally, because like, people are traveling everywhere, a lot of people are like, ignoring travel bans, or like, not really caring about the legislation and regulations put into place. So just causing things to worsen. And going off of that there's a bigger political divide, I feel like, and healthcare has become such a big issue in politics. So it's kind of caused people to it's kind of just exacerbated the situation, in my opinion, and like, cause people to, instead of coming together, I feel like, at least at the beginning, people were like arguing and it caused more controversy, because of like, the other issues that connect to healthcare, if that makes sense. Like, political, economic, all that stuff.
Jennifer Wren 04:04
Yeah, I think I agree like the pandemic definitely. Like, I guess, like all other pandemic spreads super quickly, maybe, like super quickly, like, even more quickly, because of like, how interconnected cities are, I guess now.
Lana Elzein 04:15
For sure, Yep.
Jennifer Wren 04:16
Also, I feel like with, I guess the technology, like, booming like industry, like I feel like, maybe it's just like, even though people are like arguing and like, the world wasn't super together, it was just like, the world was still really connected. Because we have this like online like community kind of thing.
Lana Elzein 04:33
Yeah.
Jennifer Wren 04:34
Like, we weren't so lonely.
Lana Elzein 04:35
Yeah. For sure. It helps people connect. And it also like, it just helped us notify like, I wouldn't have known any of this, like any.
Jennifer Wren 04:43
Yeah.
Lana Elzein 04:44
Like, none of us would have known what was going on in half the places in the world. Unless, like we saw on the like Instagram pages or like websites or whatever, like the news sources. So it definitely has like, I don't know, I feel like people, you could argue is that people were brought together but also not, you know? It depends on how you see it.
Jennifer Wren 05:06
I guess to close off, how have humans like learn from their prior experience with pandemics?
Lana Elzein 05:12
Um, so for this one, I feel like I see both sides of it. But I would say that humans haven't really learned from prior experience with pandemics because even though like, on the scientific and medical level, like as we were talking about in class, like, we've used our previous kind of regulations for pandemics or like, rules on how to like, stop it, like quarantine and isolation and all that stuff, and kind of made it better through trial and error. So that has definitely improved like we have more vaccines, the antibody fusions, whatever. But there's still a lot of people who, like aren't really learning about past mistakes that we've made with this, like, politicians acting too slowly, or like not doing enough to like, protect everyone. So, I feel like you could argue both sides of that.
Jennifer Wren 06:02
I think, to argue, I guess the other side, kind of I feel like I guess as a race, we're definitely like, maybe inching towards like furthering, like, the pandemic situation when it happens, because we have new medicine, like new science, like developments, and like new sanitation measures, but like, yeah, like every generation of people just like has this like repeat of just like reacting to the pandemics and they're very like, horrible like passion.
Lana Elzein 06:27
Yep.
Jennifer Wren 06:28
And then like, we just never like actually learned how to like act or react to like to stop the pandemic from happening.
Lana Elzein 06:34
For sure. It's a huge like fight or flight response, I guess.
Jennifer Wren 06:38
Yeah.
Lana Elzein 06:38
And like, we because I mean, I see like that like I understand it, but we just like because like seeing all these other pandemics again, like it helps calm us down, but it's like too late for that. You know what I mean?
Jennifer Wren 06:52
Yeah. They just keep occurring. I don't know how like, I guess like future people would like even like [unintelligible].
Lana Elzein 06:58
Yeah. Oh, for sure. Yeah.
Jennifer Wren 07:01
Yeah. It was nice talking to you.
Lana Elzein 07:04
It was great talking to you, too. Thank you so much.
Hi, this is Jennifer. And it is now Thursday, December 9, 2021, at 4 pm. And here I have Lana, do you give consent to be interviewed for the COVID-19 Archive project?
Lana Elzein 00:11
Hi. Yes, I do.
Jennifer Wren 00:15
Okay, yeah. So I just have a few questions that we can just talk about, I guess. So, first question would just be like, what are some of the ways that learning about past pandemics has like, or has not affected your attitude towards or perception of the current pandemic?
00:29
So learning about past pandemics has definitely eased my nerves, one reflecting on kind of what has happened in the past year or so. And what is still currently happening with the COVID-19 pandemic, as seeing other people go through a lot of what we're going through through their firsthand accounts, especially like on all aspects like emotionally, physically, mentally, economically, socially, etc. It really helps me realize that like, this has happened before, and society has come back from all of those previous pandemics. So it kind of helps me put into context like, what is going on. And how kind of we are able to come back from it, if that makes sense. Yeah, what about you?
Jennifer Wren 01:13
I think, well, obviously, the first like when COVID-19 first started, it was also like so sudden, I think. I was having a really hard time adapting and like accepting the situation.
Jennifer Wren 01:22
But like now as time has passed, and also like, because we've learned so much about like pandemics like I think learning more about like, all this like context and stuff has definitely like, consoled me in a way. And I guess learning about the past. Like past pandemics reminds me that like so many other people experience the same thing, I guess. Yeah. And I definitely walk away like a lot more reassured
Lana Elzein 01:22
Mhm.
Lana Elzein 01:43
For sure.
Jennifer Wren 01:46
Yeah, similarly, like how has learning about other pandemics, like helped or maybe that didn't help put those pandemics into context?
Lana Elzein 01:53
Um, so learning about other pandemics has definitely helped me put this pandemic into context. Because I've seen so many like parallels between previous pandemics and those pandemics with the COVID-19 pandemic. And kind of just being able to see the similarities and kind of how it takes its course is really eye-opening and like comforting.
Jennifer Wren 02:15
Uh-huh.
Lana Elzein 02:16
Because, again, it just reminds me that like, this has happened before people have gotten through it. And it'll like, it's not as scary or new as one might think.
Jennifer Wren 02:28
Yeah, I think I'm also very, like, I have a very similar experience that just, I feel like because we read so many, like stories, I learned, like so much insight on new perspectives, and like past experiences that, like, yeah, I can draw parallels to. And then I can also just like, because we learned so much about like epidemiology and like widespread impacts of the pandemic. I'm like, definitely much more aware of just like, also like, the social and political aspects in the world about pandemics.
Lana Elzein 02:56
Yep.
Jennifer Wren 02:58
I guess, because we're living in this pandemic, like, how does this compare to the past pandemics we learned about?
Lana Elzein 03:03
Um, so this pandemic is a little bit different, just because there's so much more like technology and transportation. So like, there's so many more ways for the pandemic to spread. Literally, because like, people are traveling everywhere, a lot of people are like, ignoring travel bans, or like, not really caring about the legislation and regulations put into place. So just causing things to worsen. And going off of that there's a bigger political divide, I feel like, and healthcare has become such a big issue in politics. So it's kind of caused people to it's kind of just exacerbated the situation, in my opinion, and like, cause people to, instead of coming together, I feel like, at least at the beginning, people were like arguing and it caused more controversy, because of like, the other issues that connect to healthcare, if that makes sense. Like, political, economic, all that stuff.
Jennifer Wren 04:04
Yeah, I think I agree like the pandemic definitely. Like, I guess, like all other pandemic spreads super quickly, maybe, like super quickly, like, even more quickly, because of like, how interconnected cities are, I guess now.
Lana Elzein 04:15
For sure, Yep.
Jennifer Wren 04:16
Also, I feel like with, I guess the technology, like, booming like industry, like I feel like, maybe it's just like, even though people are like arguing and like, the world wasn't super together, it was just like, the world was still really connected. Because we have this like online like community kind of thing.
Lana Elzein 04:33
Yeah.
Jennifer Wren 04:34
Like, we weren't so lonely.
Lana Elzein 04:35
Yeah. For sure. It helps people connect. And it also like, it just helped us notify like, I wouldn't have known any of this, like any.
Jennifer Wren 04:43
Yeah.
Lana Elzein 04:44
Like, none of us would have known what was going on in half the places in the world. Unless, like we saw on the like Instagram pages or like websites or whatever, like the news sources. So it definitely has like, I don't know, I feel like people, you could argue is that people were brought together but also not, you know? It depends on how you see it.
Jennifer Wren 05:06
I guess to close off, how have humans like learn from their prior experience with pandemics?
Lana Elzein 05:12
Um, so for this one, I feel like I see both sides of it. But I would say that humans haven't really learned from prior experience with pandemics because even though like, on the scientific and medical level, like as we were talking about in class, like, we've used our previous kind of regulations for pandemics or like, rules on how to like, stop it, like quarantine and isolation and all that stuff, and kind of made it better through trial and error. So that has definitely improved like we have more vaccines, the antibody fusions, whatever. But there's still a lot of people who, like aren't really learning about past mistakes that we've made with this, like, politicians acting too slowly, or like not doing enough to like, protect everyone. So, I feel like you could argue both sides of that.
Jennifer Wren 06:02
I think, to argue, I guess the other side, kind of I feel like I guess as a race, we're definitely like, maybe inching towards like furthering, like, the pandemic situation when it happens, because we have new medicine, like new science, like developments, and like new sanitation measures, but like, yeah, like every generation of people just like has this like repeat of just like reacting to the pandemics and they're very like, horrible like passion.
Lana Elzein 06:27
Yep.
Jennifer Wren 06:28
And then like, we just never like actually learned how to like act or react to like to stop the pandemic from happening.
Lana Elzein 06:34
For sure. It's a huge like fight or flight response, I guess.
Jennifer Wren 06:38
Yeah.
Lana Elzein 06:38
And like, we because I mean, I see like that like I understand it, but we just like because like seeing all these other pandemics again, like it helps calm us down, but it's like too late for that. You know what I mean?
Jennifer Wren 06:52
Yeah. They just keep occurring. I don't know how like, I guess like future people would like even like [unintelligible].
Lana Elzein 06:58
Yeah. Oh, for sure. Yeah.
Jennifer Wren 07:01
Yeah. It was nice talking to you.
Lana Elzein 07:04
It was great talking to you, too. Thank you so much.
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 Lana Elzein and Jennifer Wren Oral History, 2021/09/21 |
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This item was submitted on December 9, 2021 by [anonymous user] using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive
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