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2020-05-11

COVID Graduation

The day I had worked so hard for had finally come, and I sat on my couch to celebrate. Years of dedication, essays, long lectures, early morning lectures, scholarship hunting, and finals stress had all amounted to me celebrating my graduation in my pajamas. It didn't feel real. I cried for a while, and I think it was okay to cry. COVID-19 took away special things from everyone. It has taken away special loved ones, special plans, and special events/celebrations. For me and so many other college students, it took away a very special moment--the pride, sense of accomplishment, the payoff. Colleges around the country tried to imitate graduation the best they could with virtual ceremonies. Some ceremonies featured pictures and quotes from students, and most colleges provided an online commencement. I was too sad and frustrated to watch my commencement on the day of my graduation but watching it back has made me realize how much more my degree means to me.

2021-10-07

Covid Vaccine Reminiscence

This is a recording I did of myself where I reminisce on my Covid Vaccine experience and the feelings it brought

Girl in green graduation gown in front of car during graduation parade.

2020-05-31

High School Graduation-- Covid-19 Edition

May 31, 2020 Senior year, something that every student looks forward to the second they enter high school. It’s supposed to be a time for celebration, big life steps, and most importantly, spending one last year with the kids you grew up with. Starting senior year in the fall of 2019, everything seemed laid out before me, it was just a matter of finishing college applications and deciding on a college, worrying about who might be my prom date, and whether I would be starting goalie for my varsity lacrosse team. All those worries disappeared when schools got shut down March 13, 2020. At the time only for two weeks, given that Covid-19 was really beginning to hit the United States. My friends and I thought nothing of it and were hopeful for a return to school to finish out senior year. But weeks went on, and one-by-one, everything began to be canceled. First, it was lacrosse. Next, it was the permeant switch to online school. And last, perhaps the worst of all, the cancelation of prom and graduation. When it truly hit that the end of senior year had been taken away from us, I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I sulked around for a long time, and even began to feel like I was losing friends. Flash forward to May 31, 2020, and I’m sitting in the back of my Dad’s truck, which was decorated in my school’s colors of green and black. I sat in my graduation cap and gown all by myself with my parents in the front of the truck. The community had come together to celebrate the Class of 2020 in the only safe way they could think of—a parade. We waited in a parking lot to drive by my high school one last time. Most of my classmates were there, sitting on top of cars, looking through sunroof windows, or sitting in the back of trunks. It was heartbreaking to see all of my friends split apart, all waving from our cars. Friends who I was only really friends with in class smiled and waved, all of us wishing the other well, and dying to give out a hug. As we began to drive through the neighborhoods leading up to the high school, the streets were lined with so many people (all socially distanced and with masks), holding signs and screaming for us. I didn’t cry until I saw my favorite teacher, who saw me and also started to cry, saying she got the letter I had sent her, thanking her for being my support throughout high school. It was such an overwhelming feeling of sadness and joy. When we finally made it to the high school, we all parked and waited to drive by the entrance one more time where they would call our names, as if we were walking across stage. The picture I am submitting is a moment when we had stopped, and I was standing there crying looking out at the high school and all of my classmates. The picture I feel captures how so many were most likely feeling in that moment. Knowing there was so many you didn’t truly get to say good-bye to, but so thankful for the opportunity to see each other from a far. Covid-19 took away so many things for so many people. Graduation was something I had been looking forward to for years. But to see the community come together for us high schoolers in such a confusing time is something I will never forget.

Image of the character Patrick Star from the animated TV show Spongebob Squarepants running while crying.

2020-07-19

Sad Memes

This is a screenshot of Patrick crying and I felt like it symbolized how I and many other feel about Quarantine and the pandemic in general. At home 24/7 makes me feel depressed and I cry a lot. I also watch a lot of cartoons because there something that make me happy, which is why I chose this photo to include

2020-07-23

I need to learn not to take work home

A nurse copes with the loss of a patient.

2020-05-05

Quarantine ferrets

For the longest time, I had been wanting ferrets. I had talked about them all the time, not only at home to my mom but also to my friends at school as well. My mom finally gave in and we had planned to drive out to a place for me to adopt two ferrets. But when COVID struck, my mom pushed it off and said we'd have to wait. Eventually, I found someone selling their ferret on craigslist. He was the cutest thing and I named him Bean. I loved him more than anything and would spend all my free time either playing with him or napping with him. I knew I needed to get him a friend since they are very social animals. So I did just that about a month and a half later my dad and I went to get Bean a friend. We got a little shy fella, and I named him Turtle, soon enough he opened up and was very playful and frisky. They kept me busy during quarantine and made my life a whole lot more fun. But then three months after I got Bean I noticed his energy decreasing. He wasn’t playing that much and was sleeping more than normal. He seemed very weak and even when he seemed like he wanted to play he couldn’t. I was very worried about him and knew something was wrong. We took him to the vet and found out he had leukemia. This was heartbreaking because I assumed we had years together. But he was getting weaker by the hour as his bone marrow stopped creating red blood cells. This was the most heartbreaking day of my life as my first real pet, my first baby, was dying. Turtle and I went to say goodbye. And even though everything seemed to be going downhill, when one door closed another one opened. The vet said he had a ferret that he didn’t have time for and who he was looking to re-home. Even though another ferret could never take the place of Bean but I knew Turtle would need a friend as a few days later I could already tell he was getting lonely and with school approaching I wouldn’t have as much time to be his playmate. A week after Bean was put down we took in the ferret, I renamed him Astro. These ferrets have done much more than keep me busy during quarantine, they have kept me sane. Bean: March 27th-June 27th, 2020 Turtle: May 5th, 2020 Astro: July 2nd, 2020

2020-08-26

My corona story

When the corona virus first hit I am gonna be honest it was just a huge joke in my opinion but then people in my county started getting it and I realized this wasnt a joke anymore I got super sad when we started doing online school because it got cancelled and basically never did my school work so my mom got mad and said that I had to go stay with my friend who lived down the street for the rest of online school I got really mad at my mom and we didnt talk as much especially because I was gone 5 days of the week when i was stuck at my friends house her mother knew that I worked super fast so she would let me sleep all day when I was done with work and then I would stay up two days straight doing things like making them dinner and just chilling out watching netflix in my room up in my bed that i had in there house the only netflix show i really like is glee adn thats the only thing that i honestly like to watch but after a while my friend got really annoyed with her and I spent most of my time fighting with her cause after a while it took a lot not to be mad at everything all the time like every single tiny thing irritated me and then i started losing all of my friends and i cried a lot and got depressed and i never really ate any food because i was always really sad i never ever left bed unless it was to get food or go to the bathroom but then after the corona calmed down a bit me and my fmaily moved and we didnt move towns or antything but we moved from a townhome to an actual house that we owned and you could tell that my miserable sister wasnt as sad anymore and that made the rest of my family happy and my depression slowly went away and now i go to school wearing a mask and get masks break and am on a block scedule which im alright with it doesnt bother me i have fun at school with all my friends and im super happy here

2020-07-13

Coronacoaster

A meme shared on an instagram story without a source which reads: "Coronacoaster/ noun: the ups and downs of a pandemic. One day you're loving your bubble, doing work outs, baking banana bread and going for long walks and the next you're crying, drinking gin for breakfast and missing people you don't even like.

2020-04-24

#26: Silenced

The title of this image specifically refers to the mask-ridden culture we are currently liviing in to contain the virus. It also refers to the 'silencing' of one's human/personal interactions, one's voice; one's community. In this isolation, the individual's pain and suffering become evident - not just for live's lost, people sickened, but loss of the 'normal'. www.niloumakes.com @niloumooch

2020-05-02

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