Items

• 
  2020-03-06

  It was supposed to be a week

  I was at my grandmas house with my siblings because my parents had work that day and needed someone to watch us. I was watching tik tok when our phones buzzed. I was in a cushy white lazy boy chair with a white throw blanket wrapped around me. The email detailed that we would get an extra week of spring break. We were so happy we got an extra couple days of break thinking we’d go back after a week or two. While this email isn’t the exact email they sent us that told us they were extending spring break, it shows how we were supposed to have a normal spring break. There was only supposed to be one week of spring break, but now I know the exact spot where I was sitting when the world nearly fell apart.
• 
  2021-09-23

  Lily Daugherty and Suhani Rathi Oral History, 2021/09/23

  Two University students discuss their personal experiences during the pandemic, as well as the effects on their family and social lives. Frustrations with the Arizona government’s response to the pandemic are expressed. The specific experience of Asian Americans during a time of increased discrimination is also briefly discussed.
• 
  2020-03-13

  Official School Shutdown

  I first knew this when one of my friends texted me. She told me to check my email and when I did, the screenshot above told us that we were not going to go back to school until after Spring Break. It was a Friday and it didn’t occur to me that we would have online school. So I just assumed that we had no school at all, like an extended break. However, we got some more follow up emails saying how we still had to do classwork and such. (This is when I started checking my email daily) Back then, I had limited access to technology and I didn’t want to bother my parents too much; so I had to work with what I had. But then the date kept changing. It was extended to May, then to the rest of the school year. And the first half of this year. It was extremely distracting to learn from home, it felt like my siblings became ten times more annoying, we had to be more careful with cleaning/sanitizing and had to store more food/supplies. I didn’t leave the house for a couple of months and I barely talked to my friends. I did get to try more home cooked meals and it was easier to prepare in the morning. Many political and racial things began happening like getting justice for hate crimes (ex: BLM protests) and unfairness from police officers became relevant. When George Floyd got murdered, it caused a bit of controversy between my family and I, specifically my mom. My mom claimed that he was a criminal so she said the police officer was just doing his job; while I said that it still wasn't right. We kind of ignore that topic now.. A new president was also nominated and it was the first time people had to mail in votes. The new president wasn't official until two weeks after counting the votes. There were people that raided the White House and the 45th president of the USA got banned from many social media platforms. Since he was upset about not being president again and sort of hinted at people attacking the capital. Many people hate and like this man. Mostly hate. After about a year, scientists and doctors were able to create a vaccine that successfully blocked out covid. So many people are getting vaccinated and the public is beginning to reopen. Going to school in-person (late March 2021) had less distractions and I’m actually learning. We're still doing safety precautions and lots of sanitizing.
• 
  2021-03-30

  #JOTPYFuture from wanderlust_wilsons

  I haven’t seen my parents and siblings in almost 2 years due to COVID. Looking forward to heading back home to Michigan. #jotpyfuture
• 
  2021-03-31

  Mohammed Husain Oral History, 2021/03/31

  This interview speaks about a teenager, Mohammed Husain, who has described her life through the course of the pandemic including how she has felt what she had experienced including some losses, things that have changed and ways she has coped. The set of questions provided are descriptive and offer directed questions that allow the interviewee to answer them thoroughly. Mohammed speaks about how she felt lonely during the pandemic. She describes things she has missed such as shopping going out with friends and effects on her mental health. She has also spoke about the limitations and how they have made her enjoy her own presence and made her evolve into a person who enjoys her own presence. She lists some positive aspects of the pandemic including closer relationships with family members along with a time to reflect on her own self. She has included that she has taken advantage of the time of the pandemic to really look back on her life and understand the moment as not everyone in their lifetime gets to live through such a scene.
• 
  2020-12-24

  Brother Says He Lost His Taste To Covid-19

  Funny video by Makenzie McClure on Tic Tok. She says her brother claims to be unable to taste anything due to Covid-19. So she makes him what looks like a pumpkin pie, but she uses beans instead of pumpkin. Yikes! If this isn't sibling love I don't know what is!
• 
  2020-10-07

  The Fight To Stay Healthy

  This pandemic we are living in is like being in a black whole of the unknown. In some places people are acting as if it doesn’t really exist or that it doesn’t affect them. The truth is, it may not be affecting them right now, but it very well could be. The truth is, we know nothing. This period of time in our history is a different experience for everyone and people do not have any clue about what is to come. My experience of this time has been chaotic and an ongoing feeling of paranoia. My brother and I are both high risk for COVID-19. I have In 2013 at 2 years old he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; he is a childhood cancer survivor and is now 10 years old but will continue to need to be cautious and always aware of his health. The picture I have provided with this entry is one from a few months after his diagnosis. This is the picture that remain in mine and my family’s heads; our motivation to continue to be hyperaware of our daily routines and who we encounter. I am asthmatic and have continued to have a weak immune system and suffer from respiratory illnesses. Protecting ourselves, our family, and those around us is the highest priority during this time. We are taking precautions and rules from the CDC very seriously. This has been a season of fear, loss, and uncertainty, but it has also been a season of faith, curiosity, and new beginnings. I have also had some family friends and family members lose their jobs during this time. COVID-19 has not just affected people’s health but the livelihood of the normal we once knew. Moving forward people will either embrace that or fight against it. Even while embracing it my family and I will continue to be cautious with our interactions, where we go, who we see, and be empathetic tot those who have lost their lives and their loved ones.
• 
  2020-10-05

  What influenced me during the pandemic

  Hello everyone, my name is Eddie Wu. I was born US but raised in Taiwan, a country that is nearby China. That means we are the first few countries that is influenced by COVID-19 due to the geography distance. At that time, my family was separated, me and my siblings living at Tempe, taking classes. My parents were at Taiwan that time facing the COVID-19, my parents are asked to stay home and put on masks when they go out. Then one more month later, the first case has happened in US. First, I think I will just stay here doing normal classes and will stay normal. Then my parents suddenly asks my siblings to go back to Taiwan, because Taiwanese government have already showing their ability to control the pandemic at Taiwan. So, it suddenly changed my day that time. My siblings are back to Taiwan, and I stayed here alone. It is scary that while the first few cases are founded in US, I am the only few person who put on masks in public places. I still remember at March, when I went to one of the store to get groceries, I have my masks on and my gloves on, some other customers told her child that I am sick so I put on my masks. During the pandemic time, it does change the ways I get groceries, socializing with friends, and taking class. The pandemic have make me getting bigger amount of groceries in once. When I am trying to doing activities with friends, mostly we are doing it on voice chat apps, if we have to meet outside, I always ask them to have their mask prepared, and also I will bring hand sanitizer to clean our hands. The last the changes the most is my classes, I am an UAS student, most of my class will be really hard to teach online because we don’t actually see the items in real life if the class is online, so most of my class are really hard for me that time, because it is online, somethings aren’t clear enough and I need to spent more hours to learn it myself. These are some major things that changes in my life during pandemic.
• 
  2020-05-15

  Please focus a little bit.

  My fourteen year old brother struggles so much with staying focused on work. When we went to online learning, he started falling behind immediately. To help him focus on work, I would sit in his room and go through each piece of work with him so he would stay engaged. He got completely caught up and stayed on top of work until the end of the school year. I lost hours and hours of time. Up to six hours a day that I would spend sitting next to him trying to get him to finish a math sheet, not text his friends back, and encourage him to add another sentence. this was on top of my own schoolwork each day. It felt like a waste of my time, to sit there staring at a wall while he worked through each piece of homework. I was grateful to spend time with him that I normally would have been at school for, but I still felt like it was hours of time I was using for nothing. He would ignore me, fight me, lock me out of his room and refuse to work. He would also make me laugh until I could not breathe, show me a new way of approaching a problem or question, and smile at me when he was proud of himself. Now, he calls me two to three times a day. He tells me about school, his friends, things that are bothering him, and tells me about what he is learning about and reading. He does all of his schoolwork in my room at home and frequently calls me from my own desk to update me on something small. My dorm would be a lot more lonely without the consistent ring of his Facetime calls. Quarantine and virtual learning is now something I am extremely grateful for. My brother and I are closer than ever and I contribute that entirely to online learning and the time I was able to spend with him that normally would have been spent in my high school building. None of those hours were wasted sitting next to him while he worked, they are all showing their worth as he calls me to tell me about his day, something he used to be very closed-mouth on but now initiates. I am grateful for that time I was able to spend with him, and am grateful for safer at home, with the acknowledgment that I wish that time had come from a less deadly cause, but since it did happen and I could not control it, I look back gratefully on that time. The attached photo is from photography outings we started taking during online learning. He would use my Nikon and frame photos while telling me about why he thought it would make a cool photo. We would be out there for hours watching geese, turtles, birds, muskrats, and frogs sharing each other’s silent company. They are some of my favorite memories with him, and one of the highlights of my 2020
• 
  2020-05-17

  Graduation during Covid-19

  My sister has been working so hard for the past two years; late nights and difficult early morning labs. She earned the title nurse practitioner. The pandemic hit a few months before her graduation and she would work the front lines while taking the last push towards graduation. As expected her graduation was cancelled and she was mailed her practitioner license. My family and I thought that her hard work deserved a proper celebration so we planned a way for our family to get together but follow all the proper precautions. We saw those drive by celebrations and planned one of our own. My grandmother demanded to be apart of the crowd at home to be closer to her granddaughter and no could tell her any different. This is one of the pictures from the celebration.
• 
  2020-09-15

  Constant interruptions

  Developmental milestones always throw off the routine. I deleted the “Wonder Years App,” so I couldn’t look up what is happening at about 30 months that makes it unlikely a child will nap, and very likely that they will cry and cling to you over the seemingly smallest of issues. It has been weeks of no naps or naps only in the car. This means that I don’t get my normal break in the day, when the 2yo naps for 2 hours and I can let the 6yo have her media time. This was our routine; this was when I got to knock out work in peace without interruptions. That precious window has been gone for weeks. Until today, finally for the first time in what feels like for freaking ever, Julian napped in a bed at home. Did I have to lie next to him to make it happen? Yes, was I anxious that it was too good to be true and he’d wake back up any second? Also yes. The 6yo, unaware that anything was different walked in the room and started chatting. I waved her away, and she ran off, presumably delighted that her media time was a go. The dog, ever aware that food was on the stove and that her dinner should occur in about 1.5 hours pushed open the door and trotted in. She’s stuck now. No one goes in or out until this nap concludes naturally. Maybe I shouldn’t be this worked up about a nap, but the extra layer of pressure has felt much more present ever since the school year started. There are more meetings to attend, and they all seem to last more than an hour. Emails can stress me out easily if they’re filled with questions. And the 6yo needs about 2-3 hours of support in the morning with distance learning and homework. Which is fine, that’s my job, I’m supposed to help her, but it also means that an important chunk of my workday is interrupted. And it’s hard to recover or snapback from constant interruptions. I feel like it's not possible to get it all done, and then I think...not getting it doesn't feel like a choice I can make. It all feels like it's my responsibility.
• 2020-03-15

  Adapting to Covid-19

  Well, for me I can say it wasn't that much of a change due to the fact that I go to a school where our school work revolves around technology, and we use technology almost everyday in order to complete what is being asked of us. Only this time we would be on our technology the whole time we were at school, due to the fact that this is the only way to communicate to each other ,to complete projects and assignments. hen again, like I said, it really wasn't that much of a change and I am so thankful for this due to the fact how I already am on a computer all the time as it is. To be honest I do feel bad for kids who don't have the privilege of what we have at my school cause it could take some time for them to adapt to this new environment that they are being exposed to. But who knows they might have fun with it and make the best of it, which is good. My brother and sister are just now starting school online and my brother loves it but not so much my sister cause she does get shy which is understandable, but she has just always been that way. But they seem to be doing ok, they keep on asking me for help on how to check emails, how to log on to zoom and google meets, but it makes me very happy that they feel that they can come to me and ask for help because thats what Im here for, them and it means the world to me. I remember gauge was panicking cause he thought he was going to be late cause he didnt know how to use google meets so I had to help him and he gave me the biggest hug, almost like I just saved his life. My sister got the hang of it pretty fast which I knew was gonna happen cause she's a wiz at literally everything, her and my dad and my mom and brother are the smartest people I know. I do have to admit adapting to this new environment is a little frustrating due to the fact how some of us (my brother and sister) might not know how to do everything right away, but we have to keep in mind that right now even if we are in a tough situation that we just have to be there for eachother and we have to help each other in order for everything to be normal again.
• 
  2020-07

  Fighting Boredom

  Going into that Ross store, I wasn’t thinking about leaving there with a jean jacket, I was just thinking about how my clothes were no longer starting to fit because I gained a little weight since quarantine started. I spent a couple of minutes in the Ross store and then my older sister came up to me and asked me if I’d want to do something she saw on tik tok. I asked her what it was and she said she wanted to paint the backs of some jean jackets and personalize it. I liked the idea so we then went to go ask my little sister if she wanted to participate and she said yes. Then all of us went up to my parents to ask if they could buy the jackets for us. They agreed. That night we started looking at pictures of the Powerpuff Girls to see what picture we’d want to paint on the jacket. My oldest sister got Bubbles, I got Blossom, and my little sister got Buttercup. Within the next day we had all the things needed to paint the jackets and finished them within a week of getting the jackets. The jackets are important to me because it makes me feel closer to my sisters when I look at it or have it on. It reminds me of a time during quarantine when we all bonded.
• 
  2020-08-27

  The Good Stuff

  The COVID-19 pandemic has rocked our world. We face new and unprecedented challenges daily. Amidst the chaos, I am doing my best to remind myself to lean into little moments of joy. I am a teacher with 2 elementary school aged children and a baby. Teaching my own classes, while facilitating remote learning for my children, and caring for a baby is difficult to say the least. Did I mentioned that I'm in graduate school? This past week, just when I felt that it was all more than I could handle, I captured the sweetest moment between sisters. While I can't wait to get back to life and school in actual classrooms, I know there are parts of this experience that I will miss. Moments like this are definitely one of them.
• 2020-08-20

  Helping my little brother move in

  Starting college can be hard at any time, and it's even harder for kids starting school during the pandemic. Since only so many people are allowed to help people move in, my brother had to pick between my mom and myself to be the last person to see him the night he moved in. He picked me, and my mom told me over the phone that she cried. Not being able to visit him has been hard because I don't even know how he's feeling during all of this. Being seperated from him because of coronoa for the first time this summer is horrible, and I know there are so many others out there separated from their loved ones because of Covid-19, as well. My brother and I hung out in each other's rooms all day over the summer, and now we can only see each other by appointment. I just hope my brother's first day of college was alright.
• 
  2020-08-17

  Missed Opportunties

  2020 was supposed to be a year of exciting events for my family. My brother and I did not get to experience what formal graduation would feel like. A milestone in our lives will forever be missed. My sweet and loving grandfather said to me “I am trying to stay alive to watch you walk across that stage”, did not get to witness his youngest son’s kids graduate high school. On top of that, my parents were broken because they did not get to see their only son and daughter walk the stage. When I say COVID-19 has really impacted my family emotionally, it really did. An opportunity to say to my family that I am so thankful for them for being super supportive and being able to hear them cheer for me as I walk the stage will forever be missed. I remember the moment I received the email that I had gotten accepted into Suffolk. I had just got out of work and in the car on the way home I showed my dad the email and he was jumping with excitement. Due to the pandemic, my parents and I were not given the opportunity to attend a face to face orientation for Suffolk and not having the opportunity to tour Suffolk to be able to get to know my way around the school was really misfortunate. Hopefully, as time goes on and when there is no more COVID-19, we will get a chance to get to know home for the next 4 years.
• 
  2020-06-01T16:46:04

  Living through COVID-19

  COVID-19 has definitely altered my daily life. I am having a hard time adjusting to online school. I have never been good at managing my time, but now it is crucial that I learn. Now that I am no longer attending school physically, I watch my siblings everyday. As a result, I have fallen behind in several of my classes, including this one. It upsets me that every teacher assigns about 2-3 things everyday. Despite the fact that I do not learn anything from it, I feel extremely overwhelmed- especially with AVID! AVID still expects us to turn in binder checks every week and do tutorials. To me, it seems inconsiderate to ask for so much since we are still trying to adapt to our normal classes let alone our elective. I would appreciate it if they were to start assigning things little by little instead of ambushing us with so much work because COVID-19 has impacted the roles we play in our family. A lot of us have to watch our younger siblings and take care of our homes, which are both time consuming. I do not seek pity I just want to teachers to be more flexible and understanding. I also hate the fact that AP exams were online this year. I hate that a couple of FRQs determined whether or not I would receive college credit. I feel like I did well in APUSH, but I am not as confident with HUG. I would be lucky if I passed. I do not think a couple of FRQs can accurately reflect a years worth of knowledge. APHUG was one of the best and most interesting classes I have taken at GGHS, but I am afraid my FRQs were not enough to even earn me a 3 because I am not stong in writing. I was hoping that I could prove myself through other parts of the test such as MC, but obviously I could not. I also do not think its fair that some students got easier prompts.
• 
  2020-05-23

  From 4 times a year to camping in the living room

  My family and I have go camping multiple times a year and since this pandemic started our plans of going camping were cancelled due to the closure of national parks. Camping was something that helped me get through the school year and motivated me to work hard until the very end so that then I can go camping and forget about all my worries in the city. Now without being able to go out my 5 year old brother gave my sister and I the idea of building a fort in the living room. Although its not the same of getting out of the house and being surrounded by nature it helps forget about anything going on in life and just having fun.
• 
  04/14/2020

  Living through Covid-19: 04/14/2020

  This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc.
• 
  04/06/2020

  Living Through COVID-19

  *Creator: Suad Nur, Dougherty Family College, HIST 115
• 
  03/29/2020

  Chalk Art

  This is some chalk art I created with my younger sister during the beginning of quarantine. Before we were stuck at home 24/7, I never would have thought to just go outside and color the driveway, or at least since I was 10 years old. Since the beginning of quarantine, I, and probably many others, have been seeking fun in lots of new ways. I personally have found myself turning to activities that I would typically do as a child. Although the pandemic has had quite the negative impact on the world, there is definitely some good that has come with it. I feel that many of us, including myself, have found ourselves outside in nature more than we had been before, as we are sort of forced to look for entertainment in different ways since we can’t be around many people at this time. When someone brings up the pandemic, it is usually something negative, so I thought this photo would represent one of the more positive aspects of quarantine. *Photograph of a drawing
• 
  2020-04-20

  Online School

  My siblings who are home from college working on their homework in the dining room.