Items
Date is exactly
2020-11
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2020-11
Free drinks?
I was working at Target in Fullerton, CA while I was going to school for my bachelors degree, as the first year of covid-19 was winding down to its end. On my lunch break, I would usually grab a drink from the Starbucks located inside the store at the front. Usually working there would be a young woman around the same age as myself. Around this time of year I would get myself an iced peppermint mocha, and the first time that I got one there, I asked how much it would be, but the barista smiled behind her mask and said there was no charge. I thought this was a nice perk of the job and thought nothing of it. This became a regular thing until one day I ordered a drink with a different barista working behind the counter. He took my order and then expectantly told me how much my drink would be. I expressed my confusion, but he insisted, and I did not argue. I paid for my drink and went back to the break room. I told some of my coworkers how the barista had made me pay for my drink, and I was met with a confused "yeah... we all pay for our drinks." I probed a little more, and they all assured me that it was not a part of our job to get free drinks at the Starbucks. I smiled as I thought of the usual barista and how special she had made me feel. I was the only one who did not have to pay for my drink while she was working. Maybe that meant that she had feelings for me, or maybe she just decided to express a subtle act of kindness to me in particular. Either way, I felt deeply appreciated in a way that almost no one else made me feel during that year. In a time when strangers could almost have no meaningful interactions, with their faces almost entirely obscured by masks, this person that I didn't even know made me feel more seen than any stranger had in previous years. That peppermint mocha tasted sweeter than any of the others had because of her, even though it was the only one that hadn't been made by her. I still remember the sensation of it. -
2020-11
Group Homes and the Pandemic
To understand my story, I will give some context as to the nature of my work. I worked at a group home made for 14–17-year-olds unaccompanied minors coming from Central America. When they entered the program, they are put into one of the many houses that we currently have and given a room, education, structure, all the things that make for a normal life. These many houses would interact with each other quite frequently, many times, the best friends of one house were in a different house. Many of the kids were in soccer and other sports, they would go to church, and different places in town on a regular basis. Once the lockdowns began, our program proceeded in a similar fashion to prevent anyone from getting infected. One of those things included stopping the normal interacting between the houses and confine everyone to their own homes. Besides the obvious social loss, school provided them with access to English almost the entire day; to make friends here, they would learn on their own, to meet a boyfriend or girlfriend, they would work at it every single day. You can’t measure what the pandemic took away from these kids. Each one of them is no doubt less fluent in English unless they had actively worked at it, they missed out on getting to know the culture and embracing it for their future, so many things that we can not measure, but without a doubt were lost. For some though, the pandemic turned into a very good time for learning and becoming better than they were before. Hours would pass very slowly in the house, and you can only watch and play video games so long before getting bored, so one youth found something that they were very good at. This youth would spend his time crafting all sorts of different things. Eventually, his walls were filled with rosaries, charms, bracelets, animals made of beads, and all sorts of other random crafts I could not name. He had a zest for life even during the pandemic and worked hard to keep learning more and more. The necklace in the picture is one that he had made for me that I hang on my shrine at home. He was a very religious, and it was that religion that helped him get from his home country and make it to the United States. This is a common story for many of the youths in my program, they take religion seriously and try to continue the traditions they had in their home countries. They could not go to Church during most of the lockdown and found other ways to express their religiosity, this is how the youth in my story expressed his. -
2020-11
Banner Health recommends alternatives to in-person gatherings this Thanksgiving
A press release in which Banner Health recommends alternatives to in-person gatherings on Thanksgiving. Banner Health advises that individuals evaluate the risk level of their Thanksgiving plans and consider safer alternatives for those activities that present a higher risk of contracting or spreading the virus. -
2020-11
Growing up online
In September of 2020 mid pandemic, I decided to follow my heart and quit my food service job to work with children. I was hired at a daycare, my expectations were drastically different than what I walked into on my first day. As I walked into the building I saw coworkers shuffling from laptop to laptop helping children log into Zoom, Microsoft, and Google classroom. My headteacher joked that within a month I would be able to memorize every student's laptop password and zoom log in, I laughed it off and went to the binder that held all the information. By the time October rolled around I was able to log in at least 20 children into their classes and knew their teachers as well as what their missing assignments were. I was also able to see the children's excitement for school fade from their eyes. Some children mentally checked out and fell asleep, some punched their laptops till they broke, and some left theirs at home purposefully. The pandemic was undoubtedly hard on adults, but have we forgotten the pure bliss that comes from making your first friends in Kindergarten, or even the comfort of a kind teacher? Seeing these children struggle was hard but knowing the daycare that I worked at was stepping up and helping with late assignments, communicating with teachers and parents, and offering the sense of community when all felt lost was really what kept all of us going. Community is all we have and it's all we need even if it is socially distanced. -
2020-11
Comparing the Impact of COVID-19-Related Social Distancing on Mood and Psychiatric Indicators in Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) and Non-SGM Individuals
"There has been direct correlation with mental health disparities and sexual and gender minority (SGM) compared with cisgender heterosexual individuals. SGM members report having elevatedrates of emotional distress, symptoms related to mood and anxiety disorders, self-harm, and suicidal ideation and behavior. Social support is inversely related to psychiatric symptoms, regardless of SGM status. The COVID-19 pandemic—with its associated limited social interactions—represents an unprecedented period of acute distress with potential reductions in accessibility of social support, which might be of particular concern for SGM individuals' mental well-being. In the present study, we explored the extent to which potential changes in mental health outcomes (depressive symptoms, worry, perceived stress, positive and negative affect) throughout the duration of the pandemic were related to differences in perceptions of social support and engagement in virtual social activity, as a function of SGM status. "-Front Psychiatry. 2020; 11: 590318. Published online 2020 Dec 22. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.590318 -
2020-11
Isolation is Lonely
This past November was the weirdest and hardest time during this pandemic for me. In Early November, I had made new friends with other people on my floor and I had been working as a Nighttime desk aide here at the University. At the start of the month, it was election time and it stressed me out. I was concerned about the election, but I was more concerned with how each candidate would deal with COVID-19. With one candidate promising to make things better, and with the other still not believing science, I became even more worried for the future. To get my mind off the election, my friends and I went out to eat and got Mexican. Little did we know, that within the upcoming weeks that we would get sent home early. Before we got sent home, we discovered a hamster on our floor, after we saw the cage in our communal bathroom. To this day, we never discovered who had a hamster. Other highlights that we had was getting Millie’s ice cream, which for me, was the first time I had ever had Millie’s. On November 14th, my friends and I learned that another one of our friends had contracted COVID-19 and we had all been exposed to it. That same day, all of my friends and I packed up and either went home or went to the Hotel. My first worry was that I was going to be losing my paychecks, as I have bills of my own that I pay, including my credit card, and I did not have a job at home to rely on. My second worry was my family, as I didn’t want to possibly give them COVID-19, as my Dad works in a hospital and is at higher risk. I didn’t want to go home at first, but my Mom wanted me to come home and keep me close. Over the next two weeks, I sat in my bedroom at home, with no human contact and I just had my dog to keep me company. After going home, I had to attend all my classes online, which was a struggle for me, as I have a family of 5 including myself, with 2 younger siblings who are also doing online school. Keeping up with my classes became a lot harder because my Wi-Fi at home didn’t support 3 people being on zoom at the same time almost every day. On Thanksgiving Day, I was finally able to leave my room, as I had shown no signs of COVID-19. I ended up getting tested for COVID-19 and tested negative. I also ended up getting a seasonal job so I didn’t worry about money as much. Overall, the month of November was one of the hardest months for me. -
2020-11
How People I Know Testing Positive Has Affected My Life
My grandparents tested positive right after Thanksgiving, but we didn't go up there since they were not feeling well. Other than that, my orthodontist and his wife tested positive, but I haven't had/needed an appointment in quite a while. That is just about it. -
2020-11
Puzzling Times
To me puzzles were nothing more than the stack of boxes collecting dust in the top shelf of the coat closet. Maybe I took them out once or twice when I was in grade school while I was looking for something to do after using up all of my TV time and refusing to pick up a book. I don’t recall every shopping for my puzzles, receiving them as gifts, and now that I think about it, I don’t recall ever finishing one besides, of course, the twenty-four-piece pink Hello Kitty puzzle, of her walking her dogs in the park. Now I look back upon the entire month of March spent working on multiple thousand-piece puzzles, finishing every puzzle I could find in my household. I remember sitting in AP Econ first period of some random Wednesday in February asking my teacher “what if this student does test positive? Why are we here? Isn’t this dangerous? Isn’t this putting us at risk of exposure?” He quickly assured me that classes on Tuesday were cancelled solely for the purpose of disinfecting the entire building. I questioned this response as I looked down at my stained covered desk that clearly hasn’t been cleaned in weeks. However, I wasn’t too worried about the situation as this almost comical idea of a virus was ripping its way through China and Italy, and not a single case was discovered in North America. I go home that evening to discover that a case was in fact discovered in North America, and of course it was in Washington. Completely awestruck, I try to convince myself there is no possible way out of all the schools in the nation this virus found its way to Hazen High School. I forget about the whole thing and go back to cramming for my Stats test. Thursday morning I’m awoken to the news that my school will be closed for the rest of the week. Not understanding the seriousness of the situation, all I’m thinking is “thank God I have more time to study for this Stats test.” That Sunday we receive more news stating school will be closed for the next two weeks and then an addition for that preplanned Spring Break. Still receiving messages from my Stats teacher to keep studying and practicing as we’ll pick up where we left off when we return, I stop studying because at this rate who knows if we’ll be going back. Sure enough, the weekend before our expected return we receive the email stating that all classes will be online for the rest of the term. Around this time my sister and mom were sent home from their work as cases around Washington continued to forcing many places to close and moving everyone online. This was the first time in years that we were all under the same roof again, and this was the first time ever we were forced to spend 24/7 with one another for who knew how long. And this was when the intense puzzling escapades began. For my parents it was a quite easy transition as they were doing the exact same things just in the comfort of their own home, but for my sister and I we had many weeks of nothing as school and work were figuring out what to do in this unprecedented time. There’s only so much TV to watch, so we landed on this brilliant idea of starting our puzzle collection, starting from the sixteen-piece slowly making our way up to two-thousand pieces. The smaller puzzles were obviously quick and mainly worked on between my sister and I, with the occasional visit from my parents forcing pieces to fit together that my sister and I would later discover and have to move. As the size of the puzzles began to grow, so did the time we spent working on them. From completing one in an hour to working on one for days. What started between my sister and I, soon turned into an entire family affair. Staying updated with the number of cases and deaths around the world and in Washington, the time spent working on these puzzles became very soothing to me as my mind was completely focused on sorting the different shades of pink that would eventually become a sunset. This little family project of ours created this sense of unity, collaboration, and overall fun in such a sensitive time and atmosphere. I felt that first month really allowed my family and I to bond in a different way, just because we all had the time to sit and work on puzzles together. Then of course the inevitable happened, no not quarantine ending, but we finished all the puzzles. I still remember asking my sister, half-jokingly, if she thought we would be able to finish all the puzzles before quarantine ended, of course at the time I thought there was no way it would las till August. I was clearly wrong, and we did indeed finish all the puzzles. We quickly looked online for more thousand-piece puzzles to buy, which to our surprise were incredibly expensive, but looking back we probably weren’t the only family doing puzzles so it would make sense the price skyrocketed. With the abrupt ending to our puzzling journey, I was disappointed with the little family activities we would do together, but we had months to go so we eventually did find something. Though puzzles are such a simple object, often associated with children or elders, it’s going to be something I remember from my teen years for the rest of my life. Whenever I see a puzzle, I will think about the strong family bond my family created the summer of 2020. -
2020-11
My Covid Experience
The item that I am submitting is a collection of my experiences that I have with COVID-19, as well as starting off with an experience I had when I was younger before COVID-19. Then I write my experience present day from Thanksgiving, as well as giving it a short ending. -
2020-11
Working in a pandemic
This shows how it can be difficult to remember all the changes the pandemic has created. People forget things, like the new one way aisles. Not everyone has malicious intent when it comes to the pandemic. One way aisles were created in stores and such to allow for social distancing in the aisles. This is probably one of the most ignored new guidelines, but at least the effort is there. As long as people try their best to follow these guidelines it is important not to judge people to hard. It seems this generation tends to want to judge people for forgetting to follow some of these guidelines, but everyone is learning together. People should not take all of this to heart. It can be difficult to check if there is an arrow, especially since not all stores use them. -
2020-11
Checklist for Putting On & Removing PPE
Checklist for healthcare workers when putting PPE on and taking it off. Important to remember that many healthcare workers did not have to don PPE before the pandemic and needed guidance. -
2020-11
Journal Entry: Thoughts on the first semester of grad school.
This is less of an entry and more of a summary of how my year has gone? I'm trying to write without too much filter, to really capture the raw emotions of the pandemic. It's been a weird, and rough semester. A positive is that due to the pandemic, I was able to get into a school I had been interested in for quite a while. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get in, but I had a much better chance of doing so, than I did before when online classes weren't offered for my major. I did get in, at the last minute and picked my classes the day before the semester started! I needed a laptop, which were certainly in short supply, but luckily there were some available. When my laptop was stolen, and a webcam was a more immediate option for an older computer, that was more difficult to obtain. I hadn't even considered that they were in short supply but almost every cheap to middle priced webcam were sold out. I definitely didn't think this is what my first semester of graduate school would be like when I started. One class ended in a project showcase that felt far differently than it would have had we been able to present in person. Juggling the semester and also working at night was certainly not something I expected to be doing. During the nights we (my coworkers and I) would be frantically trying to stock canned goods, paper goods, and other items in high demand, just to watch it all be bought within 30 minutes of the store opening for the day. This is also on top of trying to run the store normally. It was very surreal to go in and see shelf after shelf empty and ransacked, as if a hurricane was on the way. All in all, I'm not thankful for the pandemic, but being able to find positives, and to be grateful for the opportunities afforded me is healthier than focusing on the negatives. -
2020-11
What Keeps Me Sane
Between working in a grocery store, and doing class work, I find myself busy and often stressed. I am lucky enough to have a partner, two cats and other luxuries that help me relax and relieve my anxieties. I included an older picture of myself and my partner, my switch, and my cats Wobbles (grey) and Jade (black). Having these distractions in my life have definitely made the pandemic a little more manageable. These things, along with my partner, help me count my blessings and appreciate what I have and have been able to hold on to during these anxious and stressful times. -
2020-11
Social Events in a Pandemic Year
Part of attending college, both as an undergrad and graduate student, are campus activities. Some are designed to be fun, or educational, stress relieving, or to create a sense of community amongst the students. Sometimes you just walk into them as you are traveling about campus, or you see a flyer or an announcement e-mail for the event. The pandemic, and the constraints that go along with it have changed how these events happen. While some events happen in person, to comply with social distancing regulations, they are limited to how many people can attend, requiring a registration link. Other events that used to happen in person are now conducted over Zoom or other video conferencing platforms. The things that strikes me most out of these two screenshots is the asterisk next to some of the events, indicating it's a virtual event. It's foreign, and odd and really just serves as a constant reminder of the pandemic that the world is experiencing, because it singles out the event; this isn't in person, you must attend from your home / location of your computer. -
2020-11
Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 one Water Fountain at a Time
This photograph was taken of a water fountain in the athletics and recreation building at St. Mary's University. The water fountains are all blocked off with signage in the building besides the fountains that allow for the placement of a water bottle beneath it to be filled, unable to directly drink from it. -
2020-11
Increased Restrictions to Entrances and Exits on Campus
This photo was taken of a sign within the athletics and recreation building at St. Mary's University. The sign and border disallow people to take an exit they would normally prefer and pushes them to use the marked exit near the entrance so that staff can have an idea of who is in the building when they are supposed to be. -
2020-11
Red Curry Tofu Rice Bowl at Bon Banh Mi in Charleston, SC
Bon Banh Mi is a small local restaurant with two locations in the Charleston, SC area owned by two friends. Like many other restaurants in the area, they were hit by Covid-19 and had to figure out how to continue service in order to stay open. They just recently started offering inside service, however most people sit outside to enjoy their food. Masks are required at all times, except when eating food. -
2020-11
Chef Serigne Mbaye Collaboration with New Orleans restaurant Turkey and the Wolf
Sergine Mbaye a popup chef who owns Darak in New Orleans, collaborated with a famous restaurant, Turkey and the Wolf. He was able to share his knowledge of Senegalese cooking and history. -
2020-11
A New Entrance to the Realm of Recreation
The photograph was taken in the AACC at St. Mary's University. Prior to the pandemic visitors would check-in using their ID cards. Now, patrons must create an appointment online and check-in at the only entrance, get their temperature taken, and leave once their hour appointment is up. This may seem like an inconvenience to some but it is a necessary procedure to ensure the spaces on campus are used safely.