I kept in contact with my old school friends, and we always play video games and draw comics together. On January 5th, they asked, like usual, whether we have time to go to the park together. A girl name Siren said she couldn’t come because she got COVID. She took one week to recover; she told us that she was constantly coughing and uncomfortable to breathe. We just face-timed Siren on Tuesday and glad saw that she’s a lot better.

I didn't know of many Symptoms of Covid in the beginning. Of Course, no one did! But, my dad and I both came down sick badly after coming back from Mammoth. I had a horrible headache, Fever, Stomachache, and trouble breathing. I think I had Covid 19, but I didn't infect anyone because of the government's rules to stay home! I then further learned that Covid symptoms are Loss of taste, smell, runny nose, fever, cough, headache, stomachache, and trouble breathing.

One of my friends I know got covid. He lives and London and got it from his brother. His brother was coming home from university and got it for the 2nd time and brought it home. His brother spread it to his dad and him, but not his mom or older brother. He wasn't sick and was A-Symptomatic. He recovered quickly and still has the antibodies. Another friend of mine got covid, Anna. She was very sick and had a fever, loss of smell and taste, and shortness of breath. She got better after 2-3 weeks, but she still can't smell or taste anything after 6 months.

One of my friends mom got Covid and she got very bad headaches and she couldn't taste anything. She also had to quarantine away from her family. Since she could taste anything would give her foods and spices that are very gross such as ginger with mayo and a blended up pizza and they had her eat it. That was one thing that happen to her but other than that she only got very bad headaches.

[REDACTED] Covid-19 has been a thing for quite a while now, and the vaccines for he virus had come out. On Thursday, when my _________ teacher, ______________, did his daily COVID-19 test, he came up negative for COVID-19, but on Friday, he came up positive, making anyone who was in his class on Friday need to stay at their homes for a week and a half. On the Zoom Room that he used to come into the class without actually being there, he discussed he had a light fever, and he coughed excessively. It was nothing bad in his case, and he will be able to survive it just fine, despite his age.

If you happen to get covid, there are a couple of symptoms that you get. One of them is lost of taste. Also you get a fever. Luckily I don’t know anyone that got covid, but my history teacher, Mr. Newman got it. Some people that have him as a teacher, had to stay home for 2 weeks.

When you are given COVID-19, there are many symptoms you can have. Such of these are fevers, coughing, difficulty breathing, loss of taste or smell, etc. They are very horrible symptoms. My cousin and my teacher have both gotten COVID-19 and shown these symptoms. They are recovering and are good right now. However, we don't know the long term effects, and I hope they stay well for a long time.

One of my best friends got COVID-19, and he told me he coughed a lot and actually got bloody noses a lot as well, which was rare. He had to be quarantined for 14 days after he recovered. Thankfully, he didn't die and I am really happy. Additionally, he told me that he got it from family members, so that made me think that I should also social distance myself from my own relatives. Because of my friend, I learned a lot about COVID.

Although my friends and I were relatively sad that we couldn't hang out with each other due to going in lockdown, it gave us the best excuse to start a world on Minecraft, and of course, build a McDonald's. There was a lot anxious thoughts, fears, and overall clinical depression. However, through it all, we fought together in unity to overcome not only the external struggles due to quarantine, but also our own internal struggles (that was very much poetic). This screenshot holds a lot of meaning to me because it truly shows how we all truly went through a lot this past year, and how we've been able to adapt to this new lifestyle. Nevertheless, this new way of life really hasn't been that horrendous, and in fact, I'm starting to prefer this type of schedule. At the same time though, I really wish that things could go back to normal, so that way, my friends and I's addiction to Minecraft could cease.

This is a pdf of my award from the annual piano competition. Usually, I would perform in a concert hall with 3 judges and the other contestants. This year, I had to submit my recordings and compete with over 30 entrees. To me, my piano was not the big grand pianos and my setup was not professional as others. After changing songs a month before the due date, I practiced for hours. You think learning an 8-page song in a month is hard, but actually, it was fun with the pressure on. 3 months after submitting, I finally got the news that I won 3rd place. Despite learning a song in a month, I was able to win and place. From this, I learned that hard work never stops and nothing should discourage you. If I gave up when I found out the category I originally applied for was canceled, I wouldn't have won. This was an important event for me because I didn't think I would get close since I was close on time. If I turned back time, I would have initially picked this set of songs and perfected it, even before the quarantine.

Fortunately, not very many people I know have gotten COVID-19. Maybe two or three people I know, at most, have tested positive since quarantine started. For my mom's birthday in the beginning of January, my parents decided to do a wine tasting event at our house. There was a moderate amount of people there, about twenty I'd say. My friend's parents were there and had just gotten back from visiting family in Ohio. My parents were sure to warn everyone invited that they may have been in contact with the virus during their traveling, but had not tested positive, yet. Unfortunately, a couple days after the party, almost their whole family had tested positive for COVID-19. Everyone that attended the party was on the lookout for potential symptoms afterward, as they have been in contact with the couple who tested positive. This couple had very minor symptoms and never felt severely unwell during the infection. Most people my family, friends, or family friends know that have gotten COVID have never experienced severe symptoms, but it's possible for them to become severe. Symptoms can consist of a fever or chills, coughing, shortness of breath/trouble breathing, fatigue, body aches, loss of taste/smell, sore throat, sinus congestion, nausea or vomiting, and/or diarrhea. I am thankful that my family and I have never gotten COVID and few people we know have.

Covid-19 has many parts to it but huge way we have been able to find out quickly if people have covid so we can quarantine them quickly is through the symptoms. Some major symptoms people might get after being exposed are Fever or chills cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, Fatigue, Muscle or body aches, Headache, Sore throat and Congestion or runny nose. The symptoms are also helpful because they are different from symptoms from other viruses like the flue for example. Overall without the Symptoms we would have had much more trouble with Covid-19.

There are many symptoms to COVID-19. Some are worse than others and can also last longer or be more life threatening depending on the person and if they have any underlying conditions. Some of the symptoms can be loss of taste and loss of smell, a fever, headache. Covid 19 mostly affects your lungs, so if you have a hard time breathing that can be another symptom as well. I have had an experience with one of my close family members contracting covid. Covid in a way saved their life but at the same time almost ended it. Let me share my story. So my [FAMILY MEMBER] was happy and wasn’t aware of having any underlying conditions. He felt perfectly fine, he was in his 30’s i think and he said that but would felt tired and not motivated but he took that as a stage of getting older. When he got Covid he had a panic attack, he couldn't breathe and had to go to the hospital immediately. He was rushed to the ER and was put on a ventilator and other things as well. When doctors ran tests on him they found out he had covid, but the reason he had a hard time breathing was because supposedly his heart was only pumping with 10% of energy, somehow his heart wasn’t pumping fast enough so that is the reason he was feeling more tired and not motivated. The doctor told him that if he hadn’t got covid, because of his heart he could’ve died any second. That is why in a way Covid saved his life. But now he is happy and healthy and his heart is now working. That is how Covid has affected my family.

One of our close family friends has gotten Covid-19. We thought that the people that are close to us were never going to get the virus, but I guess we spoke too soon. We saw them three or four days at our house before they got the test rest coming back saying positive. We were terrified, so we stayed at home for 14 days. We were all right, but our family friend, not so much. He had a fever for two or three days, and finally, after the temperature went down, it came straight back up again the next day. He was really tired and had no energy to walk around his house. His body was aching and he had a lot of pain. Luckily, after a week of getting rest, he recovered from the virus.

The symptoms of COVID ranged from nonexistent to deadly. Most people who contracted it got flu - like symptoms which were fairly easy to deal with. Another large percentage of those who were infected didn't have symptoms at all. Those that remained were hospitalized and put on ventilators. Quite a number of these people died. 400,000 in America alone. I got COVID over Christmas break in 2020. The worst part of it, was being stuck at home the entire time. I was one of the lucky asymptomatic people along with my two younger brothers. My mom and dad got fatigue and my mom was pretty crabby on Christmas day. I was also lucky enough to get out of my period of isolation just in time for my return to in-person school. My poor five year-old brother had to wait nearly four weeks from his positive test to return to school, because of his unreasonable principle who clearly did not understand the CDC's guidelines for when a person tested positive. Overall, my experience with COVID was an easy one, made more enjoyable by the new games that had been received for Christmas.

During Thanksgiving, my grandparents got COVID-19. My family was going to meet with them for Thanksgiving, but since they had COVID-19, we decided not to. They got over it relatively easily. The only two ways it affected them was they lost their sense of taste and smell and they were very tired. Usually they get up at about 5:00 am and stay up until about 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm, but when they had COVID-19, they got up at about 9:00 am and could only make it to about 3:00 pm.

I have only had 1 family member get COVID-19. It was my great grandma (102) who passed a few days ago due to COVID-19. She had trouble breathing and One of the people in her home must have brought it to her. One of my teachers also got COVID-19. He said that he only had like a fever for a few days but still doesn't feel 100%. One of my friends family went to dinner with someone with the rona but didn't know at the time. They found out and freaked. Emily and I were at their house when they found out. They all got tested and were negative which made sense because none of them felt bad. My step-aunt and her house got COVID and they all had different symptoms. One kid lost taste and the other lost smell. My aunt got a fever and my uncle had trouble breathing. The symptoms of COVID-19 are all different.

The mild symptoms you might have from COVID is a fever or chills, cough, maybe fatigue too. They would also get muscle aches, sore throat or a runny nose. Some severe symptoms you might get are difficulty breathing, high fever, persistent pain in the chest, or an inability to stay awake or wake up. The mild symptoms you just need to stay home for but the severe cases you would have to go to urgent care for. An experience I've had with one of my relatives getting covid wasnt really serious. it was my uncle and he was dealing with it fine with no severe symptoms and he only had it for a couple days. After that, he just took the precautions until the doctor said he was ready to go out again. Now he can't have covid for about 4 more months.

There are many symptoms of Covid-19. My Nana got covid and here are the symptoms she had, she had a sore throat, and was coughing, she also had a little bit of a headache. Within about 2 to 3 weeks her symptoms were gone. What I've learned from people who have had covid is that it affects everyone very differently. These 3-year-old twin girls that I babysit got it and one of them just had a runny nose and the other didn't have any symptoms. However, the mom who also got it and lost her smell and taste and that's all the symptoms she had. Some other common symptoms are sore throat, headache, muscle aches, loss of taste and smell, cough, fatigue, and vomiting.

im really quite lucky to not have known many people with Covid-19, but there are a few people that I do know personally that have/had it. My friend avarie went to ohio for Christmas and on the trip back, they were starting to feel a little sick. they decided to go get tested and her mom was positive. she described feelings of shivers, runny nose, cough, sore throat, nausea, and feeling tires all the time. She was a very healthy person so it didn't affect her maybe as bad as it did others, but it was still bad.

My REDACTED teacher came down with the covid 19 virus. He said that he had a fever, chills, and felt really sick. So, he went to the doctors office and got tested, he was positive. He called the school and said he couldn't come because he was sick. We were all worried for him but he is doing just fine now. My family has been spared from covid, non of our family members have had it thankfully.

I mean I don't really have a personal story. But my buddy did get it and he says it's not that bad. He just has to stay at home for a while. The symptoms of Covid are as follows, Cough, Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, Fatigue, Muscle or body aches, Headache, New loss of taste or smell, Sore throat, Congestion or runny nose, Nausea or vomiting, and Diarrhea.

My dads friend had contracted Covid-19 some time around thanksgiving. At first he though he had bronchitis, but when he went to the doctor he was diagnosed with Covid. He had infected his entire family and they were quarantining, he felt tired and had a bad cough, but he got through it easy because he was in shape and young. It would be scary for my grandparents to contract it because I am almost positive they would pass away.

To be honest, when it was first announced that there would no longer be in person school last year, I was pretty excited. I knew about the terrible things happening where Covid originated and that it was spreading rapidly, but all I could focus on was that I had been gifted a second summer break. However, like most things, staying at home every single day eventually turned into a negative. Everyday seemed like another day and the weekends lost their value. The situation really dawned down on me when Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year came and went without even a second look. Holidays I tremendously enjoyed in the past no longer had the same spirit and it felt just like another week. Yet I should feel grateful since nothing has changed. I've been lucky to avoid the serious effects of the pandemic so I guess I should count my lucky stars that fate handed me mundane days instead of no days at all.

It is just a personal experience, and I think they matter.

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

The World Health Organization is sending out public announcements to encourage people to trust the Covid-19 vaccine.

I actually agree with most of these predictions. I fear for the economy. I worry about the struggle people will face this year.

Woman works with covid patients and wakes up one morning to discover she can no longer smell. In the video she goes around the house trying to smell different items. Her face becomes more distraught as she realizes she is not smelling anything. This is a popular Tic Tok video type right now. Many people's first sign that something is amiss is the loss of smell and taste.

A grandpa drives 30 minutes to bring his granddaughter and her boyfriend some food and board games after finding out they were Covid positive. One commenter said, "Protect that man at all costs". Such a sweet and loving gesture.

@vivi.karkasi enters her home after getting her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. She notices some funny side effects.

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!

From Article: Most mentoring programs have moved online, but some wait lists are long and the rare person-to-person connection is sorely missed.

From article: A Times reporter caught the coronavirus during the New York City outbreak last April. But the acute phase of the illness was just the beginning.

As a teacher, I miss our old normal. I miss my students. I miss the connections. The numbers where I live are pretty high and we have not been inside a classroom since March of last year. The kids are not doing well. No amount of scaffolding would be enough right now. My English Language learners are struggling and most have just stopped coming. Parents are frustrated (understandably), and it is evident in their desperate e-mails to me. I am failing them all but I keep pushing and adapting for them. I am so homesick for these kids. Seeing how other schools are dealing with Covid-19 definitely makes me sad. Apart of me wants to go back so badly that I would risk getting sick. The other part of me knows that I have children of my own and asthma. I need to be here for my own family.

With a nation in crisis on so many fronts, reading this article today gave me the feeling I could maybe exhale for the first time in a long time. Biden is facing a disaster on the Covid front with vaccines running out in California and New York predicted to happen by the weekend. Biden will be busy the next few weeks, trying to repair the damage done to so many community's during the Trump administration.

A cartoon shows a masked President Biden and Vice President Harris in front of the White House with a clean up crew of sorts.

Quarantine might be one of the most bittersweet experiences of my life. I lost many opportunities, friends, and even parts of myself, as losing my ability to socialize really took a toll on me. However, benefits also sprouted from this, as I manage to discover new things about myself, such as hobbies and interests, and was able to grow as a person. Even thought it was sad to drift from many of my friends, I found how who I my real friends were, and who were the ones that I would stay with for a long time. If I was given a choice to go back in time and be able to live my life without COVID, I might not take it, for this pandemic showed me who I really am, whether it's for the better or worst.

This photo was taken a few minutes before 1:00 PM on Friday, March 13, 2020 at the Arizona Historical Society Heritage Center in Tempe. That day stands out as the day everything started shutting down due to COVID-19. I had set out for an appointment in downtown Phoenix, but found out it had been cancelled when I was about halfway there. I got my Lyft driver to change course and head to the Heritage Center instead so that I could take care of some other business. As all this was happening, a rather freakish thunderstorm broke out. That same day, my son received an email from the University of Arizona advising him not to return from Spring Break, and I found out that Arizona State University would conduct all classes on line for the rest of the semester. The following Monday, my wife was sent home early to work remotely and has continued to do so ever since. Looking back after ten months of the pandemic (whoever dreamed it would go on this long?), this picture symbolizes the start of the whole chaotic ordeal.

For billions of people around the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has been a major disruption in their lives. Jobs either put you at risk, go online, or cease to exist. People's schedules change dramatically as they confront new challenges like working from home. However, for a much smaller subset of people of whom I am a part, life during the pandemic has changed very little. I am what one could call a digital hermit. Even before the pandemic started, I was the kind of person who already had all my groceries delivered with Instacart, and spent a vast majority of my time cloistered in my apartment on my computer. While I was at NDSU, I would leave my apartment most days to attend class, but even that was not universally true. During the summers I took on extra courses in order to complete my undergraduate degree faster, and it just so happens at NDSU that most summer classes were online. That meant for me that during the summer I spent not just most of my time, but all of my time in my apartment, going weeks or potentially months without seeing anyone else in person. When Covid hit and everything transferred online, I was particularly prepared to survive that situation. While most people began to whither away from lack of contact, or perhaps too much close quarters contact, I was in my zone. I survived socially by communicating with friends daily over Discord, a popular program not unlike Slack for hosting private chat rooms including both voice communication and text channels. Discord is primarily focused on video games, and that is indeed how me and my friends spent our time. Transitioning to online classes was only difficult to begin with due to most professors I had being unfamiliar with online teaching tools, while I was well-versed in maintaining a schedule, checking assignments, and doing what needed to be done to more independently manage my school time. My experience surviving prolonged isolation even before the pandemic via the wonders of digital technology and the internet reflect the means by which many people had to adjust their lives and the ways this era of history will be remembered. Digital archives such as this have enabled the collection of stories and other data to study in the future from disparate locations and backgrounds, this one written by me in the comfort of my own bedroom. Collaboration between professionals using Slack and other platforms is a more serious reflection of me and my friend's private Discord server, over which I rule as a tyrant by imposing at this point 58 arbitrary and often contradictory rules. While I have survived isolation as a digital hermit, it is important to remember that I do so because of all the people who cannot do the same. I am incredibly fortunate to be attending college and surviving just fine without working a job, which the same can not be said for many other people. Even something as basic as getting groceries for me is reliant on underpaid, underappreciated, and certainly exploited Instacart employees, who put themselves at risk so that I can get the Oreo cookies I crave and they can keep a roof over their heads. Me and my friends can keep ourselves entertained by jumping in the Discord server and cracking some skulls together from all over the country in the video game Vermintide 2, but we also acknowledge that many people do not have it so easy. For me, the end of lockdown is more daunting than the beginning. I have enjoyed my time as a more socially acceptable recluse, and yet there will come a time in which I will need to go back out into the world to attend classes and other important events in person. Whether that time comes sooner rather than later, I will continue to be a digital hermit, though perhaps one who gets some fresh air more often.

We have had and still have many rules and procedures during the corona virus pandemic. I have very much disliked some and appreciated others. One procedure that I have appreciated being online was having a very easy structure and schedule and one that I have not liked was having too much freedom during classes. Sometimes in class I would be lazy and not paying attention while in person you can't be relaxed on your comfortable chair with a blanket. One rule that I have appreciated was full time class, some schools do not have a full school day with merely one or two hours of classes. One rule that I have disliked is being in class the full 80 minutes and I lose attention span within that time frame. These are the rules and procedures I have experienced during the corona virus pandemic.

For years, I had been counting down the days, week, and months to late-August, 2020. This was supposed to be when my daughter, who turned five in April, 2020, would finally start Kindergarten. But most importantly from my perspective, this was the glorious moment when my kid was old enough to go school for free! What kept me sane through all those years of paying the exorbitant cost of babysitters, nannies, day cares, and preschools was the promise that one day my wife and I wouldn't have pay what could easily amount to a house payment for the privilege of having jobs, working on a graduate degree, and having children all at the same time. As you can probably guess, COVID-19 made achieving my dream significantly more difficult. In July, my family and I moved from California to Arizona so I could start a PhD program here. A positive side-effect of this move, I assumed, would be that the local public school would offer in-person instruction to those who wanted it. After all, Arizona is a more conservative state than California. When our local school bailed on their plans for in-person instruction beginning in August, I decided that we would move heaven and earth to find a school that was willing to stand firm against public pressure and fear-mongering to do what, in my view, is in the best interest of students -- offer in-person instruction for those that want it. After countless emails and phone calls, I finally found a good school -- Leading Edge Academy in Gilbert -- where my daughter could attend in-person and we wouldn't be charged tuition. My daughter has been attending in-person at Leading Edge ever since. She's learned a lot, has socialized with other children, and hasn't contracted COVID-19. While COVID-19 is certainly a serious and scary disease, my view is that those who are opposed to an in-person learning option during the pandemic should be honest about what they are actually advocating: sacrificing the education and well-being of children (not to mention the well-being and finances of parents) to make things a bit safer for a very small percentage of the population for whom the virus poses a significant health risk -- most of whom are elderly and have the option of remaining safe at home. Also, many of these people have already received a COVID-19 vaccine or will be receiving one soon. I know this view is shared by countless other parents who have gone to great lengths to enroll their children in in-person learning. I feel terrible for many parents who have wanted an in-person learning option for their children, but have had to tolerate Zoom learning because they are not in the same privileged position my family is in.

My grandmother passed in July 2020, a few months after the Covid-19 pandemic began in the United States. She left behind a lot of miscellaneous things, including a number of family heirlooms that I have inherited. When we were packing up her trailer and storage containers, we had totes upon totes filled with family documents, awards, newspaper clippings, objects, and photographs. I feel as if I have my own personal archive of our family within these totes. I can't help being emotional about these things I now possess and grateful that my grandmother was a family-history hoarder. I can carry her memory on by taking care of them. One of the various objects was this letter/certificate in a frame, giving thanks and recognition to my great-grandfather for his military service after he had passed. I don’t know much about the paper itself, it seems pretty common and not a unique letter, but it was something nice and surprising to find within the boxes.

As it almost reaches the 1-year mark since COVID drastically transformed our lives, everything has become a norm. It is normal to go out wearing a mask, it is normal to stay in your house all day, and it is normal to go to school or work online. With schools closed down, Zoom has become a necessity to connect to others. As tiring as it is, we wake up every morning and log in Zoom for hours because it is something we have to do. As high school students, we no longer get the chance to make new friends at school, interact with each other during class, or participate in sports. For most, it is certainly upsetting to not be doing all those things right now, but as time goes by, we can only hope that things will go back to normal soon. For me, I do not mind online-learning and being confined to my room all day. Though it is boring, at least I have technology. Everyday, I communicate and connect with my family and friends through text messages, FaceTime, or Zoom. During a time of unrest, the best thing to have is friends and family, and when we can not come in contact with one another, technology is the only way. Since the start of junior year, my best friends and I talk everyday to compensate for the times we could’ve spent together in person. It is hard to plan safe and fun ways to hang out together, but we find ways to interact, such as, studying together on Zoom or daily FaceTimes. However, as our birthdays and the holidays have passed throughout the year, my friends and I have gone to each other’s houses to surprise each other with gifts. When we do choose to see each other in person, we try our best to ensure that none of us are sick and we are all safe. I hope that soon my friends and I can spend time together without worry and have lots of fun before the end of our high school careers. It is no doubt that we all use technology everyday as it has become an essential part of our lives due to this pandemic. 2020 was arguably the most disastrous year that I have experienced so far, and I have hope that 2021 will be better. As I have been living on the same schedule since March 2020 and the first semester comes to an end, it seems like it has made my junior year go by in a zoom.

Daily life at Head Quarters (HQ) Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) before COVID-19 and its restrictions was full of sounds and constant movement. It was customary to walk the halls and hear keypads beeping, and door locks clicking or overhear conversations as you pass people in the halls. Meetings were full of people, and the subtle roar of conversation was only stopped by the entrance of a General officer or other meeting chairpeople. As the restrictions for COVID-19 began to roll across the country, AFGSC was quick to implement them. First came a stop movement for personnel and a restriction of movements. There would be no or severely limited Permeant Change of Stations, and all temporary duty (TDY) was canceled for the foreseeable future. All personnel was to limit their office spaces to allow for six feet of distances and, if not capable of initiating telework procedures (which was an accomplishment in itself). This was the moment that life changed at HQ AFGSC. There would be fewer beeps and clicks. There would be no hallway conversations overheard because the hallways were nearly empty on a day-to-day basis. There were no more in-person meetings resulting in the muting of the subtle roars of conversations and the sudden silences created as meetings started. However, there was a new element created from COVID-19, a smell everywhere you went. Cleaning and self-sanitization ramped up at AFGSC. Every office you entered now had a hand sanitization station on a post or a wall. The restrooms and common areas cleaning increased, resulting in a lasting scent of bleach and other strong cleaners. But still, the most surprising thing was the silence that COVID-19 created in an ordinarily bustling Command.

I used a meme for an item to describe my Quarantine and I thought it was a good example of what quarantine was like for me since I don’t like showing others especially my parents that I’m having a hard time even when I’m really stressed about so many things at once. 2020 in five words is boring because nothing new was going on since we had to quarantine, lonely because I couldn’t hang out with my friends, slow because every day was pretty much the same and it felt like it wasn’t going to end, different as well as frustrating because we had to learn in a new way and it’s not something that I’m really comfortable with especially with our wifi sometimes being really slow so it makes the meeting laggy. The holidays were barely any different from a regular day except for the fact that there was more food and on Christmas, we had gifts to give and receive. My workspace isn’t really much, just a desk with my school books and binders on the side, my computer in the middle, and a snack for the day in front of my black table lamp on the other side with my school supplies in the drawer. Three things I would include in a quarantine survival kit is my phone/book so I have something to entertain myself with, fuzzy blankets since they’re really soft and I like being cocooned in it and lastly is a bunch of boxes filled with snacks since I like to eat when I watch or read something.

My junior year in high school isn't like any other school year because I could describe it as probably the bumpiest roller coaster I've ever been on. This is because I get to watch Gilmore Girls on Netflix during lunch and lay in bed while logging onto zoom for classes. But the downside is I've been simply alone and away from friends or even teachers for that matter, that I'm supposed to see every week day. Facetime calls are never the same as meeting up with someone in real life so that goes for making up time away from actual school, but I've learned to cherish these moments I have. My family is home majority of the time, and I get to hear my dad play his guitar more often or stay up late with my mom watching Sinister 2 or play Call of Duty Cold War with my brothers. Whatever it is, I'm grateful for this break away from the usual, and I have the opportunity to focus on myself for once. Before quarantine, school was draining me out as I had early classes and I really needed a break, so fortunately, I got one. I've finally found time to think about what I truly want to do in life, and what my future plans are for college because I never really got the time for that during school. I've learned a lot about my interests as well and even time for self-care and all the girly pamper routines. Some days I like to treat myself with homemade pancakes, my favorite, and eat them at any time of day just because I can and I can make them whenever I'd like. Staying home has its pros and cons, but as of now, its important to follow strict protocols in order to safely recover and protect others! so don't forget to wear a mask and social distance when you leave the house because we're all in this together!!

Out of all Covids procedures quarantine has effected me the most. In the beginning it was so crazy to me because it was just something I saw in science fiction movies but I'm pretty used to it now. I miss going out with my friends like normal. I've only seen three of my friends during this whole thing because I know we've only seen each other. I don't know how I could handle this without them. School is very different although I expected it. We have to walk certain ways, have plexiglass between us and scatter the desks. I really don't mind wearing mask, it's not only for my safety but others. I don't think it's a big deal, honestly I don't understand why some people get so pressed about having to wear one. It makes me kind of uncomfortable talking about Covid and its procedures because everyone has their own thoughts about it and it tends to be set in stone. I make sure I follow all the procedures so we can get over this, I think even thought some are hard its what has to be done.

Gabriel Rheaume’s Sensory history contribution to COVID-19 Archive I would like to submit my gray, cotton face mask to the COVID-19 Archive. It is perhaps not as the most important item, but certainly it is the most present item for me throughout this pandemic. At almost a full year into this adventure, everyone has a keen familiarity with and opinion of face masks. I got this one as a gift. It feels about the same as getting socks on Christmas, except more useful. I have used this thing every single day unless I forget it—which sends me into a chaotic panic. I am a teacher in a suburb of Nashville, TN. Our school district insists on teaching in person, despite having alarmingly high infection rates in our community. This mask is now part of my daily uniform, a non-negotiable. It serves as a role model for students. A sign that their health is of paramount concern to us. It is part of everything I do. I have dozens of paper replacements in my desk. Those aren’t as good. They straps hurt your ears. The cloth ones are better, more comfortable. I thought about getting one with my favorite band’s logo, but I am going to stick with this old reliable gray, cotton mask. The smell of this mask will haunt me the rest of my life. I wash it multiple times per week. It often smells like laundry detergent. That is a good thing. However, by the end of the day it often smells like whatever I had for lunch. The masks gets hot. It is blasted with my carbon dioxide for eight hours straight. It gets really bad when I have to lecture during the day. When you inhale sharply to talk, it sucks in the material. I’ve learned how to breathe differently when I have the mask on. Sometimes I just pinch the end and hold it with my fingers while I talk. I can rarely take it off. I panic if I forget to put it on when I leave my classroom to go anywhere. Who would have ever thought this little cloth mask would be so important? I often doubt that it is effective at preventing the spread or contraction of infection. I am certainly NOT an anti-masker. But it’s a piece of cloth. I guess that it’s better than nothing. This gray cotton face mask, sometimes imbued with the glorious smell of fresh linen in the breeze or Last night’s roast and mashed potatoes has become a source of loathing and resentment, but simultaneously an anti-viral security blanket (if only in my imagination). Yet, I can’t wait to get rid of this vile thing.

TikTok, an extremely popular social media app that allows users to upload short videos, never fails to showcase creativity. From dances to trends to recipes and more, it seems there is no limit to what its users can create. One of the most seemingly ridiculous examples of this is the “Ratatousical,” now formally known as “Ratatouille: the TikTok Musical.” User Emily Jacobsen began what became a viral movement by posting a short song she made up about the main character of the Disney/Pixar film Ratatouille, and it quickly picked up momentum. Soon more people began writing songs for the characters of the movie, choreographing dances, and designing sets for what became a very detailed crowd-sourced musical. Many joked that it needed to go to Broadway once Broadway reopened, and shared their dream cast for the show, posting song covers and orchestrations for the show. Due to the massive popularity it gained on TikTok, many official Broadway-related and Disney pages and websites began referencing the original song, playing along with the idea of this musical. Much to everyone’s surprise, on December 9, 2020, it was announced that an official virtual production of the show would be presented by Seaview Productions on January 1, 2021, featuring the original songs shared on TikTok with full orchestrations and Broadway actors performing them. The concert benefited The Actors Fund, a charity supporting workers in the performing arts and entertainment, and starred Titus Burgess (of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fame) as Remy. Through the sale of virtual tickets and donations, over $2 million was raised for the Actors Fund because of this show, which was met with overwhelming positivity. All of the original creators of the songs featured were compensated and praised, and the collaborative effort brought joy and excitement to performing arts workers and fans alike. What seemed like a silly trend on TikTok quickly brought together hundreds of thousands of people, allowing them to share in what brings them happiness even when still separated due to the pandemic. The money raised through this project will go on to support those who have been out of work from the closure of theatres and the entertainment industry, which has led countless numbers of individuals to be out of work since early in the pandemic. This effort to collaborate and create allowed individuals to return to the feeling of community and support often felt in the performing arts and provided a creative outlet for many. While nothing feels quite the same as seeing a musical live and in person, it is inspiring to know that the performing arts community is alive and well, even in the midst of a pandemic. If you haven’t checked it out, I’d highly recommend it. Here’s to Remy, the rat of all our dreams.