The coronavirus pandemic has (hopefully) briefly changed normalcy for everyone. Admittedly, I have never really been one to go to the gym and life weights. However, I do enjoy going to the gym and running on a treadmill and playing pick-up basketball. At the start of the pandemic especially, doing either of these things became impossible as gyms closed. At the time, I lived in an apartment and had no room (or money for that matter) for a treadmill. Fortunately, I was able to find an app on my phone that helped me stay in shape. This is very easy to do as you do not need weights or machines to stay in shape. The Johnson and Johnson seven minute workout app was great for what I needed to do: help me stay in shape without the luxury of weights or a gym.

The holiday season during the Covid-19 pandemic brought many changes to the family routine. In total, my wife and I usually have four different houses to go to because we have both have divorced parents. This does, of course, make the season incredibly hectic. This year, however, every house seemed much more amenable to change. About half of our typical gatherings were cancelled to protect the elderly in the family, as well as those with pre-existing conditions. Of the family events that did occur, we had only ten people or less at each event (in a typical year, each house usually brings at least twenty guests and some bring several more). Even at the gatherings that did occur, things were still atypical, with most wearing masks and everyone following social distancing. In addition, many in my family have had COVID and were quarantined during the holidays. Nonetheless, we spent a lot of time on the phone and wishing each other a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas. Another thing I enjoy doing with my wife each year is attending a Nine Lessons and Carols service at various churches in the area. Because of the pandemic, however, we chose to forgo this Christmas tradition and watch a service online. While the pandemic has brought many changes and challenges to our lives, we are fortunate to be able to connect with our family from a distance. Technology has certainly mitigated many issues that the pandemic has brought, and without that, social distancing and cancelling holiday plans would have been much more difficult for people to concede doing. However, hopefully, the cancelled family plans this year will provide us with the opportunity to celebrate with our families next year. The pandemic has hopefully reminded everyone that while the holiday season can be stressful (like visiting four different houses on one day), it truly is a wonderful time of year.

The SARS-Cov-2 pandemic has brought hard and difficult times for everyone. As an employee at a local bank, I was deemed as an essential worker. As a result, for the vast majority of the pandemic, I was working, helping people however I was able. While being deemed an essential worker, our bank rotated staff, and as a result, I spent about two weeks at home. During my time working and my time at home, I got into two things: movies and the stock market. 1. Movies Before the pandemic, I had never been a major fan of movies and films. However, with my time quarantined at home, I took advantage of this time by watching classic, critically acclaimed moves. Some of the favorites that I watched during this time were old Martin Scorsese films like Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull. I also watched the original Scarface movie (1932), the Godfather series, as well as Braveheart. Watching these classic movies introduced me to a whole new world. 2. The Stock Market Working at a bank, we were hearing quite a bit about interest rates, mortgage rates, and, of course, the stock market. One of my coworkers introduced me to the market, showing me how to buy and sell stock. After piquing my interest, I began doing my research, learning the difference between terms like “value stock,” “dividend stock,” “blue-chip stock,” “exchange-traded funds,” etc. Outside of two new things I began to enjoy and spend time doing, the other three things that have helped me get through the pandemic are things that I have always enjoyed, but things I have come to appreciate even more: sports, classic literature, and technology. 3. Sports When the pandemic first began in early to mid-March, I remember looking forward to the beginning of the SEC basketball tournament and watching the Tennessee Volunteers basketball team play the Alabama Crimson Tide (since I am from Knoxville, I love the Vols). The game was set to start at noon; however, earlier that morning, I saw on Twitter that the SEC tournament had been canceled. Slowly, all sports began following. As an Arsenal F.C. fan in the English Premier League, I was also disheartened to hear that the Premier League would be postponing their season. However, with a lot of hard work and coordination, sports slowly began coming back. In mid-June, the Premier League resumed its season and in September began a new season. Likewise, the NFL season was able to go on, as was the college football season. While sports are, in the grand scheme of life, fairly insignificant, they provide people with a sense of community and a distraction from depressing life events. I will certainly not take sports for granted after the Covid-19 pandemic. 4. Classic Literature Since the senior year of my undergraduate degree, I have slowly grown to love classic literature. Making time to read books simply for fun can be hard to do in the daily hustle and bustle of life. However, Covid-19 slowed down the world for me. During my spare time, I read from plenty of authors, namely, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Albert Camus, Leo Tolstoy, John Steinbeck, Alexandre Dumas, and others. Many of these authors discuss philosophical questions of life and existence. The first book I read at the start of the pandemic was The Plague by Camus. For the time, it was more than fitting, helping me to mull over the Covid-19 pandemic. These authors have provided a brief escape while also providing various questions and answers about how to confront life, even in a pandemic. 5. Technology Before the pandemic, I never realized how much technology can help us during times of quarantine. I have never really been tech-savvy and thus I never stopped to think about how important technology is, especially during a pandemic. While there are obvious drawbacks to technology in society, being able to facetime with my family and communicate with loved ones who had contracted the virus was very special. Again, while technology has many problematic elements, connecting loved ones during the pandemic has certainly been special.

Throughout the pandemic, I have committed myself to read something every day, for a minimum of 30 minutes. Whether I am reading opt eds from the Jacobin (my favorite news source), researching academic and scholarly articles, or just immersing myself in a really great work of fiction, I have enjoyed the challenge immensely! I am also here to make the case that reading can be done virtually anywhere. Now, take a moment to consider how you can take full advantage of your busy life to get some reading done. A fifteen-minute break at work, an audiobook during rush hour, perhaps some light reading before bed? Active and mindful reading has not only improved my reading comprehension, but on a more simplistic level; it is a great conversation starter for people who love reading. Finding connection through literature during these trying times has been such a saving grace for me, and I am confident it can do the same for you. -Solidarity

Excerpt from article: WASHINGTON -- Objections to Pennsylvania's electoral votes failed in Congress on Thursday as tempers flared during an early morning debate. Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri objected to the counting of Pennsylvania's electoral votes, triggering up to two hours of debate in the House and Senate.

From post: The House and Senate recessed from their session to count state-certified Electoral College votes as pro-Trump protesters breached the Capitol and the building locked down. ⁠ ⁠ A notice from Capitol Police sent to all Capitol staff warned them of an "internal security threat" and told them to shelter in their offices and stay away from windows.⁠ ⁠ Lawmakers posted messages urging protesters to be peaceful, and reporters inside the Capitol shared videos of protesters wandering the halls of the Capitol looking for lawmakers to confront about the electoral votes. Photo shows mayhem in the Capitol. Some masked. Was this a super spreader event?

Excerpt from article: Minneapolis, MN - On January 3, over 1200 people marched in South Minneapolis to demand justice for Dolal Idd, who was killed by the Minneapolis police department on December 30.

Extracted from article: Los Angeles hospitals have been scrambling to care for the rising number of coronavirus patients for weeks now, turning chapels and gift shops into space to care for those who are sick.

Excerpt from article: A Black man who was detained by police in Virginia Beach, Virginia after being suspected for a crime he did not commit, has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to his fiancée, Shantel Covil.

From Article: A woman has finally brought her child home after giving birth while fighting COVID-19. On Sept. 23, Monique Jones of Ferguson, Missouri, welcomed Zamyrah Prewitt who arrived at 29 weeks gestation weighing 2 pounds, 5 ounces.

From article: As theGrio reported, the 14-year-old son of Grammy-winning trumpet player Keyon Harrold was apparently accosted by a white woman who claimed he had stolen her iPhone at the Arlo SoHo Hotel in New York over the weekend. At one point, it appears she even lunged at Keyon Harrold Jr. and left him with scratches. The acclaimed musician posted the encounter to his Instagram and it went viral. Video shows masked woman accosting a man in public.

It is hard to imagine that just a couple of months before this photo was taken, several life-altering events occurred in my life, and indeed, in the lives of millions worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as early as December 2019, initial reports circulated about a "mysterious Coronavirus-related Pneumonia" apparently originating from the province in Wuhan, China. By January 31, 2020, the WHO issued a global health emergency urging the international community to take all necessary precautions to slow the virus's spread and minimize human-to-human contact. Mandatory mask-wearing, obsessive handwashing, and social distancing became customary parts of daily life for virtually everyone. Yet, despite strict health guidelines from the Center for Disease and Control (CDC) intended to keep communities safe, I argue that social distancing has also exacerbated instances of loneliness and depression. Families who count on holiday visits from extended family now contemplate rescheduling, modifying, or altogether canceling holiday gatherings. I personally experienced some setbacks and hardships throughout the year, so the idea of not seeing my family did not sit well with me. Fortunately, my better judgment prevailed, and I abided by CDC travel recommendations. During the 2020 holiday season, I found my outlet and my connection to the land. Yes, technically, traveling is somewhat tricky at the moment. However, home mandates -in my opinion- should not discourage you from sitting outside, breathing good air, and feeling the warmth of the sun. For me, social isolation became about packing a day bag and trekking into the woods-completely alone. And so, I decided to explore Camp Verde on Thanksgiving. This is what I learned: It shouldn't take a holiday as the reason for you to call your loved ones more often or appreciate the people you interact with daily. Humans are social creatures. We thrive on human interaction. So when we are deprived, I firmly believe we should seek nature as our companion. Please do yourself a favor and take advantage of this time to spend more time outside. Explore your surroundings and have a great time throughout the process. -Solidarity

My daughter and son-in-law had a Covid wedding. Only days after the Solano County shelter in place was reinstated. They have waited so long to be married. Waiting for Covid to be over just seemed endless. The wedding was held at the grooms parents house and only a few very close family attended. Everyone else was sent invitations to attend via zoom. The photograph shows my daughters and her new husband thanking guests online. In all honesty it was a perfect day! This was shared with permission from the Bride and Groom. Covid Wedding!

As the title suggests, this is a description of my favorite things that helped me through the pandemic. I think it's important to capture the pleasures we've fallen back on despite all the negatives.

Last Saturday night, my folks came to visit, bringing beef stew and, yet another birthday gift for our now 3 year daughter Lennon (her birthday was a week before and they’d already showered her with gifts at that time). Of course, we’ve kept a very close circle since March last year, and that has become increasingly more important since, now my wife is 8 months pregnant, son on the way. Our reality being quite different from the norm this past year is of course, not unique to us, but had Covid not been a thing, last Saturday night, it can be counted on, that we would have been at a boisterous gathering, hosted by family members of one side or the other. My wife’s family and my own; they’re strong in numbers and lack modesty, but not volume. We miss that, but the small, quieter gatherings that the necessity of the moment has brought moments that might have been missed. That’s too much of a lead in, so I’ll make the point more brief, When my parents came, the oven cleaner was burning off. My wife and mother brought attention to it. But the smell brought me back to my childhood. That’s exactly what I said, and I looked at my dad, because I knew that he’d be the one that knew what I was talking about, though I wasn’t necessarily sure what I was talking about. This briefly interrupted our trying to construct a Troll castle (with way too many tiny parts!) or something, that my parents had just gotten for their granddaughter. But then, dad said, “Lionel Trains” That was it! The toy trains on the track that my father, brother and I used to do when we were kids. It brought us back, that was the smell. It’s probably not healthy, but it was a really nice moment. Ok, that made me think of a time that my brother recognized a smell from childhood. I was like 12, my brother 14, I think it was my first concert. My father had taken us to see Billy Joel at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, we had fun. After the show, walking through the parking lot to the car, my brother said, “What’s that smell? I remember it from when we were little.” My dad said, “That’s pot.”

On Thursday, January 14, I got the first round of the Moderna vaccine. I am a high school teacher in American Falls Idaho. I think I might be one of the first teachers in the country to get the vaccine. I am very excited and honored to be among the first. I’m very grateful to my school district for working hard to get vaccines.

The sensory experience that overwhelmed me the most as the United States, and the world, came to an abrupt halt when it was realized that we were in a pandemic virus outbreak was an aural experience—it was the overwhelming silence that came with the world stopping. I live in a heavy industrial town on the Pacific coast Of Washington. While I live about fifty miles from the cities and one hundred miles from Seattle the economy of this area is based around heavy industry and there is constant noise that comes with this. There is a port a mile from my house that is said to be the busiest deep-water port on the northwest coast. At this port soybeans, wheat, oil and lumber are shipped out and German cars built in Mexico are brought in, among other commodities. In my neighborhood there are four train tracks. The closest one is about five hundred feet from my house, the next three are another three hundred feet further. Those train tracks bring goods into the port like soybeans and wheat from the farm fields west of the Cascade mountains and fuel and oil for the ships and for the operations at the port. The train tracks also ship out the cars that come in from Mexico to car dealerships throughout the Northwest. Across from the four train tracks there are lumber mills. The lumber mills load up chip trucks (trucks that carry sawdust from the sawmills to paper mills) and the chip trucks roll in and out of town on a constant basis. The log trucks also roll through town on a constant basis and the log truck drivers as well as chip truck drivers live in the area and park their trucks at their houses. All of this leads to a very noisy area for such a small population. This has never bothered me as the only thing that I really miss about living in cities is the noise. This is the reason why the first thing I noticed as the Covid-19 shut down occurred was how much silence there was. No longer were there log trucks and chip trucks rolling through town. No longer was the rumbling and squelch of the train heard in the early morning and the late afternoon throughout the town. No longer were the airhorns and warning sirens heard from the port. It was just pure silence.

The story I uploaded is about people crossing the United States Calexico CA port of entry before and after the pandemic.

My name is Morgan Keena, I live in Nampa, Idaho, I am a 7th-grade social studies teacher, and I got my first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine today! Teachers weren't scheduled to start receiving the vaccine in Idaho until late February or early March. However, on January 11, 2021, our state superintendent of education delivered a speech to the Idaho legislature urging them to pass a law that would require all school districts to stay open unless mandated by the governor. Additionally, she urged that all students return to in-person learning full time as quickly as possible. On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, the governor of Idaho, Brad Little, announced via a press conference that K-12 teachers and staff were moved to the top tier and could start receiving the vaccine on January 13, 2021. This came as a huge shock to educators everywhere, but we know it is tied to the demand to have schools 100% in person. My school district, Nampa School District, then took on the momentous task of figuring out how to obtain vaccines for their nearly 1,000 staff members. Less than 36 hours later, they had secured vaccines for us at three major health systems and two smaller urgent care locations. The district also had one health system offering the vaccine on Saturdays and Sundays to better work with the teacher schedules. We managed to crash the portals of two health systems by overwhelming them with many vaccine sign-ups. I (by a miracle) was able to secure an appointment for January 15, 2021. Let me tell you; I have never been so excited to get a shot in my life. I received my vaccine from St. Luke's Health System in Nampa, Idaho. The check-in process was a breeze and done entirely on my own. I was very relaxed while waiting for my appointment but also exceptionally eager to get back to my room and get this first dose done. Once my name was called, I met with the pharmacist who would be administering my vaccine. She was a lovely woman, and I consider myself fortunate to have met her. She was such a calming presence as she explained the emergency use authorization for the vaccine, potential side effects, and what I could expect in the days after receiving this dose. She continued to use the line, "when I got my first dose...." which made me feel at ease. We talked about my job, her children, and how this school year has been wild. Suddenly, it was over! I had my vaccine and was ready to take on the world! Almost. After a couple of cases of allergic reactions to the vaccine around the country, they now require you to wait in the waiting room for 15 minutes after receiving each dose. I received the Pfizer vaccine and have scheduled my second dose for three weeks from today. As I was doing my time in the waiting room after my injection, I signed up for a program called V-Safe. V-Safe is run by the CDC and is used to track vaccines' side effects. Since this vaccine has emergency authorization, they are still collecting side effect data. since I signed up, they will message me once a day for the next week to do a quick wellness check. After the initial week, they will message me once per week to continue keeping up with any side effects I may encounter. I figure it's the least I can do to help science. I am super excited about receiving the first dose of this vaccine. My husband also received it today, and we are overjoyed by that. He is a third-year medical student rotating through various hospitals, so getting him a vaccine was a priority of ours, but it proved to be more difficult to obtain than we had thought. He received the Moderna vaccine, so we get to see how both vaccines work. I received the vaccine because I expect our school board to bring back middle school students 100% in-person and full time soon. Social distancing will not exist in the classroom, and I will be exposed to 150 students in my classroom and the other 150 students in my wing of the school. This is a good day for science. I feel excited and hopeful. I feel like I have hit the 'covid wall' lately, and I am just ready to be done with this.

December was the most stressful month of the year. My entire family got Covid-19 right before Christmas and I was struggling with anxiety for most of the month, which has been compounded by the pandemic. One of the ways I've sought to alleviate stress when going to bed at night is by putting peppermint essential oil in an oil diffuser as I fall asleep. Peppermint smells and feels naturally calming to me. The strong and comforting scent has at times made me feel that I can breathe better and easier. A small and perhaps cliché remedy has at times made a world of difference.

Once the pandemic was in full swing, food became rather scarce out in the county where I live. Frozen meals? Gone. Frozen vegetables? Gone. Meat? Gone. Dairy products? Sparse. What I could find in abundance were fresh fruit and vegetables. Largely because these do not store long term and people were stocking up on everything that they could hoard for the long haul. Could I really sustain my meat-loving family of 4 on fresh fruits and vegetables to help stretch our very thin stock of meats and dairy products? I have included some basic recipes that I used to help get through the pandemic. This massive change in diet left a lasting impact on my experience of the pandemic through my sense of smell, taste, and hearing. Meals no longer smelled like warm cooked meat with roasting potatoes. Meals became light and fresh. My house began smelling more like a garden every time I prepared a meal. I also no longer smelled the warmth of the stove or the smell of a pan heating up, since we chose to eat a lot of the plants and fruits in a more raw style to get the maximum nutritional value. The taste of meals and snacks changed from processed foods to natural snacks like nuts, dates, and dried fruit. I could taste the change from the pandemic. Everyday noises that would occur in my pre-pandemic household were no longer present in my pandemic household. No longer was there the sound of the oven turning on, the microwave running, or oil popping in the pan on the stove top. Instead, the new normal sounds were that of the food processor to make hummus, the sound of the blender making smoothies, and the sharp tap of the knife colliding with the cutting board. The recipes I chose to include are ones that we started with that have changed the way we eat. These were the easiest to sustain with readily available produce in my rural area.

If you have ever been in a middle school classroom, feeling cold is probably not the first thing that you think of. One might think of rowdy kids, perhaps non-inviting smells, stuffy air, but not necessarily the feeling of cold. After going home on March 13, 2020, I was forced to work remotely for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is still crazy to think how quickly everything changed from normal life to the furthest thing from it—just two days before the end of in-person schooling, I was still planning on going on the eighth grade Washington, DC trip! Anyway, going into the 2020-21 school year, because teachers were allowed to return to their classrooms (even though school would remain in distance for the foreseeable future), I decided that I would go into my classroom and work from there. I figured that it would help create a sense of normalcy in my own life while offering a familiar background to my students. After a few d ays of w orking from school without any students, I noticed how cold it was in my classroom. On a normal school day, I would turn on the air conditioning fairly early in the morning, being that the room would become warm and stuffy shortly after the students arrived. Even with it warm outside, I was noticing myself running the heater well into the afternoon. Without the heater, my classroom would quickly become unbearably cold! With brick walls and only a thin layer of carpet over a concrete floor, it is clear why it was so cold. I was just one person in a room that would normally have around 30—my body heat alone wasn't going to heat up the room! It is amazing to think that a silly little thing like the temperature of my classroom kind of got me down. No matter what I did to try and simulate normal life, it was just impossible for life to be normal, and that nagging cold was there to remind me of that fact. Just writing this down, I can feel the cold on my arms and legs, and I have a n urge to go and get a blanket, put on a sweatshirt, or turn on the heater. Come to think about it, I can also feel the pain in my lower back from sitting in front of a computer all day! In addition to the sense of touch/feeling being noticeably different, I have to say, the absence of, shall we say, interesting smells has also been out of the ordinary for my middle school classroom. I really cannot complain all too much when it comes to my experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic; I am lucky enough to still be employed, I can work at home if I wanted to, and no one all too close to me has had the disease. A great many people around the globe have had their lives shattered in the past year, so I really should be counting my blessings. With that said, I feel as if the coldness of my classroom somewhat symbolizes the isolation that I (and many others) are feeling during this trying time. The simple fact that there are not 30+ individuals in the room is causing the cold and, again, it is a nagging reminder that the world is simply not the same as it was a year ago, no matter how much we wish it were.

If you have ever been in a middle school classroom, feeling cold is probably not the first thing that you think of. One might think of rowdy kids, perhaps non-inviting smells, stuffy air, but not necessarily the feeling of cold. After going home on March 13, 2020, I was forced to work remotely for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is still crazy to think how quickly everything changed from normal life to the furthest thing from it—just two days before the end of in-person schooling, I was still planning on going on the eighth grade Washington, DC trip! Anyway, going into the 2020-21 school year, because teachers were allowed to return to their classrooms (even though school would remain in distance for the foreseeable future), I decided that I would go into my classroom and work from there. I figured that it would help create a sense of normalcy in my own life while offering a familiar background to my students. After a few days of working from school without any students, I noticed how cold it was in my classroom. On a normal school day, I would turn on the air conditioning fairly early in the morning, being that the room would become warm and stuffy shortly after the students arrived. Even with it warm outside, I was noticing myself running the heater well into the afternoon. Without the heater, my classroom would quickly become unbearably cold! With brick walls and only a thin layer of carpet over a concrete floor, it is clear why it was so cold. I was just one person in a room that would normally have around 30—my body heat alone wasn't going to heat up the room! It is amazing to think that a silly little thing like the temperature of my classroom kind of got me down. No matter what I did to try and simulate normal life, it was just impossible for life to be normal, and that nagging cold was there to remind me of that fact. Just writing this down, I can feel the cold on my arms and legs, and I have an urge to go and get a blanket, put on a sweatshirt, or turn on the heater. Come to think about it, I can also feel the pain in my lower back from sitting in front of a computer all day! In addition to the sense of touch/feeling being noticeably different, I have to say, the absence of, shall we say, interesting smells has also been out of the ordinary for my middle school classroom. I really cannot complain all too much when it comes to my experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic; I am lucky enough to still be employed, I can work at home if I wanted to, and no one all too close to me has had the disease. A great many people around the globe have had their lives shattered in the past year, so I really should be counting my blessings. With that said, I feel as if the coldness of my classroom somewhat symbolizes the isolation that I (and many others) are feeling during this trying time. The simple fact that there are not 30+ individuals in the room is causing the cold and, again, it is a nagging reminder that the world is simply not the same as it was a year ago, no matter how much we wish it were.

In late March, families in Portland, OR were told to prepare themselves for children to finish their school year from home. While my husband and I don’t have kids, we live across the street from an elementary school and enjoy hearing the children play as we go about our life at home. I loved hearing their laughter and giggles as they lined up outside of their classroom doors or the screeches that filled the air as they tore out of the doors for some much needed recess time on the playground. Then, on April 13, 2020, the laughter, the hollering, the clangs of playground equipment stopped. Up until that point, I could set my personal schedule by the sounds of that playground and now those sounds were gone. The quietness that remained behind was made even more eerie by the daily bells that rang from the school’s outdoor intercom system to signify the start of the day, end of recess, etc.. The tones that were barely audible on a normal day due to all of the commotion on the playground were suddenly a very loud, and real reminder that the world was different. It took the school nearly two months to turn off those alarms and every single day for those two months, at 8:25, 11:45, 12:15, and 2:25, those bells echoed throughout the neighborhood reminding everyone how much our world had truly changed. The alarm bells are now off and have been for nearly 6 months. It’s very quiet at the school. While we’ve all gotten used to the silence, every so often a family will head to the playground and, for a minute as the sounds of a child’s laughter drifts through the windows of my house, I remember what it was like before COVID and am suddenly slammed back into the reality of what our day to day lives have become. I can’t wait to hear those happy voices again - it will mean our lives are back to whatever new normal is on the other side of this pandemic.

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.

Our marriage was supposed to be May 1, 2020, but soon after the lockdown following COVID-19 being deemed a global pandemic, we made the difficult decision to reschedule our wedding. Being overly optimistic, we rescheduled to September 25, 2020, assuming that the world would return to normal by then. We were wrong. Rather than rescheduling to another date and taking another shot in the dark on when the world might be safe enough for a normal wedding, we continued on with our plans for a fall wedding. We shortened the guest list and took several precautions. The wedding and the reception later that night were both outside. We asked our guests to stay home if they were sick and provided hand sanitizer to everyone (picture attached). Our wedding was safe and beautiful, even with the pandemic ongoing. While there was definitely risk, we did our best to ensure everyone's safety and made the decision to push on with our lives.

I woke up on a warm California spring day at 7:30 a.m. to my mother bantering on about something. I got up and walked to my dresser half asleep, ready to collapse. I put on a blue nylon t-shirt with some black shorts and walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Then I slowly walked downstairs pretty anxious and excited to start online. My Dad was already downstairs cooking my up some scrambled eggs and toast to start the new day. As usually my sister was complaining about something, I just tuned her out. My dog the lazy thing he is climbed onto the couch and my mom somehow found something to yell at me about. It might of been about getting on early, but I am not quit sure. any way after breakfast I walked into the living room to get on zoom. It was pretty boring trying to sit through math we were talking about pre-algebra, but I managed to get through it. My dad was super load laughing over the phone, I could hear him perfectly through 2 doors and in another room. My mom was on meetings all day and my sister was in the same boat as me. All the while my dog was sleeeping on the couch next to me without a care in the world. My next 2 periods flew by I don't know why because I had English as one of those. And my last period was rocketry which was fun in the fact that I got to build things, but it would of been a lot more fun in person. Overall the day went by pretty fast ending at approximately 2:45 p.m. After school was finished I slipped by with no homework for the day but I would much rather be in person. The rest of the day was fairly normal I turned on the Television to watch my favorite shows until my sister came down and started bossing me around that I need to get off the T.V and do something productive, shesh she is like a mini mom. Anyway I decided to go for a walk with the dog, and just my luck before I could slip out the door she saw me and made me wait 10 whole minutes to slip on a pair of shoes. When she finally got downstairs she snagged the leash from me and we were on our way. My sister is incapable of controlling a small 40 pound dog so you can only imagine how this walk went. I tried to take control of the leash, but she snatched it back and threw a fit, classic. My dog has a habit of peeing on 14 things in a trip so it delayed it even more. When we finally turned the corner to go up our hill it felt like we've been walking forever. We walked in the door took off the dog's collar and sat on the couch. mom walked in the room and asked us how it went, we said it was pretty good. And after that it was pretty much the end of the day we ate dinner sat in front of thee T.V. and then went to bed.

The experience I am sharing focuses on my sense of hearing. Work has shifted away from office buildings and into our homes and, as a result, downtown urban areas emptied. This was especially true in mid-May of 2020. The one time I was in my city's downtown, it was uncomfortably quiet, and the negative reaction I had in the moment caught me off guard. Covid19 put me in a constant state of anxiety, and this is one more example of how seemingly small differences in a familiar environment can turn us upside down.

The bats were being experimented on in China and got infected. One naughty bat escaped and started infecting the public. People who were asymptomatic traveled across the world. That is how Americans got Covid. The bat might still be alive today if his virus did not affect himself.

After months and months of online school I developed my daily routines. Roll out of bed, get ready and hop on the zoom call at 8. Take a break, make a snack and get back into class. Online school was difficult because everyday felt the same. Over and over days up in my room finishing assignments, watching a zoom, and talking to teachers. FaceTime and Zoom were the closest possible thing to interacting with friends which posed as a difficult obstacle for everyone. Although we were able to wake up later and not have to wear uniforms, I was never more upset about not going to school. It seemed like it was all bad but there were a few things that especially brought me joy like spending time with family, playing video games with friends, setting up zoom calls on holidays with relatives. It seemed as if the world had shut down for brief period of time. Businesses, airports, restaurants and even some grocery stores were closed. Here we are now slowly returning back to the new normal and adapting to a new way of life. Things were tough but overall I think we came out stronger together than before.

Virtual learning for me was a big struggle for me. I would get headaches every day from looking at the screen. One thing that was good about online school is I can just role out of bed in turn on my computer and go to school on Zoom. A lot of people would cheat so they saw a huge upgrade into they're grade. I would always get yelled at for eating and wearing a hat during class. I would have to do my bed so in the background of my camera on zoom it didn't seam like I was having a terrible time though online school. So I would take all the stuff on my floor and put it under my desk so the camera would not see it. People really never got the hang of having to un mute and how to share your screen on zoom for a while. I did not have fun in online school at all but a lot of my friends liked it so they could cheat.

Learning virtually was not normal but we had to make it the norm. We were used to having everyone at school bunched up with no mask on. Now we were online in the comfort of our own homes looking at a screen with every student. I started to like online school. Siting with no dress code, being able to play video games like Call of Duty and NBA 2k in between classes. Eating whatever whenever we want and we enjoyed it. Until we all changed our minds and went crazy over the fact that everyone wanted to go back. An hour and 30-minute classes sitting in the same place with over amount of work to just take a picture and submit online. We took advantage when we were at school playing basketball at break and going to practice after school. We had to stay at home with nowhere else to go except grocery stores and the McDonalds drive-through. Everything was starting to get boring and we knew we couldn't stand these rules anymore and it was driving us insane.

I would wake up as late as possible. I would usually wake up 10 minutes before my first class. I would throw on some sweat pants and a hoodie, no shirt and not style my hair. I would finish school and take an hour-long nap. On Wednesdays I would wake up at 10 to my work and go to golf.

When COVID 19 started I was a little excited to try out online school because I didn't have to get up early and put on my uniform. My routine while doing school via zoom was to wake up 10 minutes before class to brush my teeth, wash my face, and change which I really enjoyed because I love to sleep in. Since I live so far away it was very convenient to wake up at 7:50 instead of 6:30 and not having to drive for an hour. There is always traffic on the freeway or some kind of accident so I enjoyed being able to do things from home. Fast forward a couple of months the first semester of my 8th-grade year is already over. I am a new kid this year and wasn't really able to socialize with anyone or make many friends. Because of this, I felt that it was going to be harder to make new friends once we get back to in-person school. The days started to feel longer and I started to forget what it felt like to be back on campus and get to hang out and talk with my friends. The breaks we had felt shorter and during class, I was barely able to sit still. August 2020-December 2020 were some of the hardest months I have ever had to go through especially with school. Although we now have to wear masks, I am thrilled that we get to be back on campus and learn in person.

During COVID-19 my school participated in virtual learning. It was not a very great experience considering we had to sit at our computers all day. I became so bored that I started downloading games on my phone and sometimes would beat them before school ended. All I could describe it as would be boring. It was the same thing over and over and it started to feel robotic. It was like an inescapable prison. Day after day of the same thing over and over I just couldn't take it. Eventually I started to realize that the pandemic was becoming more and more political based and I Realized it wouldn't end anytime soon.

Virtual learning for me was a big struggle for me. I would get headaches every day from looking at the screen. One thing that was good about online school is I can just role out of bed in turn on my computer and go to school on Zoom. A lot of people would cheat so they saw a huge upgrade into they're grade. I would always get yelled at for eating and wearing a hat during class. I would have to do my bed so in the background of my camera on zoom it didn't seam like I was having a terrible time though online school. So I would take all the stuff on my floor and put it under my desk so the camera would not see it. People really never got the hang of having to un mute and how to share your screen on zoom for a while. I did not have fun in online school at all but a lot of my friends liked it so they could cheat.

My virtual learning experience was not unique, I imagine, consisting of waking up about five minutes before school started, sitting through a class while watching endless hours of youtube, making myself breakfast during my break, and the occasional going to water polo after three more classes. Though I have always thought that school lacked challenge, virtual learning bored me out of my mind, I could not stand it.

During the time in which we had to quarantine at we had to attend classes online. I would wake up, get ready for class in the morning then sit down at my desk and get on zoom. I had to be on my computer for over 6 hours. It was honestly pretty hard for me to stay focused and learn like I would in a classroom. What was nice about online school was that I had a lot more freedom than I would if I was at school. It was a lot harder to stay engaged in class because the abyss of online school and quarantine made everything blend together and made life really gloomy and repetitive. Life was the same every single day, there was nothing unique or exciting about my days. There was really nothing to look forward to.

Virtual Learning was CRAZY. SO many pros and cons. Some pros are that we get to stay home and have our choice of lunch and we also get to be anywhere like on vacation and stuff as long as we had wifi we could do it. Some cons is that its SUPER distracting and soooo many temptations such as going downstairs to eat during class, going on your phone and do other stuff, and also, (the biggest of all) people cheating on quizzes and tests. All you have to do is have the quiz or test on one tab, and the answers on the other. I like in school learning wayyyy better because I get to see friends, get more exercise instead of being cooped up in my room, and be more focused during class. AND THE AMOUNT OF STUDENTS THAT FORGET THAT THEY AREN'T MUTED IS HILARIOUS!!! THEY'D BE WATCHING VIDEOS OR PLAYING MUSIC OR TALKING TO SOMEONE OFF OF MUTE AND THE WHOLE CLASS WOULD HEAR!!!! In some cases, some did get in trouble for what the situation was and what they were playing. Some zoom classes were also getting leaked (I was in one of the leaked zooms) and some random person would take the name of a student and then do something inappropriate and leave right after so we would know who it was. It was obvious a student leaked the zoom call because how would a complete stranger have the same exact name as a student in the same period? Anyways I personally prefer in person learning far more than online.

During Covid-19 our school shut down. We had to stay home, and just worry about how bad this virus could really be. They extended our classes to 90 minutes. This could benefit the teachers by giving them enough time to complete a section we were currently learning. Most students disliked this however since now they have to give their full attention for 90 minutes.Instead of the regular 30-40 minutes, Not having to wear uniform or starting class somewhat later was a benefit for me and others, but it came at a cost.

My routine for my online learning from the corona Virus is was odd at first because we were not in school and fully online. the benefits were I not to spend more time with family but the downside is that we couldn't leave our house but only for groceries and we could not see any friends or go to school.

Remote learning has been actually easy for me. I've found it interesting, and sometimes fun. I like learning from home, but I miss going to school and seeing all of my friends.

My experiences with virtual learning is like a detatched environment from in person school. The benefits are being in the comfort of your own home, being able to concentrate more, and having food/water/bathroom near you. The negative side is that the poor technology can make communication more difficult.

During COVID our school was shut down due to the corona virus. We were sent to online school although we still had the teachers with us on zoom. My routine stayed the same from day to day, wake up, eat breakfast, shower, and open my computer at my desk. It was both beneficial to wake up later in the morning but also there were many obstacles with turning in assignments online rather than paper in person. Usually our lunch was very late and by our schedule lunch period I was very hungry. Another benefit though was that I never had to walk very far or prepare a lunch before school. This was my experience with remote learning during COVID-19

If someone asked me ten years from now the defining smell that I remember from the plague year, I would quickly respond with hand-sanitizer. Before the start of the pandemic, it was the smell of bleach and Pine-sol that reminded me of those bygone days when my mom would wake up early on a Saturday to open all the windows and scrub the house from top to bottom because “cleanliness was next to godliness” as she would say. In the past, the smell of bleach and Pine-sol had come to mean a sense of cleanliness and the simpler days of childhood, where my biggest fear was missing the latest Power Rangers episode. However, hand-sanitizer mixed with its scent of alcohol and strong perfume has now become the smell that I relate to cleanliness. Hand-sanitizer has become that essential item in my purse that I cannot leave the house without first checking to see if I have more than one bottle. When I leave a public space, the first thing I reach for is not my car keys or my cellphone; instead, it is my Bath & Body Works Pocketbac Sanitizer. It has become an accessory that matches my outfits, masks, and even daily perfume choices. This past fall, when I celebrated my birthday, one of my most exciting gifts was not my seasonal favorite body spray, Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, but the hand-sanitizer that shared its name. Hand sanitizer has become a safety net and tool to make venturing in public spaces with high touch areas a bit easier. While handwashing, social-distancing, and proper face coverings are the most effective way to prevent the spread of Covid-19, hand sanitizers can hold one over until they can wash their hands properly. Anyone with children can agree that hand-sanitizer is a necessary tool because kids touch everything.

A self-account of the exploding market of hand sanitizer and the smell thereof

My experiences of learning online have been terrible. In the beginning I didn't try my best and I didn't do my work. I just have so many distractions online at home like my family coming downstairs and being loud because they don't realize I'm still in class. After a while, I started to get into a routine of waking up at 7:30 and going downstairs. Getting my computer ready and setting up my workspace (aka the dining table). Going to class and after school doing my homework. Clearing off the table for dinner and going to bed.

Due to Covid-19, instead of learning in person everyone learned online or distant learning. The day before everything went online, at school we prepared for school online. We prepared Zoom, which is the video call that we used to learn. We would spend a lot of time on Zoom, in order to learn the same as we would in person. At times Zoom became very tiresome. On Zoom during advisory I remember our class talking about how Zoom is tiresome. The main thing online school lacked is social interaction, you could not really talk to friends at school like you normally would. Remote learning did have some positives, though. For example, it was nice to be at home at times rather than at school. All in all I am grateful that we were able to continue learning even through Covid-19.

When the teachers told us we were got going online, I was really surprised. I kept thinking about how this is going to be. I got excited to see how it was going to play out. We had 3 days off including the weekend for the teachers to prepare. That was nice. Online school started. At first I got super used to it. It was so weird waking up and going on a computer. At first I liked it and then finished the year. But when we were told we are starting 8th Grade, I got worried. When we got back into it and I was exhausted and had bad headaches. I stayed strong through the first semester. It was tough and interesting way of learning. It is crazy how so many schools shut down. Online school was an interesting experiment.

The first day we were informed we would be doing online school was on March 13, 2020. My parents had both gotten an email from my school explaining that we would be doing school from home on our laptops. I was both shocked and excited when I heard about this. Before that day the thought of us doing online school was just a rumor. The following day at school was just learning about how online school was going to go, and how to get logged on to all our classes. Everyone was so excited for the first 2-3 weeks, since we didn't have to get up so early. But soon enough, we all started to become lonely, bored, and anxious. Most people couldn't wait to go back in person. Online school was boring since we had to do all our classes over zoom calls, and it was extremely hard to focus trying to learn through a screen. The days were long, drawn out and boring. There was no way to socialize with your friends other than FaceTime. Personally for me the online good party about learning virtual was the fact that we got to sleep in an hour later. Overall, we did online school for 8 months(not including summer break). It was unlike anything I've ever experienced and we've finally gone back to school this month(January 2021). It isn't even a question how much better in person school is than virtual learning, for me. It was boring, dark, quiet, and everyday was exactly the same as the day before. I am so happy we get to return to the way things were before last year, but we still do have lots of precautions for covid-19. I'm just glad that people are finally getting things back on their feet, and things are returning to normal(well, at least more normal than last year), and we can all appreciate in-person school for what it really is.