During Covid-19 I realized that most of the time I do things for other people and not myself. I think it’s because since we stayed at home all the time and I had to stop doing things for other people anyway. During the school year when we actually went to school, I was always really passive and would let people walk over me with things like projects and I would have to do all the work. But then during those couple of weeks when quarantine started and we didn’t have school for a month, I took a lot of time actually taking care of myself since I never had time for self-care during the school year. I think I gained some confidence. I feel like now I don’t really let people make me do all the work anymore and it feels good. Sometimes it is hard though because in one of my classes I’m one of the only juniors and the seniors are scary. Other than having a glow-up during quarantine, my friends and I discovered ways to hang out with each other since we can't go outside. We played a lot of games, like Among Us and Genshin Impact, and they are really fun when you’re playing with friends. I always used to think that I was an introvert (still true) and I didn't need friends, but during quarantine, I learned that I just needed a couple of great friends.

When quarantine first started I was happy we didn't have to go to school and i thought we would only be gone for a couple weeks. Now that it’s been more than 28 weeks I obviously am not happy about it anymore. I can’t hang out with my friends anymore and going to work is kind of scary. I hate that we have to wear a mask because when I smile at people they can’t see that I’m smiling at them and I just creepy. My mom is a hair stylist so she was out of work for quite a while, fortunately now she open back up again. My brother also lost his job because the business he worked for had to shut down. My other brother Chase was a senior when it first happened and he just went off to college a couple weeks ago. Chase actually got COVID-19 and that was pretty scary but he didn’t show any symptoms or get sick at all. This journal entry was written as a part of the American Studies class at California High School in San Ramon, California.

Wat uup journal. I bought a truck. We named it republican truck because there is a national rifle association sticker on the windshield. There was also a sticker of a crazy man who looked like bob ross on meth. I decided to take that one off though because it was not appealing to look at. Today I helped marcus lemon win a game of kahoot in Mrs Gangos class. However lemon won under the name keith hurdle because keith needed the extra credit. Together we got every single question right, however keith wasn't even in the zoom call. It surprised us that Mrs Gagnon did not realize anything was wrong. Lemmon and I just went to walmart and then ate raw kool aid. It was hella good. It's like fun dip but instead of a dipstick i dip my finger. This was during online school because of covid.

This journal entry was written as a part of the American Studies class at California High School in San Ramon, California. Covid-19 had a pretty major impact on my Summer. My family was planning to go on vacation somewhere, but we obviously weren’t able to do that due to Covid. I was also looking forward to spending a lot of time with my friends and I was also unable to do that. So instead I ended up spending a lot of time at home playing video games. But there were some positives that came out of it. I start playing the guitar again after I haven’t played for a number of years (even though I kinda stopped after school started). I also started working out and taking care of my body more which I typically do during Summer anyway, but this time I could focus more on it because I didn’t have much else to do (again, I kinda stopped after school started). So that is pretty much how my summer went, it wasn’t really eventful, but it wasn’t a complete waste and I tried to make the best of it.

This journal entry was written as a part of the American Studies class at California High School in San Ramon, California. Before this pandemic, I feel that I was constantly on the go and blind to many things. It was always go to school , do this, do that, and so on. Since quarantine, I have had lots of down time and have gotten the time to reflect on me as a person. It's been very refreshing slowing down my once hectic everyday life. Due to us being on lock down, I was able to open my eyes to a lot of things. I realized I was putting my energy places where it was unnecessary and trying with people where there was no try back. I had to figure out what relashinships really mattered to me and stop trying with those who show me no attention. Yes this pandemic is crazy but it has been very beneficial to me. I have grown as a person and bettered my mental state.

This journal entry was written as a part of the American Studies class at California High School in San Ramon, California. Throughout my journey of quarantine and covid-19, I have realized that I have changed a lot since before quarantine. I have also realized that I figured out new things about myself, and I also figured out how to never be bored. I have picked up many new hobbies such as fishing and doing DIY projects. Also, I have gotten much more into lifting and working out, because that was the main part of my life during the quarantine. Over quarantine, my friends and I cleaned my garage out, and made it a chill spot with a couch and also a lifting cage for working out. This did cost a lot of money, so we all pitched in to the cause because we were all going to use the cage on a daily basis. After a month or two, we had completely finished it and it was amazing. I used this place every day for the rest of the summer. Another hobby I picked up was owning a fish tank. I have realized that I am fascinated by fish. I have one freshwater tank right now, but I am looking into getting a saltwater fish tank. This does cost a lot more money, but in my opinion, the saltwater fish are much cooler.

This journal entry was written as a part of the American Studies class at California High School in San Ramon, California. I think virtual school has some pros and cons. I definitely prefer it over in-class learning right now just because I still don’t think we are where we want to be in terms of the number of coronavirus cases. I definitely think that learning online is a lot harder. I like the “atmosphere” better because I’m more comfortable learning in my own house. But it’s hard to remember things that I’ve learned through a screen. Some of my teachers act like we should know everything like we are still in school. I appreciate them wanting to treat it as much like a classroom as possible, but it’s honestly hard to learn normally through a screen. It’s also harder to ask questions when the whole class is watching you. I don’t think that teachers should put a lot of pressure on us to know as much as we should as if we were in school. It’s pretty stressful. Also, all of our homework is on the computer and I don’t know about anyone else but doing homework online takes forever. I basically only do homework when I’m not in class; before school, afters school, I’m always doing homework. I don’t really have time to do anything else. I wish the teachers would give a little less homework because it just takes so long to upload everything and input answers from my papers. I get about 4-5 or even 6 hours of homework every night which is kind of overwhelming. Even though I know junior year is supposed to be hard, I didn’t think that it would mean more hours of me doing homework than me sleeping. I think the online aspect of it makes it take longer, and I’d really like for teachers to maybe loosen up on the homework load.

COVID-19 has impacted my summer greatly. I thought this years summer was going to be lots of fun and everyone was going to have a great time with each other until the stay at home order came along and made everyone stay at home not being able to hang out with anyone, a lot of places closing down, etc...

Ay wat up Journal? This weekend I went to Utah for a college lacrosse recruiting tournament and showcase. During the showcase last Friday night, my team went 3-0 and I had Dallas and Tulsa looking at me. Saturday, while playing with Booth we won our three games that day. I had a bunch of turnovers, GBs, and clears. Later that day i went to walk around the Temple grounds since our hotel was only a block away from the temple. Sunday, we won our semi-final game by one in overtime! We won the championship game by one also in the last 30 seconds of the game! Both games we had to come back after a three point deficit. The games were extremely intense and all of us had to ball out in order to secure those dubs. Matt and I taped five jars of pickles to John’s and Henry’s hotel door using lacrosse tape. We also filled up a wastebasket with water and pickles and leaned it up against their door. I'm extremely grateful that this tournament wasn't canceled. All of my other tournaments for lacrosse have been canceled. We were supposed to go to Las Vegas and Tuscon. I just hope that I have enough film to make a highlight reel.

During COVID I have learned how much I actually missed school. When COVID first hit I was happy, no school, and time to relax, but then sports and hanging with friends stopped. Going to school is really where I saw my friends and it was time to socialize and learn. I went brain dead during quarantine that when school started i was completely lost and out of it. I say i miss school because online learning is tough and not enjoyable. I learned that school was actually kinda fun. When cases started too slowly decrease many places opened back up and hanging with friends were aloud with caution, this was the time when life started to feel normal again, until it wasn't. December we start to see a rise to cases and we are no longer aloud to see people and the stay at home order has been in place.

Thursday 9/17- Overall I have mixed feelings about online learning. It’s nice to say at home, instead of going to school at 7 or 8 am. However I feel like online school is messing with my productivity. It's not fun staring at a screen for 6 hours straight sitting in the same position. Also, it feel like I;m not learning anything, school used to be about learning but now its just trying to pass the classes and turn work in on time. Additionally, some teachers (not you, or all teachers) are giving us a lot of work. Since this whole online learning is new, it's still hard to adjust to it. When we don't finish classwork during class, we have to finish it for homework, which also adds on to our work load. It's difficult to soak in the information during online lectures or lessons because it's sometimes hard to focus at home. I tend to view my home as a place to relax and outside of my house is where i get work done, but constantly being stuck in one room doing 6 hours of classes and at least 4 hours to do homework is not good for my mental or physical health. On the other hand, i'm not really the type of person who likes to be in social setting, so online learning is somewhat nice. My procrastination has gotten much worse because I get too overwhelmed to start homework i just push it off and i have no motivation left to do any homework or assignments anymore. There also is a lot of stress when it comes to technical difficulties. Sometimes the wifi goes down, or the computer jams which causes u to be late or marked tardy. It's also really confusing for homework due dates and grades.

I’d like to start by expressing that when I started this paper I’d come to the early conclusion that I didn’t have an object that “helped my ride the covid crisis”. I had adopted the similar sleeping patterns of a hibernated bear and didn’t have a shiny, new hobby to show off. My thoughts mirrored the resemblance of a pinball game, half-baked ideas ricocheted back and forth in what, at the time, felt like a seemingly small head. My problem was that I didn’t truly realize the significance of this object until I was forced to introspect. With consideration, an object I’d choose to represent the duality of my life pre and post COVID would be a pen, not the type rich ladies would drape their fingers around and daintily dip into a rich, black ink in order to create the most beautiful calligraphy strokes. Just an ordinary, utilitarian pen. I guess before Corona this is exactly how I pictured it. There was nothing remotely special about a pen at the time, just a necessity for in-person schooling. The motion of grabbing my pen in the morning became just as routine as brushing my teeth; it had been a part of my routine since elementary school. In March, the static sound of the intercom interrupted derivative practice and emerged from the speakers telling students to grab their belongings from their lockers. At the time it seemed COVID would be the cause of an extended Spring Break. Thinking little of it, I tossed my pen to the bottom of my bag and blended in with the crowd of students rushing to the parking lot as if it’d just been announced everyone would be competing in a Nascar race and had to depart immediately. The thing about time is it continues regardless of circumstances. Eventually classes continued on Zoom and technology was incorporated in nearly every part of my day. Admittedly my new routine proceeded as follows: 1) Wake up and check my phone 2) Online classes 3) Homework completed online 4) Use my phone or computer on and off until bed 5) Repeat This was the most disengaged I had felt from both school and friends in years. I felt like I’d been placed on a conveyor belt and was just moving along without actually doing anything. My eyes transferred lazily between the Zoom computer screen and my phone. If my screen time was represented by a bar graph it probably would’ve looked like it pranced into a New York City elevator and rode it to the top without stops. Initially I was glad homework was switched to being strictly online. My keyboard acted as a catalyst as I completed my assignments much quicker than I would have with a pen and paper. After a couple weeks of this, the honeymoon phase had passed and reality loomed in like storm clouds. I became more aware of the growing disconnect between what used to be seemingly normal activities. Desperately trying to clutch onto life pre-Corona I picked a pen back up. Quarantine, so kindly, gave me mass amounts of time to spend alone. At first this juxtaposition was overwhelming as it seemed all the institutions I had once known collapsed around me. It was noticeably easier to fall victim to this pessimistic mindset, but instead I nervously started trying to process my thoughts on paper and journaling. The stay at home order had quite literally put up a barrier between the outside world and my friends. Journaling was the healthiest pastime I took up. It allowed me to work through internal barricades on my own time. I’d compare journaling to knitting - at first it’s just ideas (or yarn) trying to organize themselves in order to create the final product. Originally with either hobby it is both frustrating and confusing to begin, but with practice it becomes relaxing and the motions proceed with little need for thought. For the first time since pre-quarantine I felt clarity with my thoughts; the storm clouds were clearing out. If anything this was the most comfortable I had been with myself because there was no one else to compare myself to- just my pen, paper, and myself. I grew up with a negative connotation around therapy, so this was incredibly healthy for myself and allowed for tremendous personal growth. It also helped me break the technological constraints and dependency I was feeling. With this same pen, I also started drawing. Looking back, drawing has helped me tremendously become less critical of myself. I use to try to mimic other people’s art styles and would feel deflated when they encompass the same artistry. I finally learned how to doodle as a meditative purpose instead of it needing to be something I’m great at. Instead of allotting all my free time to technology, I used pens. The colors danced around each other on the page while my wrist controlled the motion. Even before the pandemic, I was aware of the social media crisis in our society, but lockdown reemphasized this concern of mine. This was a way for me to unplug. When I contrast pens and computers, I think of the theme of originality. Nearly everyone’s work on the computer follows the same monotonous MLA, Times New Roman font, double spaced papers, whereas everyone writes differently or has a different pen preference. There is more room for creativity and uniqueness to shine through. Overall, pens paved the way for me to take a step back and reprioritized. I came out of quarantine feeling more comfortable with myself and carried my writing hobby along with me from California to Washington. I’ve been staying in touch with loved ones through handwritten letters, something I certainly would not have done prior to quarantine and would have opted for a text instead. There’s something special about using a pen. Writing is so universal yet individual at the same time. Everyone writes uniquely and handwriting reveals personality traits. It’s something I’ve realized is special. The picture on the left is my mom and brother with their pens of choice, and the picture on the left is my holiday card my mom sent me in college; in a way pens unite our family.

Ever since I was a child I have always had a love for Nintendo and their many consoles and games they’ve made throughout the years. As a child I played on the DS and 3DS and have wonderful memories with those consoles in particular. Before Covid, I didn’t think much of the Nintendo Switch. I always thought about buying a Nintendo Switch but never went ahead to make the purchase. I thought of it as an unnecessary console and thought I could just stick with playing on the 3DS when I felt the need to play a video game. I always loved the dual screen aspect of the DS and 3DS, something the Nintendo Switch lacked. Everything changed sometime in February when the Special Edition Animal Crossing Nintendo Switch was announced. Animal Crossing was one of the franchises which I had a lot of history with, playing ever since I was little. When I heard they were releasing an Animal Crossing themed Switch, I knew I had to buy it. Little did I know what world the Nintendo Switch would open me up to during a time of isolation, loneliness and chaos. I preordered the Nintendo Switch only a month or two before the pandemic broke out, it was as if I knew something huge was going to happen and I had to stock up supplies. I’d like to think I knew what was coming, and I was doing a favor for myself. By the time my Switch was delivered lock down had already ensued and all of America was going into quarantine. It was March 17th when it arrived, and the Nintendo Switch from then on, has been very special to me. For many people, the release of Animal Crossing New Horizons alongside the themed switch was a bright light in the darkness that is the pandemic. Through escapism, millions of people were able to escape to a deserted island they could build up to their wildest dreams through this game and I was one of those people. This game helped me think about other things than the pandemic, it gave me some joy in these trying times. I played many other games when I first got my switch besides Animal Crossing including Fire Emblem Three Houses and Rune Factory 4 Special. All these games gave me a place to escape to, and for me, having a place to escape to during the pandemic was the best thing that I could’ve done. The best part was I could share this joy with others. It’s not only the games themselves that brought me some joy during the pandemic, but also the communities along with it. I made countless online friends through these games, ones that I’m very close with. Through Discord, I joined a Rune Factory server and made many close friends through it. I felt a belonging during such an isolating period in our lives. I saw how others struggled, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t let that happen to myself. I’ve always been the introvert type but even now and then I get bored only spending time to myself. These video game communities helped me form friendships and bonds during a time that was thought of as impossible. Through Rune Factory 4 I especially made friends I’m still very close with even now. If I never had bought the Nintendo Switch, I would’ve never found these communities filled with wonderful people who were just like me, looking for belonging, looking for a friend, an escape from reality. Not only can I share my love for these games with these people, but I can share my Nintendo Switch with my family as well. While I’m quarantined with my family we would bond by playing games together on my Nintendo Switch. I never get to hang out with my older brother much since he has a full-time job, but I was able to get him to play with me and my sister, it was a heartwarming and fun moment I will keep as a good memory even during the pandemic. The Nintendo switch is a mediator between my quarantined space and the outside world through the internet. I can play online games with my friends and meet people through online gaming communities. I can see when my friends are online and see what they are playing. This day and age, with technology it’s so easy to connect with the outside world from your own bedroom, and so I did it with my Nintendo Switch. The possibilities of the Nintendo Switch are endless. Even when the pandemic ends, the Switch will never lose its value to me. I have made so many good memories with this Nintendo Switch over the past months I’ve had it, and I plan to make many more. There are many games coming to the Switch in the future such as Rune Factory 5 which I’m looking forward to. This time I have many friends who play the games I play, so when I start new games they’ll be by my side, and we can bond while playing the games together.

My Thanksgiving this year was different in many ways. First it was a lot shorter and we ate outside instead of inside. We were all at separate tables based on our household. It was not as fun being separated but we were still able to talk. There were less family members this year than we have had in the past. Sometimes my moms side of the family comes for Thanksgiving but they couldn’t this year because of Covid. We usually all serve our own food from big platters in the kitchen but this year my mom and dad served everyone their plates full of food and brought them outside to everyone at their tables. It was so cold outside and very windy which was hard and normally we would be inside at our dining room table, where it’s warm. Thanksgiving this year was the same because we made the same kinds of food and had a ton of leftovers but there were a lot of things that were different too.

My story is that we had to change our whole lives because of this. With online school, no toilet paper, masks, social distance, and so many more protocols. This year has been the craziest year in a while and I'm only thirteen. We had to quarantine ourselves away from others for so long that when I finally started seeing my friends again it was like I hadn't seen them in like 8 months. Through all these months the only people I was able to be around was my family. Don't even get me started on not being able to see my grandparents. Because they were at higher risk in never saw them like once for so long and I would normally talk with them all the time but I couldn't.

This year my Thanksgiving was drastically changed from what it usually is. I am used to either traveling for Thanksgiving or having relatives travel to me. My family and I were trapped inside in our own house and we were unable to cook a turkey since we did not have the stuff needed to cook a turkey on hand, so instead we ordered. While it was not that bad and we were not scarred for life or anything like that, it still sucked not being able to see my family.

This picture was one of the drawings I made during the pandemic. People grow and change from disasters, and so does the boy in the picture. He was an innocent child until his only family member-- his father was killed in front of him.

I never imagined spending the end of my high school senior year in bed. I always expected and looked forward to the social gatherings, late nights with friends, prom, graduation, spending time with my class, all the things you see on TV. Instead, the class of 2020 and the rest of the world switched to online learning/work, hand sanitizer, masks, and social distancing, along with the constant fear of the COVID-19 virus. Cases rose, along with time at home and persistent anxieties. Will I get it? What if I spread it to my parents? Or worse, my grandparents? School stopped. Work stopped. My family stayed home, isolated. Due to the complete halt of social interaction, and nothing else to do, I ended up spending too much time alone in my bed. My bed, like many teenagers, has always been one of my favorite places and most frequent visitation. But how much time in bed is too much? Due to COVID time, my bed transformed from being a place I slept and left every day, to a type of addiction. A place I was bound to and could not escape. There were some positives to being in my bed during these unprecedented times. At first, spending time in my bed was nice, I got more sleep than in the normal school year, and I got to relax during the day. My bed before COVID had always been a place for me after school or work to go and be alone. It’s a warm inviting space where I don’t have to impress society or anyone. It is like an oasis, with comfy blankets and pillows, lit candles around. I like to bring my cat into my room after a hard day and cuddle in bed with her if she allows it. Although my relationship with my bed changed during COVID, my relationship with the rest of my family did not. On a positive note, my bed and other beds in my house became gathering spaces. A joy of lockdown was that my older sister came home and stayed with us for two months. One of our favorite things to do together is to watch movies and tv shows with my mom too. My bed became a space for all of us to be together and watch movies and chit chat. We would all be so happy that we were all reunited again. Because we never expected this to happen. Once hours without school turned from weeks to months, time in my bed increased way more than usual. I had way too much time to spend in bed, and nothing to do in the outside world. My bed had once been a place for me to go when I craved alone time. But once I had nowhere but my house to be, my bed became the only place I spent time. I laid there for hours on my phone lazily. During my time in bed, I felt lazy and bored. I was unproductive and unmotivated. I wanted to go to places with people. I started to hate my bed, and hate what I had become because of my bed. At one point it got so bad that I was spending so much time lying in bed that my back started having problems from slouching so much. Strange right? That really was a sign for me to get off my butt and do something. I changed my attitude and realized I had to get out of bed and go outside. When the weather got warmer and sunnier, I was finally able and wanted to leave my room and go spend time outside. This allowed me to feel the fresh air and feel productive outside in the real world. Being able to leave my bed and return to it later in the day, made my bed rewarding again, instead of never leaving and being mad at myself and the bed for drawing me in. A bed is meant to be somewhere to sleep. But for me, during the pandemic, it was a place to relax, read, socialize, be warm, watch tv, even eat. However, because of its spell on me, I needed to learn to interact with my bed with caution and moderation, for my sanity. Like anything during these COVID times, my bed and I had good experiences and bad experiences. I had to learn how I needed to cope with my emotions concerning my bed. Before COVID, my bed was a place for me to unwind and feel better. But during the lockdown, I realized that my relationship with other people was better for my mental health, over spending time in bed. Overall, it provided me a safe space to rekindle my energy. But because of the circumstances, it might have been too much. It inhibited me from leaving it like I was tied and stuck. But it also made me grateful. To feel comfortable and safe in my room away from the uncertainty of current times.

For many in gen Z, TikTok has become a form of escape during the quarantine. The range of content on the app means there is something for everyone and really allows anyone to find a niche. Towards the beginning of the semester, one of the big trends on the app was to show clips of your college/university set to the song “Campus” by vampire weekend. For many, this was a reaction to the fact we are missing out on a significant part of our young adulthood, actually being at college and on campus. Many people also did the trend in a different way, showing clips of their house or apartment, which has become their campus. I decided to take my own spin on it, and take clips whenever I found myself doing schoolwork in cool spots. The college experience looks very different for everyone right now, but I think it is fair to say that my generation has struggled with the fact that we are losing out on time that we will not get back. Adults who are in the middle of their careers might not be having a great time, but by and large, they are not missing out on much other than their normal routine, but that feels much more significant to college students, who only have four years at their school and so have lost off on basically a quarter of their undergrad experience

When I was originally planning my trip, I hoped to visit Antelope Canyon, as well as a few other parks on the Navajo Reservation, but the Navajo Nation has been one of the hardest-hit regions in the country, so by the time I was in the area, the parks were closed, and even if they had been open, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable visiting and spreading it more, even if I would have been outside and away from people. Because of that experience I wanted to take this space to try to amplify their experience. This Instagram account records the experience of an organization providing relief to members of the tribe. There are only 45 search results for Navajo in the archive, which I would constitute as an archival silence considering that many cities with comparable populations have hundreds of entries. I know that taking a screenshot of a website can only tell you so much, but it is the best way I could come up with of elevating the voices of the Navajo Nation, which is an important practice to engage within the context of archival work.

The week before the national quarantine guidelines were announced, I was on a choir trip to the Southern Division ACDA competition in Alabama. This trip was the beginning of my final high school plans, the beginning of the end. I was expecting to come home and tell my friends all about it, to plan for my next choir trip to New York City in a few short weeks, to soak up my last moments of high school, and, of course, to finally walk across the stage and graduate. It is kind of ironic that I was dreading the spotlight on me when I was handed my diploma and doing the awkward tassel flip, but now I wish I could have anything close to that experience. When I left that day for Alabama, I did not expect to never see a majority of those people from school ever again. The feelings of hopelessness and of worthlessness were shared among many globally, including myself, leaving me in a state of prolonged stagnance. Immediately after I got off the bus home from Alabama, I was sent on a train to my dad’s new house in rural upstate New York. I did not get to go home and get my things or say hi to my family. The next few months of my life consisted of my duffel bag packed for one week, random Amazon orders, and an endless forest. At first, I still had school to keep me occupied and feel normal, but eventually, that ended and I had nothing to fill up the days. My dad was barely home, as he had just started a new job, and there was no other human within several miles, not that I could talk to them anyway, but the thought would have been nice. I was completely isolated. I tried painting, baking, video games, and dying my hair, but nothing filled the emptiness I was feeling. I felt extremely unproductive, like I was just wasting away where no one could find me. Eventually, I decided to take advantage of the nothingness surrounding me. I ventured into the woods and saw a whole world that kept continuing amidst the pandemic. I was reminded that life kept going, and while it seemed like mine was completely frozen, that it would start up again one day. I started spending more and more time in the woods, watching saplings develop, the fawns growing older, and the stream carve its way through the rough earth. In order to keep a piece of that life closer to home, I created biospheres in glass jars so that I could feel the hope for life when I didn’t want to go outside. Through those months, I did a lot of reflection on the pandemic and what it meant for myself and others. I realized that my life will continue, I will continue to live one day, but some people will not if we are not in isolation, so suddenly all the pain of the things I missed was worth it. Eventually, I had to leave New York and come to Washington. I moved into my mom’s two bedroom apartment shared by her boyfriend and my little brother a few months prior to school starting. I began to experience those same things I did when in New York at first, but the difference was that here, I did not have a vast forest to walk into. I had approximately 1,200 square feet and a shared bedroom with a five year old boy to wander around. I had to learn to cope all over again. I turned to one of my favorite things, even before the pandemic: plants. A simple succulent now carried so much more weight than before, reminding me of life, similar to the forest in New York. I have since expanded my plant collection in my dorm room, reminding myself everyday that even when it doesn’t feel like it, I am continuing to grow and one day life will be back to normal. Once the pandemic ends, I will continue to care for and expand my collection of plants. I think that one day it will be cool to show people my “pandemic plants.” It will be a symbol of my growth through quarantine, a symbol that I made it. I never thought that something so simple would make such a big difference in my life. Everyone lost something during this time, but I believe everyone gained something too, and I gained some very valuable life lessons and insight. While the pandemic is still blazing forward and so many things are changing, I will try my best to stay inspired by life and inspire those around me as well.

Transcript: It’s been a wild like week and a half. The Grand Tetons are so fucking beautiful. I want to look at seasonal work there in the summer. Yellowstone is pretty dope as well, but I am fully obsessed with the Tetons. I spent like an entire week in that area, then I went to salt lake city and spent the night with aunt Debbie (first shower in like two weeks) and now I’m at little grand canyon, which is a dope random spot, Last Tuesday was the first presidential debate, which was a shit show. Trump couldn’t stop talking for more than like twenty seconds. Today was the vice presidential debate, which was also a mess, but not as bad. The star of the show was a fly on Pence’s head. But, the real news is that Trump has COVID. He was diagnosed last Tuesday and then ended up being brought to the hospital, He only stayed in the hospital before he went back to the White House, which he entered without a mask. I’m really kicking myself that I didn’t write this week. But it's been weird for sure. There was a lot of speculation at first that he was faking it, but after seeing a video of him, he definitely has me. What scares me is how this will change his attitude. He keeps telling people “not to be afraid” of it. This man had an entire team of doctors using experimental treatments and he has the audacity to tell people not to be scared. It’s disgusting. My first journal entry that mentioned COVID was from March 1st, 2020. I was complaining about the fact that my spring break school trip to Madrid might get canceled (spoiler alert, it did.) there were another one or two entries pretty much just ranting, and then on April 5th I wrote my first entry consciously thinking about the long term impacts of Corona. Well, I say long term, but at that point, I still thought COVID was going to go away by summer. I’ve never been the type of person who’s good at routine, so I don’t write every night, but since then I’ve been journaling at least once every few weeks. In this way I’ve been curating my own personal archive since pretty much the beginning of the pandemic, engaging with ethical archiving practices by thinking (sometimes intentionally sometimes not) about what I deem important enough to include in my ‘archive’, which in this case is my journal. This specific entry also illustrates the significance of the election and also the impact that covid has had on everyone up to the president.

This object is an informational poster that provides information to visitors at canyonland, allowing them to choose hikes and plan their visit without having to interact with rangers. This information could be useful to future historians studying how outdoor recreation and the parks service were affected by Covid. Because so much was shut down, and because experts recommend being outdoors if you’re going to spend time with friends, outdoor recreation has been one of the sectors that have been positively affected by covid. Because of this, the way the national parks responded to covid is a significant part of 2020, even if it might not seem like it at first glance.

When I was planning my trip, one consideration I had to make was how I was going to vote. I requested my absentee ballot very early and decided I would have my mom mail it to me to pick up through general delivery wherever I ended up being at the time. Where I ended up being was Moab Utah, exploring Arches and Canyonland National Parks. This picture shows me dropping my ballot in the dropbox in Moab to send it back to Connecticut. I think this object is indicative of 2020, specifically the presidential election. Though elections are always important, this one was especially so and will have a significant impact on the future of this country. This object demonstrates the importance of voting by mail in this election, but also in general, as I would have needed to vote by mail if I were on this trip in a normal election cycle as well. I would say that my personal experience is also emblematic of my generation’s determination to exercise their right to vote.

These photos represent my experience of the day that Biden was declared president-elect. I happened to be near a family member during the election, so I stayed with them, so it was easy to have access to watching the news, but after four days of being glued to the results, I needed to get back on the road for my own sanity. On the morning of the 6th, I felt confident enough in the numbers in Georgia and Pennsylvania that they were going to continue to be in Biden’s favor to leave service behind and go into Yosemite national park. I wanted to be able to listen to the news while I was in the park, so I screenshot the local radio stations while I still had service, but they all ended up being either conservative stations that weren’t reporting on the results, or Spanish speaking stations. The next day I woke up to the news that the associated press had called the election for Biden, and celebrated in Giant Sequoia National Park, while I was there, I wrote Biden in the snow as a way to celebrate and feel in community with other people also on the trails. This was an important day for American history, and while my experience was not something particularly significant, It could be an interesting story to a future historian researching how people responded to the election.

This sign caught my eye because of the last item on the list “Still don’t use slower friends as bear bait” made me laugh. This could be of interest to future historians because it demonstrates how different places try to use humor to spread some positivity, while also reminding people how to hike while staying COVID safe. I was reminded of “the strange lives of objects in the coronavirus era” article, and the way simple objects can tell stories. The information outlined on this poster is not new, it outlines the same practices the CDC has advocated for nine months, but the way it is presented gives insight into how national parks are handling the pandemic.

Slab City California is a very unique place. I would describe it loosely as being part squatter and snowbird encampment, part artists’ colony, part homesteading community. The one description that is agreed upon, at least by its residents, is that it is the “last free place on earth”. Given this fact, I was a bit nervous to visit, but I was also really excited to check it out and figured that if nobody was wearing masks or social distancing and I wasn’t comfortable, I could just leave. I was very pleasantly surprised therefore when I arrived and found that residents were all taking the pandemic seriously. I stayed away from people as much as possible, as I did everywhere I went and was able to safely enjoy the art. I snapped this picture in East Jesus, an outdoor art museum/sculpture garden, and felt it was a good representation of the general attitude in the area. I think this item illustrates an interesting part of people’s response to covid which is that while there are many people who refuse to take the pandemic seriously, there are also a lot of people who are doing the right thing because they genuinely care about others. Slab City is an unincorporated community with no government and nobody to enforce state mandates. People might get fined if they threw a big party and word got out to someone who could do something about it, but it’s unlikely that there would be consequences. And yet, people were being responsible, Which to me says something significant about the fact that I would say that most people who are wearing masks and social distancing it are doing it not because they are required to, but because it is the right thing to do.

To me puzzles were nothing more than the stack of boxes collecting dust in the top shelf of the coat closet. Maybe I took them out once or twice when I was in grade school while I was looking for something to do after using up all of my TV time and refusing to pick up a book. I don’t recall every shopping for my puzzles, receiving them as gifts, and now that I think about it, I don’t recall ever finishing one besides, of course, the twenty-four-piece pink Hello Kitty puzzle, of her walking her dogs in the park. Now I look back upon the entire month of March spent working on multiple thousand-piece puzzles, finishing every puzzle I could find in my household. I remember sitting in AP Econ first period of some random Wednesday in February asking my teacher “what if this student does test positive? Why are we here? Isn’t this dangerous? Isn’t this putting us at risk of exposure?” He quickly assured me that classes on Tuesday were cancelled solely for the purpose of disinfecting the entire building. I questioned this response as I looked down at my stained covered desk that clearly hasn’t been cleaned in weeks. However, I wasn’t too worried about the situation as this almost comical idea of a virus was ripping its way through China and Italy, and not a single case was discovered in North America. I go home that evening to discover that a case was in fact discovered in North America, and of course it was in Washington. Completely awestruck, I try to convince myself there is no possible way out of all the schools in the nation this virus found its way to Hazen High School. I forget about the whole thing and go back to cramming for my Stats test. Thursday morning I’m awoken to the news that my school will be closed for the rest of the week. Not understanding the seriousness of the situation, all I’m thinking is “thank God I have more time to study for this Stats test.” That Sunday we receive more news stating school will be closed for the next two weeks and then an addition for that preplanned Spring Break. Still receiving messages from my Stats teacher to keep studying and practicing as we’ll pick up where we left off when we return, I stop studying because at this rate who knows if we’ll be going back. Sure enough, the weekend before our expected return we receive the email stating that all classes will be online for the rest of the term. Around this time my sister and mom were sent home from their work as cases around Washington continued to forcing many places to close and moving everyone online. This was the first time in years that we were all under the same roof again, and this was the first time ever we were forced to spend 24/7 with one another for who knew how long. And this was when the intense puzzling escapades began. For my parents it was a quite easy transition as they were doing the exact same things just in the comfort of their own home, but for my sister and I we had many weeks of nothing as school and work were figuring out what to do in this unprecedented time. There’s only so much TV to watch, so we landed on this brilliant idea of starting our puzzle collection, starting from the sixteen-piece slowly making our way up to two-thousand pieces. The smaller puzzles were obviously quick and mainly worked on between my sister and I, with the occasional visit from my parents forcing pieces to fit together that my sister and I would later discover and have to move. As the size of the puzzles began to grow, so did the time we spent working on them. From completing one in an hour to working on one for days. What started between my sister and I, soon turned into an entire family affair. Staying updated with the number of cases and deaths around the world and in Washington, the time spent working on these puzzles became very soothing to me as my mind was completely focused on sorting the different shades of pink that would eventually become a sunset. This little family project of ours created this sense of unity, collaboration, and overall fun in such a sensitive time and atmosphere. I felt that first month really allowed my family and I to bond in a different way, just because we all had the time to sit and work on puzzles together. Then of course the inevitable happened, no not quarantine ending, but we finished all the puzzles. I still remember asking my sister, half-jokingly, if she thought we would be able to finish all the puzzles before quarantine ended, of course at the time I thought there was no way it would las till August. I was clearly wrong, and we did indeed finish all the puzzles. We quickly looked online for more thousand-piece puzzles to buy, which to our surprise were incredibly expensive, but looking back we probably weren’t the only family doing puzzles so it would make sense the price skyrocketed. With the abrupt ending to our puzzling journey, I was disappointed with the little family activities we would do together, but we had months to go so we eventually did find something. Though puzzles are such a simple object, often associated with children or elders, it’s going to be something I remember from my teen years for the rest of my life. Whenever I see a puzzle, I will think about the strong family bond my family created the summer of 2020.

This year's Thanksgiving was like no other. What is usually a day full of family and friends, became a day of distancing. I was not able to see all of my family, but thankfully my mom, dad, and brother were still there. We tried to keep our traditions, like making the turkey, baking pies...etc, but covid was really wrecking my parade. During dinner we tried to space ourselves out, but it didn't last for long. We decided that we had to take a break and just give one another something as simple as a hug. Even though my whole family wasn't there, we still ended up having a great time. At first it was hard to find things to be grateful for, just because of this hectic year, but by the end, I had a whole list put together. Even throughout this...interesting day, me and my family still found the joys in being together, and staying healthy.

It is human nature to ignore somethings over others through the application of selective attention. According to human psychology, we tend to focus on information that we think matters more while ignoring the presumed irrelevant details. The same applies to colors. They are flamboyant, bringing out the best, most salient parts of objects. However, they are merely as alluring without the shades, the easily ignored parts that make objects pop. If you were to ask me before the pandemic COVID-19, what the utensil that produces shades means to me, I’d probably tell you schoolwork. It means working on an assignment in Spanish class, drafting an artwork for art class. It’s something that blends into my life, something so easily accessible that I had ignored. COVID-19 inspired me to expand my selective attention, giving me an opportunity to deal with my personal crisis. It allowed me to realize the importance of shades. Pencils are typical. They have long and narrow bodies, a burgundy pinkish eraser on the top, and a greyish carbon tip. It’s everywhere, in school, stores, houses…So obtainable that people tend to disregard its essentiality. Before the COVID crisis, I use a pencil mostly under instructions: “use a pencil to darken circles for this section”, “please use a pencil to do the annotations”, “always draft your artwork with a pencil”. It had been an object that I associate with obligations and restraints. I enjoy socializing and being in crowded locations. Deep down, I know that spending time with others provides me an excuse to not face “me”. Being accompanied by technology since my early childhood, it’s easy to feel lost and hollow when I’m idling around; when I’m truly alone with myself. I didn’t like being with myself because I know I would overthink. So, I used to go out whenever I could. It is a personal crisis that I have avoided and procrastinated on fixing. Coincidentally, the pandemic happened, and I was forced to quarantine in my house, with me. As a member of Generation Z, I spent most of the first two months immersed in technology: Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube. I used all my time absorbing useless information online, to fill the emptiness I feel from lack of social stimuli. Until one day when I was spacing out at my desk, thinking which information dump to go to next, I noticed my pencil lying on the table. I picked it up, with nothing in mind, I started scribbling on a piece of paper. The products are in all forms, intersecting with each other but not showing any outline of specific objects. They are abstracts piled together. It struck me as I realized the freeing side of pencil. When you press it on to the paper lightly, the shade that comes out is lighter, and vice versa. I understood that I have control over the pencil and over what I want to do. Not some structured art assignment that tells me to have a meaning in my artwork, to go with the norms of art. It’s a language of my own. When I see the overcrowded lines, I feel the noisiness; when I see spaced lines, I feel the indifference and coldness. That day, I spent the entire afternoon scribbling and looking at lines and shapes that I had created with a pencil. A language is forming. Being focused on my “language”, I registered my change as I started tuning out my anxious and overthinking self. I am feeling the present, because every single line, is controlled by me. I need to stay focused on expressing my feelings through lines. One might ask why I wouldn’t write journals instead, that way I can articulate my feelings more intentionally. But writing is restrained, you have grammatical and spelling structures to follow. There are so many rules to adhere to in order to let the future you look back and be able to understand what the present you are trying to say. That’s exhausting. I started to use pencil to scribble every day before I go to bed. It’s refreshing, almost like a personal space where I express all my feelings that I’ve experienced in the day. Through utilizing my pencil, I can appreciate the beauty in gradient of shades, the beauty of my consciousness. I consider penciling the medium that allows me to connect with myself and be more aware of my thoughts and feelings. Even though pencil can only produce monochromatic colors, they mean color to me. It is my form of communication with myself. I’ve been out with my friends several times after quarantine. But now, I no longer feel the constant need to be accompanied by someone to be distracted from my thoughts. I’ve learned how to respect my personal space and alone time. A clear line between my “me time” and my socializing times is established. This change for me is immaculate as I change the lens I use to see the world in, but this time, with more self-consciousness with it. Pencil helped me comprehend the importance of self-acceptance and appreciation of the unnoticeable things in life. It made me more conscious of my surrounding as I continuously try to seek things that I’ve taken for granted or have ignored. It freed me from my personal crisis, giving color to my world through shades.

I am submitting this article because it speaks in a broader sense the sort of experiences people with ADHD have/will continue to have during the pandemic. It writes of the intersections of ADHD and the coronavirus, such as how remote learning and working can lead to decreased motivation and increased social isolation can be expected to increase other symptoms of ADHD along with feelings of depression and anxiety at levels that neurotypical people may not experience. Rather than collecting multiple small objects that speak to a single aspect of neurodiversity and the pandemic, and potentially overwhelming the archive with repetitive, kitschy documents that may in the future confuse the research process, I wanted to include a single document that spoke broadly of what life is like with ADHD during the pandemic.

I am submitting this object because a very common symptom of neurodiversity is hyperfixation, and with the increased amount of time spent in the house, many people, including my dad are more free to spend hours upon hours doing the tasks stimulating tasks. An aspect of hyperfixation is the way it can “turn on” and “off” at seemingly random times, so for my dad, over the past 9 months, he began writing a novel, which he has 80 thousand words in, but is as yet unfinished, he then moved on to creating card and board games, complete with art and promotional material. Throughout quarantine, he has fixated and his health, and took up running. His most recent fixation is music, writing lyrics and music on a modular synthesizer. This object could be helpful in providing an example of how people with ADHD kept themselves stimulated through quarantine, as well as how their minds often flit from one project to the next, depending on how interesting or rewarding it seems at the time. It was also important to me to contribute this item because much of the time ADHD is only focused on children, so adding this object to the collection works to give representation to the many adults with ADHD who are working as well as trying to adjust to life during the pandemic. Sean Bateman (Provided screenshots and pictures) and Megan Bateman (made collage)

Being in quarantine with a toddler can be isolating, They don’t understand you like other adults do, their vocabulary is growing, but mainly you hear, “mama” all day. So I found a community. I found other moms in my position. I wrote posts and engaged in conversation. I asked them about their experiences during this pandemic. I heard stories of despair, of growth, or isolation. I remember them now and always will. COVID-19 has caused a lot of distress for mothers across the world; losing those few hours out of the house, interacting with other adults, being able to forget the toys strewn about the house and the magic marker on the walls. So we found a community. We talk about our children, our families, the things we miss, the changes we’ve had to make, the things we can’t wait to do and we found solace in the comfort of each other. Even if we’ve never meet in real life; during the pandemic, we found a community.

I am submitting this object as an example of how some people with ADHD struggle with self-motivation and how they create workarounds for this. This is a photo from the wall next to my desk. Taped up are daily to-do lists for the next couple of days, a monthly calendar so I don’t get so caught up in the details of something I lose sight of larger projects and due dates, as well as random reminders. This method has been useful for me because it is not only repetitive, which helps me to remember goals and dates, which is important since memory issues are common with ADHD, but it also provides a form of motivation for me. Scratching tasks off of a to-do list, even if it is something simple like “eat lunch” helps me to stay engaged with my required tasks throughout the day. This object speaks to the ways that many college students and young adults are trying to learn how to live on their own, while also going without much of the support from professors, friends, and family they could have had due to the restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the virus.

“School is very difficult for me online, as I don't have access to the resources I would if I were attending school physically. I cannot get the extra help I need, and without someone supervising me I'm forgetful and less likely to get my assignments in.” -Mary Harrigan I am submitting this object, along with Mary’s reasoning behind sending me this screenshot because it shows the ways that the education system is overwhelmed in trying to transition to remote forms of learning, which is, in turn, leaving behind many neurodiverse students. While the environment at home may be a bit more comfortable for Mary due to better control of external stimuli, they still don’t have access to the accommodations they need as an autistic student in high school. This object also shows the overwhelming nature of online schooling, and how the technologies we use to help in remote learning oftentimes cause more stress to the student because the reminder of how much work they have is constant: it is on their phones which they carry with them everywhere. Additionally, Mary is Autistic and Nonbinary, Both of these identities are not typically represented within historical records. and I think it's important that their experiences be preserved within this archive.

This holiday season barely feels like the holidays at all. With so many families struggling to stay afloat during these trying times, Christmas seemed to take a back seat this year. Not in a negative sense, but in the way that people just simply can’t afford gifts or afford to be joyful. It’s hard, not working and raising children. Christmas is the time of year where you buy your little ones gifts and celebrate all the happiness of the year. Not during COVID, mothers are struggling, fathers are struggling and children don’t understand how tight money is. So this Christmas, promise to make the day more rememberable; even if the gift are lacking. Fill the day with love, happiness and relax a little. The material items will break and be thrown away, the children will outgrow them, but they will never forget the love they felt on Christmas Day during COVID.

I am submitting this image of a friend’s empty energy drink collection because it is indicative of how some people with ADHD use caffeine to deal with their symptoms when medication is inaccessible. Grim is not currently in a position to get the sort of support they need for their ADHD because of the pandemic, so they have taken a gap year from school and are working in the meantime. This is a small part of the collection of empty cans they have from the daily energy drink they have to help them function at home and work. Not many people know how hard it is to get support for ADHD as an adult, especially as someone who was assigned female at birth, so this object serves to show the ways that some neurodiverse people cope, especially now that Covid has made it that much harder and daunting to get non-emergency related doctor’s appointments. This object shows the ways medical care has changed due to the virus, fear keeping people from going in and hospitals and clinics being overwhelmed with people and unable to provide as much care as they once could. It also shows how the pandemic interrupted or changed the plans of many students to continue their education.

John Mello runs a small local flower shop that has been providing flowers to the local community for years. When the pandemic hit, quarantine was a major adjustment for John’s business. Customers who regularly came in for celebratory gifts, flowers prom, and wedding flowers, no longer came in at their usual rate. As a result, John’s business slowed. This flower represents the fragile life of a local business, and how without the consistent type of attention it needs, like water and sunlight, it will die just as quickly as a flower.

I am submitting this article because my collection while trying to center neurodiversity, seems to be leaning pretty heavily towards ADHD. This article follows the experiences of 5 different autistic students with school and the pandemic. This article also speaks to the work universities have put in to better accommodate their neurodiverse students through programs that center them and their need for different approaches to education. In submitting this article, I hope that it provides greater clarity that neurodiverse people are not a monolith of the same symptoms and experiences, but rather lead different lives that have all been individually affected by the pandemic. It is important that the collection has many different perspectives within it so that future researchers don’t confuse a single experience with a universal one.

It’s tough having the world you known flipped upside down, for so many mothers during the pandemic, their entire way of living has been altered. A change from clocking into work every day to getting up to sit with their children for remote learning. It was trading in their work uniforms for sweat pants and unbrushed hair. It’s changed from keeping record of their timesheets to scrolling the endless Facebook feeds in their only hour alone every day. However, it’s beautiful to watch your child grow. To see their face light up every morning while you exhaustedly make a cup of coffee and try to prepare yourself for a day of raising your children. It’s amazing to see them learn a new word or conquer their math homework without your help. It’s being able to make them home cooked meals, even if they are just grilled cheese and soup. Amidst all of the craziness COVID has caused, we get to be there to witness our children grow and for that, there’s something to be grateful for.

I live in a hot spot. I receive texts from my municipal and the Massachusetts government at least once a week. The cases rise daily and the death toll is worrisome. I’m raising my child in a hot spot. I can’t go back to work without the worry that I might bring home a virus that can kill my child. When you get pregnant, there is a lot of anxiety about bringing a life into this world, but no one could have imagined that come 2020, there would be a global pandemic, a virus that we don’t know all the symptoms and a death toll growing daily in our country. I live in a hot spot. I can’t go outside without my mandated mask, social distancing and limited number of people in stores. I cannot see my friends or my distance family. I can’t bring my son to the park or the library, they’re all closed down. I’m being safe. I’m doing my best, but I cannot change that i live in a hot spot.

Jackson Brockenbrough, Jdagiver Production, explained in a verbal interview that as a direct result of COVID his inspirational has been effected. Lack of city life has made it more difficult for him to tap into his creativity. The dullness within the current state of the world translates into his work as many artist are effected by the their life and surroundings as a source of inspiration. Jackson continued explaining that even though this time is more difficult to produce music, he has a responsibility as a producer during COVID. For example the world utilizes music as an outlet to express and feel emotions of such as emotions of fear and frustration that COVID induces.Jacksons has also been faced with the difficulty of individuals being unable to contribute to sessions like they did prior to job restrictions because of COVID. Jackson’s story explains how an entrepreneur faces not only individuals struggling, and competition but also effected by the economic state of his consumers too.

The mask controversy takes on a new light when you are raising a toddler during a pandemic. My son is too young to wear a mask, he is too young to protect himself and I have to depend on others to wear their masks to protect him. From March until late August, my son only traveled from his home to my parents house, a three minute walk up the street. He did not have outside contact with anyone out of his immediate family. Until one day, I had to take him grocery shopping with me and a new world of worry became very obvious. I understand people wanting to practice their constitutional rights, but I don’t think it applies to wearing a mask. Wearing a mask doesn’t protect you, it protects those around you. For those of us, struggling to be parents and having to bring out under two year olds out, PLEASE WEAR A MASK. You can have your right to freedom of speech and everything else, but when it comes to protecting those little humans you walk by and don’t think much of, your germs can harm them. We don’t have a choice to mask our babies because of suffocation, but you, you can wear a mask and help us protect them.

Ma’s Donuts owner Valdemar Leite exemplifies that running a business during COVID has presented new issues and frustrations with an invoice of past and present prices of gloves. Valdemar explained during a video interview that this image proves factories and other business are struggling to conduct their business with limited staff. These companies may even raise their prices in order to compensate with the current state of COVID however this greatly effects small business. The changes of price and product that manufactories afford can limit menus and unlike other business such as restaurants who can adjust their menus more frequently so that it is more profitable to them. A current solution to this issue that Ma’s Donuts is hoping to impose according to owner Valdemar Leite is new electronic menu boards that will make it easier for them to establish daily differences in their menu.

Unfortunately most to all homeless people do not have health care meaning if for some reason they got infected by covid, they would not be able to get tested nor treatment to due the lack of insure . Homeless people often use others peoples belongings for survival leading to many homeless people contracting the disease without the correct medical care which became fatal to their lives.

This report done by the Center for American Progress really opened my eyes to the way mothers have been affected by the pandemic. For so many mothers, the pandemic forced them to choose between supporting their family by working, or leaving the workforce to become stay at home parents. For myself, I had no other choice than to become a stay at home mother because of the closing of schools and childcare. My son is a toddler, before pandemic he attended a private childcare two days a week and spent the other three with family members so I could work. By the quarantine in March, my job had “closed for the foreseeable future” and my son no longer could visit his family due to the risks. As most of the population has, mothers have made sacrifices this entire pandemic, they have struggled to provide, given up the little time away from home they had and stepped into numerous different roles to ensure their children are safe, cared for and learning. Now, I question if there could’ve been more help for the mothers around the country when the pandemic hit? Could the government relieved some of the stress of losing an income? Why was it a choice between money and the lives of their children?

Chelsea Campbell explains in a textual conversation that small business struggle with both competitors such as small and big business. Small businesses have been emerging since COVID-19 has begun as a solution for those who have been laid off from their jobs. Chelsea helps to explore the idea that although this is amazing for the small business community it makes it harder for other competitors. Additionally, larger business are able to work around issues that smaller business face such as large shipping cost and difficulty receiving products as they the money and ability to resolve more issues then someone who is attempting to compete with those same standards. Chelsea explain although there is always more room for creativity and entrepreneurship she has had to adjust tactics to become more competitive with other brands even if this is a direct sacrifice for her business.

we've all been able to shop at our convince with no troubles until covid. Now shopping isn't as simple as It was before. Now we are urged to wear face protection, a certain number of customers are only allowed in at a certain time, creating long lines out side of the shopping establishments. The severity of covid was at an all time high closing most to all retail stores, leaving open the essential need stores, such as grocery, convenience and pharmacies.

The pandemic has been hard for a lot of my family members, including myself. I decided to interview one of my cousins, Julie, who has been hit one of the hardest by the coronavirus. She is very nervous because of her father’s health. I have not seen her since the summer because of her quarantining for the last couple months. She answers the question, “How has the pandemic affected you personally and your visiting with family?.

Whether it be a sports game, musical or concert, its not happening in person during covid. Covid has made social distancing a top priority, meaning that huge gatherings in confined spaces probably won't work. Sports events including the NBA & NHL took the route in keeping there players safe from the disease by implementing the "bubble" which ultimately isolated the players from all contact except for games and practices. No concerts are in session as well as musicals, they can be shown virtually on the other hand.