Students are returning back to University after almost 4 months of school closed.

Trigger warning: abortion The pandemic had abruptly changed university. The Spring quarter was completely switched to online courses and student activities on campus were canceled. For the entirety of the quarter and to this day, I'm living with my partner until the quarantine is over. It was hard adjusting to online classes and I had to force myself to keep up with lectures and assignments. Deciding to take 20+ units during these times wasn't a smart idea, but I'm glad to say that I'm doing a pretty decent job at holding up. Finals are around the corner and there's one more week of lecture to persevere through. Yet, despite doing well in school, I'm struggling to cope with recent events. This school year has been bittersweet. It's my 4th year of undergrad and the most memorable year of my life, so having it come to a sudden halt has been tough. Zooming friends and chatting online isn't the same as in-person meetings. However, so many college students are facing similar struggles and I commend them for staying at home and practicing social distancing rules. (haha...sorry I got a little carried away with background information.) My experience with abortion during this pandemic isn't something I have fully comprehended yet. It was midway into the quarter and right before midterms when I found out I was pregnant. Seeing the positive pregnancy test in the restroom, I just burst into tears. I knew I couldn't take care of the baby properly, and the mental turmoil of the whole circumstance really, to this day, has effected me. I called Planned Parenthood and scheduled an appointment for the closest opening, a few days after finding out. Those few days waiting were hell, I couldn't sleep and my mind was filled with dread. But, the hardest day and the hardest moment was realizing at Planned Parenthood that I had to go in alone...without my partner and without my mom. The clinic had to make precautions considering the pandemic and guests were not allowed to be there for emotional support. So, I carried forth with the termination and took the pills. The doctor and nurse were in the room, but they were standing at a distance...and everything felt distant. I had my phone to call my support system, but at that moment, I just needed a hand to hold.

A tweet speculating as to how the pandemic and resulting restrictions may effect the online dating scene. It suggests it will slowing it back down since dates and physical relationships cannot be started as easily due to social distancing.

Lately I have been really sad as an extrovert because I haven't been able to go outside, meanwhile my brother is loving quarantine as an introvert. It is very funny how differently we are treating this, and I thought this meme helped to represent it.

For complete context, I am a white 8th grader at an exceptional private school who lives in the bay area and is very privileged. Today I will be talking about hat quarantine has been like for me. At the start, I was happy at thought of maybe a few weeks off school because of some flu but then it became serious and school was canceled for the entire year. as the days went on I started a routine. online school from 9 to 2 (with lunch in between of course) then exercise outside for an hour (pretty much just walked my dog most of the time), then play video games for most of the remaining day. video games were the only way I made contact for most of the quarantine with my friends. my favorite games to play during quarantine was 2k and COD but mostly COD. Anyways that has been my life for the last few months and it has not been half bad. Besides the fact I couldn't go out or see any of my friend's quarantine was kinda nice. But after a while, people started getting tired of quarantine and started to see their friends again. It started with most girls who were craving social interaction and then eventually after a few weeks spread to the boys. another thing about quarantine was I was on my phone a lot. I averaged around 7 hours a day of screen time which included binging of Netflix shows, viewing of plenty TikTok, and sending lots of snaps. Some shows I have watched over qaurantine are tiger king, money hiest, community, all american, space force, etc.. also, another thing if this matters to you are my political beliefs. I am liberal and I think trump is an awful president and person (excuse my language). Anyways quarantine hasn't been too exciting and it has been kinda boring. also, the protest in the name of George Floyd and I do not support the violent protests but I truly believe In the cause that they are supporting and I think we shouldn't have to live in a racist world. If I am being honest I would actually like to go to a protest but my parent probably won't let me because its "dangerous" or something along those lines. Anyway, that has been my take on my quarantine and I hope whoever you are that is reading this that you are living in a better world with a better government right now. Thanks for your time. -please excuse my awful grammar

Staying at home locked up is very odd. It takes a toll on your mental health because you are not able to see your friends or anyone outside your immediate family. It is hard to connect with others and you will see the other side of most people's personalities. Letting yourself be who you are is very important. Taking time to do what you love (if possible) is a great way to let out steam. Workouts and staying fit as well as movies and video games are good ways to spend time. The pandemic of 2020 will always be remembered, likely not fondly.

This is how we get food everyday. They left at our door, and we went down. We never met each other.

Photograph of signs in Bowring Park which read, "SITE SAFETY/ Wash your hands regularly/ Keep a safe distance of at least 2 metres/ Cough or sneeze into the crease of the elbow or a tissue/ Avoid contact/ Avoid touching your face/ Stay at home if you are ill/ St. John's" and "AVOID CROWDS AND MAINTAIN 2 METRE DISTANCE/ St. John's" The image was taken for the Instagram account which follows two dogs in St. John's, Newfoundland, Lola and Georgia. The accompanying caption mentions that the park had previously been closed and was then reopening to the public.

I wanted the image I chose to show scary it is to be living in this world as a child. There are so many terrible things happening around the world and COVID-19 is another tragic event to add to the list.

So far I've been staying at home and going on many walks. This image i upldoaded describes how bad 2020 has been so far.

During the initial time of the self-quarantine, we were anxious, so we have bought this oxygen monitor. However, none of us remembered to use it everyday.

A story about what’s home, about what the feelings of a home are for me. Two very different spaces that were protagonist in my own personal journey through the pandemic. A film diary, an intimate account of what now are images of memories that don’t even feel real.

I feel that this is an accurate representation of 2020 vs the last 20 years because there have been so many issues and events going on.

A meditation on the uncertainty and absurdity of the pandemic through the eyes of a college senior.

Our country is in a rage. A couple of days ago, George Floyd was murdered by a police officer. All over America, protesting and rioting have erupted and people are coming together and standing up for each other. This video montage shows what has been happening recently. It has over 6 million likes and 300,000 shares.

This was the initial time of the self-quarantine. My parents wanted to know if we had sufficient supply to live. I had taken this photo in the supermarket nearby.

"All roads within the Blackfeet Reservation are closed to regular public to non-essential traffic. Non-essential shall mean travel not necessary for health, safety, and welfare of persons."

"“A coalition of more than 300 social, indigenous, peasant, union, and community organizations from multiple Latin American countries have launched a “’Call of the Original Peoples, Afro-descendants and Popular Organizations of Latin America’”, to make demands for immediate structural changes in the face of the global pandemic crisis…Indigenous, ethnic and social movement organizations recognize the urgency of correcting the economic course of our countries. The economic inertia of the neoliberal regimes that for more than 30 years have defined the path of our countries, has definitely entered a crisis. The dismantling of the public health system, without the installation of adequate services to respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic, has shown that the course followed places life on this planet at risk. Some governments in the region, instead of protective measures, have opted for authoritarian measures, militarization, economic cuts, and massive layoffs. They highlight how this crisis has exposed the brutality of patriarchal violence against women and sexual diversities, further increasing the exclusion of “’indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples exposed to facing the pandemic in conditions of extreme vulnerability.’”"

“We are living moments we never believed our generation would live. We are facing a pandemic similar to that of many centuries ago, where so many people died, millions of people. Right now, millions of people are not dying, but there is no record yet…We must recognize that we are not prepared, as a humanity, to face this coronavirus. Not even the most perfect health system has the capacity to face it, like countries up north, for example. But not only because we do not have the capacity to face it, but because we have been creating patterns and life system that make us more vulnerable as a humanity. It is a pattern and a model of life that is disrespectful towards nature. As human beings, we think we are above other living beings. Now a virus has arrived that keeps us confined to our homes, and the only thing we say we can do at a planetary level is: stay home….As a response and as a safeguard for our communities, since March 17 we began to create COVID-19 Service Centers within our communities. In other words, networks began to be created within the community to organize the community’s response to COVID-19.”

Photograph taken while parked outside the Ottawa Valley Grain company waiting for our order to be delivered from inside the mill to our car. With the increase in interest in back-to-basics hobbies like baking (especially bread) it is near impossible to get any kind of flour in grocery stores or large online suppliers. While they too have been sold out at intervals, this company of local grain producers milling their own goods, has been offering large bags of a variety of flours during this time. The sign on the left reads "Ottawa Valley Grain/ ONLINE ORDER PICK UP HERE/ ONLINE ORDER PICK UP PARKING" followed by their phone number to call when you arrive to let them know you're there. The one on the right "Thank You/ Ottawa Valley Grain/ For Still Working/ During This Hard Time"

Protests have erupted across the U.S. in response to another death of a black man in police custody. The protests have continued for seven straight days and over 4,000 people have been arrested. This creates a larger problem during the time of covid 19. With officials concerned about the spread of the virus within incarcerated populations and releasing inmates early, are they concerned about the thousands they are arresting? Are they keeping those arrested in jail or releasing them? Is the pandemic effecting their choice?

”In this pandemic, indigenous peoples are recovering their ancestral heritage and sharing it generously with humanity. Although, in principle, it must be explicitly said that there is no cure for COVID-19, there are some natural remedies, herbs, that can help alleviate symptoms, and even reinforce the immune system, recovery, and recovery process after infection. This is where this knowledge helps, and it is possible to responsibly recommend the use of indigenous herbalism (which is the precursor base of modern chemical medicine).”

A single panel illustration giving ideas of ways to prepare for the pandemic.

The nation has experienced a full week of protests, some violent, in response to the killing of a black man in police custody. The president has remained silent except for a few tweets. On a call with the nation's governors he shared his feelings and appears to be more focused on how we appear to the world at large and maintaining law and order, rather than uniting the country, offering solutions, or addressing the feelings of the protestors.

A single panel comic/ piece of artwork shared across multiple social media platforms pointing out the unsustainable nature of "returning to normal" after the pandemic and the potential opportunity this gives us as a society to make changes towards sustainability. The artist is an environmental advocate and farmer.

A image of the instagram famous dog Bert the Pomeranian, looking forlorn and holding a sign which reads, in mock childish writing to make it appear that he is the one that wrote it, "Please! Wear Da Mask." This image has been frequently shared on other people's Instagram stories as a plea for wider-spread use of masks. It taps into the influence of social media stars and popular accounts, such as those dedicated to dogs to promote healthy habits during the pandemic. By having a dog say it the message is softened for those who find it confrontational while still getting its point across.

My elderly mother had to go to the emergency room. As a visitor I was screened at the entrance, asked several questions about my health, exposure to Covid-19, and recent travel. Nothing like this has ever happened to me in a hospital before. I'm glad they are doing this, but it was sobering. My community has not been hard hit by the pandemic, and it's hard to remember sometimes that this invisible virus is always potentially present. This object was a tangible reminder.

Petition to halt the removal of a homeless encampment in a Kingston park. The eviction is not occurring entirely because of the pandemic but was moved up with the rationale of health concerns.

A tweet by a Toronto Star newspaper columnist and instructor at the University of Toronto, pointing out that the painting of 'social distancing circles' on the grass in Trinity-Bellwoods Park, which had previously been overcrowded, is a reasonable and tempered response as oppose to closing the park entirely.

A comedy account, featuring figurines of Jane Austen and William Shakespeare wearing cut down bandaids and fabric as masks and pretending to navigate a pandemic world as the historical figures would.

"Since their initial contacts with outsiders beginning in the 1940s, the Yanomami have lived through wave after wave of deadly viral epidemics, notably the measles and flu."

United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc. holds webinar focused on helping tribal youth overcome obstacles during these tough times by drawing from cultural knowledge.

The time honoured tradition of summer camp in northern Ontario, usually drawing children from across the country and around the world, especially the Northeastern United States is obviously not viable in its usual form during the pandemic but some camps are lobbying to be able to open nonetheless, with strict precautions, they say.

El presidente @MartinVizcarraC informa sobre la situación del Estado de Emergencia en el #Día76 y las acciones que realiza el Gobierno para contener la propagación del COVID-19. En vivo: http://ow.ly/z8Ar30qL5rz

El hecho ocurrió en el Centro de Salud de Salaverry en Trujillo. El policía retornaba de almorzar pero al presentar malestar en su salud decidió acudir al centro médico más cercano, su malestar empeoró justo cuando llegaba a dicho hospital y cayó tendido al suelo. En estos momentos se encuentra siendo atendido en el centro de Salud, donde también se le realizará la prueba para descartar el coronavirus.

En Arequipa exactamente en el distrito de Miraflores un cuidado que fue a realizar compras de alimentos de primera necesidad, en una de las ferias itinerantes que realizan las diferentes municipalidades de Arequipa se desvaneció en pleno mercado , intenta pararse y pide ayuda. Las personas alrededor se alejan y los trabajadores de seguridad solo le indican "que no se mueva que ya viene ayuda" para el pero el sujeto intenta caminar sin éxito y vuelve a caer, el cuidado muestra también signos de tos seca y dificultad para respirar.

These past months were mentally and physically draining for me. This pandemic has ruined relationships but also founded new relationships with new people. I miss school, I miss being in class, and I miss seeing my friends. Being at home all day and not being able to see my friend has taken a toll on me and has made me feel so lonely like freshman year when I was new to public school. This pandemic has made me realize that school is awesome. The idea of being able to learn through teacher-student interactions and friends has made me miss school even more. Not only school, but, sports. Being a huge NBA fan, my favorite player will always be Lebron James and hearing the head director of the NBA saying that the season will most likely be postponed has hurt me emotionally because I would love to see Lebron raise that trophy and scream "this is for you kobe." It also sucks knowing one of the best parts in life which is high school, is being postponed due to a virus.

Though the total amount of CoVid-19 affected is still increasing in the United States, with the trend that many states are re-opening to a second-stage, City of Irvine (CA) is going to cancel its drive-through testing. Perhaps, the number, in the eyes of the city council, has been low lately and there should not be too much to do to accommodate and contain.

When my school was shut down on March 13, I knew that COVID-19 had impacted and spread toward the city. I immediately went into a state of panic and stress, hoping that my family and friends would be able to pull through. After talking about what to do with my parents, I did my best to stay calm and follow the safety guidelines. The state announced that people would quarantine themselves at home for the next couple months. My parents started to worry about food and other resources but we did our best to reassure that we had enough necessities. After reading the guidelines, we always wore masks and brought gloves and hand sanitizer to not only protect ourselves- but from others. During these three months of quarantine, I have been keeping up with the news about COVID-19 and continue to keep my family and others safe.

This meme helps to describe the demand to reopen the country for their personal needs while disregarding the importance of social distancing.

Being at home all day isn't fun at all. It is for certain that I miss my normal life. Now that this pandemic has almost taken over the US, we have no other option than to stay home and keep ourselves preoccupied. There is one important thing that we must do. We must fix our broken families. It is common for families to have their bad moments and have people in the family not necessarily agree with everyone's actions but that must end now. For any broken family we must take this time to heal the wounds in the family and come together to accept one another's flaws and or differences. As a human I make mistakes and I do argue with my siblings and parents but that needs to change. I am not the only one who may have problems with their families at times. Sometimes we just feel as if we aren't living up to the expectations or standards of our families but as I said, we need to take this time to fix that and heel any problems. We must come together and have respect for one another and have tolerance. I have not taken the time to sit down with my family and simply restore what was before but I will as everyone should and stay positive, only hoping for the better.

The pandemic has not hit my area to hard, I have not experienced much difficulty besides with the food that I eat and the access to the gym. When my family goes to the local store for groceries and supplies it is limited in what I can buy but overall, we manage the necessities. My real hardship comes with access to the gym, I truly miss the gym, there were so many weights and machines, it allowed me to...basically edit my body through time and hard work and I thoroughly enjoyed that feeling of process, that I was reaching my goal. Although due to the COVID-19 situation I cannot go to the local gym and therefore must rely on home workouts with a limited variety of weights, this restriction makes it much harder to keep progress up and get the results I am working towards. This situation of constantly being at home makes me want to sit and laze about but as long as one keeps the mind set on progress, even if slower, they can make it. I encourage others to pursue their goals as much as they can, make the best of a bad situation and start an inner journey, pick up hobbies such as painting, gardening, or reading, I know for sure that this time has allowed me to read and really understand literature more. Pick up upon hobbies that don't pose a threat to others and the time will pass and you will gain much from this as I am doing now. This time is difficult yes, but altogether, pales in comparison to others during this time.

Like everybody else, I have recently spent the majority of my days at home. I can say that I have had my fair share of ups and downs, some that I never even saw coming, but I think that there is a lot that I can take from my time in isolation. Of course, I really miss some things about my normal life such as talking to my friends every day at school and practicing for my school's track and field team, but in the end, I realize that I have to fix my head onto the present and do what I need to do right now until the whole COVID-19 pandemic blows over. I joined my school's track and field jumps team this year, and as season approached, I was stoked to see where my performance would stand. I actually felt as if I had found a hobby that I genuinely enjoyed doing, and even better, it was productive too. Its hard knowing that something so out of my control impacted my life as well as the lives of those around me so much, but at the same time, I have to remember that there are countless other people that have it way worse than I do. I would say that I am upset about not being able to experience track season this year, but I can always look forward to the next, or at least the possibly of there being a "next season". As for some other student athletes, they have it worse. Many seniors did not get to have their final moments in their athletic career, and worse, they won't get the graduation they looked forward to. It is sad when you realize that so many people have been affected by this pandemic, but it is important to look forward in the face of adversity. I admit that I spent way too much time complaining about what I won't get to experience because of the corona virus, but I recently began to see the lesson that this quarantine is trying to teach me, to teach all of us. For anyone awake during these uncertain times, it seems as if the year somehow gets worse and worse every month. As disaster rears its head, we must act appropriately in order to turn each moment of misfortune into a learning experience. I am grateful for what this quarantine has helped me realize, because with all of this time reflecting, I feel like I was given the time to really think about my past and my regrets. It would have been easy for me to say that this pandemic has made me miserable, but I want to bring light to such a dark time by acknowledging the positives I have been obtaining from this quarantine. Although many of us have lost a lot, there is always hope for new opportunities in the future.

Just like the majority of students out there, I did not like school, it was stressful, there was homework, tests, grades and etc. School wasn't something I looked forward to, now that doesn't mean that all of my experience at school was bad, because it wasn't, there were good moments. I never really thought of school as a privilege, it was just something I had to go to everyday. It was my daily routine, so once school was canceled due to the Coronavirus, everything changed. I went from waking up everyday at 7 am to staying home all day. It was a crazy change, I never knew how much school impacted my day, keeping me occupied with school activities or just simply interacting with other people. Now with school being cancelled, not only is learning the material given by teachers much harder, something that kept me occupied for 7 hours out of my day is now gone.

For many Americans in the middle of this pandemic, not being able to go outside understandably sucks. Personally, I also wish that I could go back outside and talk with friends after being inside for so long. But, I have a friend to stick with me in the middle of this disaster of a year- called video games. They're a life-saver, and have saved me from many hours of boredom, and even allow me to be with friends in a way I can't in real life.

I feel like 2020 has been the year of major downfalls; every month has had some type of huge incident that has shaken up social media and the world. The pandemic has shown the World what human nature is like in desperate times; Riots that force cities that open up their hair salons and beaches because they believe that going outside is more important than being quarantined and protecting our young children and elderly. Although I miss my friends and I miss going out and I miss normal social interaction, I have not yet stooped down to that level. The quarantine and self teaching tactics that my school has imposed on me has led me to procrastinate more on my works. It did not hit me that AP Tests were rapidly approaching until the week of. It did not hit me that finals are slowly approaching as the year comes to a close. I have many friends that have begun to ignore work, now that my school has implemented the ‘pass/fail’ system. No one likes this system, but no one tries to tell the school otherwise. As for me, I have spent my time reveling in self pity and watching anime. However, in watching the various characters and story lines, I have come to the conclusion that I do not want to be someone that wallows in self pity. The characters in the shows, albeit fictional, represent various aspects of my life that I want to better; from being more social to enhancing my skill set, the possibilities are endless as the quarantine goes on. The photo I submitted has impacted me, as it is both promoting the usages of masks and the characters in that particular show always strive to be better than everyone else. There are also many other shows that have pushed me into becoming better. Despite being sheltered from the outside world, I think I can benefit from the quarantine through improving myself and my self-esteem, so that when people see me next time I am a new and improved version of myself. Many other people have that same mindset, doing various things to make themselves look better when the quarantine is over. From dying their hair to various colours, to shaving all of their hair/cutting bangs, and even working out more often in order to come back to society with an amazing body, everyone can agree that they are trying out new things in order to expand their horizons and to cope with not being able to visit their friends as often.

I have been in online school for over 2 months now, it is strange and a huge adjustment. It has been a huge challenge mentally. To go from seeing people and your teachers to seeing them through tiny squares on a screen, those screens often lagging or glitching to keep you from being able to hear them. Which is causing flaws in our learning since we can not fully hear our teachers or fellow classmates. But worst of all is feeling alone since during these times are teachers are not checking up on us to see if we understand the work or to see if we are all OK. We had AP tests a few weeks ago, these were odd and felt like college board was doing it just so they didn't have to refund every student, it was weird not having the same AP day jitters you would usually get. I feel like students are getting almost more work now that they are home and are getting assignments on the weekends for multiple classes which is causing them to feel like there is school 24/7 and it is mentally draining and feels like we have no time to relax in this stressful and anxious time.

Even in these times that are abnormal we have to all move on together in order to rebuild what has been lost these past few months. Because we were not ready for this outbreak we felt the full wrath of what a disease could do to us. The grief and sadness we feel for the people have died due to the virus is what should motivates us to prevent it in the future but in order to do so we must be able to continue like our normal life but with a few changes like being at home and not going out as much. The reason why I submitted the photo was because of the intense news coverage and traction was needed to track and follow the virus due to the rapid spread of it. It spread like wildfire as everyone was close by due to the dense population of major cities around the world which led us down on the path we are now.

Since the suspension of in- person classes, my grades have suffered tremendously. The learning experience is completely different and all the due dates and quiz times are hard to keep up with. It was so much easier to handle my school work when there was a physical place to go to everyday where all learning would take place. The object i have attached is a video from the social media platform TikTok that describes how the pandemic has affected my education. During quarantine i have been on this app a lot and find comfort in the videos i see about the coronavirus and quarantine, it reminds me that everyone around the world is going through the same thing and we are all united in our experiences.

Right now, things have been tiring. With all the chaos and protests going on, it's really hard to just think about schoolwork. I hope that things will eventually end soon (happily) and I hope that all the protesters get out safely. Because our people is so fed up, the pandemic doesn't even faze us anymore. What happened to George Floyd was despicable and people are done waiting. As for staying at home, the only thing that bothers me is the absence of my teachers. My friends are cool but social media exists for a reason, I'd be lying if I said I missed my friends.