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0020-06-03
During the covid 19 pandemic I had a rather unique and tragic experience with one of the world’s best and most prestigious health care facilities. My grandmother who was seventy four was diagnosed with acute cancer on Christmas Eve last year. As she was told there was a high chance of survival because she caught it very early we all were obviously devastated and heart broken. But we continued on and supported her as a family, the whole way through her treatment. However I can remember going back to school after that christmas break and we followed COVID from the very beginning in my world events class. But what was so ironic is that me and everyone in the class had seen what this did to China and not one of us could have ever imagined it turning into having to wear a face mask everywhere you go and no sports for months. Yet it invaded the U.S. like a wood trojan horse once did with the city of Troy, as COVID put the world into an instant frenzy shutting everything down left and right. I recall me and many of my friends begging our parents to go to the grocery store everytime something ran out even if it was as simple as a stick of butter just so we could get out of the house for a few minutes. However as COVID spread my grandmother’s cancer actually was able to be neutralized and went into remission around may of this year. As I look back upon the last time I saw her in person it was definitely an odd goodbye as I stood about ten feet from her and had a normal conversation with her and my grandfather, each word was half understood as it mumbled through our face masks. Then just like that they were on their way back to Johns Hopkins in very high spirits as the doctors had told us that she needed a final surgery and she would hopefully beat it completely. However due to COVID this surgery had to wait until a time when non emergency surgeries could be done, so it was scheduled for late june. But when someone who has cancer gets a simple illness like pneumonia, their immune system cannot fight it. She was in the hospital for about a week and fluid buildup around her heart caused her to lose her life on june 3. However my final memory of her is me and my family standing on the street outside the hospital, me in my cap and gown and each of us holding encouraging signs. We each spoke to her through the phone as she looked down upon us from the tenth floor and waved to us. Luckily my grandfather was admitted to stay with her that night and the next morning she took her last breath. Yet COVID continued to strike as the funeral could only have 25 people in the room at a time.
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2020-04-30
Sidewalk chalk art by children seen in Brookline, Massachusetts. The art says "Summer Is Coming!"; "Thank You Doctors And Nurses!"; and "Show You Care By Distancing!"
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2020-05-02
On May 1, 2020, the manager of Allston music venue Great Scott announced that the club would not reopen. In the days that followed, residents gathered in front of the doors to mourn its loss and share memories. On the blackboard used to advertise each night's bands and set times, someone wrote "The Plan Won't Accomplish Anything If It's Not Implemented," a lyric from the Built To Spill song, "The Plan" (from the 1999 album, Keep It Like A Secret). Built To Spill is not from Allston (they are from Boise, Idaho), but they are a seminal indie rock band and a formative influence for many musicians and fans who frequented Great Scott. The sign also reads "Allston Rock City" and "Thanks!" One of Allston's nicknames is "Allston Rock City."
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2020-05-12
On May 1, 2020, the manager of Allston music venue Great Scott announced that the club would not reopen. In the days that followed, residents gathered in front of the doors to mourn its loss and share memories. During that period, someone tagged "Allston Is Dead" here, a sentiment expressing frustrations about how the neighborhood had changed over the years due to rising rent, gentrification, and other factors.
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2020-09-16
"Welcome to the homelands of the White Mountain Apache Tribe! Apaches have been known since time immemorial for being resilient and having the will to survive in tough circumstances. Despite any challenge we may face, the ancestors of before gave us these bloodlines that still remain today.
Located in the heart of the Great State of Arizona, the White Mountain Apache Tribe is blessed with over 400 miles of clean running rivers, streams, and over 26 lakes that are home to the Apache Trout. Be our guest and experience Trophy Bull Elk hunting, prize fishing and camping, or one of the finest ski destinations at Sunrise Ski Park! Visit us year-round within the four seasons.
The White Mountain Apache Tribe continues to celebrate its culture, language, and songs and dances. The mountains, rivers, and pristine rivers offer an ideal vacation for anyone looking to relax and get away from it all.” Gwendena Lee-Gatewood, Tribal Chairwoman
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2020-09-16
The Somali American United Council of Arizona, a non-profit organization, was developed in 2006 in response to the growing need to connect Somali communities in Arizona with each other and the rest of the American society.
The Somali American United Council of Arizona fills a critical need by helping newly arrived families adjust to their new lives, location, language and culture. The Somali American United Council of Arizona exists to promote better understanding between the Somali refugee community and other American communities.
The Somali American United Council of Arizona serves as a model for other non-profit organizations working with refugee communities and immigrant populations. By building a and structure of best practices, The Somali American United Council of Arizona shares this knowledge with other to help them build designed to address cultural barriers and emotional trauma.
Vision and Mission
Somali American United Council of Arizona, a non-profit Qualified Charitable organization within the State of Arizona, whose mission and vision are to facilitate and improve communication channels and contribute to the wellbeing of the Refugee/ immigrant community, assisting them in becoming productive law-abiding citizens that can properly integrate for a great patriotism.
Our is to become the premier institution that offers high quality services to the Somali-American & multi-ethnic Community and prepare individuals of the highest moral fiber.
The Somali American United Council's working philosophy includes the encouragement of the Somali American and multi-ethnic refugees to actively seek to find sound solutions to the needs and aspirations of their community in Arizona.
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2020-04-01
When I landed in Japan on end of March, I was taken back at the cherry blossom blooming completely. After moving to U.S. in Freshman year, I have never thought I would see cherry blossoms again in Japan because the season is in the middle of the school year. Even though it was in the middle of the pandemic, I noticed that there were so many people out in the river seeing cherry blossom without taking proper social distancing rules. I think this was because the Japanese government did not close down famous parks and rivers until the number of COVID-19 patients got out of control. A little before I landed, there was a 3-day weekend, and my mom had told me that there was immense amount of people outside to see the cherry blossom even though we were in a pandemic and the government actually insisted on going out because it is an
holiday. After the number of COVID-19 patient increased drastically, the government insisted on people to stay home. However, unlike other countries, Japanese government cannot enforce people to stay home, but rather just say “please stay home”. The residents and citizens will not be punished because the rules are not enforced. For me, I stayed home and watched cherry blossom from the deck, and just enjoyed it from my house to be safe. Even though the government insisted on staying home, I noticed a lot of people still going out to see the cherry blossom because it is there culture and a seasonal event called “Hanami”. On the news, there were constantly reports saying that the patient went to the famous cherry blossom parks, and yet we still see people there because they think it was ok unless they are “somewhat” careful. Honestly, I was very frustrated and the issue because it was not like the cherry blossom was going to be gone after this year, and felt it was very irresponsible for others.
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2020-09-16
Refugee and Immigrant Community Empowerment Center (RICE) is a community-based, non-profit organization dedicated to serving and assisting Refugees, Asylees and Immigrants in the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area, created to close the service gaps that remain after the 90-day resettlement period. RICE is directed by a team of leaders from all over the globe and that works directly with local partnerships to strengthen social services and prevent unnecessary hardships for immigrants and refugees. By advocating and promoting education, dialogue and awareness, RICE identifies the potential for new opportunities then integrates them back into our refugee and immigrant communities.
MISSION STATEMENT
The RICE mission is to aid refugees and immigrants in becoming self-sufficient and contributing members of the economic growth of the community by creating resources and opportunities to training and education in preparing for employment in the community.
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2020-09-16
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe Charitable Organization received aid from the ASU/Luce Covid-19 Rapid Response project. Community served: Native American (Pascua Yaqui)
Project: Freezers for food pantry distribution center
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2020-09-16
The Navajo United Way, Inc. received aid from the ASU/Luce Covid-19 Rapid Response project. Community served: Native American (Navajo)
Project: Diapers, wipes, water, formula for Navajo children
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2020-06-13
My boy-girl twins had their b'nai mitzvah during the pandemic. It went from me planning a big party, to me trying to make them feel happy about themselves on Zoom. But the secret is: This was possibly the best thing that could have happened! My son is autistic, and we were struggling with how he would deal with the sensory overload of performing in a large synagogue. I wrote a story about it that was published in the Forward, and I want to share it here.
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2020-05-05
As a college student who treasures every bit of time he can with friends at school, getting sent home two months early sounded like the worst thing in the world. Not only would I not be able to see any of my friends as often due to being far apart, we had a global pandemic preventing us and everyone else from feeling a sense of companionship for the better part of 2020. School work kept me busy for the first couple months and that was very clearly my number one focus until May. Once finals were done though, I had absolutely no plans for the next three months of my life. With work being near impossible to find and no school to worry about, I contemplated what I should do with this newfound free time. The solution was a lot simpler than I thought it was, with three months of time on my hands, why worry about what you can do and instead focus on doing things you enjoy? And that was my mindset throughout the summer, which actually helped pass the time incredibly well. I spent a lot of my time making improvements in my various hobbies and eventually, this mind set landed me two jobs for the summer. I got back into running, started learning how to arrange music, and had a large list of projects around the house that I wanted to do. I had a lot of passion projects that I was working on and by the time I was ready to go back to school, I had accomplished the vast majority of these goals. By having this free flowing mind set and no pressure on me to do things I didn't want to do, it kept me happy throughout my time at home, but at the same time I was feeling productive and like I was doing things that were making me a better version of me. At the beginning of the year, I told myself that 2020 was going to be my year and initially, the pandemic scared me away from accomplishing many of the goals I wanted to accomplish. What I found instead is that with the right mindset, your goals are still achievable and while the circumstances may not be ideal, I’m still doing everything I set out to do.
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2020-09-14
Otro dibujo hecho por Andrés Edery, indicando que la gente de Peru ya están lista para un sistema populismo. Publicado en el periódico El Comercio. Edery publicó su dibujo en Twitter después de que se publicó en El Comercio.
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2020-04-09
On 9 April 2020, Temple Beth Israel streamed a Pesach seder, which was lead by Cantor Laloum
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2020-08-07
Newspaper article by Rabbi Yonatan Sadoff (from Kehilat Nitzan) in the Australian Jewish News, 7 August 2020.
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2020-04-14
On 14 April 2020, Rabbi Daniel Rabin from South Caulfield Hebrew Congregation recorded a livestream from the shul with "Some reflections pre last days of Pesach and Yizkor on Thursday." This video was streamed to facebook, where it remains.
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2020
During lockdown, South Caulfield Hebrew Congregation has been running online kabbalat shabbat and havdalah services, through zoom and streamed to facebook. One example of this from September can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/SCHebrewCongregation/posts/2849524248601840
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2020-09-14
This is a newspaper article by Carolyn Webb and Hannah Schauder, published in The Age on September 14, 2020, entitled "Preparations under way for Jewish New Year - without synagogues and big dinners". It covers what different rabbis and synagogues are doing for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
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2020-08-07
On 7 August 2020, from 4-4.30pm, a group of synagogues in Melbourne together hosted a 'Bring Shabbat Home' online event. The synagogues involved were: Caulfield Shule, Daminyan, Elwood Shule and Hamayan.
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2020-09-11
Throughout the lockdown, as synagogues have been closed, Blake Street Hebrew Congregation has conducted Shabbat services via zoom, and shared videos on their Facebook page. At times this has involved singing with Moshe Hendel Feiglin for Mincha, which can be seen in this video.
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2020-04-11
On Saturday 11 April 2020, a group of Jews from across Australia gathered together on zoom for a 'Solidarity seder'. Organised by people from Here, Queer, and Jewish Australia, Sydney Left Jews, Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS), Fully Automated Luxury Kosher Space Kibbutz and Jews against Fascism, this seder raised money for undocumented migrants as well as Grandmothers Against Removals.
Approximately 60 people gathered together, reading through the haggadah together, sharing a meal, and sharing ideas about what Jewish life and possibility looked like in that moment. Everyone agreed that this was a unique and special Jewish space.
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2020-06-23
On 23 June 2020 the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne held their AGM. In their announcement of the AGM they told members "In light of the COVID restrictions, admission to the AGM is by registration only to ensure we comply with Government restrictions and maintain safe distancing."
The photos from the AGM show people gathered together, but sitting at a safe distance from each other.
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2020-06-16
There's a lot wrong with the world and it seems that with everyday that goes by, there is a new challenge that we are faced with. This pandemic has been quite the paradox for me. Before the pandemic, I always wished I had more time to myself to do more creative things. As an artist, i am always sketching and designing but between work and school, I have no time to to bring my sketches and designs to life. When Covid-19 became a threat and quarantine was implemented, it put everything in my life on hold. Society in general was turned upside down. From, coronavirus deaths, to George Floyd, to riots and protests, everyday presented itself unrest and sorrow. During these chaotic times, I decided to capitalize on the time I had, therefore I referred to my sketches and designs, and began creating as much as I could. No matter what i created, i found that I would be immersed in the creative process and would in fact be meditating without realizing it. When i would create, everything going on would be temporarily non-existent. The circumstances of the time I had suddenly acquired was not ideal but I was nonetheless thankful because in some ways, i learned about myself.
I created many things during quarantine but due to the virus, I like many other people made masks. Masks have became a household essential seemingly overnight and the demand for them were through the roof. I never made a mask before but i decided try. It took a while to get the exact look and aesthetic i wanted to incorporate in the design but i found way through looking at numerous YouTube videos. I got to work and before i knew it, i created 20+ masks and began to sell them. From friends to strangers, people wanted a mask from me and i was more than happy to make them because i knew i was making something that not only looks good but also will protect people and last a long time.
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2020-09-15
Developmental milestones always throw off the routine. I deleted the “Wonder Years App,” so I couldn’t look up what is happening at about 30 months that makes it unlikely a child will nap, and very likely that they will cry and cling to you over the seemingly smallest of issues. It has been weeks of no naps or naps only in the car. This means that I don’t get my normal break in the day, when the 2yo naps for 2 hours and I can let the 6yo have her media time. This was our routine; this was when I got to knock out work in peace without interruptions. That precious window has been gone for weeks. Until today, finally for the first time in what feels like for freaking ever, Julian napped in a bed at home. Did I have to lie next to him to make it happen? Yes, was I anxious that it was too good to be true and he’d wake back up any second? Also yes. The 6yo, unaware that anything was different walked in the room and started chatting. I waved her away, and she ran off, presumably delighted that her media time was a go. The dog, ever aware that food was on the stove and that her dinner should occur in about 1.5 hours pushed open the door and trotted in. She’s stuck now. No one goes in or out until this nap concludes naturally.
Maybe I shouldn’t be this worked up about a nap, but the extra layer of pressure has felt much more present ever since the school year started. There are more meetings to attend, and they all seem to last more than an hour. Emails can stress me out easily if they’re filled with questions. And the 6yo needs about 2-3 hours of support in the morning with distance learning and homework. Which is fine, that’s my job, I’m supposed to help her, but it also means that an important chunk of my workday is interrupted. And it’s hard to recover or snapback from constant interruptions. I feel like it's not possible to get it all done, and then I think...not getting it doesn't feel like a choice I can make. It all feels like it's my responsibility.
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2020-08-23
The document I'm submitting is a collage of poems, interview excerpts, and personal reflections. It was an exploration of lockdown and how that affected the people of the community I grew up in.
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2020-07-08
Freshman year of college was an absolute blast! Up until Corona came out of nowhere in March and ruined everyone’s year. The Corona Virus has been playing an extremely negative role in my life since March. In addition to the virus, it definitely does not help that politics are being thrown in the mix and half of the country wants to defund our police department. But we won’t talk about that right now. The virus took away a lot of things that I took for granted. For example, Friday beers with the boys, weekends at the bar, quality family time with my momom and poppop, and eating out at a restaurant. But most importantly it almost ruined one of the most important things that happened this summer, my brother’s graduation.
One week in July, I found out that my brother was going to be graduating Holy Ghost Prep on a Saturday. And on that particular Saturday, I was scheduled to work, but that wasn’t the issue, the issue was that there were only two people allowed per person to attend the graduation due to the coronavirus restrictions. I was very upset about the new restrictions because I really wanted to see my brother accept his diploma, as he did for me when I was graduating. I decided that I was not going to let the coronavirus control whether or not I would see my brother walk the stage. When that Saturday rolled around I left work at 11 in the morning to make my way over to the ceremony. When I got there I walked over to my family and pulled up an extra chair to sit next to them. When I saw my brother wearing his cap and gown I was overcome with emotion and was so happy to see him. When I heard his name get called I watched as he accepted his hard earned diploma from the president of the school, and take a quick picture at the end of the stage. I will never forget this memory I have with my brother.
The coronavirus overall has put limitations on what everyone can do. Whether that be go to a store with only a certain capacity, not finishing a sport you started when you were 5 years old, or seeing loved ones you haven’t connected with in a long time. I think the most important takeaway from this virus is to never again take for granted all of the good things you have in your lifetime, because you never know when the world will turn upside down again.
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2020-03-23
This is a message to everyone that was affected by the lockdown, both physically and mentally.
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2020-03-13
This drawing from the Seattle Times was released on March 13, 2020. Now five months later, this cartoon is relatable to mothers all across the country not just in Washington when it was thought to be the epicenter of the Covid pandemic. Our new norm includes masks, social distancing, and enforced closeness with our family. Most parents are still working remotely while most schools are still not back to normal. Putting the mom shame aside, I would say that after months and months of this I have found that too much togetherness is too much of a good thing.
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2020-08
The purpose of “COVID-19 and the Escalating Mental Health Crisis among BIPOC and
Immigrants” is to analyze the already existing socioeconomic conditions in BIPOC and
immigrant communities that perpetuate mental health stigma and are also causes for the rising
mental health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research project aims to investigate
generational trauma and its correlation to the pressurizing notion of the ‘essential worker,’ how
the silence of trauma creates stigma, and the lack of representation and affordable mental health
resources for low-income BIPOC and immigrants.
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2020-09-15
Throughout my life I have heard stories about past and all the hardships that was encounter and I never thought I will go through the same thing. 2020 brought about a pandemic that will always be remembered. The virus was heard in December 2019 and everyone downplayed the seriousness of it. Everyone thought it was not serious however as it traveled across the globe it laid waste in its path. Killed about 1 million people including friends of mine who fell victim to it. I was emotionally drained and physically depressed due to our new style of living. We lost what we knew was life. Our every day norm and the whole world was on pause. Class being moved to remote didn’t help me academically because not only was I distracted but I kept thinking of what was going on in the world. COVID 19 affected me by ruining all the opportunities I had lined up for 2020, it wasted 1 year of my life and I failed to do anything productive. If life has thought me anything is that nothing last forever and fortunately we are beginning to enter our old life and I can make up for everything I couldn’t have done this year.
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2020-09-15
Sign at a church in Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia.
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2020-04-25
I am on a world level competitive robotics team with 6 other students at schools across my city. We compete locally and at the world level in a robotics competition released by VEX every year. With a different set of rules every year it's a big challenge to keep up with it but, we all love it. This is one if not the most important thing to me in my life. I put a lot of time, effort and money into it as it is my passion. Last season (April 2019- April 2020), I put around 2,000 hours into the robot. I absolutely love it and I would attach a video of my robot but the file is too big which is why I picked the youtube reveal for the game. It introduces the game and generally summarizes the rules. This season, what I have done during our “summer break” most people would play video games or watch Youtube but I build, program and work on the engineering notebook. It has helped keep me relatively sane and helped me pass the time and keep me from being extremely bored. What I have submitted is the reveal for the game this year. It shows how the game is played what it’s called and everything else about it.
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2020-09-14
OUR MISSION
We stabilize people during crisis and transition, build a foundation where people can thrive, and preserve dignity and respect for the most vulnerable.
OUR VISION
A future where all people thrive.
OUR STATEMENT OF SHARED VALUES
Dignity: We demonstrate through our actions that all people have value and are worthy of respect.
Diversity: We recognize and accept the differences among people, fostering an environment inclusive of all.
Social Justice: We model and promote a culture of open-mindedness, compassion, and inclusiveness, promoting fairness, justice, and equal opportunities for all.
Quality: We commit to excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement through anticipation and dynamic response to opportunities for change.
Community Partnerships: We build collaborative partnerships to strengthen individuals, families and communities.
Faith-based: We serve all people with an attitude of compassion and caring, recognizing and honoring our Christian heritage of God’s love in Christ for all.
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2020-09-14
At Iranian American Society of Arizona (IASAz), we strive to enrich the lives of Arizona residents by promoting an awareness of the Iranian culture, heritage, language, history and contributions through education, music, dance, theater, arts, food and sense of community. Our goal is to preserve, promote and encourage through education and charitable work, the richness of Iranian-American culture. We achieve this by organizing social, educational, recreational and other functions to promote better understanding and friendship both among the members of the organization and among individuals and organizations in Arizona who share an interest in Iranian culture.
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2020-09-14
The International Rescue Committee helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and regain control of their future.
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2020-09-14
The Hualapai Tribe is a federally recognized Indian Tribe located in northwestern Arizona. “Hualapai” (pronounced Wal-lah-pie) means “People of the Tall Pines.” In 1883, an executive order established the Hualapai reservation.
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2020-09-14
The Florence Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal service organization providing free legal and social services to adults and unaccompanied children in immigration custody in Arizona. Although the government assists indigent criminal defendants and civil litigants through public defenders and legal aid attorneys, it does not provide attorneys for people in immigration removal proceedings. As a result, an estimated 86 percent of the detained people go unrepresented due to poverty. The Florence Project strives to address this inequity both locally and nationally through direct service, partnerships with the community, and advocacy and outreach efforts.
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2020-08-17
Over the quarantine, something that I really love was not able to happen. The Drum Corps International 2020 season was cancelled. Drum corps is like marching band, but a lot more intense. There are only brass and percussion instruments, and you spend the whole summer training to learn one 12-minute show.
As a result of the season being cancelled, a nonprofit organization has started called Virtual Arts Inc. Over the summer, they put on a virtual drum corps show that I was a part of. I met a bunch of new people, learned a new instrument, and got a lot better at playing music. They are putting on another show in December that I plan to be a part of as well.
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2020-03-20
I am submitting an auto-ethnography on my experience as a college student in the CUNY educational system during the transition to online learning and the pandemic.
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2020-05-18
I went to go and get groceries for my family. I pull into the parking lot and I see a line. I have never before seen a line like this to get into a supermarket. The line was stretching all the way down the side of the store and into the parking lot. I got in line. The line moved faster than I thought but it was still really hot outside and I had to wait for about 15 minutes to get into the store. The reason there was such a big line was because of the limit for the amount of people in the store and the social distancing.
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2020-07-26
One I heard we were going to be stuck at home for a while I thought “This gives me the chance to do something I’ve always wanted to do.” That thing is working out. I was never one to be active before, much less working out, but I pushed myself. I looked up some good workouts and I eventually got an app that helps me out with everything. Me doing that made me sleep better and even feel better. This really gave me something to do instead of being bored all day.
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2020-06
My parents felt it was very important for us not to be stuck in the house all summer. In February they made a plan to go to Florida for a few days and they didn’t want to cancel it unless they had to. We left Albuquerque at about 11:15 pm and got to Orlando at 4:00 am. The first day was the longest because we were stuck in the airport for many hours before even the car rental place opened and we hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before. We finally made it to Daytona Beach and we sat on the beach the whole first day until our hotel was open. The next few days we drove around, went to the pier, sat on the beach, played mini-golf, and fed some baby alligators. It was nice to get away from Albuquerque for a little bit but it felt good to be home.
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2020-03-15
Well, for me I can say it wasn't that much of a change due to the fact that I go to a school where our school work revolves around technology, and we use technology almost everyday in order to complete what is being asked of us. Only this time we would be on our technology the whole time we were at school, due to the fact that this is the only way to communicate to each other ,to complete projects and assignments. hen again, like I said, it really wasn't that much of a change and I am so thankful for this due to the fact how I already am on a computer all the time as it is. To be honest I do feel bad for kids who don't have the privilege of what we have at my school cause it could take some time for them to adapt to this new environment that they are being exposed to. But who knows they might have fun with it and make the best of it, which is good. My brother and sister are just now starting school online and my brother loves it but not so much my sister cause she does get shy which is understandable, but she has just always been that way. But they seem to be doing ok, they keep on asking me for help on how to check emails, how to log on to zoom and google meets, but it makes me very happy that they feel that they can come to me and ask for help because thats what Im here for, them and it means the world to me. I remember gauge was panicking cause he thought he was going to be late cause he didnt know how to use google meets so I had to help him and he gave me the biggest hug, almost like I just saved his life. My sister got the hang of it pretty fast which I knew was gonna happen cause she's a wiz at literally everything, her and my dad and my mom and brother are the smartest people I know. I do have to admit adapting to this new environment is a little frustrating due to the fact how some of us (my brother and sister) might not know how to do everything right away, but we have to keep in mind that right now even if we are in a tough situation that we just have to be there for eachother and we have to help each other in order for everything to be normal again.
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2020-08-10
Music is something that has always helped me. But music has helped me the most with getting through this pandemic. It allowed me to just escape to a whole new world. This playlist in particular has many uplifting songs and very few down songs. I want more uplifting music because we need more positivity at a time like this. I hope my playlist can give others a positive vibe and good feeling.
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2020-08-23
We went to get ice cream for a job well done at school. My mother was driving and my sister and I were in the bed of the truck. That’s when we stopped at a stop sign and someone yelled, “Put on your mask!” We looked around to see where the voice was, but couldn’t find it. This made me realize that even though we were far enough, people still panicked, people still wanted to get assured, and people got mad. We then put on our masks, afraid that people would think that we had the virus.
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2020-04-02
I began writing this book at the end of eight grade. I worked on it for two years until just this last April, and self published it completely independently at age 15. This book is about the hardships of a teenager's life, the darkness of existence. It focuses a lot on questioning society, it's structure and the way we function, as well as the darkness of an adolescent's life that we don't all get to see or experience. Publishing this book during quarantine was something I was as initially doubtful about seeing as the situation of our present is severe throughout the entire world. However, this book helped me personally through hard times in my life, and I felt as if publishing this book might help other people feel less alone in a time of fear and sadness. Thus, I published this book amidst the pandemic, and hope to provide a bit more light in a time of darkness.
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2020-07
Going into that Ross store, I wasn’t thinking about leaving there with a jean jacket, I was just thinking about how my clothes were no longer starting to fit because I gained a little weight since quarantine started. I spent a couple of minutes in the Ross store and then my older sister came up to me and asked me if I’d want to do something she saw on tik tok. I asked her what it was and she said she wanted to paint the backs of some jean jackets and personalize it. I liked the idea so we then went to go ask my little sister if she wanted to participate and she said yes. Then all of us went up to my parents to ask if they could buy the jackets for us. They agreed. That night we started looking at pictures of the Powerpuff Girls to see what picture we’d want to paint on the jacket. My oldest sister got Bubbles, I got Blossom, and my little sister got Buttercup. Within the next day we had all the things needed to paint the jackets and finished them within a week of getting the jackets. The jackets are important to me because it makes me feel closer to my sisters when I look at it or have it on. It reminds me of a time during quarantine when we all bonded.
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2020-06-10
The whole summer I had this looming inexplicable fear that time was running out, and I guess that was really embodied by my job search. I feel like I applied at every fast food place on the westside of Albuquerque and the south side of Rio Rancho and I had gotten a call back from only a few. All in all I got 5 interviews from different places and none of them were for jobs I ended up getting. This was because there were so many downsized companies and competition for the jobs that they had. I was driven to madness by the midpoint of the summer and I felt like because the summer was halfway over that I was running out of time. By the end of the summer I didn’t start working until the weekend after the second week of school at Sonic.
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2020-05-05
For the longest time, I had been wanting ferrets. I had talked about them all the time, not only at home to my mom but also to my friends at school as well. My mom finally gave in and we had planned to drive out to a place for me to adopt two ferrets. But when COVID struck, my mom pushed it off and said we'd have to wait. Eventually, I found someone selling their ferret on craigslist. He was the cutest thing and I named him Bean. I loved him more than anything and would spend all my free time either playing with him or napping with him. I knew I needed to get him a friend since they are very social animals. So I did just that about a month and a half later my dad and I went to get Bean a friend. We got a little shy fella, and I named him Turtle, soon enough he opened up and was very playful and frisky. They kept me busy during quarantine and made my life a whole lot more fun. But then three months after I got Bean I noticed his energy decreasing. He wasn’t playing that much and was sleeping more than normal. He seemed very weak and even when he seemed like he wanted to play he couldn’t. I was very worried about him and knew something was wrong. We took him to the vet and found out he had leukemia. This was heartbreaking because I assumed we had years together. But he was getting weaker by the hour as his bone marrow stopped creating red blood cells. This was the most heartbreaking day of my life as my first real pet, my first baby, was dying. Turtle and I went to say goodbye. And even though everything seemed to be going downhill, when one door closed another one opened. The vet said he had a ferret that he didn’t have time for and who he was looking to re-home. Even though another ferret could never take the place of Bean but I knew Turtle would need a friend as a few days later I could already tell he was getting lonely and with school approaching I wouldn’t have as much time to be his playmate. A week after Bean was put down we took in the ferret, I renamed him Astro. These ferrets have done much more than keep me busy during quarantine, they have kept me sane.
Bean: March 27th-June 27th, 2020
Turtle: May 5th, 2020
Astro: July 2nd, 2020
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2020-08-08
In quarantine I haven’t had much to do, so the majority of the time I spend on my phone, watching videos, playing games, watching shows on Netflix, or just texting/calling my friends to keep in touch. I think this says a lot about how the pandemic has affected my personal life and my activities. Whereas I used to go out to eat with friends and family or just meet up at someone’s house, or the park to hang out. I cannot do these things anymore so instead I pass the time on my phone.
