Hang on – here we go! We are inventing new pedagogies and ways of learning and being together online. My idea for this student-focused teaching and learning space is to keep it “fluid” – kind of the way life is now in the “new normal.”
As we move forward, I want to encourage all of my students, first and foremost, to stay safe and take of their families. In the meantime, I would like to encourage you to send me pix, memes, and articles of interest that we can all read together and comment on as we try to come together as a learning community.
In the upcoming days and weeks, I will develop different sub-categories and sections that speak to the focus of the different classes we are taking together – Juvenile Delinquency, Organized Crime, and Race and Ethnic Relations. I’m going to continue to post and link you to writing and research by public health researchers as well as researchers in the social sciences in general that I think you might find interesting as well as helpful to your understanding of these rapidly unfolding events.
Italian Ground Zero – Lombardy & Bergamo
One of the reasons I have been on top of this is that I was a panel organizer for a research conference that was supposed to take place in Bergamo, Italy this summer. Dr. McLean and I, along with scholars from across Penn State, Italy, Iran, and France, were all scheduled to discuss our current research at a June meeting. The title of our panel was: “Public Health Interventions: Global Problems, Local Solutions,” where we intended to talk about local approaches to solving global public health problems – prescient indeed!
In light of these plans, I was following the reports and talking to friends on the ground in Italy as early as February. Since that time, most people in the U.S. have been enraptured with the “it’s just the flu” narrative; that was never true. But it didn’t stop people from believing what they wanted to hear (too many in the news media are continuing the trend of providing ongoing happy talk).
Here is a photo from Bergamo published during the third week of March 2020. It shows Italian military vehicles removing dead bodies that are too numerous to be handled effectively by local crematories:
While it is true that the outbreak started in China, there is no reliable data that has been released by China that we can use to evaluate or compare to judge our own response. The Italian case, however, provides us with some evidence that we can act on now.
Here are a few articles for you to check out and get you started. I’ll keep a rolling list of articles at the end of this post and build it out as time permits:
“2 Regions of Italy took Different Approaches to Fighting the Coronavirus,” by Holly Secon
“Coronavirus, Italy’s Hardest Hit City,” by Stuart Ramsay
“A Medical Worker Describes Terrifying Lung Failure from COVID-19,” by Lizzie Presser
Welcome to the Quarantine
What does it even mean to be quarantined? A lot of you may be asking this question and finding it surreal to discover that this means different things to different people.
Simply put, a quarantine is a type of restriction put on the movement of people and goods. The intent is to prevent the spread of disease or pests. Such a measure is often used in connection with preventing the spread of disease and illness. Quarantines are also used to prevent the movement of those who may have been exposed to a communicable disease but do not have a confirmed medical diagnosis.
Here is a link to the CDC’s website that explains quarantines and contains additional information that you might find useful.
“Social Distancing” (which is really physical distancing) has already been proven to help contain and slow the spread of the disease. Unfortunately, it does not prevent the spread of disease. Until a cure is found or a vaccine is produced, this is a practice you can engage right now to protect yourself and those with whom you live. That is to say, the best thing you can do to help is stay at home and simply do nothing.
This link to the Johns Hopkins Medical School is an excellent source of information that you can turn to in order to learn more about things like social distancing, quarantining, self-isolating, and a protective practice you might have heard of called “flattening the curve.”
And here’s a video…just because:
Epidemics of Injustice: Race, Ethnicity & COVID-19
Even as we are in the early stages of going down the road of addressing the pandemic spread of disease, the racial and ethnic contours of COVID-19 are becoming readily apparent. You may, for example, be sitting in your home now, performing your work or school work from the comfort of your desk. A challenging as this might be for some of you, there are many others who do not have the luxury of performing their work from home.
As this article notes, “just 16.2% of Hispanic workers and 19.7% of black Americans are able to work from home….whites and Asian workers have the highest rates of access to remote work.”
By way of contrast, people who work in restaurants/food service, retail, and perform care work are disproportionately black, brown, and female. They are also among the lowest-paid workers and the least likely to either: 1) have health insurance; and 2) be able to call off work for reasons of illness.
Racism is a Public Health Crisis
Systematic (structural) racism is making Coronavirus far more deadly in the Black community when compared to others. Black coronavirus victims in Chicago are dying at disproportionately high rates. This is a problem that Chicago Governor JB Pritzker said is due, in part, to “decades, frankly, maybe centuries, of inequality of application of health care to people of color.” As it stands now, seventy percent of people dying in Chicago are black, whereas 30% of the people dying state-wide are black. For more on this click here.
Black men don’t feel safe wearing masks: ” I, a Black man, cannot walk into a store with a bandana covering the greater part of my face if I also expect to walk out of that store. The situation isn’t safe and could lead to unintended attention, and ultimately a life-or-death situation for me. For me, the fear of being mistaken for an armed robber or assailant is greater than the fear of contracting COVID-19. ” for more on this click here.
Coronavirus & Finances
Hispanics are more likely than Americans overall to see coronavirus as a major threat to health and finances.
“The spread of the coronavirus has the potential to hit many of the nation’s nearly 60 million Latinos particularly hard. Although the Latino unemployment rate dipped at the end of 2019 to a near-record low, many Latinos work in the leisure, hospitality and other service industries – and they are less likely to have health insurance. Latinos were hit especially hard by the Great Recession more than a decade ago, and some workers have only recently seen their median personal incomes bounce back and exceed pre-recession levels.
Large majorities of Hispanics and the general public (both 70%) say the new coronavirus poses a major threat to the U.S. economy. But on other questions, Latinos’ concerns are more pronounced than those of the wider public.” Pew Study
Local Experts – UPMC
Since many of you might have some time on your hands, you might be wondering how you can also tune in to local sources of information. In the Pittsburgh area, UPMC has been and continues to be a leader on the infectious disease front. You can opt in to get COVID information texts from UPMC by texting “COVID” to the number “919-39.”
The good news from UPMC is that even as COVID-19 infection rates continue to rise in other parts of the region and across the country, their testing data indicates that the virus is not as widespread in the Pittsburgh communities served by UPMC. Early social distancing had a positive impact, as it helped infection control experts at UPMC track down local cases and contain clusters. People must, however, continue to be vigilant by staying at home and following social distancing guidelines, as this is crucial to ongoing virus mitigation efforts.
REMEMBER – YOU CAN BE A CARRIER AND TRANSMIT THE VIRUS EVEN IF YOU DON”T HAVE SYMPTOMS
Public health experts are learning more about the rapid spread of COVID-19 every day — and they’re warning people to stay inside even if they feel healthy. The reason: Asymptomatic transmission.
Podcast
Megan Freeman, MD, is a fellow at UPMC specializing in infectious disease. Learn more about her coronavirus research on the “That’s Pediatrics” podcast.
Vaccine
Scientists at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine announced a potential vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. A paper on the vaccine appeared on April 2 in EBioMedicine. It is the first study on a potential COVID-19 vaccine to be published after peer-review from scientific experts (in other words, it is the first time the UPMC scientists’ findings were published and subject to critique from fellow scientists at outside institutions).
When the vaccine was tested in mice, it helped produce antibodies specific to SARS-CoV-2 at quantities thought to be enough to neutralize the virus.
The research team calls this vaccine PittCoVacc, short for Pittsburgh Coronavirus Vaccine.
Scientists also use a new approach to deliver the drug, called a microneedle array, to increase potency. This array is a fingertip-sized patch of 400 tiny needles that deliver spike protein pieces into the skin, where the immune reaction is the strongest. The patch goes on like a Band-Aid®, and the needles, which are made entirely of sugar and protein pieces, simply dissolve into the skin.
You can learn more about UPMC’s vaccine by following this link.
What To Do If You Need Help
If you believe you were exposed to the coronavirus but aren’t showing symptoms, call your doctor for advice. Practice routine precautions, such as social distancing.
If you have symptoms that are flu-like, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath, call your primary care doctor. If you do not have a doctor, use UPMC AnywhereCare. A video visit from home limits the spread of infection, and, if needed, UPMC can guide you safely to the next care site.
UPMC Urgent Care and Primary Care walk-in locations cannot collect specimens or test for COVID-19. They are open to treat minor illnesses and injuries.
If you are experiencing severe symptoms, such as trouble breathing, you should visit an emergency department in your community for immediate care.
If you can, call ahead of time so staff may prepare for your arrival and prevent the spread of any illness. Do not delay if you have severe breathing problems.
Visit the UPMC COVID-19 Facts page for more information.
Coronavirus & the Justice System
Not surprisingly, the Coronavirus is having a major impact on the entire criminal justice system – from courts to jails & prisons, policing and beyond. In what follows, I will share with you some recent writing on issues that are affecting the U.S. criminal justice system.
Jails & Prisons
Prison-reform groups filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Allegheny County and county jail warden Orlando Harper Tuesday, warning that the facility is poised to suffer a severe outbreak of COVID-19 unless it takes more drastic measures. Hours later, the urgency of the issue was underlined when the county announced that an inmate had tested positive for COVID-19, about two weeks after a jail employee was diagnosed with the disease. For more on this click here.
Foster Care
Sadly, and not surprisingly, Coronavirus is leaving many children with no place to go. As Eli Hager of the Marshall Project reports in their article:
“The foster care system, built on frequent movements of children from one home to another and regular in-person supervision, has been especially wracked with confusion and dread by the coronavirus crisis.
In some states, investigators of child abuse…are so fearful of spreading the illness from home to home that some are trying to do their investigating from the front door, or even over videochat, instead of going inside.
Afraid of bringing the virus into their families, some foster parents are also refusing to accept new children, even if there is no indication they have the virus. Two youth advocates said in interviews that in this climate, they fear foster children are at risk of becoming “the new lepers.”
And across the nation, most visits between birth parents and their children in foster care have been suspended or switched to phone calls, at a time when youth are more in need of reassurance and love than ever. In a handful of places, face-to-face family time is still allowed—but with no touching, even when the visit is with a baby.”
For more on this, follow the link to the article.
Coronavirus and Job Loss
“As measures to slow the pandemic decimate jobs and threaten to plunge the economy into a deep recession, young adults….are disproportionately affected.” Almost a Third of Young People Have Lost Their Jobs. For more on this click here.
College Made Them Feel Equal. The Virus Exposed How Unequal Their Lives Are.
When they were all in the same dorms and eating the same dining hall food, the disparities in students’ backgrounds weren’t as clear as they are over video chat. Check out this free article in the New York Times.
“I’m in Highschool Again”: Virus Sends College Students Home to Parents
New York Times article explores the social dynamics of students who were suddenly uprooted from school and returned home to live with parents. Link here.
Dying of Whiteness During the Pandemic
Jonathan Metzl, author of “Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America’s Heartland,” is a featured author in a podcast produced by the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart, who invited him to explain how this social dynamic “has been on steroids since this pandemic started.”
Anti-stay-at-home protests fit a historical pattern. They demonstrate how the politics of racial resentment, which Metzl discusses in his book, animate public discourse on issues of importance. Policies that would save lives and bolster public health continue to be opposed by white working-class people. This occurs even when those policies would help ensure their own health.
You can listen to the podcast for free here.
Class of 2020
Questions for Reflection – Reflect on Your Beliefs and Biases
Personal beliefs determine how an individual sees the world, other people, and oneself (Nelson & Guerra, 2014). Our beliefs and unconscious biases determine our actions and practices, and these actions inform how systems develop and operate, including our current education system (Berg, 2018). For people, including leaders, to feel comfortable addressing issues of bias, inequity, and race, they first need to have a heightened understanding of their own identities, values, assumptions and biases (Brown, 2004; Gooden & O’Doherty, 2015). As part of this self-exploration, they must cultivate and maintain a deep understanding of how privilege, power, and oppression operate, historically and currently in school and society (Galloway & Ishimaru, 2017).
Without a firm self-examination of one’s own identity and role in historically inequitable structures, people risk reproducing inequities inside and outside their schools and systems (Jones & Vagle, 2013; Brooks, Jean-Marie, Normore & Hodgins, 2007; Rigby & Tredway, 2015). For aspiring leaders of diverse communities, such critical self-reflection should be an ongoing, lifelong process (Brown, 2004). [source for this paragraph is the New York Leadership Academy].
Questions:
How are you feeling about social distancing? What’s your response to the increased need for these strict measures?
To some extent, we are all experiencing trauma, though not in the same ways. Some of us are more privileged than others. What are your privileges in this current situation? How are you using your privilege to support other family members, other students, and potentially other families?
Have you noticed or become aware of incidents of discrimination against people who identify as Asian, Black, or Hispanic in your school community? How are you responding or talking about those incidents with your team and your community?
Now that many of you are not living on the building seeing staff and professors every day, what have you done to try to keep your energy and motivation at the level it needs to be? What are you doing, or will you do, to continue to build culture and relationships with your community?
Articles
Most Brown and Black Americans are Exposing Themselves to Coronavirus for a Paycheck, by Chris Moody
Hispanics More Likely than Americans Overall to See Coronavirus as a Major Threat to Health and Finances, by Krogstad, Gonzalez-Barrera, and Hugo
Seventy Percent of People Dying from Coronavirus in Chicago are Black, by Kelly Bauer
Almost a Third of Young People Have Lost Their Jobs, by Anna Almendrala
“Allegheny County Jail Sued in Class-Action Lawsuit As First Inmate Tests Positive for COVID-19,” by An-Li Herring
Mental health can impact everything we do in are lives. Coronavirus defiantly can impact that. Being isolated in your house can be hard. People lay down and just start to think about so much and start to overthink there is nothing to really do but just stay inside, go on your front porch, or go to work if you are an essential worker. I know I have been trapped in my own mind lately and sometimes it gets to me. One thing that helps me though is calling friends or talking to my parents to help because, you’re not really alone thinking, you are busy talking with friends catching up or talking to your parents about what ever is on your mind that you have to say. Music I know can also help I listen to music to help me cope if I get bored. More activities that seem to help others with their mental health is baking or painting to even maybe going for a run around your neighborhood. Those are all good ways to help keep your mind off of what is going on and everything around. We all just have to stay positive and hope this all ends soon.
I remember watching the news with my family one day and they said a new virus was out and I wasn’t thinking anything of it. Watching the news a few weeks later I saw how bad the virus was spreading and I didn’t know it was going to be this serious. Being on campus the Friday before break I was excited to have a break to see my family more and to hang out with friends more not only to realize that was going to be my last time on campus for the rest of the semester. I pray everyday that next semester will not be online. It can be hard to focus on school work and to get school work done. I never knew this would happen and no one did but so much went down hill. Schools closing was bad and then malls and restaurants started to close and I just felt so isolated not knowing what to even do for my free time because it wasn’t like I could drive anywhere nothing is open anymore. I try to stay positive though and look at the bright sides of things because I know this won’t last forever but I know it will take another half a year probably for everything to get back to normal and how things used to be. In my opinion people should stay home more I know a lot of people are giving in and going and spending time with their friends and just hanging out like nothing is going on but staying home is best because the virus can go away quicker and not spread.
During this pandemic a lot is much more harder now. Something that breaks my heart is kids not being able to see their grandparents and parents not seeing their parents I know my cousin who lives in Florida she had to shop for her grandparents and just leave there groceries on their porch for them to grab them. Some are in nursing homes and not aloud visitors at all. You don’t know how much time they have left to live so being that you can’t see your own grandparent or parent is super hard. All you can really do is call them over the phone to see how they are doing. Seeing elderly in public is shocking to me as well because they can get the virus so easily not having a strong immune system because its hard for them to fight when their bodies are getting weaker and weaker each day. But even elders in nursing homes aren’t safe seeing on the news that the patients were being used to do tests for medicines and the nursing home ended up getting a lawsuit. That is absolutely heartbreaking to see. I think older people should try to stay home more just for their own health and that if they need something to call a family member because, they don’t deserve to get this at all and no one does but they should be staying home to take extra procautions.
Covid-19 definitely changed my work environment. Working at a grocery store alot has changed. There has been limits on bread and eggs to now limits on how much meat you can buy. One thing that surprised me was that customers get mad that they have to wear a mask, I watched how many people come into the store and if someone does not have a mask on you have to ask them to leave and one customer fully yelled at me and said I was stupid. Another shock to me was that an employe will spray each cart for a customer as they walk in the door and some customers will refuse and not care and just grab a cart with their bare hands and after someone else touching it. Being an essential worker is hard stores are 10x more busier and some customers will walk in just to get one item that is not even essential. It is scary to work at a place where everyone touches everything but we take it seriously. Cleaning every hour, making sure carts are clean and pin pads, and wearing a mask our entire shift. One sad thing I see working is the amount of people who shop for their parents or grandparents. Old people I see come in to grocery shop when they know how serious it can be for them they are out still shopping for themselves alone. Some workers even don’t want to work in this so half of employees are off while the ones who do have to now work more days. It can be hard but I am still thankful to still have a job because, a lot of people are being put off to work till this is all over.
An upside to this economic crisis is that farmers are starting to prosper in this pandemic. I read an article on news.trust.org how farmers are adapting to the virus by offering home delivery. In Washington some people are ordering food from farms because restaurants are closed and grocery shopping poses a risk of getting the corona virus. In northern Wisconsin a farmers’ collective explained how they’re making thousands of dollars a week when sales are usually zero. In Illinois farmers states that revenues are high because they’re selling to individuals instead of restaurants. The only downside to this is that farmers are used to bulk orders, meaning they could have 500 customers but only be bale to cater to 200.
My honest opinions how I think the Coronavirus will impact us when it’s over . I think that when we think it’s over it’s really not going to be . I feel like some places might not open back up . Some people believe that it will be coming back in the fall . I feel like it’s going be super busy and pack when things open . I feel like that might be issue . I think that people would be mad that they have to go back to work , definitely if there making more money from unemployment. I feel like there might be a lot of different things going on .
So I seen just a couple of articles about how the stay at home order has and has not helped the environment. One article showed a picture of Pittsburgh’s river and it showed a before and after. The before picture showed the river being really dirty and brown, while the other showed it wasn’t brown at at but not crystal clear either. It did look better to be honest, much cleaner than before now that there aren’t any boats driving around on it and nobody throwing trash into it. Another article explained how there isn’t really any proof that the environment had really changed due to lack of people walking or driving all over the city. However, other articles for other places such as San Diego, have noticed that depending on the time of day, the air is about 30% cleaner. Cities that have seen some changes feel like because of these good signs, people need to realize that they don’t need to go to the grocery store everyday, and to think about just staying home more so the environment can become better itself. I personally think the stay at home order has and can help the environment, but cities like ours or others that still have way too many people wanting to drive wherever they can; can affect the new outcomes than can occur for the environment, causing a bit of a hindrance.
I personally feel like opening everything back up too soon is risky, but then again I feel like they should because we’re all tired of sitting in the house, BUT I also rather be more safe than sorry. As for governor wolf, a lot of people are angry with him, but I think he is doing the best he can. We may not agree with him in everything or disagree but if we were in his shoes and had to make a decision given all the reasons for why we should open everything or keep them closed; it is a very hard job to handle. Who’s to say we would easily know what to do all the time for our city? Personally I won’t mind if we are still in quarantine for a little while mainly because none of the social places are open so technically I’m not missing anything although I would love to take a trip to the mall and shop, or the zoo, or Kenny wood, etc but if they aren’t open I’m not complaining because they aren’t going anywhere. Yes I want to enjoy my summer too but if we follow the rules and stay inside most of the time then things will probably get better quicker. One thing I can say about being home is not having to deal with outside drama. I pretty much talk or always with my family and pets, I talk to my closest friends here and there and that’s about it. It’s pretty simple for me and I’m always calm and rarely stressed anymore, it’s peaceful.
This pandemic has affected so many social groups. For me, the main one was sports because I am an athlete and our outdoor track season was cut short. Since they ended our season our practices were completely over as well so I had to say goodbye to my teammates way earlier than I would have if track had continued. They shut down gyms all over so it was hard to adjust to the fact we could no longer lift weights or run on the treadmill unless you have them at home but not everyone does. In replace of a treadmill, we have outside space to run such as the trails at a park or a track if some are still open. Instead of lifting weights if you don’t have any, you do core workouts that don’t require any weights but still gets the job done. Another thing this pandemic had made everyone adapt to was “no more having fun”. Of course we all want to have fun instead of working out, so we go to the movies, the mall, amusement parks, water parks, fairs, cookouts, laser tag, etc. All of those fun places are closed until this pandemic is gone. I cant hang out with my friends since their isn’t anything to do and neither can a lot of other children, students, etc. The only thing everyone can do is buy food and other necessities and maybe a drive in movie theatre if there are any close to where you live, but for many people, we are stuck at home watching Netflix in our beds which gets pretty boring after a while. Now that school is over for almost everyone, it’ll be a even harder adjustment in the summer if everything stays closed. Best thing we can do is to just continue staying home waiting for this virus to lift and then slowly open businesses back up one by one but there shouldn’t be any rush to that because we still might not be 100% ready.
During this global crisis, people all over have had to learn to adjust to wearing face masks, gloves, and carrying hand sanitizer everywhere they go. Nobody thought that it would get this far or become this serious but unfortunately it has. People have lost jobs due to the virus, schools have shut down and starting online learning, and some food businesses have been closing early. It’s a hard adjustment for some students to switch to online learning simply because some do better and learn better in a physical classroom, others may do better online. Whatever the case, students all over the world had to learn to adapt to it. Another thing was the quick ending to all spring sports. Because the virus spread so fast and had already affected so many people, sports officials had to cancel every spring sport that either just started or was about to start in order to keep the student athletes and everyone else from catching the virus as well. Many people who lost their jobs have had trouble with money and trying to keep providing food for their families. Luckily there have been a few services that have helped people who struggled with that. The only kinds of businesses open are fast foods, supermarkets, and any place that sells food along with daily necessities for oneself and the house. Throughout the weeks, wearing masks have become a norm in our society today because in order to go into any store, you need to wear one. Everyone has pretty much adapted to these new rules, now we’re just waiting for this to die down even more or hopefully completely go away in order to get back to our regular day to day lives and schedules.
The most disappointing effect of the pandemic to me personally was the cancelling of the baseball season. Now I don’t want to sound ignorant as I realize it is clearly needed and for the better, but I was looking forward to it. Over the year the baseball team became some of my closest friends and going to Myrtle Beach right before all this happened was an awesome experience. While I do miss the game itself and the competition aspect of the game, it is definitely the time spent with all of the guys around me that I miss the most. Right now the season would be coming to an end and we would all be going separate ways for the summer anyways but the pandemic has cut all that short. The seniors in college and in high school are the ones I feel for most as they are losing their last year to play a sport and some will never get to play again.
While I have not been affected with work, my mom has. She has been working at home for the past two months and has not left the house very much at all. The same goes for my siblings who have all been working from home and have not been able to come see us at all. Even though we cannot see each other it has given us some new creative ideas to do things. For my dad’s birthday we had a zoom call which was nice to hear from everyone. We played a game of poker through zoom and found new ways to stay connected. In a way this has made everyone come to appreciate what is really important to us and not things like working all day.
Thankfully my work schedule has not been affected by the pandemic. In fact I have been able to work full time at the plumbing company I work for. This has helped my days go by, but also made doing schoolwork more tedious. Working has been affected where I have to wear a mask but with what I do I have always been washing my hands frequently and keeping my distance from customers. It has made house calls busier as more people are at home and need things done to their house. I have always enjoyed working for people because I feel that I help them get along with their day and that has not changed. On more than one occasion customers have said that it was nice just to see someone because they cannot leave the house except to get groceries once a week.
The current pandemic has affected me in a number of ways. With school being moved to online it has placed a much higher amount of responsibility on my shoulders. I will be the first to admit I have not fully rose to the occasion. Some assignments I do not get around to doing and some I forget about. I most definitely miss the in class environment. I have missed the in person interaction between the class and professors, and I feel that it is a much more efficient form of learning especially to me. I enjoy being able to come to class and have face to face interaction and that is something I have missed dearly through this semester. What I have enjoyed is having more free time to do other things I may have not done if I was in school everyday and going away for baseball.
Covid 19 has affected me because im no longer working . It affected that now all my classes are online . It affected me for even going out to certain olaces because we are on ” Lock Down “. I’m not able to hang out with a lot of my friends , Due to the social distancing . I feel like i’m not in shaped because I don’t go outside to do anything . The only time I leave my house if I need to go to the store , Or to go get something for my mom . I think Covid 19 has affected someone in some way in their life as well . I feel other’s may be able to relate to this .
My honest thoughts about having to do online classes because of Covid 19 , I think that it’s more harder to do . I feel like I learn more in person . I feel like since it’s online now I become less motivated and more lazy . I feel like the work is more optional now . I know it’s really not , that’s just how I feel . I feel like it’s more frustrating , It’s like I have to always remember when my assignments are due . I think it’s more harder to keep up with now . I feel like if we didn’t have do online classes , I would have my work done while I was in class . I do think I get better understanding on the assignments in person . That’s my honest thoughts about online classes .
My opinions about how I don’t think that the government not opening stuff fast enough is that I feel like its kind of a good thing . They are trying to be safe about it . They are trying to have everything under control . If they open everything at like one time . I feel like more people will get Covid 19 . They want to see if they can slow it down by just taking there time reopen stuff . I agree that they should do this . I do think they should open up the more important things first . I feel like this process might be long , I rather it be that way than everyone just getting Covid 19 . They are trying to be smart about this situation thats a good thing
I read an article that basically said it is a possibility Pittsburgh public schools will not be going back to school in the fall. I have 3 little sisters and 2 of them are in middle school, they do not go to a public school but I can see they will still be affected by this. I also read articles that said it’s a possibility universities will not be returning in person classes until 2021. In my opinion it is a little frustrating I guess but only for the social aspect. Some people learn better sitting in front of a teacher and others are ok with online. Myself personally, I can adapt to either or. But for younger children such as my sisters it is driving them crazy. They miss their friends and want to get back to school immediately. Online class has been somewhat difficult for them. They either forget to wake up for their classes or lose focus during their zoom sessions. My baby sister who is only 3 has zoom sessions as well for daycare. I thought that was crazy when I first heard because how can you keep the attention of a bunch of toddlers through a webcam. But needless to say, they are trying which is all anyone can do during this time. If classes continued to be online in the fall of 2020, I would be a bit disappointed simply because it is my last year. But there isn’t much anyone can do but wait so I can’t be that upset. It’s crazy to think about how much we took for granted and now we miss it all.
Throughout this crisis I have chosen to look at it from a different perspective. In the beginning I was very frustrated and overwhelmed with everything but as the days and weeks went on I began to learn from it. Moving classes online has been nothing but good for me. Moving out of the dorms just allowed me to focus more. I also learned that people are very selfish. I knew our city wasn’t the best when things like this occur but the things I have seen when I go out to the store are a little bit troubling. I believe seniors should always have seniority in the grocery stores and just about everywhere. Most of them live alone, in assisted living homes, or with a relative. To take all the toilet paper, groceries, out of the stores and leave none for them was a perfect example of how selfish people can be. I recently read in an article a few days ago that the DMV will be opening back up and it will have set times for elderly people to enter without being around others which I feel is a great idea in moving forward.
Allegheny country and other counties are set to finally move to the “yellow phase” May 15th, and in my opinion I do not agree or disagree with this. I would say I am neutral simply because there is no cure for this yet. Although I am neutral to opening Allegheny county up, I believe the people who are seeing Governor Tom Wolf for not opening their business back up is a bit outrageous. I feel like he’s doing the best he can with what’s going on. All businesses are not considered “essential” just because it’s your business. Our numbers are good but still there is no cure for this vaccine. I personally will not be changing my everyday routine because I have adapted to this “new world”. Also, I personally do not like to wear a mask everywhere I go, they are hard to breath in but I am aware that it is for our safety but I rather stay in the house. My parents pretty much take care of everything so there is no need for me to go outside with the public. So I have been very fortunate to not have been affected by this virus in a negative way.
I have read an article on Thomas Reuters Foundation news that Texas and Ohio are ordering abortions to be postponed because they’re considered non-essential procedures. The voice president who heads the nations coronavirus task force asked hospitals “to cease elective surgeries to free up capacity and staff, amid dire shortage of masks and gloves.” In Texas this measure was excluded only to mothers who need an abortion to save their life and/or health. In the article it explained how two groups were effected by this situation. The two groups tha were effected were the ones who are against abortions, and the ones who believes disagree with this measure and believe this situation shouldn’t be politicized.
I feel like out of everybody, Governor Wolf is doing the worst job. He had Allegheny and Westmoreland County on counties that should stay on lockdown. These two counties are the ones that we operate in, and have reported exceptional numbers from the coronavirus. Governor Wolf has just been making excuses this whole time to keep us on lockdown, and has barely done anything to help the virus. He is working hand-in-hand with New York’s governor, as if our numbers are nearly as bad as theirs. You cannot compare their scale to our scale. They have a higher population with more positive tested, and we have a lower population. Other states are doing their best to try and opened up and get back to normal, but Governor Wolf has just been putting it off and being a follower.
I feel like this could affect family, and romantic relationships due to any sort of financial trouble. It is hard for people to get past the hurdle of financial stress, and it makes it even harder when people are losing their jobs. Most people find it very hard to live off of unemployment money, so they could take their anger out on people that they care for. I feel bad for the people who do not have any families, or any type of support system to get them through this. As I mentioned before, for graduation, it only affects my high school graduation. I feel like by the time I am ready to graduate college, this will be well behind us, and something to reflect on. It will be cool in 25 to 30 years to look back and see how we got through this, because nobody has ever seen something like this before. When I get older, I hope to be doing some things that I love, and I do not think the coronavirus will stop Me from doing that.
I have not let this virus impact my physical or mental health at all. I am a pretty active person, who is obsessed with fitness, so I did not let a virus stop me from doing anything to push myself to the next level. During this time, I have honestly been making more progress in the gym than I was before this pandemic. I believe that physical and mental health is all about effort, and if you were doing everything in your power to have Good health, everything else will fall into place. Online school is sort of difficult, but it is just something that we have to adapt to. Personally I’d rather be in a classroom, but I enjoy doing the work when I please. I like to work this way because it makes you feel as if you have more time. Use your free time to do anything that you otherwise would not do, and keep yourself busy. Doing anything to push your limits will only help you. If you are struggling with any sort of mental, or physical health, it is very important that you take the time out and dedicate yourself to become better.
The coronavirus has not impacted my paid employment at all, because at the time of lockdown, I did not have a job. Although, I was supposed to get a job right around the time of this coronavirus pandemic. Even though I have not been affected by this financially, there are a lot of people that have. My dad now has to work from home, being that he is a commercial real estate agent. Thankfully, he still has his job, but unfortunately there are a lot of people that have lost their‘s. It is a shame that people now have to go to food banks that never thought they would have, because of an unknown, leap to virus. This has affected me in another area, which is high school graduation. High school graduation is currently up in the air right now for our school, so I do not know if I will even graduate, or get to have a ceremony. It is a weird thought to think about, because everybody else in the world has had the opportunity to have a high school graduation. This is a true shame, because everybody that I have grown up with since I was young, I may never see again.
One thing I do want to talk about throughout this crisis is how it affected our military personnel. This is a very important topic for me because I have so many friends that are in the military. Through this I have noticed that a lot of people forget or don’t think about how this is affecting our military. This is majorly affected our troops overseas. I have so many friends whose deployments overseas are up but they cannot come home because of COVID-19. It is extremely sad that because of this national pandemic, people who are risking their lives, whether overseas or not, to keep us free can’t even come home to see their loved ones. One of my closet friends has been stationed over in Iraq for almost a year now. He was suppose to come home at the end of March, but due to this national quarantine and the pandemic, the military has extended his deployment. He now has no idea when he will be able to come home to see his friends and family. I use to date someone in the military, we broke up way before this all happened, it was hard enough not being able to see each other before this all happened; I could not imagine what it would have been like if we were still together now. I don’t just think about all the friends that I have who are in the military, but I also think about all the families who have spouses, sons, daughters, mothers, or fathers that are in the military and cannot come home during this dreadful time to be with their families. I do not come from a family of military so I could not begin to understand what it is like for those families. People need to stop thinking about how this affects just them and their families. But also how this is majorly affecting military families. This again shows how selfish our society can be and how they only think of themselves.
As I have stated before in a few of my reflections, this virus and national quarantine affects everyone not just one individual. In my family, there is one person that i feel is being affected the most. It is my brother’s senior year and due to this he can’t enjoy the rest of his senior year with his friends. He isn’t even able to have a true graduation ceremony or get his actual diploma until October. I am going to be a junior in college and I can’t begin to understand what it is like for him or how he is feeling. He is not they only senior in college or even high school that was not able to truly experience their senior year regardless of which part of schooling they are in. Other than my brother, I get very worried for my mom every time she goes to work. My mom works in Jefferson Hospital. Even though she works in the lab, I still get worried because she does work in a hospital and she is in more risk everyday as the numbers increase. In the case of my dad and his work, he is not really affected by this because he works in such a small company and his work is pretty much located in the middle of nowhere.
Throughout this crisis we are in, I have found it extremely easy to write a journal, where I can keep all my thoughts and feelings. This virus has shown people how truly selfish our society is. Even though we are in this quarantine , people are still going out and hanging out with friends, significant others, or even going to parties like this virus does not affect them. Meanwhile it affects all of us. I do believe that going to the store for food, going to work if you are an essential worker, or going to a family members house (but only if it is an emergency) is okay. Other than those few reasons, no one should be going out. If you do have to go, then take precautions, such as wearing a mask or keeping 6 feet apart from other people. All things we should have done from the start, By people not listening to what we are being told to is the reason why we are still in this quarantine. Even though we do live in the United States and we do have a ton of freedom, it does not mean to take your freedom for granted during this time by not only putting yourself at risk but everybody you came into contact with.
This whole situation affects everyone in society, not just one individual or one family. Guaranteed this affects everybody differently and everybody has their own thoughts and issues with what our world as a whole is going through. But, if we come together as a society, for example, going to the store for your neighbor if they are to afraid to go out or keeping your distance from people then we will get through this, together. This virus has impacted my employment hugely. Even though I was not employed before this began, the virus has made it impossible to find a job since everything has temporarily closed. Ever since we have been in this quarantine, my mental health has really taken a toll. Since all I can do is sit around my house, my depression levels have been all over the place. As my physical health is concerned, it has not at all changed since this has happened. I have no problem getting up and logging onto my classes; but i do find a problem in trying to get my work done. Since I am home, and no longer have to appear on campus till fall semester, I started to majorly slack off on my work; which is not like me. There has been a ton of tension and stress in my household. Due to the fact that only my parents have been able to leave the house. People need to take this seriously. I have noticed so many teenagers ignoring what is going out and hanging out with friends or their significant others. These are also the same people that are complaining that this virus is going to ruin their summer. In my opinion, if everyone would have done what they were suppose to from the start, then maybe we wouldn’t still be in this huge mess.
COVID-19 has impacted my life way more than I ever thought it would. When this all began, I will admit that I did not take it seriously as I should have. This virus has influenced so many things these past couple weeks it’s crazy. As everything with school and my inability to socialize finally settled in my head my mental health was impacted. I stated to realize that I would not get the final goodbyes with the people I spend the last four years with. I would not get to say goodbye to all the new friends I made this year or all the staff on campus I am close with. I realized I would not get those final moments in a classroom to just sit and reminisce about my time I have spent on this campus. What hurt the most was the possibility of not getting to walk for graduation. As of right now I believe it is just postponed but graduating from college and being able to walk across the stage is something I have thought about since I was a freshman in high school. I am the first person to go to college and I just wanted those ten seconds of recognition. After realizing all of this I went through a depression and that impacted my ability to do or even care about my schoolwork. I had gotten behind in all of my classes because of this but I am slowly getting all my missing work turned in and I am trying to keep a positive attitude about everything.
I was never a person who did well in online classes. The couple I took before online class were mandatory are the classes I have the lowest grades in. It is hard for me to always remember when stuff is due and sometimes the assignments can be unclear. When you have you wait for a professor to respond it could take away the motivation for the assignment at the time or they could be a professor who takes a long time to respond which causes more issues.
If you know me as a person you know that I am very extroverted. I love to be social and be around people. I love talking to anyone it doesn’t even matter if they’re my close friend I just like having a conversation. So having to stay inside for days and not being able to hang out with people who I normally would is kind of making me crazy. I do not know what to do with my day. I don’t know how to really explain but not being to go out in socialize gives me this uncomfortable feeling inside because that’s all I want to do.
This coronavirus Pandemic has very much affected my family but the person who has been affected the most is my grandmother. She came from El Salvador when she was about 18 and has been working cleaning houses most of her time here in the US. So, when this pandemic hit she was very worried that she would not be able to find work and pay her bills. By now it has been about a month since she has been out of work. luckily, she has been a good saver and has had enough to keep the lights on. My mother and I will bring her groceries and other essential items she needs, as we do not want her to break her quarantine, because she is at a higher risk than we are. We are all worried because we are not really sure when this is going to end and can really have a negative long-term effect on her. We try and help as much as we can, but it can become difficult for us as my mom is an essential worker for a local hospital in the DMV area and we do not want to risk passing anything to my grandmother.
Based on currently available information and clinical expertise people who are at a higher risk for severe illness are older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions. Those who are at a higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 are people who are 65 years old and older, individuals who live in a nursing home or care facility. People of all ages with underlying medical conditions such as chronic lung disease of moderate to severe asthma, heart conditions, and people who are immune compromised( cancer treatment, smoking, bone marrow or organ transplantation, immune deficiencies, etc..)
Having so many family members that work in nursing home facilities, they are trying their best to put an effort to slow down the advance of the corona virus by canceling visitation hours for not only residents but also for anyone working in the office. Residents are no longer allowed to leave the building under any circumstances. Although their actions are supposed to be helpful In trying to prevent the spread of corona, families are having a hard time adapting to these restrictions.
More than half of this comment comes directly from a CDC website (no quotes/not cited) – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-at-higher-risk.html
This assignment is not difficult. It simply asks you to reflect in a critical way about things that you see happening around you in regards to COVID. Plagiarism is not a good look and can have serious repercussions when it comes to your college career.
Based on currently available information and clinical expertise people who are at a higher risk for severe illness are older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions. Those who are at a higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 are people who are 65 years old and older, individuals who live in a nursing home or care facility. People of all ages with underlying medical conditions such as chronic lung disease of moderate to severe asthma, heart conditions, and people who are immune compromised( cancer treatment, smoking, bone marrow or organ transplantation, immune deficiencies, etc..)
Having so many family members that work in nursing home facilities, they are trying their best to put an effort to slow down the advance of the corona virus by canceling visitation hours for not only residents but also for anyone working in the office. Residents are no longer allowed to leave the building under any circumstances. Although their actions are supposed to be helpful In trying to prevent the spread of corona, families are having a hard time adapting to these restrictions.
Just a few days ago, Governor Wolf added that golf courses, marinas, guided fishing trips, and privately-owned campgrounds can reopen starting May 1st. This was added to the businesses that can be opened because they are a life-sustaining business. Obviously, there are people that are not going to agree with this but just opening these four businesses are putting people back to work that were out of a job. Since I work a summer job at a golf course, I was not able to go back to work at the end of March like I was supposed to. Luckily, now I am able to go back to work after being off a month. People might not think a month is a long time, but people need this money to live, pay for school, or many other things. Being back to work makes me feel like things are slowly going back to normal. All of the businesses that I mentioned have to follow the guidance that was issued by Wolf. At my work, my managers put up plexiglass, caution tape so people cannot congregate in the Pro-Shop, we are only allowing a certain amount of people in the shop at a time, and the costumers and employees have to wear a mask at all times. There are many other precautions that we are taking but those are just a few that I mentioned. I just hope with the few businesses opening back up means that soon more and more people will get to go back to their jobs.
Since I am about to graduate I was originally going to wait a year before going to graduate school. But after speaking to the career services people at school there seems to actually be one positive because of COVID-19. She informed me that there could be a decrease in tuition costs and some of the schools are getting rid of the GREs. This allows for more people to be able to apply to grad school and also keeps the enrollment at the institutions up. People who may not have had the opportunity to go to grad school because of financial reasons could now be able to further their education. Another advantage of some institutions getting rid of the GREs is that people who do not do well on a test or have test anxiety do not have to worry about that issue. There are also scholarships to apply for and some give 25% off their tuition as an award which is financially beneficial. Being able to finish my degree earlier than later seems like a great idea and this could help with that. I think that even though this virus has impacted the world in so many negative ways that it is important to look at some of the positives it does have.
People who are any type of abuse situations during this time are now stuck at home in these dangerous situations. There are men and women who are currently in relationships where they experience domestic violence. Before this pandemic, they might have been able to get away from the house for work but now they may be exposed to the abuser for longer periods of time. Since there is more time spent together the likelihood of an abusive situation is increased. There are also children who could be experiencing emotional, physical, and/or mental abuse at home. At least during the school year, these children got the chance to get away at school and have positive interactions with their peers or possibly other adults. Now because of this virus, the parent could be experiencing more stress and the child could get the front of their frustration. Another type of treatment that children could be maltreatment and some of the children are not getting proper nutrition or parental care. Which goes back to how schools are so important because the child would at least get breakfast and lunch at school along with any care from the school nurse or counselors they might need. Schools give children an outlet to possibly tell another adult about their home situations and now that’s obviously not an option.
The virus has affected me in a way because I love to always be on the go. I have a hard time sitting for long periods of times. I am a type of person who hates to sit at home. It did not affect me because I can still work. I recently started to work again because after sitting around for so long and nothing being open, I could not take it anymore. I do landscaping because I love to be active and love being outside. The virus has affected the business in a way because there are people who would usually call us to do landscaping around their house but have not just to take precautions. Even though we are outside, there are the elders who have to be more careful which I understand because they do not know who we the workers have been around. I also am not working as long of days because my company has different crews. I am part of the side work crew which does more of tree trimming, mulching and things along those lines. So it is easier for the people to let their trees grow and mulch be on a wait. People need their grass cut because I know in some areas, you can get in trouble if you let your grass get so high.
While this pandemic was going on, i thought about all the families whose parents lost their jobs due to businesses closing. I am so lucky to have two parents who are considered essential workers during this dreadful, but it made me feel horrible for all the kids my age who were struggling. The virus has also impacted me personally. It caused me to not be able to go back to work. Due to me not being able to return to work, I wasn’t able to make my car payments or my phone bill; so my parents had to start paying those until I was able to again. While being in this quarantine due to the pandemic, it has affected my schooling. Since my campus moved to online classes for the remaining of the semester, I have found it difficult to stay motivated and to complete my assignments. It is hard during this time to just stay inside. This time has also made a huge impact on my family. I have not seen my grandparents for almost a month now because of the worries and concerns my family has. I ma truly scared on how this traumatic event is going to impact my future studies.
During this pandemic I have thought about all categories of people and who isn’t doing so great at this time. The two categories of people that I personally think have it the worst are the elderly and the poor. There are many elders in nursing homes who are not allowed to have visitors and even elders who live alone who cannot have visitors. Being over 60 puts people at risk of dying from this virus. My grandmother is currently in a nursing home, she has dementia and doesn’t understand why we can’t come see her right now. We only get to Facetime her once a week on Mondays as well as everyone else in the building gets one video call per week unless you call the regular phone and wait for them to take the patients the phone. In her nursing home there has recently been an employee who tested positive for COVID-19. The elders in the nursing homes cannot help themselves and are in depression because they can no longer see anyone. The poor people in the US are struggling more than ever right now. There are many children who live on the streets and looked forward to going to school every day and having food in their stomachs. Poor families are struggling with keeping food on the table more because now they don’t have their much-needed job and unemployment is backed up so much that they aren’t receiving any income. Their bills are piling up and although companies are giving a grace period during this time these people are going to still be struggling afterwards because they still don’t have or make enough to pay off these bills that will accumulate.
This pandemic has shown how selfish humanity can be. Although, there is a national quarantine, people still insist on going out and socializing with friends, or going and getting tattoos etc. I believe when going to the store for groceries, medicine, etc is okay. But when you are sacrificing the well-being of others in your household for your own pleasure, is when it becomes selfish and inconsiderate. When you are going back and forth to your friend’s house, without wearing a mask, etc you are putting not only yourself at risk, but the ones you live with as well. As an American society, we have so much privilege, that when there is an international crisis, we do the opposite of what authority advises us to do. Plato states, “democracy is no different, than anarchy, or collapses into it when the citizens cease to care for the laws and go against the touch of authority.” During a critical time like this, it is important that we listen to what authority tells us to do, because as a society, most of us have never experienced this before. There are people still getting tattoos from others but from their homes, which in my opinion, is unsafe during this time due to the fact that you have various people coming in and out, and you have no idea who and what they were exposed to. There is a reason why tattoo shops have cancelled their services for the time being. Not just that, but retail shops, restaurants, etc have shut down publicly due to the risk of overexposure. Most grocery stores now such as Walmart, Costco, and Sam’s Club require that you wear a mask upon entry and only allow a certain amount of people into the store at once. I believe if people were to just have patience and stay inside, they would have much more appreciation for being with friends and going out after this quarantine is over. They would truly understand the value of friendship and relationships. These things that they are in such a hurry to do, will still be available when everything gets better. But, sacrificing your health and the well-being of others, is not worth temporary pleasures. Staying in will benefit our society because I believe it shows what it means to struggle, to hurt, to fear; feelings that so many of us have not experienced. Hopefully, this quarantine will humble and shape us together.
Recently, President Trump, made shocking claims regarding the “cure” for covid-19, at his press briefing on Thursday. He presents the idea that disinfectant will “knock out” this virus, in just one minute. He then goes on to ask, if there’s a way that “we can do something like that by injection inside..or almost a cleaning?” Because according to Trump, once this disinfectant gets inside the lungs, it does a “tremendous number”. This question led to immediate backlash within the media, and had several doctors baffled. As we know, Lysol or any cleaning product is highly toxic, especially if ingested. Several warnings were sent out by doctors, lawmakers, and LYSOL, advising citizens not to inject or ingest these products into their bodies. As a president, your role is to lead people from a place of peace, safety, and knowledge. However, making claims that disinfectants could cure this disease, were irresponsible and ignorant. As a president, one should be aware of the power their words hold, when others look to you as the authority, some are going to take what you say as truth, and end up dead or severally ill because of it. Later, when Trump was asked by a reporter about these claims he made, he says he was being “sarcastic” or joking, when asking about injecting disinfectant into the body. However, there was no indication that he was joking. In my opinion, he doesn’t want to take accountability for the things he says, because he can’t accept being wrong. He also talks about tests that were done, that showed how bleach, alcohol, and sunlight killed corona-virus on surfaces which he also relates to sunlight being able to get rid of the virus in summer weather. Although these claims have been studied, this does not relate to his comment about putting UV light inside the body to treat the virus, which according to medical professionals, is nonsense. During a sensitive time like this, our president should be very careful when addressing the public. When people are isolated at home, in a state of fear and panic, this leads them to do the unthinkable. These products he claims could be the cure, are everyday household products accessible to everyone. The fact that the FDA, the CDC, etc, has to advise people NOT to ingest these toxic products, after our president “sarcastically” suggests they could be the next cure says a lot about our society and the power of the media. He does not realize the damage that could be done, by carelessly spewing words out of his mouth without thinking first.
A group of the population that I can relate with who are more than likely having an issue with social distancing are extroverts. By definition extroverts love to be social and be around people. I know how I felt after only two weeks of social distancing and was like this uneasy feeling I could not get rid of. I need to have the energy of others and the socialization to feel good and keep my own positivity up. By the time the two-week mark hit, I felt as though I had done everything I could now that I had all this extra time. But, exercising and homework only takes up so much time and still had so much time left in the day. I was actually becoming depressed from the like of personal interaction. So then I had to start finding other ways to try and socialize with my friends such as video chatting more often. I also did some research on ways to cope with depression for extroverts and found other ways to cope. I cannot wait until people do not have to practice social distancing so I can be back in my natural element of being social.
COVID-19 has both negatively and positively affected many parents. Parents of younger children are facing many challenges. I spoke to my sister about the struggle of having young children during this time. She expressed to me how hard it is with helping them with their homework because she wants to teach her children how to do their homework without having to tell them the answers. She also finds that it is a challenge keeping up with all of their daily assignment while keeping up with her own schoolwork. She then expressed to me how she enjoys having more family time with the kids. Not all parents know how to teach, and not all parents have the knowledge needed to help their children. Parents of college students have had their children have to come home to their houses after not being allowed to stay on school campuses anymore. I recently seen a post on Facebook about having two college kids coming home after being away for two years and now the parents are having to basically take care of them financially which they weren’t prepared for. Many families are struggling right now due to this pandemic especially parents!
COVID-19 has a huge impact on students across the nation. Seniors in high school are unable to attend their proms, graduate on time, go on the senior trip, or do any of the things that come with finally being a senior. Many college seniors are devastated about not knowing if they will have a graduation of if they’ll just be receiving their papers in the mail. Although I think universities will most likely just push the ceremony back rather than not have it at all many are still worried. COVID-19 has also deeply affected the way students learn; many students learn by being in the presence of a teacher but now that they must do their work online, they aren’t learning but just going through the motions with more distractions at home. Also younger students now have to rely on their parents to help them with their school work but many parents are now working from home which does not allow them to have time to do their jobs, help with homework, and do things around the house. Some students do not have the materials needed to do their online schoolwork. Then there are schools who are giving out packets of work if you don’t have computer access. But how will the children get the work if they then don’t have transportation? This virus has caused a lot of issues for students across the nation but hopefully there can be a solution for these issues.
Thank you for this! Nice job thinking thru the different levels of disruption as well as the different ways the virus affects different groups. It is important to be mindful of the local social contexts, which are different for everyone, as we all think about trying to move forward in these challenging times. As you pointed out, college students, high school students, young school students, and parents are all impacted differently. Not everyone enjoys liberal and easy access to technology.
Alternatively, let’s think for a minute on the structural level of social policy. For example, simply demanding that people return to work, is an incredibly ill-conceived, callous, and reckless social policy. Who does a policy like that benefit? People with means as well as people with jobs that are supported by technology are likely going to be able to work from home and remain sheltered in place. They are protected from these policies in ways that others are not. The poor will remain exposed. Failing to comply with a work mandate would mean they might have to quit their jobs to save their lives…but then they may lose the ability to claim unemployment benefits. In the case of the latter, this is what is actually driving a lot of state-level policy, where you see governors ordering their states to “open” – an action that is not supported by experts who understand viruses. They don’t want (can’t afford) to pay the unemployment benefits for so many people. Forcing them to return to work (and thus forcing many to quit) gets them off the hook for paying. It’s an administrative maneuver that will have deadly consequences for everyone. However, it is always the poor and the most marginalized that will suffer the most.
Thinking on the impact of COVID-19, made me think of a lot of people who are affected by it. The first group of people that comes to mind is healthcare workers. They are risking a lot to still be able to do their job to take care of people. A lot of people are saying that this is what healthcare workers signed up for but that is wrong. Yes, healthcare workers signed up to help people but they did not sign up to not have adequate protection against this virus. A lot of healthcare places are not providing n 95 masks for the workers that are dealing with COVID-19 patients. If the place does provide them, the workers are only allowed to get about 3 masks. 1 mask is good for one shift so sadly workers are having to wear the same mask for multiple shifts and at that point, they are pretty much ineffective. I also saw that there are shortages of nurses at some places because of COVID-19 so workers are being mandated from other centers to go to places that contain many people that have the virus without the proper protection. So yes the healthcare workers signed up to help people, but they did not sign up to put themselves at risk.
Since we are no longer going to the campus and no longer living on the campus because of COVID-19 i have been trying to keep myself focused by getting all of my work done as soon as I can or get as much done when I have the energy and am completely focused on doing it. So far, I have been able to keep up in all of my classes, my only problem i have had is getting a hold of the professors sometimes and zoom not working. I feel like the classes being online has affected a lot of people especially for people who struggle with online courses. Hopefully all this will end at the end of April when quarantine ends and go back to having a normal semester in the fall but I highly doubt it will.
Yes, this is difficult for everyone. No one signed up for this. And it’s certainly not as fun as being able to be on campus with your friends. If you can’t make a Zoom meeting and want to meet one on one in your own Zoom session with me, drop a note in Canvas and I’ll set something up for you.
So I am officially not working anymore, and I need to be but cannot risk it. My bosses mother in law was infected with Covid-19 and all of his family was in direct contact with her while she was sick. I also found out that the first woman who died from Covid-19 in Clairton was my bosses wife’s cousin. My bosses family is constantly in the restaurant and did not feel the need to self isolate. I only found out about them being exposed because I overheard them talking about it with their family, that still continues to sit down and eat there despite not being allowed. No one felt the need to let any of the employees know and everyone that has worked there has been exposed for weeks and did not know, because our boss did not think him or his family needed to be quarantined. Since finding this out, I immediately contacted my other boss (I have two bosses) and told him I cannot risk getting sick or anyone in my family. Although he understood, it still doesn’t make it better that I have no income and I cannot collect unemployment because I work part-time. The “relief” check isn’t going to help me because I am still claimed as a dependent for my parents on their taxes, so I will not see any of that money.
People who are involved in the criminal justice system are being impacted by the virus. People who have court hearings do not get to go to them since there are no hearings happening right now because of the virus. For some people this could be a good thing, for example, my sister went to turn herself in for multiple charges but the officer told her she could go because they are not doing anything with nonviolent offenders. On the other hand, this could be preventing some parents from getting their children back or getting a woman a restraining order she needs. Another part of the criminal justice system that is being impacted are the prisoners. One way that this has been positive for prisoners is that some prisons or jails have been letting out the nonviolent offenders. But, if the prisoner is a violent offender he/she has to stay in prison which can be an issue. If one prisoner gets COVID-19 then it is more than likely going to have an easy job spreading through the prison. A way it could spread is by the prison guards since they see many of the prisoners throughout their shift.
COVID-19 is something that I do not think anyone actually saw coming. It is spread so easily that it’s causing many people to get it. It is impacted so many people and businesses with this quarantine. People thought that after two weeks it would all be over, but it is not. People were still going out even under quarantine and that caused the virus to keep spreading. As of right now we are in quarantine until the end of April, but who knows how long it will go on. Quarantine is working but people need to start to take it more seriously for everything to start to pick back up again. Stay home as much as possible and only go places for essentials while wearing a mask. We need to flatten the curve and some people are not making the proper precautions. I recently went to the grocery store and people were bumping into each other and you could tell a lot of people were not following the six foot rule. I know it seems like a hard thing to do but it is something that needs to be followed in order for everyone to get back to their normal lives.
U.S. society is highly individualistic. In a crisis like this, we need people to act in ways that go against this culturally ingrained belief/practice…to take actions that inconvenience them in order to safeguard all people in their community. It is sad to watch this play out day after day – and especially among people who are smart enough to process what is happening and act accordingly. Some people have almost no choice (don’t work/quit/don’t eat/don’t collect unemployment). Others, however, selfishly persist in doing what they want to do, risking self harm and harming others. We are all in for a much longer rough ride because of this.
COVID-19 is having impacts on everyone in different ways, its majorly affecting college students and high school students by sending them home and making them do online classes. All of the seniors are having to miss everything important for their senior years like prom and graduation something every student waits for. Colleges students didn’t pay thousands of dollars for this semester just to take their courses online, and some students have a hard time focusing when it comes to taking online classes causing them to fail, or they cant focus because they have to much going on in their house hold. Such as single parents they usually have to do most of their school work at school so they can focus because they have children at home that will bother them and not allow them to get work done.
As we are still under a stay at home order for COVID-19, I feel many of us aren’t taking it serious enough. There are many medical professionals who are warning people to take this virus seriously and stay home because of how bad this virus is and the effect it has on people. Nurses are one of the many groups of people/workers that are at risk because they have so many patients at one time and have to assist to each one that they are assigned to. Then not knowing if a patient has the virus, they have to go home to their families in hopes that they aren’t going to spread anything on to them. Watching this virus become bigger and bigger every day I have so much more respect for the nurses and medical professionals because they are literally risking their lives on the front line to help others and their health issues. I recently read an article regarding how a barber was still making house calls to cut hair for people and ended up getting COVID-19 and later dying in the hospital from it. This just shows how many people are not taking this virus seriously, this is something so deadly and many of us are constantly and voluntarily risking our lives by visiting others, going to stores when we don’t need anything, and having contact with people who may be sick. Going forward people need to take this serious because if we don’t it risks many others lives including the ones who are there to help sic
I agree. Too many people not taking things seriously and putting others at risk. I spent the last 10 years living in New York City. One of my professors already died. Every person that I know who teaches there has lost a student. This is no joke. The evidence attesting to the seriousness is all around us and yet people behave like it’s no big thing.
Sorry for the loss of your professor. People think it’s a joke and sooner or later they’ll realize that it is very serious.
A population of people being majorly impacted by COVID-19 is those who live in nursing homes. One issue is that these people are stuck living in this place because they do not have another option. Even if they want to leave their family could be in a different state and given the state the country is in family members can’t make the trip. Also, the elderly have a weak immune system. This is an issue because this is why the virus is killing a lot of the elderly that get sick. Now the issue is how more than likely it is not even their fault they are getting the virus. Since they are unable to leave the area of the nursing home it has to come from an outside source. The people who are coming to visit their family members in the nursing home are some of the ones who are getting the elderly sick. Nurses are another way the virus would get into the nursing home since they always come to and from work. The nurses also could have carried the virus with them around the establishment and given it to more patients. If it weren’t for the traffic of people going in and out of nursing homes the population of elderly in nursing homes might not have gotten so effected so bad
One group of people that is having a hard time during this pandemic is college students. I am not just talking about the seniors either, I feel as though all years are having their own individual difficulties. Seniors are finding this time difficult it has impacted their graduation and final goodbyes they should have had with friends and faculty. I know personally how those things had a negative impact on my mental health as I am sure has happened to others going through the same thing. Since freshmen are just starting and they are still learning many things about college this virus has cut that short. Before the next year starts freshman have to schedule classes and some have to do a housing contract for their dorm. Some of the freshmen may not know how to do these things and could be confusing to them. As for juniors and sophomores, along with the other years, COVID-19 has taken away part of their time experiencing college. These are months taken away from experiencing many different things with college friends. Such as getting to celebrate birthdays or celebrate seniors graduating or even getting to participate in clubs and organizations.
When it comes to social distancing, I believe that people are not taking it serious in my hometown at all, especially when it comes to the weekends. The stores and fast food places are constantly packed, and everyone might be wearing mask but are still not taking the right precautions. Once people are done shopping most of them take off their masks and gloves and just leave them in the parking lot next to their car, which is something that’s been making me mad considering our littering is bad enough. Even after all the deaths and the lock downs that have occurred people still believe that this isn’t serious.
I saw they ran a story on the news about this! – people leaving masks/gloves on the ground – that’s contaminated medical waste! What are they thinking? And yes, people are not taking it seriously, which is why we’ve been distancing for a month and the numbers are still climbing. We won’t be able to stop the distancing until people get serious. If not, this will go on and on.
Recently, the media has brought to our attention that African Americans are more likely to contract Covid19. Now this applies to other minorities as well, especially Latinos. But why is this the case? Minorities have been prone to disease way before this outbreak, and it’s all due to the fact that economically people of color have been forced into urban areas (redlining) that are subject to higher air pollution, (living next to steel mills), etc. Many suffer from poverty making it harder to seek medical care, so they continue to go to work, for longer hours, causing their immune systems to weaken and they eventually get sick. On top of that, since insurance companies can’t discriminate against those in poor health, they medically redline; meaning they discriminate against communities that are likely to have a larger number of unhealthy residents. This makes it harder for people to have access to public healthcare, causing more people to get sick and infect others. So, in reality, the area you live in and your zip code does matter. For years, people of color have experienced racial disparities throughout the medical and healthcare systems. US policies make it harder for immigrants to receive public healthcare, even if they’ve been documented for less than 5 years. The healthcare system, along with our communities continue to remain dramatically divided. The things we can do as people during this time, is to become socially aware and informed – do our own research and have compassion for one another.
I hate watching the news now, and I do not watch it unless there is positive news about the virus. I am tired of hearing about it, social distancing, wearing masks, sheltering at home, and now ordering everything on Amazon to avoid stores. I cannot imagine being on the front lines directly in contact with the virus, but being inside is hard too. We are social creatures that thrive on interactions with people. China has actually kicked out Africans out of their homes that live there because they believe they reintroduced the virus into the country. I am not a conspiracy theorist but everything seems so strange, and everything seems so contradicting. All the days mash together and everything becomes the same. I feel like my anxiety is through the roof and nothing has made it better.
I remember back when the news of COVID-19 came out and the basic assumption among myself and my friends also just thought that it was no big deal and would just go away. When reading the article, the part where it said how people thought of it as “it’s just the flue” I related to that because those were my exact thoughts. I thought everyone was just overreacting and it would go away soon. The picture of the military vehicles really opened my eyes to how serious this virus has been in different parts of the world. The picture made me feel sad because there are so many people dying that they are just thrown in the back of these trucks like pieces of trash.
There are some things that vary with the rate of people infected with COVID-19 based on their social-economic status, race, gender, or a mixture of the three. Since minorities and females mostly work the low paying jobs they cannot afford healthcare. So if one of these groups of people does get sick they probably will not be able to afford the treatment. Also, another factor race and SES play a factor in is that Hispanic and Black people have a job where they are not able to work from home so they are exposed whenever they go to work. This is also the same for people who are from a lower economic status, most of their hobs are in customer service and working with others.
I am feeling good about social distancing because I know that as of right now it is the only way to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Of course, I am not happy about everywhere being closed and me having to stay home all the time, but again it is for the best interest of this problem getting better. These strict measures may seem strict, but I read that it is working because the numbers are lower than expected. I know that my situation is more privileged than others with how I live. Luckily, we are still able to afford essentials and I am still able to get my education from home. I am using my privilege to help out my family by picking up prescriptions for my grandma and dropping them off outside of her house for her. My family was also able to find toilet paper for a friend who has an immune problem, so she did not have to go to the stores. I have noticed and became aware of incidents of discrimination against people who identify as Asian, Black, or Hispanic. I went to a small high school, so I was not as aware as I am now. Now that I go to college, I have noticed and became aware of incidents of discrimination. Many people had to move out of the dorms suddenly, but I am lucky that I am a commuter and I did not have to deal with that stress like others. Even though I still live at home, there still is a learning curve with trying to stay motivated. I try to exercise to keep my head in the right headspace so I can clear my mind to prepare for school. I am also trying to stay in touch with my professors so that the communication reminds me that it is still spring and summer vacation has not started yet.
Recently I started watching the news about how black people have been effected so much by the Corona Virus. Black people, particularly cash-poor Black people, are more likely to live with health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma and more. Black people are already treated as if we feel less pain and, subsequently, not administered adequate pain medication. There are Black communities living under food apartheid, who have little or no access to fresh water or quality health care. And Black women, specifically, carry more stress and anxiety and live with preexisting conditions often made worse by simply trying to survive in this world. No health care organization has released data on the race and ethnic demographics affected by this coronavirus, even though it is clear that Black communities will face disproportionate devastation. African Americans and other minorities are disproportionally holding jobs that don’t allow them to work or stay home, like most others are doing to ride out the pandemic. Honestly, I am not shocked at all that this is happening.
The impact of COVID-19 has been brutal around the world. I feel blessed to have the resources necessary to get through this troubling time. Many people have been affected by this virus including my family. My Aunt J who is a nurse in Maryland found out that one of her patients tested positive for COVID-19 and is now quarantined. Although my family is already a church family I feel as if this virus is making us even closer to God and each other because we are depending on God and each other for hope. I am currently unable to see my dad everyday like I usually do because he is highly at risk due to his medical issues. During this time my family lost my other Aunt (not to the virus) who had previously been in the hospital for almost a month and only 10 people were allowed at the funeral which was very tough and still is tough to go through. I’ve been struggling with keeping up with classes because of the new adjustment and the family issues involving health. I’ve mentally shut down some days and sometimes even feel depressed. Although I am going through many difficulties, I know many other people have it worse so I will continue to stay positive and pray for everyone’s well-being. Stay healthy!
COVID-19 has most definitely made a very large impact on my life, as well as many others across the world. This virus currently has America pretty much shut down, and with this comes switch-ups for many people’s daily lives. I personally have been affected in many ways both mentally and physically. I personally do have to say, more mentally than physically. I commute to PSUGA, so I personally did not have to pack up and move home, however, all of my friends did. I personally met some friends that have completely changed my life, and I was not quite ready to say goodbye to them for five months just yet. Not only friendship-wise has this virus impacted my life, but academically as well. I never really enjoyed going to school throughout grade school, but when I came to PSUGA, I began to love going to school everyday; it was never a hassle for me. With that being said, having to switch to online classes has been difficult for me. The whole aspect of getting to go to school everyday, see my professors in person, and all of the campus life is what makes school exciting; I feel as if all of the excitement is gone now, and the school work is just a task to do. Other than school, this virus has affected my lifestyle as well. I used to go to the gym everyday to weightlift, and now that all gyms are closed I am not able to go. Although I am able to still work out outside, my progress is still going to be altered. This virus has gone out of control, causing millions to have to file for employment. One thing I can say I am thankful for through all of this craziness is that I am still fortunate to be able to work and still have an income, unlike millions of Americans at this point.
I’m a senior, and although I’m really disappointed about not being able to walk/ graduate next month, I’m more concerned about my future career prospects. I’ve been fortunate to be able to work during the stay, but before all of this I was really looking forward to finding a job in my field of study. I work at Sam’s, at the membership desk, and it’s a rough job. Sometimes you encounter the nicest people, but if someone is coming to the membership desk, it’s often due to issues. My work at Sam’s regularly requires me to deal with confrontation people who are upset because they can’t get a cash refund without a receipt or something stupid like that. I was really looking forward to exploring career options and finding something I’m passionate about. Now, I am so uncertain of what my future will look like. I am fairly confident that looking for a job in my field of study, now or over the next months, is pointless. I will probably be working at Sam’s for several more months. I just hope that when this is all over that there will be jobs to go to for the seasoned applicant as well as the recent graduate.
Covid-19 has changed my family’s way of life in a number of ways. Thankfully my father is still able to work as he is a plumber and therefore I work with him just about every day of the week. This has been a blessing in the fact that so many families are without pay during these troublesome times and we still have a source of income. On the other hand it has caused us to have a greater risk of being exposed to the virus. We have taken this very seriously and still are, but it is still scary because my dad is 62 years old and is at a much greater risk than I am.
My mother has been working from home but recently has not had any work at all. She works for the Allegheny County Courts and is a court reporter. But the worst thing that has come from Covid-19 so far is my sister’s wedding has been cancelled. While this may be a selfish reason, we put a lot of effort into the wedding and now cannot have it.
Personally Covid-19 made all classes online which I am not enjoying at all. Now balancing working full time with meeting online for class has been more difficult than going to class in person. Also the baseball season was cancelled just as it started. Thankfully my family and nobody I know has contracted Covid-19.
I’ve been affected by COVID-19 in my job because I still have to work. I work at wendys and we now just have less contact with people, only doing the drive through and less people working at one time. While doing work, school has also changed by only going online. Personally online classes don’t bother me but the school setting is different but adjustable. Activities that I would usually do such as softball, has been cancelled. As for my home life, my mother does her work from online until she’s allowed back.
Similar to everyone else in our classes, and the people we know, I have been effected by COVID-19. It has hit me in a different way. For my job, I am actually a pizza delivery driver, so we still have to work during this world wide pandemic. It has changed the way I work, doing a lot more contactless deliveries than ever. By doing this, it gets rid of the little conversations and communication with the people I am delivering the food too. On top of work, it has impacted schooling, similar to everyone across the country. I am one that learns better being in the class room and being face to face with the professors, but during this time, it has been a little bit difficult adjusting and trying to keep focus on my schooling while I’m at home with everything going on. Also to add, this whole situation has had an impact on my physical activities. I play hockey, and due to this, my leagues have been put on hold, and similar the gyms have also been shut down. Yes, there are still the abilities to go on walks and runs, but to me it just is not the same as playing a sport that I, and I am sure many people have played their whole lives, to just be shut down in the blink of an eye.
How has the coronavirus impacted your paid employment (obvs n/a if you are not employed)?
N/A, but my wife is working more hours on the frontline at the hospital.
How has it impacted your physical or mental health?
It definitely sparks a survival mode and an anxiety to have my family prepared for the worst.
What about your schoolwork or desire to engage in online instructional activities?
I prefer coming to class. I do not enjoy online classes which is the reason I go to Penn State Allegheny. It is harder for me to learn in a hands off, non traditional way.
What about your family responsibilities and significant relationships?
As the eldest child in my family, I have taken the lead on acquiring resources for everyone. My health is the best as my father has a pacemaker, diabetes, and a permanent catheter…and my younger brother has had two strokes and also has diabetes. My mother, at 69 years old, should not be outside in stores in the current environment. In my own home, I am now a 8th grade teacher for my son. Keeping him on track while supporting my wife’s increased responsibilities and hours at work, while also helping my elderly parents an hour away is challenging. My wife is considering volunteering to work in NYC as a nurse or respiratory therapist and help at some of the facilities she used to work at in the city.
Lastly, how do you think about what is currently unfolding as it applies to your graduation and career aspirations?
I have prepared my family for similar situations and major changes in lifestyle before. This current situation makes me appreciate how fortunate I am to have the resources and time to help my entire family when called upon. My personal schooling and career aspirations are put to the side as I become the logistics network and person many of my loved ones rely on in this difficult pandemic.
The coronavirus has and has not impacted me in terms of work I work at GetGo and because its a gas station we are a necessity I won’t say how much I get paid but my job gave us a 1 raise and sent me a 25 dollar gift card for working. My mental health hasn’t been the best and with social distancing its hard because I live in East McKeesport and my parents live in allaquipa I was okay being so far when my friends could come and visit but its been hard not being able to see them or my best friend. We both go to school here and neither of us are good with online learning so I just worry about how the end of the semesters going to go. I hope that this transition will become easier using reminders and alarms for school. I think that there’s going to be a delay with seniors graduating going into their professions because everyone at this point is unemployed and with that small business are closed and not making money. When things start getting back to normal will all of the bussines that closed be finacilly stable enough to hire back as many people that got laid off ? when employers and bussines start hiring who are they choosing new graduates or past employees with things getting back to normal new professionals are coming in and honeslty I think its going to be a bloodbath the compation for employment is going to be unreal and I think its yet again going to shake us as a socitey.
Coronavirus has impacted my employment. Since I worked at the school and we are no longer permitted on campus, I can not work anymore. Although we have the option to get 4 hours a week by doing some work via zoom, it is not what I was used to doing. Students were working at least 20 hours a week, and now only 4. It is still something though, so of course, I am appreciative of that because it shows they are thinking about us. This virus has not impacted my mental health. In my opinion, online classes work better for me. I am still adjusting to waking up at home and logging on to have access to classes but I like it better. The virus has impacted my physical health because I was going to physical therapy twice a week and since this outbreak, I have not been in weeks. I still have the option to go to therapy but, with all of this going on I would just rather not go to be on the safe side. Going back to me enjoying online classes more I think my engagement with my classes has gotten much better. Since I am at home it gives me unlimited time to focus. I think I personally being at home gives me the advantage to do all my assignments because what else is there to do? My family responsibilities at home have not changed much at all if any. However, the only thing I’m having a hard time adjusting to is just not being to go to certain places. I’m used to going out a lot and hanging out with my friends so that part for me is unfortunate. For the future, I hope they get this under control soon and this is not long term. For my graduation and career aspirations, this virus has not affected any of it yet, and hopefully, all of this is contained soon so that it does not affect anything.
The spread of this Covid-19 virus has put a halt to many things in my life. Some less important than others, but none the less many things have changed. I think the most effected thing in my life/daily routine has been the interaction with all those I would come across in my daily academic life. From teammates to teachers. No longer being able to see these people has left a void of some sorts, within me. Even small things, that might be taken for granted, such as walking to the park with some friends or going to the mall to meet new people. All of these activities have just been taken away from us in a flash. Putting my problems aside, some one who has been affected the most is my mom. She is a healthcare worker, who is now trying to operate and take care of everybody from home. This has taken a slight toll on her as, she has been getting 10x more calls from patients, scheduling virtual meetings, and making appointments for these patients to get tested to Covid-19. I just hope that there is a resolution to all this mess soon, so that all those who are experiencing this type of work load are free from this type of burden.
Since the United States declared a pandemic for the virus, the world has been totally different. It feels weird not going to school anymore, not seeing anyone, and not going anywhere. Although spending time with family is good, you need to be able to get out and about. This has severely affected the economy and the working people of America, and the world. People have been laid off work and have had no income at all. Some kids rely on school lunches to eat and since school has been closed some kids cannot eat. I think the leaders are doing a great job of trying to contain the virus to get America and the world back on our feet and get back to our normal routines. Most importantly, I miss being able to be around people and have actual human communication. This system is more difficult to learn and interact, but we need to do this so we can go back to normal.
When I first heard about this virus I did not take it as a joke but as soon as I paid attention to the news I realized how serious it was. I had the opportunity to do online classes in high school and I refused to do so because for me it is easier to learn in person than over the computer, so this online stuff is confusing and a little hard to learn. This virus made such a huge impact on me personally because of how distant I have to be from cheerleading. I got hurt a while ago and was not able to compete so I just quit so I can focus on volleyball but once I actually got back into the gym before spring break it felt so amazing to be back I got back in the rhythm and my coach was working with me to get back into my stunt groups and everything then I left for spring break and then everything just started going downhill and it made me so upset, that nationals were cancelled and everything. Then my family was supposed to come up to visit and they were not able to because my grandparents did not want to travel of course. It is very scary knowing that there are more and more cases a day because teens do not know how to just stay in the house, they just continue to go out and bring the virus back home to their families. I truly hope this all clears up and everyone can go back to work/school etc, it is messing with peoples lives and futures especially for the students that can’t even walk across the stage. That is supposed to be a huge part of someone’s lives and this quarantine is outrageous.
This has really impacted my employment because I can not go to work until this quarantine is over because my job is non-essential. I am lucky enough that I am able to just work a “summer” job so I can focus on classes but I do count on my summer job to help with school. Being home has made me feel more relaxed but stressed at the same time. Since I do not have to drive anywhere I do not have to worry about being late to classes. The problem is that I have found it to be hard to learn through zoom because of not being in the classroom setting. It is hard to engage in online classes because it is not what I signed up for. Of course, I am still going to go to the online classes and do the best that I can, but all of my classes were not meant to be put online which makes engaging hard. It makes the classes very difficult to learn through a screen. With family responsibilities also makes this hard with staying at home as much as possible. I cannot visit my grandma due to there being a high risk of her getting it. That makes it hard to know that you can not see someone you are so close to but I have to stay away for her safety. As for my career aspirations, I feel like it might impact what part of the criminal justice field I would like to go into because I know stuff like this impacts every field.
The corona virus has impacted my employment in a couple different ways. Considering that I work in a grocery store, its one of the few places that are still open. My hours have varied though because all the departments are closing early so I don’t work nearly as much because I have to attend my zoom sessions. So, at the moment I don’t work as much as I previously did and so I’m losing out on money. To attribute to my physical health instead of going to the gym I walk outside a lot and try to be outdoors when possible. That also contributes to my mental health because being cooped up and inside all day will take a tool on someone. The corona virus pandemic also affects my mental health because of course its scary to hear all of the negative impacts its causing in the world. I’m sure a lot of people are feeling anxious about the disease and everything that comes with it. Online classes are troublesome because sometimes its hard to keep track of everything that needs to be done. The motivation level for school work honestly decreases to because were at home all the time which the ideal school environment isn’t. I’m not able to see my grandma at this time because she’s had health complications in the past and I don’t want to risk anything. I think that’s one of the hardest parts because she lives alone and usually, I would drive in and see her but now I can’t. I don’t see this affecting my graduation much because I’m only a sophomore but if I were a senior I would be upset. There’s a high chance that there wont be a graduation ceremony and its upsetting because students work very hard for 4 years to celebrate it with family and peers.
Covid19, has led to drastic changes within just a few weeks. It has caused people to act in ways they would never before. I believe as an American society, living in a 1st world country, we like to believe that such emergencies cannot happen here, until they do. I believe as a country, we live in a state of denial and fear, until we are struck with a taste of reality, until people are dying suddenly, in our own country. Yes, people die everyday from disease and tragic accidents, but for people who are contracting a virus without any known cause, its quite alarming. Its makes you think, what can we do as a society to make this situation less chaotic or frightening? To think, a month ago, no one had to think about buying hand sanitizer or toilet paper, now suddenly when theres an outbreak – people are running for the shelves. As humans, we often react out of fear, before thinking rationally. People feed into the media, before doing their own research first. Throughout this last month, there has been 2 groups of people acting in different ways. The ones who act in a rational, positive – selfless way. And the ones who act out of greed, fear, and negativity. This is what you call collective behavior, when groups of people act in ways that go against the social norm or values. In society, we have the people who think rationally, and understand that although this may not affect them it could easily affect someone else. There are people giving back to those in their communities, by handing out handmade soaps, sanitizers, etc – due to the lack of supplies in the stores. Stores are opening up earlier for elders to shop and have first pick. Simple acts like these, reduces the amount of chaos that occurs from the people who are reacting out of fear and greed. The ones who disregard the rules, and have the “its all about me” mindset. This pandemic has caused people to be selfish and inconsiderate of other peoples needs. Those who are more privileged, going to the stores, buying everything they can get their hands on, are making it harder for those who actually need these supplies, the ones who cant go out, or the ones who are more at risk of contracting Covid19. As a society, we should be looking out for one another, instead of fearing each other. Covid19 has caused people to think irrationally, while also causing racial tensions. Asians are being oppressed and mistreated due to the outbreak. Some are being attacked for not wearing masks. A Korean student was assaulted in NYC, for not wearing a mask while walking the streets. Healthcare workers, the ones who are exposed the most, go out to work everyday, putting their lives at risk for the safety of others. My mom; a nurse, wore a mask around the store in her scrubs after work, and people gave her the strangest looks as if she was infected or contaminated, instead of thinking with common sense, as if maybe she was wearing it to keep others safe. Yet, they resorted to thinking out of fear, as if she had Covid19 and tried to stay away from her. I believe fear, leads to the downfall of society, for once, we should listen to authority and listen to what they tells us to do, since we have never experienced this before. The more this virus spreads, the worse it can be for everyone. Throughout this chaos, we should be kind to one another, think about those you care about, this isn’t just about “you”. Its about everyone.
The spread of the corona virus has affected me and has somewhat not affected me. I say it somewhat hasn’t affected me because for one, I am naturally a homebody. I feel like this social distancing is something I am used to by being home and separating myself from others. Secondly doing online assignments really doesn’t bother me. I prefer to do my assignments independently and in an environment I am comfortable in. The COVID-19 hasn’t really affected my mental health. I am already a hypochondriac so it just made me like feel I need to watch myself more when I am, for example walking my dog outside. The part that somewhat does affect me about this corona virus is everything being closed, or closed early. I am unable to workout and go to the gym now. Walking into stores such as Walmart, Sam’s Club, Restaurant Depo, and Target, seeing the shelves empty. Also going up to the registers just for them to tell you, you can only have a minimum of 1 soap, egg, and so on. The corona virus has impacted my paid employment entirely. It has impacted my job to the point it’s just closed down until further notice, so we aren’t getting any pay.
COVID-19 where do I even begin. This virus has turned the world upside down. Over the past few weeks, I have seen some drastic changes in me and my family’s lives. When this first all hit me that this was going to get serious it took me and my baseball team all by surprise. On our way home from myrtle beach after only getting a few games in this season our coach told us it was all coming to an end. I had a really sour feeling knowing that it was all just over knowing our team put in so much work in the offseason and it was finally starting to all payoff. So not only did we lose our baseball season but it is a challenge for some players to still put in the work. Gyms are closed baseball fields and most facilities are also closed. The virus is making things challenging in that aspect to keep up with our training. Baseball is all I know and with that first the first time in my life being snatched away its hard to come up with things to do in this quarantine. Not only has the virus affected my athletic hobbies but just being able to see my friends in general. Most kids aren’t allowed to leave their house let alone do something because there is quite literally nothing to do. Obviously our schooling has been affected since the rest of our semester is online. Like many others are saying this is challenging because you are in the comfort of your own home and there is little motivation to get on and do the work online. I am eagerly waiting for this to all go away and things can get back to normal.
When the first news of the COVID-19 began I did not take it seriously. I would laugh at the memes online and also make jokes about it. But then it started to impact my life. I had received an email during spring break that said the school is going to be online for the rest of the semester which impacted a lot of different aspects of my life. I had to move my stuff out of the dorm earlier which was an inconvenience. I also am not a person who does well in online classes. I try to avoid taking them as much as I can because those of the types of classes I have gotten the lowest grades in. I think the issue with online classes is remembering to do the work and to study for the class since there is no obligation to attend a class. The worst thing this virus has done was not giving me the ability to walk for graduation in May like I was supposed to. I did not get to have my last times reminiscing with the friends I have had through college or just to sit through my last college. I feel like this has been the biggest impact on my life because what I have been working towards for the past 3.5 years has been taken away in an instant. I understand that Penn State is going to reschedule graduation but this was not how my senior year was supposed to end. I was supposed to spend this time celebrating this accomplishment along with my fellow seniors and I was supposed to get those 10 seconds on the stage to celebrate this accomplishment I have worked so hard to achieve.
Since our University has closed because of the COVID-19 it has impacted my life in many ways physically and mentally. I was forced to move from my dorm and go back home, lost my job with the school, and did not get to do my teaching internship all because of this virus. While being back in my hometown in Ohio I’m use to going to the gym everyday and going out with my friends but everything in my hometown is completely shut down and we now have a curfew that you can’t be out past 10pm unless it is for work.
I have always struggled with doing online work and that is why I never sign up for online courses, and since we are being forced to do our assignments online for the rest of the semester I feel like my grades are going to be very effected, and considering now that I am at home instead of school I feel like I’m going to lose motivation to do work, forget about some assignments or forget about class meetings. Seeing where I’m from work is the last thing on my mind, I’m more worried about my family because there have been multiple cases of COVID-19 confirmed in both of the hospitals in my town and with my parents business still open I am afraid one of them might catch the virus.
At first I really thought this virus was a complete joke, and everyone was being overly dramatic. I went to Colorado for spring break, going on a plane, and coming in contact with thousands of people. I really thought this was just a normal flu that would go away in a couple of days, and in all reality I am not worried about me being sick, I’m worried about my father (he has a compromised immune system). My father and traveled together on spring break and experienced many symptoms of the virus. Since we were in high elevation we were told it was altitude sickness, while this may be true we still came home and experienced the same symptoms, traveled on the plane with sick people, and exposed to many things. You may ask why didn’t we stay home? Well, at first it wasn’t that bad and was isolated. Once we heard what was going on, even though we felt sick we didn’t want to be stuck in another state and stranded alone. I currently am working as a waitress, but it is strictly takeout. However, if restaurants reopen in the upcoming week, I will not be working because I cannot risk giving the virus to my father and family. My health is overall in good health, but all my doctors appointments I have been waiting for months have all been cancelled. I signed up for a whole semester of credits, but truthfully I am so stressed, the last thing I want to do is think about school. I really am considering dropping my summer classes, because I am so overwhelmed. My relationships have been struggling immensely. Everyone seems to be worrying about getting sick, everyone being around each other is starting to make everyone fight, and your relationships that are important to you seem to come into perspective quite quickly. I once saw a movie called “The Road” basically about how the world ends. Not zombie apocalypse, not huge tsunamis towering 100 ft tall, but how the world would really end. Disease comes first, then the economy collapses, everyone panics, everyone for themselves, then the people slowly destroy themselves, whole families commit suicide to avoid hunger, people eat each other, and everything is destroyed, all of this makes me think of that movie burned into my memory. Truthfully, the last thing on my mind is graduating it is making sure my family and loved ones stay safe. The virus doesn’t scare me, the people do.
The Coronavirus messed up my opportunity to start my work study on campus. I had to leave my old job cause it was too far from where I live now and my school and track schedule was just taking up all my time to try to drive all the way across town to get to work. That’s when I applied for work study and I was supposed to start a little before spring break but it took a little longer than expected. My “supposed to be” boss told me I would start after break but now that this virus has gotten out hand it’s interfered with me making some money along with finishing out my track season which is now officially canceled. We haven’t even had the chance to run our first outdoor meet this year. As far as my mental health, I’m fine. I’m not stressing as much because luckily me or my family has came in contact with the virus so we are just maintaining staying inside and waiting for more updates on this whole situation. The online classes is going pretty good. The bright side out of this is I can do all my work while lounging around in my pajamas. Luckily none of my professors have made any real difficult assignments during this time which definitely takes off a lot of stress. However, it does get kind of boring only being able to text or FaceTime my friends and not be able to go anywhere with them or just really hang out…
Hopefully they get this whole thing under control soon or they come up with a plan for graduation since my brother graduates at the end of the semester. I’m sure by next spring 2020 which is when I graduate; things should definitely be cleared up by then so my graduation an go as planned.
The corona virus has impacted my job severely. I work as a customer service manager at walmart and it is currently causing a lot of fear with myself and my employees. Everyday we have to put our safety at risk due to our location not being a store that will shut down. This is very overwhelming to us. Customers do not think about how scared as they are to even come into the store. Imagine the anxiety we feel being exposed to thousands of people in a limited time. Due to the virus our store hours have been cut and a lot of employees are suffering because they are not able to work all morning hours. This has impacted my mental health severely. I already had anxiety and this virus causes me to have an anxiety attack multiple times throughout the day because I fear for my life every time I step foot into my job. It has impacted my school work as well because I am not good at self teaching myself. I purposely try not to take online courses because I struggle with virtual learning. This has also impacted my family responsibilities because out of fear for the younger and older members in our family we have tried to limit physical contact with them so we do not get them sick. This crisis is currently jeopardizing my future. I feel very upset at the idea that we cannot live our lives normally like we are used to. I feel scared for my future because what if I cannot graduate and celebrate all the hard work that I have been doing.