Safwan Ahmed

Dr. Crowther

English 1101

4/24/2022

COVID-19: My Survivor Story

            According to the COVID-19 archive, 60 million people had the disease. That must have been a long time ago because now the global cases have reached over 511 million. And one out of those 511 million people, was me. In the middle of December 2020, I and my family met the infamous coronavirus. Though it lasted all of one day, and with very limited symptoms, in that one day I understood the fear of this disease that had struck the world in such an unexpected way.

            Nearly everyone either had COVID or knew someone who had COVID by the time summer 2020 had come around. I was the first one in my family, and by the time I had made an appointment to get tested, my dad and sisters were coughing too. A long car ride and irritating nose inspection later summed up the “test”. Two days later, it was confirmed: we all had COVID. It was as if we traveled to a different planet and lost our humanity. Our family members avoided us like we were the disease itself, refusing to come inside our house and wearing masks around us 24/7. Even after a week had passed, people were still overcautious around us, making our lives way more awkward than they needed to be. But it turned out for the better as the last thing we needed was my grandparents, both over 60 years old, to catch COVID from us. Fortunately, that did not happen. Unfortunately, other family members of ours did catch it and they did not share the same fate as I did.

            April 18^th, 2021 was a sad day for my father’s side of the family. His only living cousin, who I only met once 4 years before, had caught the virus and did not survive. You could say he died young, a mere age of 42, but in Islam, we do not believe in accidents so we accepted it as God’s decree. That did not alleviate the pain, however, as it was visible through the entire family that the world had lost a good person. I, for one, felt very guilty, as I saw it as “you survived but he didn’t” and now anyone who I hear has caught COVID reminds me of him. May we meet him in heaven.

            March 2020 might have been long but I think that one day in December was even longer. I was confused from the minute I woke up. It was winter but the heat was on blast and I was still freezing. It got even weirder when I came upstairs and saw that my dad and sisters were in the same predicament, covered in blankets on the living room couches, freezing. I honestly thought we were dying. To make matters infinitely worse, it was a school day, so in 2 hours we had to get to work. While my dad could sleep, I and my sisters forced ourselves to do some schoolwork, thanking God that we were in online class The entire day, we pretty much fell in and out of sleep, a clear symptom of COVID-19. and this resulted in me having a lot of overdue schoolwork, as it was a weekday. This is a recurring theme in my life.

            I don’t believe in luck, so I will call it fortune, God’s gift. By his grace, I survived the COVID-19 pandemic and my life has continued for another year. In a very similar conclusion I’d written previously, I said I’d end with hope for the future. My hope for the future is that I, nor anyone else in the world, ever have to go through the tragedy and loss that was a common result of COVID-19. Though that might just be wishful thinking, and as I write this, more people are coming down with the disease, and some dying from it, I still hope. I pray for each and everyone one of their families, and especially mine, that this disease harms them not. Maybe it will be done far before we expect it to? Who knows?

Positivity is key

Interview

I had the honor of interviewing my grandma for this final project. During the pandemic one of the most impacted groups of people were those 60+. They faced many challenges over the past few years and witnessed things they had not before. I chose to interview my grandma because she has a unique perspective on the past two years of the pandemic. Her experience is far from what mine was, which makes it all that more important to listen to her side. Though there were many differences, there were a similar connections between our two experiences.

Question 1: What lessons, If any, have you learned from the pandemic?

Alice: “I have not experienced anything like this. I was confined to the house for some time. What I learned was that, with life changes, you can’t get through them without positivity. I found myself being positive and hopeful that one day I would be able to return to my life before the pandemic. That positive mindset got me through those months.”

“I had friends who let the negativity get to them. They refused to realize our lives had changed   and we needed to adapt to the changes. I never regretted  staying in the house. I knew the best thing for my health, was to listen to professionals and my family and to do what was necessary to keep myself well.

A common theme between many was the need to remain positive. The pandemic was hard on everyone for varying reasons, however, through that struggle, people found ways to cope. Whether it was their positivity, or their long phone calls with friends, or their interest in a new hobby. People made the best of a terrible situation

Question 2: While you were in lockdown, what did you find yourself doing?

Alice: “I found myself wanting to do something that I had never done before, I dyed my hair purple. I just felt good about it. It was something that was fun for me to do since I couldn’t do many of the other things I enjoyed.”

“I also found myself talking to my friends and family on the phone. That was the only way for us to share recent personal life changes. Normally we were too busy to have lengthy conversations. By talking it out, we supported each other which helped us get through without negativity.”

The pandemic made people do things they would have never considered. With little contact to the outside world, other people seemed to only exist through a computer screen. The fear of judgement no longer existed or was at least lessoned. How could these little pixels on my computer actually judge me? It is not like they are real people? A slight exaggeration, but many people felt this way, including myself. This lead to changes, temporary or even permanent, in hopes to make the pandemic lock-down more bearable. With less judgment people explored more parts of themselves and learned what they did and didn’t like.

Question 3: Now that the pandemic is near over, what are looking forward to?

 Alice: The one thing I miss most are the family gatherings that we have not been able to have over the past years. Now, I am able to enjoy being with family. Our family was a support system throughout the pandemic, we worked together.

“I am X number of years old, but I learned that I am the child, and my children and grandchildren are the parents. They love me and always want what is best for my health and wellbeing.”

During the pandemic, everyone has a different experience to share, which made it even more important to hear what she had to say about her situation. Getting to have this talk with my grandma was a true pleasure. I was happy she was willing to open up in ways she rarely does. The pandemic brought people closer, it taught us that the people we have in our lives are to be treasured.

Before covid, I did gymnastics competitively for about 6 years. I decided that the season for 2019-2020 would be my last. In that year, I was still going on with my day-to-day life. I would rise before the sun would shine, get ready quickly because I always woke up late, go to my high school for long periods, have tiring gymnastics practice, and try to get my homework done. Even with this going on, I wanted to do well and end with good scores at my gymnastics meets during that season. I was going to stop doing gymnastics because it is such an intense sport that took up a lot of my energy and time. I had practice 4 days a week, taking up 20 plus hours. I had limited time to do my high school work and hang out with my friends. Gymnastics is a spring sport, so the competition season is usually from January to April. Covid conflicted with this because everything shut down in the beginning/middle of March.

My last meet was very significant for me because it was so fun. I didn’t expect it to be my last, but COVID-19 hit, and I had to end gymnastics early. I went to New Orleans with my grandpa for the weekend. I competed at my meet with my teammates and got awards and medals. During the rest of the time, I explored the city with my grandfather and teammates. It was almost Mardi Gras, so there was lots of partying. My gymnastics friends and I went shopping and walked down French Quarter. In the heart of the city was a Mardi Gras Parade that we went to. It was so crowded, and everyone was on top of each other. I can’t imagine being in a crowd like that anymore after covid happened. There were tons of floats and loud music. Everyone was cheering to the point of yelling. Beaded necklaces were flying everywhere, waiting for people to catch them. After that trip, I returned and started practicing to get ready for the summer. Summer practices were intense and even longer than the regular school year schedule. So, once it was all over, I was relieved.

The first months, maybe even up to a year after quarantine started, I was so down that I couldn’t do gymnastics anymore. This confused me because I wanted to quit so bad earlier that year, but now, I suddenly wanted to return. It made me think about starting it up again, but I remember how much energy it took out of me and that I wouldn’t be happy. Life after quitting gymnastics felt free. I didn’t have the massive commitment of going to practice every day and had more time. We were in the middle of a pandemic, so I couldn’t go out with my friends, but I could take a break. I stayed home, took my dog out on walks, and started to get into new interests. New interests like watching a lot of television. I just got into anime and was watching about one show a day. It sounds unhealthy to watch at least one show a day, but I had nothing else to do. I got into so many genres and shows that it felt like unlimited choices to choose from. I would also listen to music almost every second of every day. I discovered K-pop during this time. This type of music was just so fun because of the many sounds used and different languages. When watching the music videos, pops of vibrant colors were everywhere, and fantastic dance moves. I was able to stay entertained.

Coming to a whole 2 years since I quit gymnastics, I came to terms with it. Right now, I feel content. I joined my high school gymnastics team, and it was the fun that I needed gymnastics to be. I was still allowed to do gymnastics and compete with less pressure on me. Gymnastics will always be important to me and hold a special place in my heart. I met lots of people that I’m still friends with and amazing coaches that are my role models. Even with my last season ending early I can still remember the good things as well as the bad.

Eunice Amoaka 

English 1101 

Dr. Crowther 

04/24/2022 

Trying to adjust to the new normal 

  The picture I am analyzing is about a man before and after covid. The background of the picture is black on both sides. But if you look closely, there are two different shades of black on both sides. We see a man’s face where half of his face has a mask, and the other side does not have a mask. On the side without the mask, he looks calm and healthy. He looks like a normal person without worries. But on the other half, he is wearing a mask, his face looks pale, his eyes look watery, and he looks like he is ill and sad. The brightness of the man’s face makes the left side lighter like there is a light coming out of him. On the right side, his face color is grayish like a pale color and the background is black but darker because of his face. You can see that his face color changed on both sides. The perspective here is that the man’s life has changed, and he is not the same person anymore. He might be sick, lose a loved one, or lose his job. So many things might be happening to him and may have happened to some of us. This picture shows Pathos as it captures the emotion of the man. The argument the picture makes is that covid changed how everything was. It is like living in a different world, nobody was expecting something like that to happen and it took us by surprise. Life before covid was not always perfect but, life after covid switched and affected not only our living lifestyle but also our physical lifestyle; How we all have changed somehow due to covid. Covid could have had a big impact on each person. So many people have lost a loved one and everyone has experienced social distancing from people, even family. Certainly, this image is describing a person’s life but, it is also describing our lives. We all were affected by covid, we all experienced something. I experienced something similar to the man in the picture; I had covid and it was the worst thing to happen. My face was pale, my whole body was feeling tired, and my head was killing me but luckily, I was able to recover. Also, the fact that the man’s face looked sad may be because of depression. Something we probably experienced during that time. I interviewed my friend to find out how her mental state was during covid. She said her mental health increased; she was stressed during the pandemic because she is a social person so staying home was not something she enjoyed; she would rather be out and hang out with friends. She was sad, feeling like she was in a prison. She said, “I was feeling like I was trapped.” The fact that she was not able to go out was depressing for her, the news was giving her anxiety and making her question everything. The man was wearing a mask on the left side which is our new normal; It is like an accessory you must carry everywhere. For example, when we go to the store, we need to have cash or a credit card to pay for our items otherwise we won’t be able to get our stuff; it goes the same way with the mask, we can’t go anywhere without it, we must wear it if we don’t want to get sick or to spread the disease even more. Some places demand the wear of masks. The picture resumes our life before and after covid.  

 

Arthur Brewer

English 1101

Dr. Crowther

4/21/22

Lost Sports Seasons

There were a lot of exciting events that were canceled during the covid pandemic, and sports seasons are one of them.  A lot of games had been rescheduled to later days.  There were also some games where not a single fan showed up.  A lot of tournaments were also canceled.  A lot of people were probably sad because they didn’t get to watch their favorite sports during lockdown.  I also didn’t get to go to Special Olympics basketball from March 2020 to April 2021.

Some sporting events were completely canceled.  Others were postponed.  The March 12 MLB preseason was completely canceled.  The 2020 Boston Marathon was postponed from April 20 to September 14.  The 2020 Tokyolympic games were postponed to the summer of 2021.  The 2020 French Open was moved to September 20.  All the athletes might have been disappointed when their games got canceled.

A lot of games that weren’t canceled didn’t have any fans watching from the venue seats.  In the spring of 2020, stadiums prohibited fans from attending games to help reduce the spread of covid.  Some athletes, such as LeBron James, decided they wouldn’t partake in games if there were no fans in the audience.  Jonathan Fader said “the lack of energy from fans could raise concentration” (Bumbaca 3).  Mental skills coach Graham Betchart says “not having any fans could make things more intense where the game is happening” (Bumbaca 3).  On May 16, the Bundesliga started back up in Germany, but there were no fans in the audience.  The fans who wanted to go to that game were probably very upset.  For each event in the Tokyolympics, organizers decided that 10000 was the maximum number of fans who could attend, and they had to be residents of Japan.

There were also some tournaments that either got postponed or completely canceled due to covid.  They include, but are not limited to, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (March Madness), the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, the 2020 Masters Tournament (golf), and the Tour de France.  March Madness 2020 was completely canceled before it could even start, and a lot of people were probably very sad about it.  In 2020, the Masters Tournament was rescheduled from March to November.  The 2020 Tour de France was moved to August 29 when it was supposed to be on June 27.

In 2020, I had a year-long hiatus in Special Olympics Basketball, which I started in the fall of 2018 at the YMCA of Decatur.  When I started, I shot some baskets with one of my childhood friends.  It was a great way to get some exercise.  We also went to have dinner after practice.  We also went to the Atlanta Hawks game in March 2019.  I was going to go with them to the Atlanta Hawks game in March 2020, but that was when covid became a real problem, and I was bummed out about missing the game.  That was also when the hiatus started, and it didn’t start back up until the fall of 2021.

In conclusion, the sports seasons and tournaments that were supposed to happen in 2020 were either canceled or postponed.  People seemed sad about the cancellations of events.  I was also disappointed about some events being canceled, including Special Olympics Basketball.

Works Cited:

Thompson, Dan. “The lost season: A year ago, the sports world stopped and months of disruption, confusion followed.” 21 Mar. 2021, https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/mar/21/the-lost-season-a-year-ago-the-sports-world-stoppe/.  Accessed 21 Apr. 2022

ESPN News Services. “List of sporting events canceled because of the coronavirus.” 23 Mar. 2020, https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/28824781/list-sporting-events-canceled-coronavirus.  Accessed 21 Apr. 2022

Bumbaca, Chris. “When pro sports return, fans won’t be there: Experts debate ‘a significantly different game’.” 31 May 2020, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2020/05/31/sports-return-without-fans-how-athletes-react/5274410002/.  Accessed 21 Apr. 2022

Ryan, Joal. “Major Sports Events Canceled or Postponed Due to Coronavirus.” 9 Dec 2020, https://247sports.com/ContentGallery/Major-Sports-Events-Canceled-or-Postponed-Due-to-Coronavirus-146669046/#146669046_1.  Accessed 21 Apr. 2022

   

Nora Lane

English Composition

Professor Crowther

4/17/2022

             

 

                                                   The Virtual Covid Experience

 

 

It’s as if someone unleashed Jumanji among us all and we are playing infinitely towards the end. With each turn, a rumbling effect of change unravels and shifts our perspective.   First, the wave of panic with the ongoing cases and a new virus update, to the anger and confusion, and ongoing frustration of the CDC changing the course of how we should manage it all. But, what of the humor that lies in the middle of the conflicts? Maybe it’s time we see the light of all the predicaments instead of hiding indoors and letting it take over us all.

For the past two years, everything has felt more like a simulation than reality. We have seen the lengths that people will go through to greatly embarrass themselves. Watching people swarm the grocery stores and horde food, tissue, and cleaning products has honestly helped place everything into perspective. I wouldn’t put it past anyone if someone hauled three shopping carts worth of nonsense into their homes, only to return it a day later. Now things have shifted where we have a shortage of various items and inflation is keeping the impulse of the masses at bay. It’s like watching the chaos of the cirrus being whipped into shape by a lion tamer.

I think the best form of irony comes from the vaccine and mask mandates that started in March of 2020. People felt as if their rights were being taken away by trying to save their lives from a deadly virus. could die from “carbon dioxide poisoning” by breathing in their own air in the mask. Honesty, I could be more in shock with humanity up until that moment. Face masks were used in hospitals, dentistry and even across the world for decades and without a single objection and now suddenly fear of face mask have plagued the country. With the constant buffoonery of common sense, I am starting to believe in the virtual reality conspiracy. Yet, my hope continues to swing from a single brain cell.  

On a brighter note, pandemic pets were key headlines for quite some time. The saying “a dog is a man’s best friend”, has completely taken on a new meaning at this point. In turn to digest and take charge of Covid was to adopt a pet to tolerate it with a plus one, or so. I have also played a part in the “plus one” impulse with my own pup, and I can confidently say it is well worth the headache. I think with depression and anxiety on the rise, a furry friend would defiantly soothe the nerves. I can only hope that in exchange when things go back to normal that we don’t give our pets separation anxiety. That would be an uncomfortable form of reality.

Overall, we can all say that the pandemic has swung at us in all directions like unavoidable infinite pandemonium. However, we can honestly say there have been various low moments within our grief but what is critical in moments of chaos is laughs and unity. If we can look through all that we have transcended for the past two years. It is a slight possibility we can move forward in better spirits.

(Source: Nora Lane) (Personal photo and edited by me)

I, as an introvert, found the idea of two weeks of not going anywhere quite appealing. When America went into lockdown I was rather excited. All of my friends were bored and done after the first week, and really, I just didn’t understand. Nowhere to go, nothing to do, no one to see. A wonderful life. But as the time stretched on I realized it was not such a good way to live, and I gradually grew to hate the name of ‘Covid-19’. 

I did have a better experience than many others, though. I had been homeschooled all my life, and did not have much deviation from my normal schedule when the lockdown started. The kids who were unexpectedly dropped into it, though, were in for a nasty ride. Lots of things homeschoolers take for granted were unavailable to the new home-bound students. The most obvious difference was that it was a completely new experience for most of them, with new systems to figure out, a different schedule, and less accountability. For another difference, they had less access to teachers, and less help, rather than a caring teacher available all day at almost any time. They also often lacked personal desks or even a dedicated school area, which is unimaginable to me as an experienced homeschooler. Being able to move is a great aspect of homeschooling, but you need a home base to do your primary work at. 

So I had many of the things that they lacked. Most of my life did stay the same. I was used to spending most of the week in the same house, and to being surrounded all day by my noisy siblings. But the few outside interactions that did have to get canceled were hard to adjust to. Trapped in the complete monotony of daily life, the days began to blur together. I became much less productive, struggling to complete anything in a reasonable amount of time. 

Never really finishing my school affected the way I spent my free time. Most people started to read more during the Covid-19 lockdown, because they had more time, but I had the opposite reaction. I had been a huge reader before the pandemic, but throughout the spring and summer of the lockdown, I picked up almost no books. The days sped by too fast for me to take the time to find a good book, so it just did not happen.

But I did not feel upset about that at the time. As I said, it all blurred by. It was only later, after we were back to doing all of our normal activities that I really felt upset about the change Covid-19 had brought. Most of all, the disagreements. I remember a conversation between my dad and a Chinese friend before America was doing anything. COVID-19 had just made an entrance in her country, and China was starting to lock down. She was worried and my dad was trying to convince her that it was not as bad as all that. Lots of references to ‘the data’ were made, but both sides could use them to push their point, and neither trusted the other’s use. In the end, no one changed opinions, and everyone was less happy. Over the course of the next couple years there were many more arguments of the same nature with similar results.

That is what I most disliked about what Covid-19 brought. Disagreements, disagreements, disagreements. No one knew very much. Everyone read the same events differently. Everyone was tense, and uncertain, and worried. And whenever anyone talked with anyone else, all they could think of was COVID-19. It did not take long before I was done with listening to all the depressing, and sometimes angry, discussions. 

I still feel upset about some of the changes the lockdown caused. Some of the immediate effects have gone away. I am back to reading more books (though still not as many as I would like!). But I am still a slower worker than before. And other things hurt more now. We had to stop seeing family we had been close to, they have since moved away, so we can not go back to how it was before. Friendships grew further apart because we could do less together. The hardest part is still listening to the arguments. I wish people would learn to get along. Sure, we all have different viewpoints. We won’t necessarily agree. But if more people were willing to argue in a more reasonable manner, without the certainess that the other side has no solid arguments, everyone would probably get along much better.

 

In 2019 the spread of covid 19 affected everyone’s life at first; however, that impacted diversity based on who you were. Many industries were impacted like health workers, students, and families. The experiences of each individual in the pandemic are hard to capture. Let me take you into time to show you covid 19 from my perspective how we turned a tragic situation into a learn experiences and made everything go back to normal. “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient.” ~ Steven Maraboli. Since the outbreak majority of the people are following restrictions to keep everyone safe. We could start traveling again, electronics has satisfied the world for jobs and educational purposes, and we still can enjoy our freedom.

When it all started, many industries were impacted by covid 19 but especially healthcare professions. Healthcare professionals during the pandemic were affected negatively in many ways. For example, they mentally faced challenges such as burnout, depression, anxiety, and problems sleeping. The pandemic impacted healthcare workers the worst. Since the pandemic, every hospital has been full of covid cases worldwide. Healthcare workers have suffered from stress, depression, and anxiety. Imagine being healthcare during the time of this pandemic? Scary right!    Healthcare workers play an essential role in everyone’s lives and our communities. Healthcare workers are frontline heroes working long shifts.   

Meanwhile, normal people were locked down for a while; restaurants, schools, clubs, airports, etc., were closed down to the public. In fact, were doing school online; everything was virtual court meetings, church sessions, classes, etc. During this time, I learned many new things like cooking and baking. After all, I had to know because I was home and we couldn’t go outside much at first. As time went by, they reopened schools. You could come to school in person, or you could finish online. Courts were still on zoom meetings. They came out with the vaccine to help fight against the virus. Many places require you to be vaccinated; for example, health care workers must be vaccinated, and travelers must be vaccinated or tested negative for covid 19 in the last 24 hours before boarding.  

In addition, the public started opening back up ad schools started reopening parents and students made decisions on whether their child was virtual or back on campus. To illustrate, some students finish online and some students went back on campus with masks. Electronics has become more beneficial than ever before. Today we use electronics for everything. We Mainly use them for work, learning emailing, and researching and etc. In fact, we have been doing pretty good with preventing the spread of the virus, which has slowed the virus down. “Masks are coming off: restrictions are being lifted.” and “as covid 19 pandemic winds down, people are more eager to party more than ever”.

In other words, Covid-19 was an experience nobody will forget. Many industries were impacted namely health care workers, students and, families. Although the experiences were not the same the world felt the same way we all faced many problems during the time of the pandemic many of us lost loved ones and many friends but we also gained a lot of important knowledge and information. We all are working together to prevent the spread of covid –19 so we can enjoy our life. 

During covid and quarantine, the world went through a crisis.  Losing jobs, not being able to see family or friends, etc., resulted in many feeling their mental health going downhill.  Loneliness and very limited social interaction, to back to normal-ish society and life in three years is not something that is managed well by anyone. Symptoms relating to anxiety and depression are the main mental health results of the pandemic and have not been taken lightly. March 12th, 2020; was the last day with no masks and no idea of what was about to come next.  For me, that included the cycle of depression and anxiety, quarantine was about to cause.  

December 2019 was the start of the covid jokes.  Every time someone in class would cough everyone would give the standard response of “ouuuu someone has Covid.” But of course, now it’s not a joke anymore, it’s serious.  “Someone in China ate a bat,” was the main ‘fact’ and famous google search at the time. Throughout the beginning of 2020, there was a mixture of nervousness and not caring, from all those around me.  

Continuous worry and stress resulted at the beginning of my anxiety. I had to deal with events from my family members dying, my work ethic declining, to spending my time learning how to make whipped coffee and matcha drinks.  I was worried about the gyms closing and me not being able to make money at my job if this whole covid thing were to become serious.  This may sound like a common thing occurring in people’s lives today (and probably still when you are reading this). Going from being a “work hard, play hard” type student, I fell into a spiral that occurred of waking up late and procrastinating my assignments. The hard part was not living through quarantine but the after-effects of it.  In my senior year (current), life has felt as if I was a freshman all over again learning how to handle a bunch of classes with the benefit of college preparation and standardized testing. While I was worried about my own issues throughout this time, the rest of the world knew that this pandemic would be a great time to figure out the statistics of these feelings.  In the UK, questions on these topics were administered in the first six weeks of lockdown making even the beginning of lockdown a period where symptoms of a mental health crisis were growing.  Over 20% of those who took the survey, showed symptoms of anxiety but later decreased through the waves.  Men showed much fewer symptoms of depression (at 17%) than women (at 33%).  I wasn’t the only one struggling with this crisis. 

When learning that others research facilities took interest in this topic, I wondered if my own classmates and friends silently struggled with the same.  When surveying fifty students in the combined junior and senior class (16-18-year-olds), the most common symptoms were anxiety and depression.  Twenty questions on a variety of situations during quarantine and slightly after were asked.  Such as, “when starting online school, how did your grades fluctuate, and what resulted in this increase or decrease?”  All these questions were formatted to be answered in free response to having more detail and variety to determine results.  High school students seemed to have been affected much more percentage-wise with a 20% increase in depression and anxiety symptoms.  Other than depression and anxiety, many students suffered from a loss of motivation and social skills.  Coming back to school felt to many as if they were “starting school all over again and learning how to talk to people,” Amya Khan (12th grade) stated.  Many students described their time during quarantine as a change-in lifestyle that affected them long-term.  Those who did not feel a big difference during or after covid (about 5%) reported struggling with at least a short-time lack of social skills when coming back to in-person school.  For example, having conversations with a group of people or approaching a stranger.  As more people have been struggling with symptoms of anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, etc., more and more have come to the realization that this is a real thing that should be taken seriously.  Over 20% of those who took the survey showed symptoms of anxiety but later decreased through the waves.  Men showed much fewer depression symptoms (at 17%) than women (at 33%).  These ‘people’ include those of all ages, teens, adults, etc.  No one is exempt from their mental health or can avoid symptoms their whole life without its own consequences.  Many got help during covid and after have been healing but there are still many others suffering from the same or similar who have not been a part of these surveys or do not realize what those symptoms could mean.  For those reading this hundred years from now, know this, covid was not as bad for me as it was for many others around me.  For others it ruined them; many lost their whole families, lost their money, lost their life, etc.  Quarantine changed me, and I want to believe it was for a reason but honestly, I’m not sure.  It’s been complicated.

Society’s Attempt to Stop COVID

This decade marks the start of another huge pandemic, but unlike the past, we have so many records of each event. In the short 2 years we’ve lived with COVID, much of the world around us has adapted and changed to minimize COVID spread. Many signs, ads, and speeches from famous people were made to deter people from spreading the virus.

Our first example is a simple sign out in a public area near a shopping mall. The sign states, “Help stop the spread of COVID-19” with an image of a person wearing a disposable mask you’d see surgeons wear. Below it is another sentence that states, “Face masks required on the Ithaca Commons”. The sign is obviously telling everyone to wear a mask and that in order to enter the shopping mall that’s listed, you need a mask. The sign is also colored orange, likely to immediately grab your attention. It’d be pretty difficult to say you didn’t see the brightly colored sign that doesn’t match the color of any of its surroundings. The man wearing the mask may also demonstrate how to properly wear a mask, covering not just your mouth, but your nose too. At the very bottom of the sign at a small size is one more sentence that states, “Making downtown safe for all”. This demonstrates that the people who made the sign had the safety of the public in mind, specifically the public in the mall. However, it can be assumed they want everyone everywhere to wear a mask.

 

 

Another sign displays another message against COVID, spreading not only awareness, but also different methods to protect yourself. The sign on the left displays a large text that simply says, “Stop!” Under it is a message that asks if you are feeling any symptoms like: fever, cough, shortness of breath, and sneezing or runny nose then you are advised to not enter the building. This poster helps tell readers that should they be experiencing any of these symptoms, they may have COVID and need to stay away. Next to the symptoms is a note that tells readers to go to a specific location if they need assistance, likely to get help for them if they have COVID. The poster on the right displays how to prevent the spread of COVID, with a large text stating, “We can all slow the spread”, referring to slowing the spread of COVID. Below are different ways you can prevent COVID from spreading including: checking on the old and vulnerable, washing your hands, coughing or sneezing into your elbow, and staying home if you’re sick.
It’s clear both posters talk about COVID, but they state different things. The left poster talks about any symptoms that you would experience if you had COVID, and should you experience any of them, you are advised to stay away from the building. The right poster talks about how people can prevent COVID from spreading, giving different methods in doing so. Present in both posters, however, is a motto that states “Unite against COVID-19” in the bottom right of both posters. It can easily be seen as telling people to work together to stop COVID, but it could also be a reference to the United States of America, taking the “United” part into their motto. Lastly, should anyone need more information, there is a website that is listed on the poster as well: Covid19.govt.nz.

The last image has a much darker tone to COVID, putting up a darker reality than the previous ones discussed. In the image are 3 photos of different people, all wearing what looks like a ventilator, or a machine to help people who are struggling to breathe especially when they have COVID. They each have one line of text that says “Look him in the eyes” or “Look her in the eyes”, followed by another sentence at the bottom. The first image says, “Tell him you always keep a safe distance”. The second image says, “Tell her you never bend the rules”. The final image says “Tell him the risk isn’t real”. All three images list the first name of each person and say they’re a COVID patient, with a message below each stating, “ Stay Home > Protect the NHS > Save Lives”.

This image is likely set much later into the pandemic and aims to point out how careless the public has been when it comes to handling COVID, often asking the reader to tell these patients something they should be doing during the pandemic, but don’t actually do. The first image refers to how people rarely ever keep 6 feet apart from them, which is recommended to prevent the spread of COVID. The second image refers to people who try to ignore preventative measures like refusal to wear masks or vaccines. The last image refers to people who don’t even believe COVID is real or believe it’s like the common cold or flu. The poster depicts that the risks of COVID are indeed real, and the fact no one is taking it seriously is costing real lives. The fact all patients are also looking straight at the viewer is trying to pull emotion and guilt into the reader for allowing them to succumb to the virus because of the public’s carelessness.

The COVID pandemic has a massive group of ads, mostly to deter its spread and warn of its dangers. This essay only shows a handful of the ads during the 2 years of the pandemic, but much has changed during the 2 years, especially when comparing the tones between the first and second images to the third. Hopefully these images will last through the years and the future generation can look through them and understand COVID more than we did.