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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f3b98ef84d83fce7a108e76f8ed1e4f0.pdf
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COVID-19 Journaling
Katelyn Anthony
I am a fifth-year senior at Grand Valley State University and I am officially graduating
this week with my bachelor’s degree in social work and minor in psychology. I just want to
begin by giving some background information about myself, and how this virus has personally
affected my life. I could have never imagined that I would finish out my college career online, let
alone in my hometown and living with my parents. Although I did plan to return to the east side
of the state after graduation, I felt as though my time at Grand Valley was cut short.
When the virus began to make the news I did not think much of it. My dad continued to
tell me “this virus is going to get bad, and when it does I want you to come home”. I continued to
brush off what he was saying and continue with everyday life like many of us did. I first realized
that this was serious when Grand Valley, along with colleges and public schools all over the state
began closing. I was in the process of finishing out my last few weeks at my internship, and I
couldn’t imagine being told I could not go. Grand Valley gave social work students the option at
first, if we felt comfortable attending our internships, we could go. I was determined to still go as
I had a lot of responsibilities and absolutely loved my internship site. I drove to my internship the
following Monday that Grand Valley moved to online, and was then told within the first ten
minutes of being there that all interns had to leave, but I did not know I would never return. That
day my parents asked if I could come home as they wanted us all to be together. I drove home
that day, only packing essential items to last me a few weeks. Looking back, I wish I would have
packed more, but I was confused and unsure how long this was going to last. I still have the
majority of my belongings in Grand Rapids, and that has been difficult for me. I feel like my life
is in different places, as my fiance’ and I are also in the process of moving into our first house.
The transition to online classes was very difficult for me in the beginning of the switch. I
do feel that over time, I have adjusted as best as I can. I had never taken an online class in my
five years of college before this, because my learning style is not compatible with online
learning. I do not know how I would have managed it if I had a heavier course load like in
previous years, but since this is my last semester it is very manageable. My professors have been
understanding and very supportive through this transition, which is something I am very thankful
for. My professors have been more than willing to make adjustments and consider how difficult
these unforeseen circumstances can be for a college student. I have had a difficult time
�processing the numerous changes that unfolded in my life so quickly. Some of the most difficult
things for me to process have been a lack of closure in many areas of my life. I did not get to say
goodbye to my fellow classmates, my professors, or my wonderful co-workers at my internship.
I have also felt a sense of guilt, as I want to be at my internship helping with the high demand of
those seeking mental health services.
It has been difficult for me to engage in job searching, as there is a lack of agencies hiring
right now due to the virus. I have also had to consider finding a job that is not in my field of
study to make ends meet until I can find a job within my field of study. The process of job
searching has brought a lot of excitement for me, but also a lot of anxiety. It is hard for me to
imagine starting my first “real” job, when I have no sense of “normalcy” in my life at all. I have
applied to various jobs, but this is a difficult time to be searching for employment, as I am also
nervous about putting myself at risk for the virus as well. I found something someone wrote on
LinkedIn that I thought I would share for the graduating class of 2020 below: “I'm thinking about
the Clas s of '20, entering a job market that will be among the wors t ever for a graduating clas s , and
who aren't even getting graduation ceremonies (in mos t cas es ) to celebrate their achievements .
Now, and for years into the future, I hope that every employer will take s pecial note when they s ee a
2020 degree date on a job applicant's res ume, and give that pers on an extra look, at the very leas t.
Build it into your res ume review algorithms . T his clas s des erves s pecial cons ideration for what
they're going through now, as they finis h up their degrees in extraordinary circums tances , and as
they enter the workforce like they're jumping off a cliff. Let's all catch them, as bes t we can”. --Diana
Curtis
Although I have struggled with the lack of closure, job hunting, and sudden life changes,
I have also had the time to reflect on the many opportunities and experiences that I was provided
with while at Grand Valley. I have also been blessed to spend extra time with my parents that I
would not have had. This time of quarantine has also brought a time to pause and practice
gratitude. One thing that I have taken away from all of this is that life can change at any given
moment. What our “normal” lives look like one day, can be completely different the next.
Oftentimes, it is easy to get in a mundane routine, but this has given us the opportunity to spend
quality time with the ones that we love. Every single person has been affected by this virus
somehow, someway. We are all in this together. I hope that we are able to find some beauty in
the midst of what feels like chaos in the world around us. I look forward to the day that we can
get back to everyday life, but I do hope that we can take what we have learned from this
�experience and live differently. I feel beyond lucky that myself and my family have all stayed
healthy so far, and I continually think and pray for the families that have lost loved ones or
cannot go to the hospital to visit a loved one due to this virus. I believe that this pandemic will
have such long lasting effects on our entire world. Since I am pursuing my career in social work,
specifically within the mental health field, my mind continually is thinking about the high
demand for mental health social workers that this is going to cause. Those with previous mental
health diagnoses, along with those who will develop a mental health diagnosis due to the
pandemic. I believe that we all have worries about how long this will go on, and even what life
will be like once this is over. I plan to continue taking it one day at a time, and to be there for
those who need support. I plan to help as best as I can, and I am ready to begin my career in the
mental health field once this is all over.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
COVID-19 Journaling
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Anthony, Katelyn
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student Katelyn Anthony's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-04-20
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
COVID-19_2020-04-20_AnthonyKatelyn
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
eng