65 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a1cc75a212f15c4194ea920ff9b90199.pdf 4fbff5bf3cf847b3c1b952ca31c310b0 PDF Text Text Change Amidst a Pandemic The date was March 11th, 2020. I remember it being a Wednesday evening; my roommate and I were having dinner and watching the news when we first received word that our University was closing it’s doors and switching to an online format. We had the next two days off while teachers rapidly conformed their entire curriculum from in-class lectures to completely virtual. An uneasy and anxious feeling warped through my body. We had heard on the news of various Coronavirus cases around the world, but we were yet to have any confirmed in Michigan… until today. This whole thing just got entirely more real. My roommate immediately decided that she was going to head home; but I didn’t have that option. Although the University chose to close, I still had a job that was planning to remain open. I worked at a gym facility called MVP where I was apart of the daycare program. I went into work that Friday, March 13th for an eight hour shift. On my drive in, I was unsure what to think. I was worried about catching the virus, I didn’t know what to expect because Fridays are our busiest day of the week, and I didn’t know if it’d be different because all schools in the state had shutdown. All I knew is that one of two things were likely to happen; we’d either be slammed and busy all day, or it’d be completely empty. A usual Friday consisted of a couple hundred kids in and out throughout the day, but on this particularly day, we had a total of maybe fifteen. It was a ghost-town. After work, I called my mom on my way home just to update her on what’s going on. At this point, all three of my roommates had left our apartment to go home. I knew I didn’t want to have to stay there alone, but I still had to work. My mom encouraged me to stay the next few days and just see how things would play out. So, as planned, I went to work on Saturday and Sunday. It remained really slow, which again, was weird because weekends are normally busy. It �wasn’t until the end of my shift on Sunday night, that I received an email notifying all of the MVP staff that the gym was going to close for the next two weeks. A sense of relief filled my body because I could finally go home. During this very strange time of uncertainty, all I wanted was to be home and with my family. The following morning, Monday, March 16th, I packed up my car with as much stuff that could fit and drove home to Illinois. Most of my teachers were still trying to get everything online so I didn’t have much to do that week. Just a few assignments here and there. It was only a day or two after I got home, when I received an email stating that the University will be closed for the remaining of the school-year. I could not believe this was happening, it honestly felt surreal. I actually ended up driving back to school on Saturday, March 21st, with my mom so we could move everything out of my apartment. I felt really sad leaving and knowing that I wouldn’t be back until August. I did the math and from the time I got home, it would be 5.5 months until I would be going back to school again. I honestly was very unsure how I felt about that. Fast forward, it is now Thursday, April 23rd and I just completed my last final. I spent the last month of my semester learning through an online format and I have mixed reviews about it. Some of my teachers made the course easier by removing an assignment here and there or allowing you to use your notes on an exam. I definitely appreciated these teachers because, as they emphasized over and over, all they wanted was to create a relaxed environment during this time of great stress and uncertainty. Other teachers kept their syllabus as is, which was fine because it was all very manageable. I definitely think I would have learned and retained more information if it had been through in-class lectures. Although, to say the least, I still completed my courses, learned a lot, and maintained a 4.0 GPA. �As far as quarantine has gone though, I only have one word: boring. I truly don’t know what I am going to do now that school is over. I wouldn’t say I enjoy school, but it kept me on a schedule and gave me something to do every day. A part from school, in order to stay busy, I try to exercise every day. I normally go for a run every morning because it not only motivates me to be productive throughout the rest of the day, but it also is a great stress-reliever for me. Additionally, I try to do something creative once a day. Whether it be baking, coloring, or doing a puzzle, I like to incorporate a little bit of fun into each day. This is honestly such a scary time to be alive, I know it’s a year in my life that I will never forget. Although it’s a time of extreme uncertainty because we have no idea when this will end, I am just living day by day, trying to keep a positive outlook on the whole situation. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-23_ANON_009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-23 Title A name given to the resource Change Amidst a Pandemic Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5597ba4e84788293e89f4e3760230d75.pdf 9ece819851c4800b17ceac1feb0eb502 PDF Text Text April 23, 2020 Corona Virus and I When everything with COVID-19 started getting more serious, I decided it would be best for me to move back home in Illinois from my apartment in Allendale. My friends helped me pack up my car, and I did the same with those who left before me. My roommates and I spent one last late night together, still expecting to come back and see each other a few weeks later. Since that was in our expectations, we all have stuff left at our apartment, and so do my friends whom I did not live with. The day we heard we would not be coming back to school to finish the semester hit us all kind of hard. I have a very tight-knit friend group that I meant here at Grand Valley in my dorm building freshman year. We all have become so close especially now that been living separately, we see each other every night we spend in Allendale. We were all devastated we would not get to spend the rest of the year together and finish off how we should. We still keep in touch almost every day and update each other on everything going on in our lives. When we are allowed, we all plan on seeing each other once everything is over, whether it be in Allendale or one of our hometown’s. My online classes are going all right. I’ve taken an online class before, which I did not consider to be difficult. Having all online classes is a huge adjustment to go through. It takes a lot of self-discipline to get myself to stop being lazy (which tends to take most of the day) and start doing my work. All the messages that my teachers send through BlackBoard are very sincere and caring, and many of them have extended deadline when students voiced that they had too much to handle at some points. I think this has been hard on many students and even if we don’t notice, a lot of us are handling it the same way. Dragging ourselves up to do work, procrastinating, and probably not being able to put forth our best effort anymore is seen across the board with students. I’ve seen this in myself and talked about it with my friends also, and they agree. My daily life at home has been going all right. My parents have both been working from home. I tend to be someone who likes to be alone sometimes, and I feel like this can be hard for my parents to understand. This is why I enjoy having my own apartment at school with three other girls who are similar to me in that aspect. With my parents it can seem like they get offended by me being in my room for a majority of some days, whereas with my roommates we would checkup to make sure everything is okay and let each other be. Then by the end of the night we’d end up outside our rooms laughing together pretty much till the sun rose. It’s hard to go from living with friends who do not boss you around to living with your parents who seem to monitor your every move. I know it is probably an adjustment for them too with me being back, so I try to be as understanding as I can since this is something no one could have seen coming. Grocery shopping in the beginning was rough and looking at the empty shelves felt like something I’d seen in a movie. I feel like that came from the initial panic of everything, and since then it has improved. I can get what I need quickly and leave most of the time. One thing that I know is still difficult to get is toilet paper, which hasn’t been too much of a problem with me because for some reason my parents have always made sure to buy more than we need. �Another thing that is still difficult to get is hand sanitizer, but other cleaning products have been stocked every time I go to the store. For the most part I feel like I have access to anything I need to get, and if it’s not there I know it will be somewhere else. My friends and I have talked and overall, we just hope that we can continue next school year together, and not have to talk through screens anymore. More than anything I think all students agree. Yes, we want our summer to not be taken from us, but if it means we get to have a normal school year next year that would be worth it. We will continue to all hope for the best every day and do what we can to do our part. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-23_ANON_010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-23 Title A name given to the resource Corona Virus and I Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on them and their friends. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7d440a2bfac949af95c6eb713316ea26.pdf 62b38c92b260d830df7ac5f601e89c01 PDF Text Text When I first heard of COVID-19, I thought it was like the flu. Now I see that the virus is more serious than it was conveyed to be; I did not picture the world being on lockdown months later. When we first got the notice that we were moving to remote learning classes for two weeks, I grabbed my necessities and left that weekend. A few days later, we got an email that classes were moving to remote learning for the rest of the semester. I had to drive back to Allendale, Michigan and move out the rest of my things. I’m from Chicago, Illinois so the drive wasn’t that bad, but I had to find people to help me and find vehicles that could fit all my things on short notice. With all classes being online, it was a struggle. I’ve had online classes before and I know it takes a lot of discipline and time management. I learn better when sitting in class because the professor can explain it in ways that the textbook may not. COVID-19 also affects student organizations and jobs. Model Entertainment is a student organization I am a part of on campus. We had a show scheduled for April 11th but it got cancelled. I was not working at school but when I came home and tried to work I couldn't because they were minimizing staff. We can all say that COVID-19 has put our social life, finances, and daily living styles to a halt. I have known friends that had COVID-19 and are now fine. I do not work in healthcare but I was thinking about volunteering to help out with COVID-19 patients. Lastly, getting groceries and household items have been quite a struggle. Some stores have lines down the block and once you finally get in there, they are out of paper towels, certain food items, and other basic necessities. We have to take serious precautions with what we touch in the stores and make sure we are properly wiping down items we bring in the house. This pandemic has been something difficult to cope with but will soon be 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-23_ANON_011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-23 Title A name given to the resource The Challenges of COVID-19 Description An account of the resource Journal by an anonymous GVSU student relating how the COVID-19 pandemic affected them. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/24b298a2d26f765ea36ebd6ef5f9d166.pdf 25682e37107a2b7f446c1a9c8d9f7804 PDF Text Text When I first heard about COVID-19, I did not know what it was to its full extent. I heard about what was going on oversees, but never anticipated this full lock down situation here in America. When I heard about it, I was living in my sorority house at college. Grand Valley had moved classes to online classes a week after our spring break, and that’s when everyone started leaving. Within a week, I was the only one left living in my sorority house that consisted of twenty-five girls. I needed to stay at my house because I work in an assisted living home close to my school, and my work really needed my help. We were short staffed to begin with, but as soon as the coronavirus started to spike, people started to call off of work. I was getting calls multiple times a week to see if I could come into work. I ended up picking up a lot of shifts because I was able to work more with classes being online. Work was pretty usual for the first week, but then things changed when we went on lockdown. The building I work in is a memory care unit with mostly hospice patients. The new rule was that there can no longer be visitors, unless completely necessary in regard to a hospice patient. The workers also had to be screened every time we came into work which included taking our temperatures and assessing the status of our health. The residents had to stop coming down to the dining room for meals and we had to ask them to stay in their rooms. This was really sad for me to watch because a lot of my residents didn’t know what was going on, and this virus completely disrupted their routines. I live in Illinois and go to school in Michigan so when I heard that they were potentially placing travel bans on Illinois, I started to become concerned. I was already planning on going home for the summer, so my boss knew that I wouldn’t be working until next August. I had a coworker pick up the remainder of my shifts for the semester and my parents moved me out of my sorority house as soon as possible. I was sad to leave because I didn’t anticipate my sophomore year of college ending this way. Online school was hard for me to adjust to. I enjoy taking one or two classes online during my semester, but fifteen credits online are a different story. It was very hard for me to focus on my �schoolwork when I didn’t have to physically attend lectures and I didn’t have a library to study at. Six people are living in my house currently: my mom, dad, younger sister, older sister and her husband, so you can imagine how hectic it is in my house. Most of the time I would procrastinate my schoolwork and have a ton of things to do last minute. I just took my last final and I am glad that the semester is over, but I still need to find ways to occupy my time. There is little to do since everything is closed, and social distancing rules are in place. I haven’t been in public in one and a half months now, and it is definitely affecting my mental health by not being able to see any of my friends and socialize. I don’t want to complain because so many people have it significantly worse than I do right now, but it is hard being isolated. The only time I get outside in these days are taking walks or runs, but it had been too cold in Illinois recently to do that often. In regard to the coronavirus, someone’s mom that I was very close to contracted it. It was very scary to hear about because the rate of fatality with this disease. Thankfully she is fine now, but someone having it who you are close to really puts things into perspective. I didn’t fully understand the gravity of it all until I heard about that. It made me realize what I should be focusing on in life, because it can be taken away from you very fast. I am grateful for this time I get to spend with my family. Even though I’m not used to living at home and I do get annoyed by it, I have grown closer to my family because of it. I honestly do not know how long the stay-at-home order will go until. The governor of Illinois just stated that our stay at home could potentially be extended until June, which is about another thirty days from now. I am frustrated with the amount of people not following the stay at home and making matters worse for everyone. There are protestors protesting these stay-athome orders, saying it is limiting their freedom. In my eyes I would rather have to say inside for three months, than have this pandemic last any longer. Hopefully we can resume to normal life soon, but for now we have to get used to being inside. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-23_ANON_012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-23 Title A name given to the resource My COVID-19 Experience Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, discussing the student's home life, work life, and moving out of her sorority house. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/edcb8769cd53cd730ff37b8d239fc2cf.pdf 52341865c97df6add832f1517b411727 PDF Text Text I am writing this on Thursday April 23, 2020, I finished my last online final today. Kind of unbelievable we started this online classes on March 16th. Two weeks before campus closed was spring break, and I was down in Ashville, NC with Grand Valley’s Alternative Breaks club working on helping nutrition and wellness with the YMCA. While we were there the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in New York. In that time no one was too concerned of the virus. We had heard of the explosion of COVID in China, Italy, and other countries, but kind of blocked the thought of it making its way to the U.S. I think in the back of our minds we all saw it coming though, I mean with the amount of travel that was happening in the U.S. for spring breakers, plus the amount of travel that goes to and from the U.S. on a daily bases makes it hard for the virus to not make its way here. I lived in an off-campus apartment until Michigan announced its two-week quarantine on March 24th. It was then that I went home to stay with my family during this time and have been home ever since. It was nice to have meals cooked by my parents and a larger place then my apartment to be trapped in. However, I left most of my stuff at my apartment and also still had to pay rent on it. The switch to online classes was hard. I had taken online classes before but going from on-campus to online felt like starting the semester all over again. For most classes I felt like I had to teach myself the content. Plus, I had very little motivation as being home felt like summer break. I’ve heard from my friends and they are all struggling with online classes as well. It seemed like our professors were assigning us more work then we would’ve gotten on-campus. Labs were probably the hardest, as we couldn’t see the experiment in action yet had to answer questions about the experiments from videos. Honestly it all just felt like busy work. The home life wasn’t too bad as I am lucky enough to have a good relationship with my family. There are times where everyone is tense or gets fed up with each other, but luckily my siblings and I still had school to keep us busy while our parents did some work from home. We all picked up a few new hobbies and watched a lot of movies. It was nice to be home as my parents would do the grocery shopping. They would always come home and tell me stories of people wearing masks at the store yet taking the mask off to smell fruit or wearing the mask just around their mouth, kind of defeating the purpose. There was also always a shortage of toilet paper, cleaning supplies, tissues, and at first, meat. My mom once went to three different stores just to find toilet paper. I worked at a physical therapy office as a tech before the shutdown. It closed once Michigan started putting restrictions in businesses. The last day I worked before quarantine was March 17th, I remember that day I kept answering the phones to patients cancelling their appointments. We also tripled cleaned everything in the office. My manager has been in touch through the entire lockdown with updates which has been nice. I used to work at a nursing home as a caretaker and remember a time where a bad strand of the flu was going on and we had to quarantine residents to their rooms. Everyone was wearing masks and cleaning anything they touched. That was a bit stressful but lasted a week, so I cannot even imagine what the healthcare workers are feeling like now. My roommate is a phlebotomist at Spectrum hospital �in Grand Rapids and she told me a little about their working conditions. She said that the COVID floor was very well quarantined as they tried to contain patients to just one floor. Although sometimes she would come into contact with a patient who had COVID but didn’t know. Once the patient was tested positive for COVID, she would receive an email that she was in contact with them but couldn’t get tested for the virus until she started showing symptoms in an order to save the number of tests they had. She also informed me that they were low on PPE. Everything right now seems very surreal but also kind of normal. As I wrote this, nothing I was writing seemed out of the ordinary or surprised me, but I could see how in a couple of years this all would seem like something out of a movie. For right now, however, it’s just life. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-23_ANON_013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-23 Title A name given to the resource Life During a Pandemic Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's exprerience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/681dc9c9957ee54e264ef0104739857a.pdf 4bf1a548573afc6c1e924a8b7ce203bf PDF Text Text April 23, 2020 COVID-19… The Beginning of a Pandemic The beginning of the pandemic felt so surreal. I never thought that within my lifetime, I would be living through a pandemic. After getting the news that the university was shut down, I started packing up my apartment to come home to the safety of my family. This was an easy move to make as my parents met me at my apartment to help me move out. My experience during this pandemic has been such an eye opening, yet unique experience. I am a certified nurse assistant (CNA) at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak MI. As essential personnel, I was pulled to help work on the COVID-19 units. Being honest, I was terrified to go into work. I was so worried that by going into work, I would have a high possibility of bringing it home to my family. One of my co-workers, had got diagnosed with COVID-19 from being exposed to patients with the virus. I forced the fears back, just remembering to take extra precautions. Focusing on the patients that I will be helping during this time. I remember walking into my first day back at work during this pandemic. Various thoughts ran through my head, and the biggest reoccurring thought was “what can I do to help make a little difference in my patients lives?” As a CNA, my job consists of helping the nurses working on the unit by taking vitals, helping with wound care, turning patients, and other various jobs to keep the patients safe and healthy. When I began working on one of the COVID-19 units, I was dressed head to toe in personal protective equipment (PPE). N95 masks, sterile scrubs, earloop masks, and as well as face shields were given at the beginning of the shift before entering the unit. Thankfully, Beaumont has not had much trouble getting PPE. They are providing one N95 mask per worker and washing them after each shift to prevent the shortage of masks. �I had six patients that were diagnosed with COVID-19. This meant that I had six different chances to help my patients get through this tough time in their lives. It was heartbreaking seeing them diagnosed with such a new and challenging disease. Most patients were hooked up to ventilators and hadn’t seen their families in a little over a month. I remember making my patient smile as we turned his bed to face the window. This was in celebration of him being put off the ventilator. It made me feel so honored to work in such an amazing field and to be a health hero. That during their toughest moments, we were able to bring smiles to their faces, and do all we could to get healthy and home to their families. I have worked on several COVID-19 units since then, and each time I get to experience more life changing experiences trying to help mend the patients back to health. As frightening as it is, I look forward to going into work because of the difference that I get to make. I couldn’t be prouder to be a frontline worker and working with so many strong and brave health heroes. I have been feeling well since my last shift at the hospital. In order to keep my immune system up, I have been taking vitamin, working out and eating healthy. The vitamins that I take that have helped are vitamins A, D, and lots of vitamin C. Iodine droplets have also helped. One important takeaway point that has stuck with me from working at the hospital has been to have a strong faith and have a positive perspective. Even though the world might not be in the best shape right now, having a positive outlook is so important when getting through the toughest times. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-23_ANON_014 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-23 Title A name given to the resource COVID-19... The Beginning of a Pandemic Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences, working as a certified nurse assistant at Royal Oak Beaumont in the COVID units during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/efcdedf04b59a92501260557813004b3.pdf 02f83d3f2cd71af9384376a9cd1840ab PDF Text Text April 23, 2020 GVSU Student Grand Rapids, MI It was no surprise that America was exposed to COVID-19 however, the damage it has done to our nation was a shock to everyone. I would have never assumed business would close down, school would be remote, online learning, dorms would be emptied, mandatory stay at home orders would be placed and wearing masks would become normal. As a college student, there was a stigma that us young people wouldn't get sick. However, we quickly learned that’s not the case. I first started receiving emails from GVSU professors when we got back from spring break. These emails stated that those who had travelled to high risk areas decided to self-quarantine. It was then that I realized how big of a deal this was going to be. Shortly after students returned from spring break GVSU shut down campus. I live off campus so i wasn't forced to move back home. However, I frequently go home to visit my parents. I'm unable to see my friends and was required to take time off of work. Today, i saw my friends for the first time in two months. We had practiced social distancing, she just stopped by my house to pick something up and then left. That’s the most human contact outside of my family that I've had in a while. I also returned to work this week 4/20/20 after taking a month off. It surprises me how few people wear masks out in public or take other precautions. I wear a mask and work behind plexiglass at the cash register. However, my work does not require employees to wear a mask although I think they should. In addition to work, my classes have been difficult online. I have a few professors who are more than willing to help, accept late work, accommodate you in anyway possible, send out multiple announcements daily on blackboard but, i also have professors who have only reached out the day before an exam, don't put it any effort to host virtual class or take days to a week to respond to questions. I’ve managed to maintain great grades this semester given the circumstances. I am a part of NSSLHA and NSLS on campus, these clubs require me to do volunteer hours and attend meetings. However, I am unable to do so given the executive orders. At the end of the semester we are required to turn in volunteer logs but they had to cancel that this year because we weren't able to fit in all of our events before COVID-19 took over. Additionally, going to the grocery store now is a whole ordeal. I have to wear my masks, I wear gloves, I keep 6 feet between me and whoever else is in the store, I avoid using carts and limit my contact/communication. Additionally, I go to the store with a list, I get in and get out, I no longer spend time browsing. Cleaning supplies have been out of stock for weeks, two weeks ago I stumbled upon the last two cartons of lysol wipes and I had to buy one because I'm not sure when I'll be able to find them again. There has been a shortage for certain grocery items as well such as bread, coffee, milk and cereal. COVID-19 has taken over the way we live and I'm sure our lives will continue like this for a while. The governor is talking about opening Michigan back up on May 1st but even if that happens we will still have to practice social distancing and people will still wear masks. COVID-19 instilled fear in people and I don't see that disappearing anytime soon. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-23_ANON_015 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-23 Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's exprerience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/822765e6868debca3c0b35cf56ba7edb.pdf fe9b0821f8d4501057c1149b2837e617 PDF Text Text Journal: Thursday, April 23rd 2020 Never in a million years would I have expected a pandemic to occur during my sophomore year of college. It’s been really weird adjusting to life during quarantine and makes me wonder what the new “normal” will be afterwards. I did move off of campus very suddenly due to COVID-19. When I left, I brought my school stuff, about a week's worth of clothes, and my toiletries. I left my apartment on March 14th and just recently went back with my parents on Saturday April 18th to get most of the stuff out of my apartment. I still have things there that could not fit into my car after the first trip back. My online classes are going okay, it's a bit more challenging doing every class online, especially classes that are challenging for me in the first place. My professors have all been extremely lenient and kind while we all navigate online learning however, and I appreciate that. Some of my friends that are students are having harder times as well due to stress of trying to finish out the semester with COVID-19 looming over our heads. I’m stressed as well. I have been helping out a lot around my parent’s house. Both of them are still working full time. My mom works from home and my dad still has to go in. I can tell they are both stressed about not only our immediate family, but our extended family as well. I’m trying my best to make sure they don’t really have to worry about anything when they are done with work for the day. As for my extended family, we deliver groceries to every family member that may be more at risk than us, like my grandma. My friends are mostly just stressed with classes and bored. I did have a job on campus in parking services. We stopped working as soon as the university moved to online classes. If there is nobody on campus, who do we have to enforce? Thankfully, nobody that I know has had COVID-19 yet. However, my aunt does work on the COVID-19 floor of St. Joseph Hospital in Howell as a nurse. She has been having trouble finding n-95 masks and is only provided one a week by the hospital. My family and friends have been sewing mask covers to go over the n-95 masks to make them last longer. Usually we don’t have a problem finding anything at the store (unless it’s toilet paper, hand sanitizer, or wipes) when we go in the morning. We are usually able to find toilet paper at costco when my mom runs there early in the morning. It's been tough coping with COVID-19 and the weird twists that it has brought to my life. It has brought to light some things that I take for granted on a daily basis, like hugging family, or celebrating birthdays. Things that I’ll make sure not to miss out on in the future. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-23_ANON_016 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-23 Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journal Essay Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's life after GVSU was impacted by COVID-19. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5324a6f56063e30b08f0c710a03d3032.pdf 692e3e90e239ae322a7372996e436dfe PDF Text Text The announcement that Grand Valley would be switching to online classes came out on March 11 in a message from the university’s president. However, this did not yet include the cancellation of NCAA division II sports. As a member of the GVSU volleyball team, we continued practicing for two more days, until it was decided that all sport activities be cancelled on March 13 through May 31st. I remember coming to practice on that Thursday and the campus had already turned into a ghost town; it seemed as if we were the only ones on campus. However, off-campus seemed to be thriving and taking advantage of not having classes for the rest of the week. I don’t think the severity of the situation was understood yet, as people were partying in large groups. I remember joking about how Grand Valley and other universities made the decision to close campus to limit large groups of people, while students celebrated by doing just that, partying in large groups of people. Following the announcement that our spring season was over, we had a team meeting, which included our coaching staff and athletic trainer. They gave us tips on how to stay safe and protect ourselves from the coronavirus, as well as discussed how this would impact our program. Most of our fundraising takes place in the spring and summer, and this is a huge portion of our financial support for the following season. In addition, these fundraisers go towards our out-of-the-country trip that was scheduled for next summer. Thus, having to cancel these events, brings uncertainty about the trip. The meeting gave us many resources for support and our staff made sure that we would have a place to stay and food to eat during the time away from campus. Our team decided to hang out one last time together Friday night before we parted ways, for who knows how long. I stayed one more night in Allendale on Saturday, and on Sunday returned to my parents’ home in Holland, Michigan. Looking back, not knowing when I’d be able to go back to Allendale, I really wish I would have packed more of my things to take back home. I still have most of my clothes there and don’t know when I’ll be able to go back to get them. Luckily, I have a great relationship with my parents, so coming home wasn’t that hard. I’m finishing up my classes with finals this week and didn’t have many problems as far as switching to online. Most of my professors have been understanding and supportive throughout the switch. The only problem I ran into was with my BMS professor. She started giving us less time on assessments once we switched to online to try and prevent cheating. Our exams were 60 questions long and she limited our time to 60 minutes; one minute per question… As a student who struggles with ADHD, completing assessments within a time-limit is a difficult task no matter how much time is given, and even harder when you limit that time. I’m also a student who likes to double, triple check my answers and I found it impossible to do that within the time limit. I have heard of other students with similar problems. Some of my teammates said that their professors have put a higher demand on them, assigning more assignments, assuming that students are in quarantine and have nothing but time to do schoolwork. What these professors struggle to understand is that, while most of us do have the time, everybody �is experiencing more stress due to the pandemic, without added demand from professors. My daily life has changed drastically since this started. Not having practice, which normally takes up 3-4 hours of my day, is a huge adjustment. I always wished for more free time and now that I have it, I don’t know what to do with it! I’m extremely excited about finishing classes this year but part of me wishes I was taking summer classes to keep me busy. My days consist of sleeping in, taking walks on the beach with my parents and dog, homework, and Netflix. My parents and I are still getting a long pretty well and I don’t mind spending this time with them. I miss my friends but due to my naturally introvert personality it isn’t affecting me too much, as I like having time to myself. On the other hand, I haven’t seen my boyfriend since the lockdown, and I miss him a lot. His mom works at a hospital, so they don’t want him to expose me to anything he might get from being around her. We FaceTime, but it just isn’t the same. Me and my family have been strict under quarantine and I haven’t really seen the outside world since I left Allendale. We don’t even go to the grocery store anymore; we have been using Shipt and other delivery services. The only shortages we noticed was at the beginning of quarantine when we struggled to find bread and toilet paper. I’m ready for this to be over and to go back to living my normal life. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-23_ANON_017 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-23 Title A name given to the resource Corona Journal Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's exprerience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c8f96483039a3b75cdd215870d0daf81.pdf 17bb79371963a0d636ded55eb5d52c9b PDF Text Text The isolation that came with this virus has obviously had a toll on everyone. For me it has been a rollercoaster. My roommates moved out taking everything in our apartment including my food, my toilet paper, the dishes and the microwave. I had basically nothing and was living off of dry cereal. Because of this state-wide quarantine, I don’t leave much and I don’t do much, other than schoolwork (which, as much as I would like to deny it, is really the only thing keeping me moderately sane). I am very fortunate though. I have been going back and forth from my boyfriend’s apartment. He is the only person I have interacted with since beginning of march. We are able to order food online and now that both of us aren’t working were very lucky to have our parents helping support us financially. Seeing him and facetiming our families have also helped our mental health as much as it can, but obviously, we both are still struggling with it, as is everyone else. He helps me when I have my mental break downs and I help him with his and that’s what everyone needs. When I go back to my apartment building later in the night, where only three people (including myself) live, it’s like the apocalypse and its haunting to live on your own at a young age, not able to go home. In the past I have suffered with hardships, physical and mental health issues, and I have a psychological disorder. I have a psychological disorder commonly known as ADHD. Because I have ADHD, I am unable to focus well in school, and I take medicine to help with that. A side effect of my medicine is depression, and lack of appetite, so that doesn’t really help the situation. Because we are doing remote learning, school has been very difficult for me at this time, and I have had an anxiety attack almost every day, but I think I had finally figured out how to keep up and roll with it. My daily routine is to wake up take my medicine and start working on my homework for hours at a time with no stopping. I tend to miss meals, but I just keep working until my medicine wears off 12 hours later. Because I have no distraction from people, I feel like a robot that is stuck in the same routine, day to day. After my schoolwork is done all I really do is go on social media. I’ve seen a lot on social media about corona virus and since this stay at home order. There’s so much negativity in the world and, you feel like there’s no way to escape. Similar to how some feel about depression; some feel like there is no way to escape. In this case there isn’t a way to escape, it’s like outside world depression, which definitely can have an effect on people. There was a girl a few years younger than me who I went to elementary school all the way to high school with, that had recently committed suicide because the selfisolation was too much for her to handle. I’m sure she had some underlying mental health issues, but because of quarantine, she wasn’t able to get the help she needed. Understanding how depression feels, she had two things that she wanted to escape from which was clearly too much for her mind to handle ending in a very sad way. Everyone needs to come together and be positive and up lifting during this time. Politicians need to put their personal issues that they all have with each other aside and deal with the situation at hand. Those protesting need to listen to authority, because they are trying to protect us. I truly believe with everything going on, everyone needs to come together and put their selfish needs behind them and we all need to work together so we can all solve this problem faster. Us Americans, are extremely fortunate to have the access to water and food and shelter, and people all around the country are protesting against our lockdown because they don’t realize all they have, and they can’t stand to not stay inside, making everyone at risk. They need to notice that everyone in the world is going through this and some in worse circumstances than them. I know people in Arusha Tanzania, Africa that are way worse off than us. A friend of mine that I met while spending time in Tanzania, reached out to my mom and told her that he is scared. He wasn’t scared about getting/dying from the corona virus, he said he is scared because they are at a significantly higher risk of dying of starvation, than the corona virus. Their grocery stores and markets are either bone dry and they don’t have any access to food or �because of quarantine they can’t work and make money to buy food. “We work today for our food today.” The people there, don’t have enough money or resources to stock up on food and supplies like us, they literally have to keep working to just to have food for that night. That’s what we are taking for granted. All of the extra drama that is being caused because of arguing between people or politicians is childish. Obviously, none of us want this, none of us like being locked inside, but we need to do it and follow the rules in order to protect our loved ones and ourselves. We will get through this. Instead of bashing and hating on everyone and everything we need to be praising those who are working 60-70 hours a week trying to solve this problem or save people’s lives or finding a vaccine. It’s hard to find positivity with everything going on, but we need to keep trying because eventually the light at the end of the tunnel will be the only thing keeping us going. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-24_ANON_020 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-24 Title A name given to the resource U.S. Isolation Description An account of the resource Journal from an anonymous GVSU student during the COVID-19 pandemic. Describes "How Im personally dealing with Covid-19 and how my friends and family are being effected, and what society as a whole needs to do in order to help get rid of the virus." Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1e6c71f1d895087fcc682304164ca17a.pdf d8ab380cfd8bf4cf373980d08542c843 PDF Text Text 4/21/2020 COVID-19 Journal With the rise of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in the United States many individuals have been uprooted and displaced. As a college student, I myself have had a few experiences as such. I was lucky enough to have chosen this year to live off campus, so I was not forced to move off campus and back home like many others. This did affect other aspects of my life such as my education, organizations/ extra curriculars, and job. With my education I was put in an exceedingly difficult predicament surrounding the coronavirus as I am a science major. I had two 4 credit courses which included labs this semester: anatomy and physiology, as well as organic chemistry. For me I have an awfully hard time concentrating at home doing schoolwork, so I often do it at the library or between classes. This was EXTREMELY difficult for me, especially the chemistry class because that was my hardest course this semester. Losing the in-class time and face-to-face instruction caused a noticeable drop within my GPA and has made this time even more stressful that it was before. My daily life has changed extremely as well. Since Covid-19 has hit my friends who are seen as essential workers and live in other cities and/or states have been displaced by the university and are staying at my apartment with me and one of my other roommates. Within my family I lost spending time with my mother for her birthday and the upcoming Mother’s day holiday. I also was not able to attend a funeral for my grandmother who passed in the beginning of March. I am considered an essential worker, as I work at a plasma center off campus. Our company hours and the hours I work are still the same and majority of the workers have stayed. We have lost a handful that were students and others who were immunocompromised. We are not hiring many people or having our annual audits and other normal business meetings until the virus subsides more. We have PPE available to us and receive a new disposable mask each and every day. The virus has affected much of my life such as school, work, and family. It has been extremely stressful and hopefully it comes to an end soon. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-25_ANON_021 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-25 Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Description An account of the resource Journal from an anonymous GVSU student during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a68cc87a96c0dd9b169b0185d37da44c.pdf 411aa92b8286ea14cafbd5a745f117ef PDF Text Text Covid-19 Journal Hello, my name is [redacted] and I am a student at Grand Valley State University. I am going to begin talking about my personal experiences so far of being in the middle of this pandemic as a college student.Throughout this pandemic, everyone (including myself) has had to experience significant changes in our daily lives. Although most of the students at GVSU have moved off campus and back home, I am still at my apartment due to my job at a nursing home. Having to work during a time like this can be a bit stressful. Although having to suddenly adjust to online classes in the middle of the semester was a little confusing, the professors and the university did an outstanding job on helping us students adapt to the immediate change. Students adapt differently to situations like these which explains why some students may be struggling in their classes. However, I am doing well in all of my online classes. My home life at my apartment is pretty boring when i'm not working or doing homework hence the fact that nobody can go anywhere unless it's a necessity. To keep myself occupied, I have built puzzles, played video games, went on bike rides, and discovered a few new interests. To stay safe from covid-19, I have made sure to stay up on keeping my hands clean and not surrounding myself with groups of people. Although I have to wear a mask while working, I don't wear a mask when I get gas or go to the grocery store. Although I have seen a good amount of people wearing masks at the grocery store, I just wear gloves and make sure I don't touch anything of mine until I take the gloves off. If i'm out in public, I also try my best to stay at least 6 feet away from people. I made sure to stock up on essential items like toilet paper early, although many people I know have experienced shortages with essential goods. Currently, I don’t personally know anyone that has been infected from covid-19, although many people in the state of Michigan have been. Times like this are very hard on people but the most important things to do are staying clean, isolated, and aware. I hope everyone stays safe and we can get through this together! � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-25_ANON_022 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-25 Title A name given to the resource Covid-19 journal Description An account of the resource Journal from an anonymous GVSU student during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a502633915da26190bd1ab73bfbe578d.pdf a2f9cbb08eaae88c97b0326ac8124f91 PDF Text Text April 24, 2020 Today is April 24, we are on lockdown day number 33 and a new extension has been set in place today, lengthening the stay at home order until May 15. This all started very quickly and unexpectedly the week that I got back from spring break on the 2nd of March. I had vastly heard of COVID-19 and the effects that it had in China; however, I had no idea the extent that this pandemic could reach. That Monday the 2nd of March, I had heard of 1 or 2 cases that had reached the United States and the scare that the media was spreading. I still wasn’t able to understand the actions that would soon take place. Within the next couple of days, with a couple of confirmed cases in Michigan, Grand Valley transitioned to online classes for the next two weeks. Within the first week of online classes, I received an email that informed students that classes will continue online for the rest of the semester. This transition was very difficult to deal with, especially handling school. Although many of my teachers were working very hard to make this transition as low stress as possible, it was challenging to keep on top of all the changes. I started receiving 5+ emails a day from some of my professors with updates and new information on everything that was changing. For example, in one of my classes, we had no online course, so our entire schedule for the rest of the semester was altered. We were originally supposed to have our 2nd exam the week that class was online, and I had spent a lot of time studying for it. Later however, I found out that our exams were cancelled, and we would have to right a long paper instead based on a different topic related to the class. During the semester, I often find myself getting into a system, knowing when everything is due and also having a schedule of the assignments that I have to do every week. This sense of comfort was completely taken away, as classes were drastically changing their syllabus and new assignments or quizzes were due during the weeks. Ultimately, the uncertainty of online learning brought with it a lot of stress as I always felt like I was missing something. In addition to the changes based on curricula, altering to online learning in it of itself has proven a difficult task. I am currently living at home with my parents and 2 siblings who are also in college. Both of my parents now have to work from home, so there are constant video meetings, phone calls, and recorded lectures going on, making it impossible to find any quiet time in the day. Also, because of everybody streaming and using the internet, it was sometimes difficult to connect to my collaborate sessions and would have to reconnect multiple times throughout classes. This made it challenging and stressful in taking exams especially. Another part of the online learning that was difficult is staying focused on the task at hand. My siblings have also been struggling with staying motivated throughout the weeks. Throughout the first couple weeks of the lockdown, certain items were hard to find. The biggest shortage that I have noticed is toilet paper. My dad would go to Meijer during the senior hour at 7 in the morning in attempt to find some toilet paper to buy. After the first couple of weeks, it seemed easier to find items including toilet paper, soap, and hand sanitizer. However even now, 33 days in, I still run across not being able to find certain items when I go to the store. Also, the atmosphere of shopping at grocery stores has altered since the pandemic started. Overall, it is very nerve racking to walk around the store and see everybody with masks and gloves and to have to stand on the taped lines 6 feet away on the floor. The realization really hit me the first time I went shopping at how serious people are taking the COVID-19. Sadly, it seems that the lockdown has brought out the worst in some people. During the beginning of the shutdown, my grandma’s purse was stolen in a Meijer parking lot during the senior citizen hour. Sadly, I realize the desperate situations many people may find themselves at this time, leading to more uneasiness when I leave the house. �So far, I have not heard of anyone that has been confirmed with the virus around this area. There have been a couple of distant acquaintances that I have heard of having similar symptoms including coughing, headaches, and/or shortness of breath but were either unable to be tested, or were and resutled that they did not have COVID-19. It is hard for me to understand the extent of the issue when what I am hearing about everyone I know around me and the media’s response does not seem to match up. In the way the media is portraying COVID-19, I would expect to be hearing of more cases around where I live in Michigan. In the beginning of the lockdown, my family had the news on constantly, trying to gather information of the state of the country and the responses that everybody was taking. However, this quickly got exhausting as everyday it seemed like there was new information on the virus and different approaches to combating this pandemic. Also, the news sources goal was to instill fear into the people watching, exaggerating the necessary response.. Rather quickly, we decided to limit watching the news throughout the day, turning it on for updates on the stay at home order and other issues of the world. Another area of frustration that this pandemic has brought upon deals with the way the Michigan governor has been handling the situation. Although I realize that drastic steps need to be taken for the safety of the state, the stay at home order has overreached into our livelihood. By picking and choosing what businesses and activities we can participate in, there have been discrepancies seen throughout the stay at home order. For example, all non-essential businesses were shut down, so a family friend of mine has a lawncare service and even though they are able to conduct their business without contact with other people, they are unable to work. Also, other rules were made including not allowing us to buy paint or flowers at stores and not being able to operate a motorized boat. Not only do we as a state have to deal with the scare of the pandemic itself but of our freedom being limited. On Thursday, April 15, there was a protest that occurred in Lansing, Michigan called Operation Gridlock. This was a protest against the stay at home order and all the activities that Michiganders are no longer able to do under this order. With thousands of protesters, Operation Gridlock seemed to be a success. However, in response to this protest, Governor Whitmer stated that this was strictly a political motive and not about her orders. This response made it clear that those who don’t agree with her decisions are unheard. I feel that the future of Michigan relies on our decisions today, and although these laws make us all be very careful, it will cause lasting damages on the economy and specifically on the lives of the people unable to make a living anymore. Before the lockdown, I was involved in a bowling league as well as leading a youth group. Both of these activities were shutdown rather quickly into the pandemic. Other youth groups at the church have continued to meet virtually, however my group consists of middle schoolers, so we decided that online learning would be difficult and opted to end meetings for the year. During the summer, I will be going to school full-time therefore I have not been affected by the lack of jobs. However, my boyfriend was supposed to start his first co-op for engineering this summer and found out today (April 24th) that he will not be able to work there. He recently quit his other job before the lockdown because he was planning on the co-op and now is struggling to find work for the summer. Ultimately, the lock down has drastically changed the way of life spurring up many conflicting emotions and concerns about the future of the state and the country as a whole. Even though these changes have been difficult to handle, spending more time with family is the positive impact that has come from the COVID 19 pandemic. When I go for walks, its refreshing to see all the neighbors outside playing with their children and I can see a beneficial aspect of the lockdown. In conclusion, many changes have occurred, causing daily adjustments of life, but I hope for the end of quarantine and look towards the rejuvenation of the country. �� 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-25_ANON_023 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-25 Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Response Description An account of the resource Journal from an anonymous GVSU student during the COVID-19 pandemic. Response on how the lock-down and COVID-19 pandemic has altered their way of living. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7b8242ba913e8de80b04ad217a285fe7.pdf d4f60e91b9bec13eec148c83cc260094 PDF Text Text Going into 2020 all the talk that was going on was that 2020 was going to be the best year yet. After Kobe Bryant passing away in January, I knew this year was just going to go downhill. Although I didn’t think 2020 would be as bad as a virus that is making everyone sick, killing many loved ones of people and the whole country being on lockdown. COVID-19 was a huge adjustment that everyone in the world has to adjust to. I was not expecting this all to happen at all, due to the fact that I am not a person who watches the news often. Coming back from spring break and hearing about the virus and people talking about how classes are going to switch to be online, everyone including myself was happy. Of course, everyone was happy, not having to wake up early and walk to classes. Little did we know how serious this virus was, and now everyone is complaining that they are bored and can’t wait for this virus to be over with because everyone is sick of being on this lockdown and everything being shut down. I lived on campus, so when campus sent out the first message saying that classes are moving to online, I was in my college algebra class. Since this happened three days after spring break, I was still all packed up from that week of being home. Right when I got home from class, I packed up my car and went home right away. The thing is I didn’t know that I wasn’t going to live there ever again, so I didn’t grab everything, like my TV, kitchen stuff, entertainment center, etc. A week following moving classes onto online, the campus decided that we were going to stay online for the rest of the semester, yet we as the students didn’t know that. Randomly before the stay in order by the government, I got an email saying that I need to pick a date to move out. What surprised me is that we weren’t even informed that we were going to continue online classes for the rest of the semester first, instead I was just informed that I needed to move out ASAP. Luckily I got to move out all my stuff before the stay at home order rather some people, their stuff is still up at school and they aren’t allowed to go and get it until the stay at home order is done with. Ever since this virus happened it feels like the world is ending. The grocery stores were completely empty with no toilet paper, cleaning supplies or nothing essential at all. Finally the companys realized that things needed to be changed so that everyone had the ability to get what they needed, like changing the closing time so that they had time to clean and restock everything by the next morning, when they opened. Practically everyone is laid off work and is receiving unemployment. Sadly I am not, so I am just relying on my savings, due to the fact that I only work in the summer and not during school because my schedule is always too busy to allow me to. My parents are still getting paid by their company that they work for even though they aren’t working, but recently their last two pay checks were only half of what their salary usually is, which was something their boss did not tell them, so they weren’t expecting that at all. Companies are still trying to pay their employees because if they do, then at the end of all of this, they get a really big tax break. Everyone just seems so stressed out and their mental health is just deteriorating. I feel so bad for ones who are lower class and that �were already struggling to feed their families with their normal pay checks and now they are laid off, relying on unemployment. Also the unemployment offices are so busy, my boyfriend's mom was on hold for four hours, and it took them ten day just to get back to her. Everything is just a mess and it's just straight up scary. Seeing everyone with masks and gloves is something that I never thought I was going to see in my lifetime. Some people don’t even touch their mail for days, like my dad, due to the fact that my grandmother lives with him and he doesn’t want any risks at all to give the virus to her. It is hard to keep a good mental health during all of what is happening around us in the whole world. I personally only know one person that has coronavirus and that is my best friend's grandpa. Yet, we truly don’t even know if he has it because the doctors wouldn’t test him. He has diabetes and lost one of his legs, so he had a therapist that came in everyday and moved him around so that he would lose blood flow to his other extremities. Comes to find out his therapist had COVID-19 and my best friend's grandpa started feeling super sick, to the point where he kept peeing and pooping on himself because he couldn’t control his body. His wife, who is also older called the ambulance to her house to come and test him and she thought they would take him to the hospital to take care of him, yet that didn’t happen. His wife explained to the paramedics how his therapist had it and the paramedics refused to test him and just said that he probably has it and it's best for him to just stay here quarantined. Now not only does this put my best friend’s grandma at risk, it also puts her in a position to take care of her husband and clean up after him after he poops and pees on himself, which is very hard for a person's mental health. It puts a lot of weight on her shoulders, but of course she is going to do it because that’s the love of her life that needs her. This makes me think about how many other people did the paramedics turn down the test to the people in the city of Detroit that probably has it, but were told just to stay quarantined in their own home while infecting everyone else who is in their household. This all also makes me think, is this ever going to end? From the looks of the stats that are updated everyday, on click on detroit, it shows how many cases per day appear positive, how many deaths per day, etc. The stats show how it will go down for two to three days, but then just spikes back up like nothing. This whole situation is scary as hell and I hope the best for everyone and their family. I am grateful that no one in my family, yet, has caught the virus but I am praying everyday on this. 2020 is a year that I will never forget, sadly it's not in the way that I was hoping for. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-26_ANON_024 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-26 Title A name given to the resource 2020 the year no one will ever forget Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a23b658c64a021b39c20f9f641364147.pdf 940eea15888aed8fd3e6297bf6bc78d7 PDF Text Text COVID 19 Journal Entry This whole COVID-19 situation has been a very interesting. When this whole thing got announced and school was moved to online, I did not think I was going to have to go home. However, when the stay in place was on the verge of being announced, I decided that it was best to move from my off-campus apartment back to my hometown. I only packed a little bit of stuff, because I was not expecting it go on for this long. It has been good to be around family, but I miss school and being around my friends. Online classes have been an adjustment as well. The workload was a little more than actual in person classes, but with time management it was not bad at all. A lot of professors have been really understanding and helpful. Giving adequate time to complete assignments and realizing that technical difficulties happen. Most professors have been stressing the importance of staying safe and healthy over everything, and to make sure that we are taking care of our minds and bodies. I have really appreciated the support from all of my professors. I am in the pre-Pa club on campus. The CVOID-19 situation pretty much shut the club down and moved all communication and mock elections for next year to online. I was also supposed to be going on a Physician Assistant club trip to do service work in Mexico. It was going to be a really cool experience and help with grad school applications; however, the trip was cancelled. Originally, I was very bummed about this. I know It is for the best though, and they provided trip vouchers and are working on getting refunds so hopefully in the future I can participate in this trip. My daily life has been a challenge. It is really hard to stay active during this time, but I am trying my best. Whenever it is nice outside, I try and get some fresh air because that seems to help a lot with being stuck in one place. I also try and workout every other day or so. I have been playing video games super late into the night because it seems to be the only time that I can communicate with all of my friends and seems somewhat normal. Thankfully, I do not know anybody who has been affected by COVID. I do work in a nursing home. Ever since going back to my hometown I have been unable to work, but I am hoping to be able to get back to work soon. There have been zoom meetings for my work every single week, and new guidelines being sent out every few days to keep residents safe. Hopefully, things continue to get better and everyone stays safe and healthy. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-26_ANON_026 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-26 Title A name given to the resource Crazy times Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://creativecommons.org/use-remix/cc-licenses/#by-nc-nd">Attribution - NoDerivatives - Noncommercial (CC-BY-ND-NC 4.0)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/669762fc78204303d0656f8d80cf4af6.pdf d5e9453d63511f19f4223accc2c60f9e PDF Text Text COVID-19 Journal Entry 04/25/2020 The COVID-19 pandemic is something honestly pretty hard to wrap my mind around. The fact that I had to leave college March 17th because of an invisible disease that at that point had not necessarily shut down the entire state let alone the entire country. I remember hearing about it at the beginning when stuff happened in Italy and Spain and was honestly shocked but also thought to myself thinking it would never get that bad here in our country and did not ever think things would get like this in Michigan. I did move off campus suddenly and it was honestly ok at first. I had been wanting to go home for a long time as I had not been home for a while and at first I thought I was just going home for 2 weeks and so I was like ok that should be fine. But then we got the news we had to move everything out of our on-campus housing because classes were going online and that was a shocker. It was difficult because I did not want to do online classes nor move back home for the rest of the semester. I was looking forward to so many different things and to hang out with my friends and to end the semester strong. I currently don’t have belongings still on campus. The semester just ended and I honestly did much better on online classes as I thought they were generally easier than my in person classes as they required a lot less work than they would have if we had been on campus and having in person classes. I have received many positive and encouraging messages from professors which has helped me during this time. Everyone is having a difficult time in one way or another and to remember that we are not alone and everyone really is in this together is quite helpful. Other students seems to be handling the changes similar to me as everyone is overwhelmed at times and frustrated with the ways things are but also I think in a way there is some contentment because we can’t change what happens besides following the guidelines and just have to be patient with things and know everything will be okay. In all honesty, part of me likes this time as I like not being busy. It has been a time of reflection, anxiety, as well as calm because I have taken each day quite literally day by day. At GVSU, I am involved in campus ministry. Thankfully, I still had the chance to go on my spring break trip with CM however the well and lifegroups came to a halt at the beginning of the shutdown. The Well and Lifegroups still met virtually however it was more difficult for me to want to keep up with them because they are not in person and I have had lots of interactions during this time that sometimes more is hard for me. At home, every day is a different day. I just started a job at Home Depot which I am excited because I can keep busy however it still makes me anxious because I don’t want to get sick and definetly do not want to be a carrier of the virus. I spend a lot of time outside when it is nice or I stay inside and watch tv/movies. I have also been exercising regularly as my family set up a April fitness challenge while in quarantine to see who works out the most. It has been fun to stay active in a time when a lot of stuff is sedentary. My parents are doing ok. My mom is extremely unhappy with losing her freedom and has been contacting her state representatives, the governor, and senators to express her opinion. My dad has been working from home all the time although I believe he will be going back to the office on Monday. It has been hard having him work at home because he is on the phone all day. My brother and sister are both in high �school and honestly have not really been doing any of their online schooling work. My brother works at home depot and has been for a little while. He has been staying busy which is good. My sister has been making lots of tik toks and watching lots of tv and studying for the SAT. My brother is a senior and has missed out on a lot of fun senior festivities sadly. I feel bad for him although he says that he doesn’t really care. He has hung out with his friends a couple times while following the social distancing guidelines. I have hung out with my friends as well and that is a good thing because it helps me get out of the house as well as other human interaction besides just my family. Getting groceries and everyday supplies has been interesting. I remember at the beginning when I went to move out all my stuff, my mom asked me to look for toilet paper in Allendale because there wasn’t any on the east side. I didn’t even look because I was like there will be toilet paper before we know it but there honestly has not. The one day my mom and dad went to go get toilet paper, it was the one-ply which was honestly the worst toilet paper I have ever used. Now, it doesn’t seem to be a problem at my house however target always has empty shelves whenever I go. You have to go at the crack of dawn in order to get the good kind. People stocked up on food and there have always been empty shelves when I have gone of good items like bread, peanut butter, meats, tortilla shells, and other products. However, there have always been lots of fruits and veggies which has been great. It has been interesting at the grocery stores with the plastic shields in front of the cashiers. Everyone keeps such a far distance and at times it makes me sad. This whole pandemic has been such an interesting situation. I am so thankful the I nor anyone in my family is sick however my aunt is a nurse and it has been so shocking to see what she has gone through and hearing just how severe it is in our area. I am thankful for the front line workers and government officials. I feel as though this pandemic has been handled the best way we know how considering the circumstances and that no one has ever seen something like this. I hope for the economy to be open soon and for people to have jobs because I don’t like everything closed like this. America was not meant to be this way and I really do hope it opens up soon. I believe this time has the ability to help people reprioritize and see what is truly important. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-26_ANON_027 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-26 Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Response Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9991d1b9462734bcb667b5d6eba7d3e3.pdf 2a096c628f237a27f493bb95ac87a679 PDF Text Text Journaling: Dear COVID-19 ���Monday, April 6, 2020 Temperature: 16 degC Laying down reading a book with the sun Studied the early afternoon Made breakfast of kiwi yoghurt tapioca �Snacking banana bread and oranges Just being healthy today and not overeating Encouraging myself to drink more water too and also at least one hour of movie/ tv series time Saturday, April 11 -made pancakes for bk -Start studying and taking notes for lecture 1 of the new material. -my eyes are getting so tired of the computer and it’s taking extra time to get to lectures, as I have to go back to listen to the slides pretty frequently. -made mashed sweet potatoes for dinner Sunday, April 12 -trying to finish the first lecture of the new material so I could move on to the next lecture related to my problem set and I did, and started the 2nd lecture to get enough info to do the problem. Monday, April 13 -woke up 5:30am and finished my problem set assignment this morning 5min before it’s due -only had 3hrs of sleep and less than an hour nap -just realized it’s the last week of classes and finals are next week -was a little stressed about finals being next week -plan to finish my physics hw tonight. At the end I had one problem wrong, it was a really small mistake and I can’t afford losing any more points. Tuesday, April 14 Found daily Haloha Frustrated w/ physics lab Watch lectures videos of physics and did some examples problem the morning-afternoon Lunch: wrap lettuce, tuna I baked some biscuits for the week Filed my taxes, it took about 1-2hrs -craving junk snack-> chocolate chip cookies Cooked dinner: finished cooking the butternut squash and pasta chicken Continued the evening w/ lectures and finished it Wednesday afternoon. Michigan Weather Moodswing: it started to snowflaked and 15min later the sun is nice and bright �Wednesday, April 15 -woke up and it was cold. Outside was covered with snow -biscuit for bk -finished the lecture 2 and BB discussion 1 -finished doing some BB discussion for physics -Lunch: wrap, lettuce, eggs and cheese -nice sunny for vitamin D and positive energy -snacked on ritz crackers -dinner: leftover stir fry pasta with butternut squash and chicken drumstick & rice crispy for dessert Thursday, April 16 -working on my lab report and also getting distracted by social media and amsa conference, emails -my roommate is stressing me out: first mail and water bill and then her stress eating ugh. -cooked rice and have my leftover butternut squash with chickpeas curry Dessert: rice crispy and has a thin slice of my roommate’s banana cake, more like banana bread -I was super distracted being on social media and didn’t get to finish the last page of my report -I slept around 3am Friday, April 15 Today I finish my physics lab report and I attended a few sessions of the conference and didn’t realize my poster presentation was this afternoon but I made it just in time and the presentation went well surprisingly I also had a meeting with my research cohort right before my presentation and it was nice to see how everybody’s doing and wrapping up the semester. I think I didn’t get as much done as I had planned on but I didn’t get to finish the discussion lecture so my plan for tomorrow is to do one lecture, finish it and then do some physics homework practice problem hopefully I can accomplish that while also attending a few conference sessions tomorrow. This evening I did talk to my siblings and my mom, they’re all doing well. This group of people didn’t work out but that’s OK just a lot going on, I was distracted, talking to friends. I had to keep the work going so I’m not behind yeah that’s it. One more thing, I did put a time limit for my social media apps so that it would help me for not for procrastination not getting distracted, so that’s good yeah Saturday, April 18 I am just realizing that I wrote Friday’s date wrong. I went back a day instead of writing it do you 17 I wrote the 15 that was funny. So today I had a very slow day: I got one lecture done, and I have one conversation that was very interesting and learn a few things about it and today is the last day two of the conference day I’m glad his sins I need more time to study and I couldn’t attend all of the session on the few that I really want that were interesting. But I feel like I �could’ve used my day a little bit more productive and I was hoping to get some physics problem practice but I didn’t so I think tomorrow I have to work harder trying to finish one lecture and then do some physics problem yeah. Later today to I talk to my sister and it was nice I just feel like wow, My energy is so dry today and I’m just like I want to get this lecture done and MoveOn so that by the time I get it done was already super late and I want to get up in the morning early so I can get more done which this morning I did get up a little bit early but then I didn’t really start my day until around noon so that was great yeah for a slow day. Sunday, April 20 I have been hanging out in my room these past few days trying to focus on study for finals. It’s really hard to get things done in my room and not being able to go anywhere besides just staying in my apartment and my roommate is here too, which she likes to talk about and I can’t stand any minute of that as I wanted to be left alone, so stuck in my room essentially for studying. And the weather has been nice so I’m not helped and I was able to get summer sun just sitting in my room by the window. I also try to look outside and see what animal I can Spohn lately I haven’t seen this rabbit and she was eating the grass so cute and adorable. I saw her for two days and then I saw a cat the other day walking by. I don’t know if there was a thing, maybe yesterday it was so windy. I am glad that my apartment side did not come off otherwise I would’ve gone outside and fixed that which is annoying but I am quite surprised about that. I finished my physiology lecture and I have one more to go and then. Later I had to do my take-home portion of the physics final and that took me like an hour or two just to get it and I have some miscalculations or just math errors and I miss interpreted the prompt so it took me some time to figure out the answer. I mean I was quite frustrated and but I’m glad I figure out yeah Monday, April 20 2020 I Managed to wake up earlier than the other days and I started my day by finishing my last lecture of my physiology class which I did. I am so happy about it. After that I almost forgot to submit my take-home problem for physics which was part of the final and I’m glad I checked my calendar otherwise it would’ve been bad. I also almost forgot my physics online homework if I hadn’t checked it online. So I was going to finish studying the non-came with the fart for my physiology final and do it that tonight but I had to do my online homework that was due tonight. So I spend the rest of the night finishing my online homework. Tonight for some reason was particularly windy and it was kind of scary because it was just blowing and I could feel it in my room while I was doing my homework. And I was praying that my apartment did not or will not fall apart. This afternoon to I was watching or I mean reading the news about About governor’s restriction and how our president is defending those plus protesters and I thought it was sad to have to come to this point as Americans were really not prepared for this pandemic and people are freaking out because the government has not been acting quickly and taking this virus seriously at first. Tuesday, April 21 �Woke up this morning a little bit earlier than yesterday which is good because I need it so I can get some studying done for physics finals this afternoon. After the final I felt so much better and happier us one class is taken care but it’s fuck me like three hours or more to get it done and I miss my other class presentation because of this but it was not in my control as I need to get the final Done and I did so it’s OK yeah. So after that I was so hungry my brain was hungry and needed food so I guess I wanna get some dinner and I was sitting eating in my room enjoying the sunshine else and then watching a short video about this girl talking in Cantonese and I thought it was funny because I don’t think I’ve ever heard people talk so much in Cantonese before so I thought I was intriguing. And I was just reading the news about how one lady protesting and got stopped by a nurse and she said that’s all she told the nurse to go back to China because we’re not communism here and I thought this is so sad and how racially discriminatory that was not just because of what’s going on and they also for all those first respondent responders putting your life out there to save people's life at the moment it was just heartbreaking hearing that. I finished another exam, I’m so happy and relieved. Although I didn’t do as well as I hoped to but I am still happy with the grade that I did. I’m so happy. Now I only have another take-home exam to work on and then I’ll be done with exams. After that I just have one more project I need to work on. If I can get it done by Friday that would be awesome in addition to work on putting this journal together as well. Wednesday, April 22 I took me a whole afternoon to understand on questions that was being asked. I emailed my professor about a question on the take-home exam and I don’t understand and I still feel like after the clarification it took me a while to understand what was being asked. And I just feel like that was not a very good use of my time and I feel dumb. So I took the whole afternoon trying to figure out the question and the answer that I need to put together and it wasn’t fun and I was like a lot of frustration because I didn’t know what I was looking for and I was only in my room trying to focus and get things done but I wasn’t really getting anything done and I don’t know what to do. I feel like online classes are definitely I don’t know harder maybe? but definitely mentally challenging for me and not being able to go out, socialize and just relax my brain. I feel like it’s a lot of mental strain and I need to unplug and get some social energy. Reflecting back, I definitely feel like that I’m online classes during quarantine made me work slower and I took a lot of time to get things done then necessary. Usually, I would’ve gotten a lot of things done quicker but being stuck in my room does not help me or stimulate me to be productive. Last night, when I finished my exam for physiology I noticed that I was missing on set of the noncumulative questions and this early afternoon, I received an email from my prof saying that that one had closed down earlier and is available until tonight. My heart was crushed thinking that I finished last night and now I still have one more ToT.. Thursday, April 23 �I don’t remember if I answered the prompt question but let me do that right now. I didn't not move away from my apartment, but some of my roommates did and it was a scary and stressful time to experience that. I know it causes a lot of anxiety for my roommates and it makes me feel anxious too and start to worry about things too. Online classes are flexible for sure but not all professors are flexible. One of my classes my professor would post at the last minute and it made things difficult. Luckily other of my classes have recorded notes or lectures which is nice so I can go back and rewatch them at my pace. I know for one of my discussion classes we have to like responding to our classmates' discussion to get participation points and I like that but it can also be hard if we are not doing the work and getting solution problems work out normally in class, so it was discouraging. I feel like a lot of us are just posting questions to get discussion points and that’s it. Interns or do you want organization involvement? I know my club has been quiet since I stayed home with her and some of the other gloves that I participate too are running but more like emails base I don’t I don’t think that they have done anything virtually meeting. I don’t have an on campus job as a front desk assistant. And so after the school cancelled, I could still work the next 3 days and then I was sent home. My housemate’s boyfriend coworker girlfriend was infected with covid19 and my roommate and I were paranoid about it. But they were not at first. I’m not sure how they handled it, she probably got tested before they announced it. My approach to learning as class moves from and seats online was based off of what was going on for next week and I will make like a weekly to do list and make sure to try to get most of the things done better than doing a weekly schedule or any strictly weekly schedule but I still do a weekly schedule but that it’s less strict and I think that has been working for me. But the con was that sometimes I will push off work and then that builds up my weekly to do list and it’s a lot of stress there. And then I feel like I'm always behind. I feel like online classes have definitely been interesting and a learning experience. It was not all bad but it was not easy to adjust especially when we had to adjust like right away it was not like that choice. Friday, April 24 I pulled an all nighter to finish my class and take home problems and by the due time this morning, I ended writing over 8 pages which over 2 more pages. I was so stressed out trying to simplify everything in that short amount of time with no sleep so far. I also had an interview early this afternoon and it was super nerve wracking, but I did it. I think I’m officially done with this semester, cheers! � 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 Dear COVID-19 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Description An account of the resource Journal from an anonymous GVSU student during the COVID-19 pandemic. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-24 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://creativecommons.org/use-remix/cc-licenses/#by-nc-sa">Attribution - Noncommercial - ShreAlike (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0)</a> Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives 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_2020-04-24_ANON_019 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 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/50ceb6be8bdf7170d0a5d93975115ad8.pdf 0c7193d6f8bbc3d2728e413cdbe6e1b4 PDF Text Text The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone in individual ways. As a student at Grand Valley State University, I was not prepared to finish the semester online. I have taken online courses in the past, but only one or two at a time. Taking FOUR online classes at once has been extremely overwhelming. The hardest part of taking these online classes was the fact that these courses were not originally created to be virtual. Professors had to reconstruct their syllabi so that students were able to finish the semester. I found it hard to find the motivation to finish school because of distractions at home and the stress from courses moving online. While in-class sessions were still happening, I would usually go on campus to complete homework so that I could focus. At home I have a 1 ½-year-old dog who is incredibly energetic. As much as I love spending time with him, it is not always easy completing tasks with him around. Additionally, it was hard to keep track of assignment due dates because they constantly kept changing. Due to syllabi being changed, some assignments were added, others were canceled, and some professors added additional weekly assignments. To say the least, it was frustrating. Luckily, my professors were extremely understanding of everyone’s current state and worked well with us students to make sure we finished out the semester. In comparison, I had friends who are BMS majors and they did not receive the same support that I did from their professors. One of my friends mentioned to me during finals week that her schedule for exams was basically the same. She still had to wake up at 8a.m. to take an exam that was 92 questions long. I, on the other hand, was given a couple days to complete my exams online. I was also grateful to end the semester with my friends from Alpha Phi Omega. Everyone was supportive of each other and the president of the organization, Madison Cruz constantly checking up on us. Due to the pandemic, we were unable to hold elections for positions on �e-board. Since we are a service fraternity we were also unable to finish service events we had planned for the rest of the year. APO was able to find other ways to serve those in our community. A member in the organization posted a volunteering opportunity to make cards for essential medical workers at the hospitals, and another opportunity was helping deliver groceries to elders in Grand Rapids who were unable to leave their homes. It was amazing to see everyone still finding ways to help the community. Being at home was slightly stressful as things got a little tense among my roommates. I found it even more frustrating that one of my roommates was still traveling with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend and her started quarantining at our apartment, then went back to her hometown in Illinois, then came back, left again to go to his place in East Lansing, went back to IL, and then came back here. I found it completely disrespectful that she would put some many people at risk because of her own personal boredom. It amazed me to see the number of people at the grocery store when I went. During a pandemic you would think that people would be listening and staying home for their own safety, but when I went grocery shopping you would have never thought a pandemic was going on. I saw people just checking out with a few things and others with cartloads. One thing this event has taught me is that we can not get through this unless we stick together. I have seen some people showing their support for others, but also a great deal of people taking advantage of the situation. It is really disappointing to me to see so many people ignore Governor Whitmers’ Stay At Home order and get upset with her about it. I think a lot of people are unaware about how serious the virus is and why these policies are being put into place. Just like everyone else, I long for the day that I can go out and hang with my friends, but until then it is important that we stay safe and practice social distancing. � 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 Anonymous Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-26 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="https://creativecommons.org/use-remix/cc-licenses/#by">Attribution (CC-BY 4.0)</a> Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives 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_2020-04-26_ANON_025 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 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/866a0c63f9a7370f6dde180dee1023c7.pdf 1833174f5e785025d63bf202450f9c7c PDF Text Text 3/27/2020, 7:36pm EST It has only been four days since the Governor’s executive “stay at home” order went out and two weeks since classes went online, but pre-quarantine life seems like it was an eternity ago. Many of my friends have already lost their patience for this new form of asocial living. For a week, we all hid in our houses, sanitized our door knobs, our phones, our hands, and took action to “flatten the curve”. If you ask my peers, they’ll still tell you that this is the appropriate course of action, but they won’t follow through. One of my friends is a nursing student. In the beginning he was actively tracking the numbers, notifying us all of every new case and enthusiastically showing anyone and everyone “proper handwashing technique”. Today I spoke to him and he seemed dismissive. “Well, she only came over because we all know her, like she’s friends with everyone in the house, and she’s been really lonely.” This was his response to my concerns about their household continuing to admit visitors. A household of seven, I might add. One of the members of that household is my girlfriend. Tomorrow she is moving out. Temporarily - not that we know how long temporarily is right now. When she broke the news to her closest friends that she was leaving to live with me, so she could isolate herself as recommended, she was met with an uncomfortable silence. I can tell this has been upsetting her. Today as she packed her belongings she called to consult me. “What is the point of me coming to live with you if you are going to keep volunteering at that food pantry?” She says her roommates - our friends - have been judging her for this choice. That they don’t see the logic in it. “You know, you don’t have to come live with me. I know we made this decision rather abruptly and I would 100% understand if you changed your mind. I know it’s a lot.” And it is a lot. Only thirteen months into a relationship and we will be trapped in an empty house together - with nothing to occupy her mind other than her hobbies. I am grateful I still have my employment, my school, and my volunteering to keep me sane. But I worry about the tension this could create. We talked for a while about her concerns. I told her I would give up my volunteering if that made her feel safer, and I would. We both realize that our friends are reacting this way out of guilt guilt because they know they could also be doing more to protect themselves and the people they care about. But instead they rationalize and make exceptions. I only hope that none of them are exposed to the virus, because if one of them gets sick it will surely spread through that household like a wildfire. 3/29/2020, 11:03AM EST I can hear the wind whistling past my doorway. Kelly has just left for a bike ride, leaving me alone to my studies. I sit hunched over my desk, wrapped in a blanket, flipping through Panopto �videos with our biochemistry lecture material. I pause the video mid-sentence, as my attention jumps from the specifics of glycolysis to my planner. Did I write down our exam for next week? It would be a shame if I missed it - something I am likely to do with no set schedule. The exam is to be posted on blackboard Friday morning from 9am-11am, which means I have to start it before 10am because the exam times out after an hour…. or does that mean I have until 11am to start it? I note it as being until 10am just in case. My attention flips again. Now I’m checking the due dates for our MasteringPhysics assignments. I add another to my planner for the month of April. My attention fips again. I’m frantically scrolling through the announcements page of my psychopathology course. Dammit, the discussion board on Anorexia closed last night. Did I get all of my required submissions in? I search among our professor’s many updates to find the one with our new grading criteria - it's 25 posts down and was only sent a week ago. Shit, we needed 3 posts and I only posted 2. Minus another three points if any of your posts are from the same day. Are mine? I check. Posted 4 days ago. Posted 3 days ago. I let out a sigh of relief. Still missed 4 points for that last post, but eh. I search through the announcements again. Good, there are still extra credit opportunities. I make a note to myself to watch one of the videos in eReserve today and write a summary. I turn my attention to our case study analysis. Now that we are online it will surely be even more difficult to get my partner to carry her weight. Shit that’s due Thursday too. I add it to the list. The door downstairs cracks open. Kelly is back. I realize I spent almost the whole time she was gone updating my planner. What was I supposed to be doing...? My ADD-riddled brain is not having a fun time with these online classes. 3/30/2020; 5:02PM Today I ventured outside for the first time in what I am now realizing has only been a weekend, but has felt like several weeks. And by “ventured outside” I guess I really mean “I interacted with the public today”. Unfortunately, this venturing was for medical care. Nothing serious or emergent - well, I guess semi-emergent. I had a suspicious mole biopsied about a month ago. It came back as “severely dysplastic”, which I guess is an indicator of increased risk of melanoma. It’s also something that can develop into melanoma. At first when my dermatologist office called and said they wanted to remove the spot I was annoyed. Mind you the “biopsy” that had previously been done took several weeks to heal and basically looked like they had removed the entire thing. When this whole pandemic things started getting serious the office called again and asked if I was okay with moving my “surgery” back to May. Since I didn’t really want the surgery anyways, I figured it couldn’t hurt. But a few days later, the spot started coming back. I called and moved the appointment closer. Since in the week leading up to my appointment the pigmentation had almost fully returned. It �was actually rather alarming. I quickly went from being annoyed at the thought of having another procedure to fearing that I did in fact have melanoma. So here we are today. As I approached the office I was greeted by numerous large printed stop signs. They universally proclaimed that only individuals who had appointments and had experienced no symptoms of illness were to enter the office. When I approached the desk, they stopped me and took my temperature from a distance. In spite of this initial eerie demonstration, the rest of my appointment was seemingly normal. Other than the fact that I left with a giant scar in my abdomen. I may have underestimated the extensiveness of the surgery. Afterwards we picked up some Olive Garden to-go - tragically they only gave us 2 breadsticks (who goes to Olive Garden and only eats TWO breadsticks???). And then, because I only had ibuprofen at home, we had to stop at a pharmacy for some tylenol. There were two things that stood out to me about that Walgreens: 1) Blue painters tape marked 6-foot intervals on the floor. I guess to help customers visualize how far apart they needed to stay? 2) The shelving area that normally holds tylenol and acetaminophen was entirely empty. I can only assume the later of these two observations is the result of all the media telling people to have tylenol at hand in the case they get sick. Because apparently ibuprofen either isn’t helpful or makes things worse? Thankfully, the Tylenol wasn’t actually sold out, it had just been shifted to a smaller display at the front of the store. I guess they want to make sure people don’t try to steal it or buy the whole shelf or whatever. After all, these are wild times. 4/1/2020; 5:54PM Yesterday we took a walk in the evening. I told myself that I would go on a walk every day, but today I worked on my coursework all morning and afternoon. We just had dinner and now I only have an hour until my evening shift at work. I am not going to get a chance to leave the house today and that saddens me a little. I know I should be thankful I still have a job. Thankful that I still have income and something to keep me busy, but honestly work has been rather depressing lately. I’ve been picking up more hours because, well, what else do I have to do? And I don’t have any reason to ask my coworkers to pick up a shift because it’s not like I have anywhere else to be. At first it was nice working online and things being slow. I could get paid to sit at my desk and do homework, as long as I kept a few extra tabs open and maintained one eye on our chat in case there was a student who needed help. But at this point it just feels isolating. If given the option I would certainly rather have the “inconvenience” of driving to campus and looking alert and attentive. Before the library closed I could look forward to chatting with coworkers every week. I was even starting to make friends with a few of the new hires from the fall. We’d gossip and joke and even �when we were just sitting and doing homework, it was nice to sit with someone in productive silence. I also miss the students. If I’m being completely honest, there are certainly times when I would hope to go through my shift without having an appointment. I mean, everyone has those days when they didn’t study enough for their exam and are secretly counting on using that precious hour on the clock to cram. Or when you did study and now you’re so tired from pulling that allnighter that you don’t have the energy to hold a conversation. But for the most part, I have always really enjoyed my consultations. I love how energizing it can be to see a concept finally click for one of my peers. I love hearing about people’s interests and questions and ideas and I love the challenge of helping a student find information about a topic I have never studied in my life. Since we went online three weeks ago, I have only had one consultation and it was short and awkward because well technology doesn’t always cooperate. I miss the previous frequency of when my work was actually work and it saddens me deeply to know that there are many of my coworkers whom I will never see or speak to in person again. 4/2/2020 1:01PM It is so sunny today. It is only 57 degrees out, but it feels much warmer. We took a picnic to campus and sat in front of Zumberge pond, crunching apples and watching the geese. I tried to feed the geese (aka I threw apples at them), but they just swam away. Campus is eerily quiet. We saw one man driving around in a van. He seemed to be using his phone to do a voice recording? I wonder if they are doing virtual tours of campus because all of the in-person tours stopped. I wonder how it is right now for students who are trying to decide what colleges they’ll attend in the fall. Kelly and I agreed that most colleges will probably have a lower admissions rate in the fall. Who would want to start classes at a time like this, when we still don’t even know if we’ll be having in-person classes in the fall? Who could afford to start college at a time like this? At one point a family came and walked by the pond. Our picnic blanket was nestled in the grass, between the upper two rows of stone bleachers that encircle the back side of the reservoir. For whatever reason the mother thought it would be a fine idea to walk along one of the rows bordering our setup. It seemed extraordinarily unnecessary given that she has the whole entire campus to walk about. What happened to a six-foot minimum? Retrospectively, I really wish that I had forced myself into a coughing fit as she passed. Some people clearly just have no respect for personal space. After our picnic we walked to the back of the arboretum. There was the occasional jogger or couple walking by, but for the most part things were fairly quiet. It’s weird to think how bustling things would have been given the weather - under normal circumstances that is. There was no fighting for tree real estate today. We stretched out between two leafless trees on the edge of �the ravines. The sun easily cut through the canopy of bare branches. It was nice to just lay there in the sun for a good hour. I really should start studying outside more often. 4/3/2020; 9:39PM Do you ever have a day that is both a good day and a bad day at the same time? Today is one of those days for me. It began with an exam. Normally that isn't a good start to a college student’s day but in this case the exam was in biochemistry - a subject that I have always excelled in - and it was open-book, meaning it had to be easier than ever right? Well, I don’t have my score back yet so time will only tell as to whether that’s true. The exam was from 9-11am, so mostly it was a good note in my day because I was glad to have it over so early. I was supposed to have a self-reflection meeting with my leadership academy from 1-4pm today, but truthfully I played hooky. Self-reflection events have always been something I enjoyed because they’re generally really enlightening, in addition to having free food and an opportunity to socialize with my fellow candidates. But the thought of engaging in such an intimate ritual via zoom seemed alien. Also, it’s pretty easy to rationalize skipping class or an event when “skipping” only means not opening my computer. So instead I called in sick and we went on a hike. I was nervous initially about the idea of heading to Rosy Mound. Earlier in the morning, I came across a Facebook post by Ottawa County Parks’ that requested hikers steer clear of lakeside parks because they had been notoriously busy in the past few weeks - an environment that isn’t too congruent with social distancing. We debated visiting other parks instead, but ultimately conceded that no matter where we went on such a nice day, it was hard to predict the level of foot-traffic. The hike ended up being a nice escape. We climbed many stairs, sticking close to the side of the path, our heads turned, whenever another party passed. Some people reciprocated our attempts at keeping a distance, while others plowed through the middle of the path, unperturbed by us clinging to the sides. After reaching the top, we ended up picnicking in the refuge of a solitary dune off the lake. Thankfully nobody bothered us there. That was the good of the day. The bad started a few hours after collapsing into bed, exhausted from our hike. One of my roommates who had moved home returned to pick up some extra things. No big deal. Except another one had also come back and was now doing her laundry downstairs. It frustrated me that as hard as we had tried to isolate ourselves for the past week, sacrificing time with friends we so wished to have, my roommates had now come meandering back through the house after spending time interacting with only god knows who. I had specifically asked them, multiple times, to just text me when they were coming back, if only so I knew who was in the house, but apparently that was too difficult a request. �Since then various rotten things continued to go wrong with my day - one of my roommates broke a glass, she took my vacuum when I needed to use it, my girlfriend accidentally spilled a full drink (with the last of my quarantine vodka) all over the carpet… Even saying this now it seems silly how upset I’ve been by all that’s happened. I guess when you’re cooped up all day and all you have is the little things it’s easier for the little things to get to you when they go wrong. 4/7/2020; 12:05PM Things are looking more and more ominous in regards to the severity of this public health crisis and with that more chaotic. I have been checking the Kent County public health website daily for updates on numbers. We are now at around 177 positive tests, which means realistically there are probably a lOT more positive case than that since 1) some people are asymptomatic 2) other people have mild cases that may as well be a cold (like any ol’ coronavirus) and 3) they are only testing people who are severe anyways! Public health recommendations are also a mess. Within the past couple weeks, the CDC has gone from telling people to only wear masks if they’re caring for someone who is sick, to saying that everyone should be wearing masks in public as a precaution. My parents tried to order masks off Amazon, but what would normally require 2-day shipping isn’t set to arrive until May. Some people are making their own cloth masks, but I don’t have the fabric, much less a sewing machine. My aunt, who works as a nurse at Bronson, is supposedly making masks for my family. My mom says she would send us some if they got extra, but I don’t know how likely that is at this point. We haven’t been to the grocery store yet and Kelly says she doesn’t want to wear a mask anyways because last time we went, we thought the few younger people who were wearing them looked stupid. I think public perception has changed now that the recommendations have flipped. In my spare time I’ve been reading and listening to podcasts. One of the podcasts I’ve always liked is called Sawbones, it’s a comic medical history show and one of the hosts is a family physician. In the past few episodes they’ve been talking about the COVID19 epidemic. It’s wild to think about how quickly this went from being overblow to scary. I remember listening to their first episode on COVID19 on the plane ride down to Florida for spring break. Even physicians were being optimistic, warning people not to panic and saying that this would likely only have an impact on countries like China, who are often hit hard by these kinds of outbreaks due to the overall poor respiratory health of their country. Two weeks later they came out with a follow up episode talking about how physicians were setting up decontamination stations in their garage to avoid infecting patients and begging people to stay inside. I can only imagine what people outside of the US are thinking about this situation. Probably the same way we have always looked at China through epidemics like SARS, thinking “Wow, it must suck to be in a country with such poorly established public health measures. I’m glad that could never happen here”. I think living through this has definitely made me realize the false sense of security that living in a �wealthy, developed nation can provide. Clearly we aren’t as separated from the world’s problems as one would like to think. Heck in this case, we, are “the world’s problems”. 4/13/2020 6:30pm Today I found out my summer internship program has been cancelled due to COVID19. While I always knew this was a possibility, it was still a huge blow. The research program was supposed to be my “in” to my top MD/PhD program. They bring you in for a summer, house you and pay you to do research, while at the same time you get to attend seminars by graduate students and talk to admissions counselors about applying. It’s essentially a 2-month long interview for them - or so my advisor told me. Well after receiving the news via email and briefly going through all 7 stages of grief, I shot out a desperate email to the PI I was supposed to be working under. I told her about the program being cancelled. “I know this may be a stretch, but are you aware of any other sources of funding that would still allow me to work in your lab over the summer?” I frantically emailed my supervisor at the library, maybe I can still continue working my current job?? I also emailed a few other contacts that one of my advisors had sent me, but I wasn’t holding my breath - it seemed like everyone was too busy doing damage control and nobody had jobs to offer right now. Then my email pinged a response - it was from the PI. “That is too bad. I’m happy to fund you to work in our lab – so, no worries.” Just like that, things were fixed (I think??). I have a phone meeting with her tomorrow to talk over details, but I’m still nervous about all the undetermined variables. It’s so hard to plan anything now because this pandemic is so unpredictable. I’m worried that even if I miraculously am still able to set up a job in this lab, our state could have its lockdown extended or their state could implement one or the hospital could shut down that research project. I’m having trouble coping with the uncertainty of it all. �4/16/2020 12:51 pm My partner moved out this morning. She’s going back to live with her roommates. Tomorrow, I will be heading back to stay with my parents for a couple of weeks - or as long as I can manage. Things have not been great for either of us, mental health-wise. The weather has been snowy and cold and windy and I haven’t left the house in probably two weeks. It’s depressing to say the least. We tried to mix it up. To roast marshmallows over our grill outside and have sushi picnics in the living room. But it’s hard to be trapped in a small apartment with the same person day in and day out, with no distinct purpose. Sure, I have school work right now, but even the courses I normally enjoy seem to drag. I no longer have any motivation to be productive. I only feel lethargic and empty. So we decided we both needed a change of scenery. Honestly, I almost wish we had decided to do this sooner. Things were strange and tense in the past few days. We both knew each of us wanted to be somewhere else. It’s hard to be with a person you’re supposed to love and only want to be somewhere else. The stress over thinking about what this could do to our relationship has not helped. I just hope we can both bounce back from this weird depression. I can feel myself sinking into a place of loneliness and mourning that I haven’t been in a while and I only hope that I can pull through finals. Even though my classes are mostly done - two of my finals were switched to take-home exams and I’m hardly concerned about those, I still feel as though I’m drowning in responsibilities. The leadership academy I’m in asked us to record 30 second videos of ourselves congratulating graduating seniors in place of the normal banquet we have. My research professor asked me to write up methods and results for our experiments from the past fall since I can’t do anything else in the lab. I don’t feel I have the energy to tackle either of these tasks. I am nervous about heading home. From what I’ve heard, my parent’s house hasn’t been the most hospitable of environments as of late. My mother has taken to obsessively reading all of the doom-and-gloom news and my younger sister - well she’s always been capricious. Normally she attends a day program for special needs adults, but she’s been home since the public schools were all closed. I get the sense that she has no real structure to her day anymore and apparently her fits have only been getting worse. Normally when I visit home we share a room, so this is moderately concerning. Nothing I haven’t handled before, but still I’m worried that the environment will only increase my stress load. Then again, my other option is to spend another few weeks wallowing within the same four walls - now alone. And that is not something I think I can take for a moment longer. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-19_ANON-029 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-19 Title A name given to the resource Anonymous COVID-19 Journal Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/088a002d1bcb0098ee15d8676ac5ed64.pdf c01a7fc86f3bca37a696375dd33fa129 PDF Text Text May 10, 2020 March 11 was a crazy day. I was working in the library in the morning when I heard about Michigan State being shut down. I thought this was crazy news. Why would it shut down already? It was clear that the coronavirus was a serious issue around the world, but it hadn’t quite touched any of our lives yet. On Wednesday, March 11, the state of Michigan announced its first two cases of the virus, and immediately, universities began shutting down. This didn’t make much sense at the time, but sure enough, Grand Valley made the call too. I was eating dinner at Kleiner Dining Commons when we all received the email. As a Freshman, the only way I can describe this was weird. Personally, I don’t get too worked up by things like this, especially when I know most people around me are reacting more strongly. Still, the environment on campus changed almost instantly. It felt like doomsday as people began leaving. Some were packing up their things and leaving within a half hour. Others (like me) took a few days to get themselves off of campus. The communication we received told us that classes for Thursday and Friday were cancelled. Everyone was feeling a really weird mixture of anxiety about the entire situation, yet freedom from academic responsibilities. It’s not like anyone could focus on schoolwork anyway. Even for those of us who were much more calm, the strange energy in Holton-Hooker, where I lived was too much to do anything productive. I made a lot of Facetime calls to different friends. Video Chatting with others was a great way for me to use my energy to make the best of the situation, and laugh with friends in the midst of everything. I came back to campus the next week with my parents to move out of my dorm completely. Throughout this first week away from campus, I had a really strange energy. Normally, I get stressed out by the day-to-day responsibilities, not the longterm things. This being said, I was really enjoying my time. All of my stress had suddenly vanished. I spent the first few days with my brother and sister-in-law downtown Grand Rapids. The government had just begun encouraging social distancing. Businesses were starting to shut down. The governor called for all nonessential business to first cut down their hours, and then later for them to close. This was the biggest bummer for me. I love doing homework in coffee shops, and this is where I hang out with many friends as well. With everything shutting down, I headed home to my parents. When I finally returned to my home in Portage, I have to admit, I was not happy. I had just begun to really feel really comfortable at GVSU, getting involved in various activities and pursuing my education full-force. My extracurriculars changed greatly when we left campus. This year was the first year GVSU has had a competitive speech team, and I was the first member. The COVID-19 outbreak really threw a wrench in the budding plans of the team. Together with two professors/coaches, I was in the process of preparing for a national tournament and recruiting new team members. However, with the exodus from campus as well as cancellations in speech tournaments, all of this came to a halt. My professors have texted with me, but we decided to start fresh in the fall. The other organization with which I am heavily involved is Campus Ministry (CM). The change from in-person meetings to online events has been a difficult transition as well. Normally, CM meets each Sunday night for a large gathering/church service, called, “The Well.” However, with all that has happened, The Well has changed to digital meetings. Each Sunday, �CM staff and student leaders put together a very well-done video for students. They broadcast it using Facebook Live. They still do music worship, announcements, and a lesson, but it is all put together using Zoom video calls and other things of that nature. It has been very encouraging to know the staff is there for us students, continuing to challenge us in our faith and to be available should we need people to talk to. We also have small group meetings, called Life Groups. These have moved to virtual video chats as well. All of the accommodations have been great, but unfortunately, participation has gone down. I don’t think it’s because of lack of interest, it is just difficult to keep students available at the exact times when it isn’t a live meeting that they can attend alongside many students who are equally excited. College students are really missing community right now - that may be the toughest part of this situation. I am managing to stay positive, but I miss my friends. I have regular meetings set up with them, but never do we have all of us on one call at the same time, and just when I could be progressing other new friendships, I can do nothing but FaceTime these new friends for chats that are good, but awkward nevertheless. I hope this can end soon. I know I am not the only one experiencing hardship, and there are many who are struggling to have good mental health and feel valued in this time of isolation. It is my goal to be better at reaching out and caring more for others during the pandemic. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-05-10_ANON-030 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-05-10 Title A name given to the resource Anonymous COVID-19 Journal Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/db2f431d7eae8767780b6cc791592fd4.pdf 342433cb44526c939dd9042f08ddbb64 PDF Text Text On Wednesday night March 11th 2020, I received an email from Grand Valley State University (GVSU) that classes were cancelled for the rest of the week and would move online from March 16th to March 29th. Many emails came to follow this one detailing all of the changes that were to come-- my shifts at work had been cancelled until further notice and that I was expected to move out of my on-campus apartment unless there were extenuating circumstances. It almost did not feel real. I desperately did not want to leave GV and all of my friends and community, especially because I had a feeling we would be doing class online longer than stated. I spent many hours trying to figure out a way to stay in Allendale. I thought of people I could ask to stay with or reasons as to why I had to stay on campus. However, I knew the best thing for me to do was go home. I spent the next few days being with friends and starting to pack up. I decided to not pack up everything in the hope that I would be returning to my apartment to finish classes inperson. I knew I needed to turn to God with my emotions. I journaled my prayers to Him; my sadness, my anger, my confusion. My prayers for health and safety for everyone. I said goodbye to my roommates and left that Saturday to go home, which was bittersweet. I love being with my family, but I couldn’t hide the fact that I would rather be at school. That following Tuesday, March 17th, I received another email stating that classes would be online for the remainder of the semester and I should schedule a day to completely move out. However as of April 11th, that has not happened due to the governor’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe Order” and most of my stuff is still at school. Upon hearing the official news that I would not be returning to GV, the wave of emotions hit me once again. I lamented my lost time with friends, no longer getting to live with my roommates, and the loss of future plans. I felt negative and a little hopeless. I prayed to God to ask Him for a heart attitude change and to not find joy in my circumstances, but in Christ alone. The beginning of all this change was the hardest. Like I said before, I was processing a lot of emotions and they definitely weighed heavier on me in the beginning. I also am the type of person who thrives on a schedule, so since my routine was thrown out the window I found it much more difficult to get done what I needed to get done. Additionally, the first week of doing class online was exhausting. I was now on my computer for a significantly longer amount of time than before. There were also a lot more distractions while I was trying to listen to my professors. I am normally a handwritten notes kind of girl, which means my laptop is away during lectures. Now, any and all notifications pop up while I’m “in class.” Like many others, my motivation to do my homework dwindled. My younger sister and brother did not have any work to be doing, which made it that much harder to concentrate on mine. I also wanted to spend the evenings �with my family. If I was back at school I would normally do homework in the evenings, but now that I am home I find it much more difficult to motivate myself to do work after dinner. Even though I much prefer in-person classes, I have been able to better adjust to online class and all that comes with it. April 12, 2020 Easter looked very different this year. Normally, we wake up and get ready for church. It’s a big celebration service where we praise the Lord for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The church is always filled to the brim with people. However, this year the chairs in the auditorium of the church sat empty while the band played songs of worship and the pastor live streamed his sermon. At home, my family decided to get dressed up as we watched the service on Facebook live. Since the coronavirus, we’ve spent the past few Sundays in our pajamas while watching the service, but somehow it just didn’t seem right to be in pjs for the Easter service. Even though Easter looked a little different this year, the heart of it was the same. We still praised God for all He has done. We still sang songs, they were just from our living room. We still drank our coffee while taking notes on the message, but we were just on the couch instead of in the church. That’s the beautiful thing about God, He sees us and hears us no matter where we are. Yes, Easter looked different this year, but Jesus Christ still rose from the grave. He still died on the cross for our sin so that we could have a relationship with Him. That’s what Easter is about. It’s not about the clothes we wear to church. It’s not about the ham we eat for lunch. It’s not even about the extended family get-togethers. We still had the opportunity to celebrate Jesus, which remains the same even among the chaos of this pandemic. Usually, I would get to see all of my extended family as we spent the remainder of the day together eating, laughing, and playing card games. This year I did not get to see my little cousins, or my aunts and uncles, or my grandparents. Although this was disappointing, I am still thankful that I was able to be with my parents and siblings during this time. My mom made a wonderful Easter lunch of ham, mashed potatoes, and candied carrots. In addition, she made a chocolate cake that was extremely delicious. In the evening, we started to watch a free movie on Amazon Prime, but soon realized that it was a terrible movie. It was so bad that we could not even finish it. Instead, we watched Sweet Home Alabama, which is what the other movie tried and failed to be. Despite the unusualness of Easter this year, I still had a wonderful day with many blessings to be grateful for. �April 14, 2020 On most days I try to get up earlier so that I’m able to get most of my work done during the day. I started off the day reading my Bible and praying before breakfast and coffee. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have four classes normally, although not all of them meet synchronously. Doing classes online is strange because I feel like I’m working all the time while also not getting much done. Today I focused on a couple of projects for some of my classes, watching a recorded lecture, attending class, and other assignments. I definitely put in several hours of work, yet I feel that I accomplished little, which is quite frustrating. This week my little brother and sister started up online school for the first time. During the past month I’ve been working hard and having somewhat of a routine while they have not had any official responsibilities and have had more freedom during the quarantine time. My sister is a junior in high school and felt especially stressed today as she is in the process of adjusting to this new way of doing school. Since my brother is only in eighth grade, he does not quite have the workload that she does. Although who knows what he is actually supposed to be doing because he is a middle school boy. I’ve honestly started drinking more coffee during this period of staying at home then when I actually had to get up early and go to class, which is quite strange. I drink coffee almost every morning and then again almost every afternoon. To be quite honest, sometimes afternoon coffee time is the only thing I look forward to during the day. The thought of my afternoon iced coffee motivates me to get work done so I can enjoy a small break while sipping my coffee and perhaps enjoying a little treat. We always eat dinner together as a family, which I love and helps establish a feeling of normalcy during the time of chaos. One thing I’ve come to appreciate since going away to college is having my mom make dinner for my family each night. She is a wonderful cook and I’ve found that it is quite exhausting to plan, shop for ingredients, and then make meals for myself. After a long day of classes and then a night full of extracurriculars, making a healthy dinner can be such a hassle. On Tuesday nights I co-lead a small group for Delight, which is a nationwide women’s ministry and we happen to have a chapter at GVSU. Our club has really expanded this past year, which we are so thankful to God for. This semester we are going through the book of John, and I’ve really enjoyed talking about the Bible with all my girls. We took a couple weeks off of meeting so that everyone could adjust to going back home and doing classes online. At first, I wondered if there even was a point in trying to meet anymore, but I am so glad that we as a leadership team decided to keep going. We meet with our small groups over zoom. My co- �leader and I try to talk a little bit before our small group so that we have a general idea of what we want to do with our time. We start out by everyone talking about how they are doing and how their week is going. Then we pray before we dive into that week’s scripture and devotional. There are discussion questions that we sometimes follow, but lately we’ve just been discussing which verses stuck out to us. Tonight was John 20, which covers the resurrection of Jesus. It was so perfect since this past Sunday was Easter! We had a really good conversation tonight and I am so thankful for the opportunity to continue to meet digitally and to connect over God’s word. Normally, our club meets for an hour but our zoom calls usually are closer to an hour and a half because we have such a good time talking with each other. To close, we ask how we can be praying for each other and then we close in prayer. April 16, 2020 Today was my last day of classes for the semester! I never would have imagined that this is what the end of the semester would have looked like for me. Thursdays are my busiest days. I have four classes and then two meetings in the evenings, which I’ve pretty much kept up since coming home. My mom looked at me and said she could not believe the schedule that I kept at school, but I guess that’s college. Today was not any different. I was working on assignments and attending lectures for all of my classes today. It was a full and busy day. My first class period is a time where students can go in to ask my professor questions about our project and final. I attended speech science today because I had questions for my report, but I don’t always attend because it is optional. Then I worked on my project for speech science for the remainder of the hour. My next class was a review and again a time to ask my professor questions for our final. We had made virtual children’s books based on a concept we learned about the neurology of speech and hearing. My group shared our book, which was about the brainstem and I really enjoyed listening to other groups share their books. Then I watched a recorded lecture for aural rehabilitation and took notes. Finally, I worked on some exercises for french grammar, took a quiz, and then attended my last class. I did not get any time to rest though because I was working on things up until my first meeting, which was our last delight leadership meeting. Again, we used zoom for the meeting. We had a couple of business items to attend to, but mostly we talked about what a wonderful year we had together. Everyone went around and shared some of their favorite memories from this past year. The hour was filled with a lot of laughter. Many of us are not doing leadership again next year, so I felt a little sad that it was all ending and we couldn’t even be in person. Unfortunately, I had to leave quickly so I could eat dinner and get ready for my next meeting. �My second meeting on Thursdays is Life Group. I co-lead a small group through Campus Ministry. Normally, we meet for two hours spending an hour on talking and hanging out, and the other hour going over the scripture and message from the Well the past Sunday. That’s changed a little since going virtual. Instead, we mainly talk for an hour to see how everyone is doing and see how we can be praying for each other. Honestly, my co-leader and I have not had a lot of girls show up for our virtual meetings, which was a little discouraging at first. But I had to remind myself to give everyone grace since we are going through an unprecedented time. We were excited because we had two girls show up tonight and it was good to talk, catch up, laugh, and pray with them. I finished both meetings with my heart very full despite the stress I had been feeling from school. Hard to believe my busy Thursdays are over! April 17, 2020 Well it’s that time of year again, the end of the semester crunch to finish up papers, projects, and studying for finals. The rush to get everything done so that we can enjoy a welldeserved break. It’s strange to look back and realize that it’s been over a month since I got sent home from GVSU. Normally, this is around the time I would be packing up stuff to head home, but I’ve already been home for five weeks and most of my stuff is still at school. The past couple days have been full of anxious thoughts and a bit of mental spiraling. I care a lot about my grades so I hold myself to a high standard and put a lot of pressure on myself to do things “perfectly.” So as I’ve had to juggle the influx of assignments that comes with the end of the semester, I’ve found that my stress levels have skyrocketed. Additionally, the fact that I’m already home makes it difficult to keep up the motivation and attention necessary for finals. However, I’m doing the best I can given the circumstances and I have to remind myself that my best is all I can do. And today that looked like sitting in the same spot for five hours to finish a rough draft due tonight. Thankfully, I was able to finish that at a reasonable time and could enjoy my evening. Fridays are always pizza and movie night at my house. This has not changed since the coronavirus because we are still able to enjoy these things while quarantined. Over the past few weeks we’ve been rewatching different series. We started with the Hunger Games and then the Chronicles of Narnia. Tonight we started the James Bond series starring Daniel Craig. It’s nice to have some stability and sameness in a time where so many things have changed. April 18, 2020 �I allowed myself to rest today as I have felt that I’ve been working non-stop these past few days. I slept in a couple hours past the time I would normally get up. Then I read my Bible while enjoying breakfast and coffee. I’ve felt pretty lethargic after sitting all day doing school and homework the past couple days. I decided that I needed to move so my mom, sister, and I all did a workout video. Once we’d finished I noticed that it was a beautiful day outside. The snow had melted from the day before, and the sun was shining. I threw on a sweatshirt and went for a walk. I listened to some worship music and spent some time praying. There is something so restful about a walk outside on a beautiful day. The fresh air is refreshing and it’s one of the few times that I can be alone during the stay home order. After that I did have to get some work done. So I worked on a couple assignments and organized what I needed to get done in the next week. I love organizing my planner and I love making lists. It makes me feel accomplished and helps clear my head. Yet lists are deceptive, in the fact that I feel more productive than I actually have been. After this, my sister and I painted a sign for one of our friend’s birthdays. His parents had arranged a car parade that many are doing during this time of social distancing. And so cars were lined up down his street with happy birthday signs and balloons. Then all the cars drove by his house while honking their horns to wish him a happy birthday, and we circled around his house twice. I had texted him earlier in the day, and I don’t think he suspected that this was happening, so I truly believe he was surprised. He texted me after that it made his day and how much he missed being with everyone. It was nice to still be able to celebrate a friend during this time even if I couldn’t physically be there to celebrate with him. �April 20, 2020 Well finals week is finally here. It’s hard to believe that it is the last week of school. I’m looking forward to having a lot more free time and downtime to do what I would like. On the other hand, it will be weird to not have a purpose and to be trapped at home. Normally during the summer I would have a job, but I am not sure that will happen. There is so much that is uncertain about the future. What’s more is that I can’t be with friends during this time either. No fun excursions to coffee shops, no picnics, no going to the beach, no road trips, and no going out to lunch. These are things I normally look forward to with the end of school, but with the stay home order that's not possible. I’m still trying to stay on schedule this week by waking up early so that I’m able to finish everything I need to get done. So this morning I woke up, read my Bible, wrote in my prayer journal and then ate breakfast. Next I worked on a reflection assignment for my french class, which took a lot longer than expected. My mom, sister, and I all decided to work out so after my mom’s meeting, we did an exercise video and it felt good to move. After that I continued to study until my final conversation for french. Since it’s a conversation class, a written final would not make any sense so everyone had to schedule a meeting on zoom so she could assess how our conversational skills have progressed. It was the shortest final I’ve ever had to take. After that it was more studying and getting ready for other exams. However I did allow myself some relaxation in the evening as my whole family watched a couple tv shows together. I figured it was a well deserved break. April 21, 2020 Today I had my first official final. To be quite honest, since we were allowed to use our notes, I did not study for this exam. I have some that are not open-note so I’ve been spending my time preparing for those exams instead. This happened to pay off for me because I got a good grade and my grade overall is right where I’d like it to be for this class. The rest of my day was spent studying for my other exams, talking to my professor about my research project, and talking to people over zoom. My group of life group leaders met for an hour today to catch up and see how everyone was doing. It was our last official meeting, however I know that we will continue to keep in touch. We spent some time praying together as we head towards the end of our semester and into summer break which is filled with uncertainty. I love these girls a lot and I am so thankful for them. Tonight was the last delight bible study for the semester. I know it won’t be the last time I see these girls though because we are going to do a summer study on James together. I can’t �wait! Like usual we talked about how we are doing--the ups, the downs, and life in general. Then we dove into John 21, the last chapter in John!! One of the girls pointed out that there is a reflection page to highlight how you’ve grown and the ways you’ve come to know Jesus better. I think that it is so cool and I did not realize that it was there. I’m looking forward to filling it out myself. I am so incredibly thankful for these girls and I love them lots. April 22, 2020 I once again started my day with reading my Bible and then exercising. I really enjoy starting the day that way since I get to grow spiritually, and then work physically. I did not have any exams today, so a few of my friends decided to study for our exam together. This is the one exam I had to study for because we were using a lockdown browser while being recorded so that our professor could make sure no one was cheating. We spent most of the day going over practice exercises and questions. This took a surprisingly long time to go through and then try to answer each other’s questions. We all knew this was going to be our hardest final and wanted to prepare as much as we could for it. I thought it was very helpful and glad we spent time working on them together. After we finished that, I looked over some of my notes for that same class. I also prepared for my other final, which was open note, by bookmarking my notes so I could easily find any information I needed during the test. I was not quite sure what to expect for this exam, but I did my best to get ready for it. Since I had worked so hard studying the whole day I let myself rest in the evening. I am a big proponent of balance in school. I care a lot about my grades and how well I do, but I think rest and relaxation is vital in performing well academically. April 23, 2020 Today was my big day! I had three exams to complete. The first one was at 8am and required that I set up the lockdown browser. So I made sure that I was up early enough to complete all the steps for set-up while still optimizing my sleep. I woke up with a sore throat so I made sure to make some tea and have some cough drops ready. I also was a little nervous while completing the environment check. That was when we had to show our testing area to the camera before we could take the test. I made sure to show all of the things I had out so that I would not be suspected of cheating. There were some questions I did not recognize from the practice questions, but I did the best I could. �I only had a small break between finishing my first exam and the start of my second one. So I quickly ate some breakfast and then prepared myself for the next one. I was a little nervous for this one because even though it was open note, I still had not spent much time preparing for it. I would have liked to go over my notes as though I couldn’t use my notes, but I just did not have the time or energy for that. I finished that one and received my grade shortly after, and I did extremely well! I was very pleased with my score. My next exam had a “take-home exam” format. My professor had given us the exam a few days earlier and it just needed to be turned in by midnight. This was my French grammar exam, which is not an easy subject. I gave myself a little break before working on it. My goal had been to do it in pieces, but once again I ran out of time to do that. This left me with only a single page done and about five pages left to go. I knew it would take time, but this test took me a lot longer than I had anticipated to complete. I got stuck on one part near the beginning, so I decided to skip it and come back later. Finally, I finished my last exam. Only one paper left to go. April 24, 2020 This was the first day I let myself sleep in. I figured I deserved it and I only had one thing to do today. Again, I spent some time in the Word and in prayer. It was a slow morning and I let myself relax and enjoy it, before I took the afternoon to work on my paper. It was so strange that I had work to do today. Every other semester, I’ve been done by Thursday. Unfortunately, the coronavirus created a shift in due dates and now my final report was due today. Thankfully, all that needed to be done was a little editing, However, I’m a bit of a perfectionist so the editing took a few hours. But I finished it before dinner and I call that a win! With that I turned it in, and officially ended my sophomore year at Grand Valley. It was definitely not the ending I had imagined for my year. I couldn’t help but compare it to the end of my freshman year. There was more of a resolution with finishing finals and then packing up and moving home. In contrast to this year where I’ve finished my finals, but I’ve been home for about seven weeks. It kind of lacks closure in a chapter of my life. That's just how life goes. It doesn’t always follow the plan or expectation, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good or that there wasn’t any growth. It just looked different and that isn’t necessarily bad. It’s Friday, so of course my family celebrated the end of my semester with pizza and a movie. I could not wait to truly relax and enjoy the quarantine without worrying about school work. �April 25, 2020 A few days ago, my sister and I had an idea to have a tea party. I said that it needed to wait until after my finals and so it was decided that this Saturday, today, would be our tea party. My dad is gluten-free so we made sure to have snacks that he could enjoy, so I made glutenfree chocolate zucchini muffins that are full of protein. My sister made cucumber sandwiches, both regular and gluten-free. We cut up some strawberries and added some blueberries and raspberries to make a small fruit salad. We also put out some chocolate-chip cookies to enjoy. I love earl gray tea so I decided to make that to drink for our tea party. We used our china plates, tea cups, and saucers to make it a little fancier and more fun. This was definitely the highlight of my day, and perhaps the highlight of the whole quarantine. I had such a wonderful time. It was so relaxing to drink hot tea and eat treats while the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack played in the background. It sort of made me wish that we did it every day. My whole family participated, even my fourteen year old brother. He was very reluctant to join, which was not surprising but we essentially forced him too. Getting him to join our tea parties was a lot easier when he was little. My mom tried to take some pictures, and he straight up jumped out of his chair and onto the floor to avoid any pictures and videos. All it did was make us laugh. April 27, 2020 Ah my first true day of freedom. I got to sleep in, read my Bible, and work out. It was an absolutely beautiful day outside. It was warm and sunny so I went for a walk after I worked out with my mom and sister. Days like these make quarantine seem a little more bearable. I have a few goals that I want to accomplish with all my free time since classes have ended and I can’t work anywhere. One of them is to go through my clothes and get rid of some of them. However, I felt that it would be a waste of a beautiful day to be inside going through clothes so I did not do that today. So I made a salad, and apples with peanut butter for lunch and ate it outside. I then read my book outside for most of the day. Another one of my quarantine goals is to read all of Jane Austen’s novels. I read Sense and Sensibility back in January. I am now working on Pride and Prejudice, which I am enjoying immensely. With good weather inevitably comes grilling so we grilled burgers for dinner, which were satisfying. April 29, 2020 �Today was a rainy day, which sometimes I enjoy almost as much as a sunny day. I slept in and began my morning routine of reading my Bible and then working out with my mom and sister. By the end, we were so hot at the end that we stood out in the drizzling rain and it felt amazing. I finished my goal and finished Pride and Prejudice! It was absolutely amazing! I am very much looking forward to reading the others, although I do not think they’ll be as good as Pride and Prejudice. I also finally started on my other goal of going through my clothes. Today I just worked on going through my dresser. As I sorted through all of my clothes, I was finally able to catch up on some of my podcast episodes. At school, I would listen to them in the bus on my way downtown. However, since I have not done that for several weeks, I had not found a new time to listen to them and had gotten behind. There is something so relaxing about and going through organizing things. My dad also told me today that our church was putting together a video of children wishing their mom a Happy Mother’s Day, so my siblings and I spent some time making that. It had to be done while my mom started making dinner because she would be guaranteed to be distracted and we could film it without her noticing, hopefully. May 1, 2020 I finally got to move out today!! It was such a relief to finally be able to get my things, although there were some rules we had to follow such as wearing masks. My family decided to make the trip to Grand Rapids as fun as possible, so we got Chick-fil-a for lunch on the way up to school; it was amazing. I was the last person to move out of my apartment, so we got stuck with most of the cleaning. My wonderful mom cleaned out the fridge where I had pried a kombucha bottle that belonged to one of my roommates off the shelf. All in all, it took about two hours to clean and pack up all my remaining stuff. It was quite strange to be back when the building was so empty and hardly anyone was there. On the way back we got coffee from Starbucks, again to make our trip out of the house fun. Today was one of my best friends’ birthday and she only lived fifteen minutes away from me. So after we got back and ate dinner, I decided to drive by her house and wish her a happy birthday. We stood outside on her front lawn, several feet apart and got to talk for about 45 minutes. It was so nice to see her for the first time in what felt like forever. As much as I wish that I could have celebrated her birthday like normal, I’m glad that I was able to stop by and chat for a little bit. �May 2, 2020 Today was my best friend’s bridal shower. Before the coronavirus, the shower was going to be at the church with a lot of friends and family. That had to change, so everyone sent gifts to her house and the shower was live-streamed on Facebook. Since I am her maid of honor, she asked if I could be there. After talking with my family, I decided to go. I made sure to take the necessary precautions; I wore my mask and kept my distance while washing my hands and avoiding touching my face. I was so glad that I could support her during this time where so many of her plans have had to change. Once I got home, I found out that my cousins were going to stop by so that we could talk outside while social distancing. That was a pleasant surprise! This past weekend I have seen more people than I’ve seen for the past seven weeks combined! They stayed and talked for about an hour and a half and we chatted about how everyone had been doing. To be quite honest, I’m not sure how much more the general population will listen to social distancing rules. It is getting to the point where we have done this for about two months without any idea about when it will end. I know that I miss seeing people, as many others do. Additionally, the weather is getting nicer which in my eyes only makes it easier to want to break the rules. Well, we’ll see what happens. None of us can know the future except God. May 4, 2020 Many of my days look the same now that classes have ended. I sleep in and then do some combination of reading my Bible, working out, eating breakfast, and drinking coffee. I thrive off routine and it doesn’t really bother me that most of my days look the same. Today I had the inspiration to clean out my craft drawers that have been collecting junk and art supplies since elementary school. It has been a task on my to-do list and when the motivation to organize strikes, I have to act on it. It felt amazing to get rid of stuff I no longer needed and that I had not used in years. I was also able to walk down memory lane a bit with old projects and photos. I found remains of shrinky-dinks from my fifth grade mini society project. There were still some sheets left, so I decided to keep it to do one day. You never know what you might want to do during quarantine. Additionally, I found some things I didn't even know I had such as the combination to a lock that I used for middle school swim and high school P.E., which was lucky because my whole family had forgotten the combination. It was a nice day so we ate dinner outside, as we have been doing these past few weeks. Any chance to get out of the house, even if it’s just to be outside in our backyard, we �take advantage of it. My dad suggested that we have our first bonfire of the year and we all agreed. The tricky thing about a spontaneous bonfire is that we might not have all the necessary items to make s’mores, and unfortunately, we were out of Hershey’s chocolate bars. This forced us to get creative with Nutella and chocolate chips, which wasn’t bad but I think I’ll stick to chocolate bars. May 5, 2020 Again the day started out the same as yesterday: sleep in, read my Bible, work out, eat breakfast, and drink coffee. I usually end up not actually getting ready until like 1pm due to the fact that our workout didn’t start until close to noon because my sister likes to get some homework done before we exercise. My friend had texted me asking if I had any books she could borrow because the library was closed and she was spending too much time watching Netflix. She has texted the right person, as I love to read and have an endless amount of suggestions. I was only limited by the lack of space in my house, causing many of my books to be digital on my Nook. To begin, I suggested To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series because they are quick and entertaining reads. So she stopped by with her finacé to pick up the books. We then kept our distance in my front yard and got to talk for a little bit. At this point in the quarantine, many of us are longing for actual face-to-face human interaction and relish any chance to talk while still being safe. I then proceeded to watch Gilmore Girls as it was not that nice outside and it is a comfort show for me. I try not to spend all of my time watching tv and being on my phone during this time because I do not think it is that healthy to have that much screen time, even though that would be easy to do. So when it’s nice I try to read outside and take walks or ride my bike. However, sometimes I just want to watch Gilmore Girls and that’s okay. As it is Cinco de Mayo today we decided to order Mexican food for dinner. We tried to order from a local business, but they were extremely busy. So in the end we ordered Chipotle which was delicious, even though it didn’t arrive until 7:30pm which is a late dinner for us. May 6, 2020 My morning routine continues with the same items to start off my day. Today’s differentiating items was a visit with my cousins. One my aunts said her boys were missing their cousins, especially the girls in college, and wanted to see everyone. So the older cousins got together in one of our backyards and talked while maintaining some distance. Again, it was wonderful to actually talk and see people face-to-face, even if it wasn’t quite normal yet. This �afternoon my mom went into work while we were with my cousins, so my dad had the whole house to himself. This is an extremely rare occurrence during quarantine since it’s been the five of us at home all the time. After that, my siblings and I decided to get some iced coffee through the Dunkin’ Donuts drive through. As I’ve mentioned before, I absolutely love afternoon coffee time and I savored every sip of that iced coffee. May 8, 2020 Today was a pretty relaxed day. I had my usual morning routine and the rest of the day to do as I pleased. So I read as I typically do when I have free time. Before I read my next Jane Austen novel, I wanted to break it up with some easier reads. Currently I was working on the second book in a murder msytery series about a lady and her lady’s maid, think Downton Abbey. And I spent most of the day doing that. Now that I’ve gotten used to being home, I’m pretty comfortable with having time to relax and not have many responsibilities. I’m a bit of a homebody, so although I miss being with my friends, I don’t feel like I’m going crazy staying home. It’s Friday so that means it’s pizza night. Tonight we started the Netflix series that most people have started watching during quarantine, Outer Banks. In my mind, it’s THE show everyone will associate with quarantine and this season of life, or at least people my age will associate with this time. It’s geared towards teens/young adults so I was surprised when my dad suggested it for us to watch. It’s a little overly-dramatic, but I was hooked and just enjoyed the unrealistic adventure. May 9, 2020 I had a bit of a shortened morning routine and didn’t work out this morning because I got to work. My mom works at a small business in our town and sometimes her manager has me come into work when things are busy and I’m home. They’ve been slammed with shipping, so I got to go to work today. My mom and I were the only people in the store and we worked on filling orders for curbside pick-up. The store sells olive oils and balsamic vinegars so I spent the whole time filling bottles to complete people’s orders. It felt nice to be out of the house and busy for the first time in a while. We made sure to follow the health guidelines and clean everything we touched before we left. The Starbucks in our town opened back up for pick-ups orders, so we got coffee to bring home for the whole family. �Once we got back home, I found out that my nana had dropped some books off at our house and sadly, we had just missed her. Then I was able to spend the rest of my afternoon relaxing by drinking my coffee and reading. Overall, it was quite a nice day. May 10, 2020 Today was Mother’s Day. My mom slept in while I brewed the coffee and then brought her a cup with the card I had made for her. Then we watched church, which had a special video where kids wished their mom a Happy Mother’s Day, as well as a baby dedication video that our church usually does on Mother’s Day. The baby dedication is a declaration that the family is deciding to raise their child to love and know Jesus, and that the church will come alongside them in that process. After we watched church, my siblings and I made brunch for our mom. We made waffles, bacon, and cut up some fruit. We also did the dishes and then proceeded to make a mess again by making a lemon poppyseed bundt cake from her gluten-free cook book. We also had a tea party for Mother’s Day. We made cucumber sandwiches again and served the lemon poppyseed bundt cake. This tea party was a little less elaborate, but it was still delicious and a fun way to celebrate my mom. For dinner we ordered take-out from Noodles and Company to eat while we watched James Bond per the request of my mom. I was glad we were able to celebrate my mom today even though it looked a little different during this time of staying home. �May 11, 2020 Today was back to the routine of coffee, Bible, breakfast, and then working out. I still felt a little restless after so I took a quick walk around my neighborhood. Once I got back and had showered, my mom reminded me that I still needed to do my taxes. The due date for taxes had been extended because of everything that has happened with coronavirus. I got my first “real” job at the library at Grand Valley’s health campus this past fall, so this was the first time I had to do taxes. Previously, all my other jobs have been babysitting so there’s never been a need to do taxes. It was supposed to be simple enough because I don’t make enough money to support myself and therefore could use TurboTax for free. My mom sat down with me to do them and all was going well until we got to city taxes. She had never had to fill that out, so it was new territory and it caused a lot of strife. Needless to say, I now understand why people hate doing their taxes. Although it is necessary, it sure is a pain. May 12, 2020 My friend was back today to return the books she had borrowed and pick up some new ones. This time she brought some cookies for me as a little thank you. I was really looking forward to seeing her and talking again. I had been thinking of everything I wanted to remember to tell her once we were together in-person. Crazy how you begin to appreciate things you took for granted, like talking with someone in-person. We set up chairs six feet apart and talked for about an hour under the sunshine. That’s something else I’ve come to appreciate more: sunshine and good weather so I can leave my house. After she left, I drove to Michael’s to pick up some supplies I had ordered. My roommates and I decided to make each other gifts for when we move in this August. I saw this really cute idea of making initial key chains out of clay on Pinterest. Then I saw that you could make cute earrings out of clay, so I’ve decided to start a new hobby. Hence, the order at Michael’s. I had almost everything I needed, but I had to order a couple things on Amazon because they weren’t available at Michael’s. I can’t wait to start my new little project. May 14, 2020 Today was a lazy day. It was raining and thundering outside so I pretty much laid around and switched between watching Netflix and reading. I still read my Bible, but we didn't exercise today. That’s fine though because life is all about balance. I started my next Jane Austen novel, Mansfield Park and I think I will still like Pride and Prejudice the best. �My brother wanted to make chocolate chip cookies so he did, however they turned out smaller and puffier than usual. I kept asking him questions to figure what he did wrong because he had used our usual recipe. Finally he admits that he used pure cane sugar. I was a little confused so he showed me the bag he used. He put powdered sugar in instead of granulated sugar. I couldn’t stop laughing because the two look nothing alike. Then I found out this was the SECOND time he’s made that mistake. As a teenage boy, he just goes too quickly and doesn’t pay enough attention to the ingredients he adds to the dough. I probably laughed for 15 minutes about the whole thing. That evening we finally utilised my recently rediscovered shrinky-dinks. We had decided to make it a sibling activity so we all drew and colored some designs onto our sheets. Then we baked them so they curled and then flattened out to our smaller designs. My favorite one that I did was a little pig in a paper airplane; it's adorable. May 16, 2020 Today my sister and I decided to go on a bike ride. We have a trail near our house so that’s where we decided to go. It was a nice and pleasant excursion until we encountered the goose. There were two geese with their babies near the path. I had stopped to wait for my sister because she was a little bit behind. I started to move ahead and the goose hissed at me. I knew geese could be mean so I said that I thought we should turn back. Then a jogger came by giving the geese space and he was fine. My sister decided to follow suit, however the goose did not like that at all. It threw its wings back and chased after her while it hissed. My sister was so scared she threw down her bike and ran back to me. I had been terrified while watching it, but couldn’t help laughing afterwards. The whole situation was funny and frightening. The geese crossed the road and we were able to move ahead. It was quite the story to retell later. After we got back, my mom said she was going to buy some flowers. My sister and I wanted to join her so we ate a quick lunch and then headed out with our masks to buy some flowers at an open market stand. The first place we went to had so many cars there that we knew we wouldn’t be able to park. If there were that many cars, that meant there were probably too many people for it to be ideal to shop. So we went back up the street to another one. This one didn’t have the herbs and lavender my mom wanted, but we bought some flowers anyway. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-05-16_ANON_031 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-05-16 Title A name given to the resource Anonymous COVID-19 Journal Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c818b35502666e439a328d3a28762000.pdf 1a429014b51287b3d0fd6dd242a117e9 PDF Text Text Dear March, we were not prepared. March 18: went to cousins house for dinner despite feeling uncertainty March 19: spent the day alone, cooked a lot of the food in my kitchen. Florence Pugh inspired me to cook and dance! Call your dad it's not that bad! March 21: facetime with annabelle March 25: still in the honeymoon stages, doing okay March 26: family zoom March 28: drinking a lot of coffee, mom working at greenhouse still (essential agriculture) dad working from home, constantly walking up and down the steps to get more coffee. Distracted by Dua Lipa's new album. April 1: April 2: morning yoga with annabelle and mom April 3: worked at metron, took a long nap after April 4: made more mango and tofu, watched ozarks, took food to brothers April 5: call to friend interrupted by neighbors, panicking over computer complications, finally finding comfort and inspiration on the couch April 6: made to do list for the week, overwhelming April 7: tried to do yoga while listening to class, tried to make breakfast while listening to class April 8: walk with Emily, so many worms on the track. Bernie announces dropping presidential bid. April 11: 3.3 mile walk around gr, nice nice day April 12: Easter, slow, clay earrings, painted computer case with no plan Memorial weekend was warm and it seems that everyone forgot about the virus. It doesn't seem real to many. Conspiracy theories flying through the air with the fireworks. May 27: it's warm! It's rainy! Breathing outside helps me think about the future that will happen. A couple weeks ago, around March 10, I remember a professor warning us about the possibility of online school. She said, “it's not a matter of if, but a matter of when.” She was spraying tables with Meyers cleaning spray, and saying we weren't going to pass around papers anymore. I was a little shocked and a little mad that she jumped the gun and scared us, doubting the possibility in my mind. Two days after, l am sitting in my apartment living room with my roommate discussing the buzz of all the colleges cancelling classes for the rest of the semester, just waiting for the email from Grand Valley. The paranoia came in weird stages the next couple of days. One of my roommates moved out the morning after we got the email from Grand Valley. My other roommate, Emily and I spent a lot of weird moments together in the apartment over the weekend. Anxious anticipation filled the moments we talked about how we would make money over the next couple of weeks. This semester has been extremely overwhelming and I was barely surviving. It was reliving in the moment seeing some of my responsibilities, being forcibly dropped. Emily �who worked for the telephone outreach program no longer had employment there and was considering going home to work at the deli. However this decision was not easy since she was also immunocompromised. A few mornings later when I came downstairs, Emily looked a little frazzled and quickly informed me that she would be going back to her parents’ house near Detroit because she woke up with a sore throat. (one of the known symptoms of COVID-19). I remember trying to seem calm and chill and said okay. As she packed up her stuff I sat in my bed trying to start some of my homework. When I’m nervous, my head feels very hot, often thinking I have a fever. I began to think what it would look like if I went to get tested. As the day went on she no longer felt like she had a sore throat and admitted to a bit of paranoia as well, but she still headed home at the request of her parents. My parents live ten minutes away so I spent some time there and some time back at my apartment. Mornings are either the best or the worst. Waking up is difficult when no class is telling me to be there. A good morning/ afternoon last week was spent sitting in the kitchen playing songs for my mom, making coffee, and connecting with my brother who lives far away. In the beginning I was determined to keep my class routine; watch the lectures at the right times and work ahead. As the weeks have loomed on I’ve started to feel behind and overwhelmed again. My self driven schedule fools me into thinking it's summer and I shouldn't have to spend every night doing homework. My parents want to spend time with me but the nightly news and my procrastination anxiety catching up pushes me away. Social media keeps suggesting what I should do with all my extra time but I seem to use up the hours so quickly. I then spend hours feeling guilty and anxious that I will look back on this time with so much negatively wasted time, when I could have done a lot in it. I spend about 75% of my time thinking this way and then I read an article, most fittingly titled, “Why You Should Ignore All That Coronavirus-Inspired Productivity Pressure” and feel slightly better about all the times I havent started my next great painting, clay earrings or even finished one book, or even as the bar lowers: LEARNED A TIK TOK DANCE. However, the articles push me to think positively, however crushing the uncertainty of the next couple of months might be. I have made a few spotify playlists, my dog and I are closer than ever, and I have started mixing pineapple and mango with tofu. April, praying for better The weird thing about all of this is that everyone is experiencing it at the same time. It's not a heartbreak that I am going through that my friends and parents can counsel me through. We are all trying to make up small, useful hopes to hold onto about our current situation. It could be worse, people tell us. And it could. This isn't awful when I really think about it. It's so much worse for other people. No one I know has tested positive for COVID-19. The nursing home that I work at has no residents who have any symptoms. I think the scariest part about the virus is its ability to hide. Its ability to take up residence undetected. �Impacting every host differently alerting some of their presence only after 14 days have passed After 14 days, having moved on to so many others. I called in 3 times before I went to work. I had a cough, which is not unusual for me. I feel feverish when I am extremely nervous about something, but the thermometer told me I was okay. After talking on the phone with my boss for half an hour she said I should be okay to come in. We all have times when we feel awful, everyone is walking around others not knowing if it's their sad time or their ok time. Right now we all collectively feel awful and there is inevitable doom and we want answers but all we have is the hope of “flattening the curve.” But nobody knows when things will go back to normal and if we will ever shake hands again. Living in the Ozarks till this is all over Humans of ny is the best page on ig: it makes everyone’s, sometimes awful stories- seem still so beautiful and human. �Looking through my notes app and found a random quote that says, “anytime we are in a desert we find out what is truly in our hearts” We have to be comfortable with ourselves. This quarantine is forcing us to spend copious amounts of time with ourselves. (edit May 27): You don’t have to take your pandemic self as your real self though. You don't have to accept that how you are dealing in this time is your true self. You are hopefully doing your best. It feels like the time when Carsen and I got separated at a music festival we were volunteering at and we all had to evacuate because there was massive flooding and it was going to ruin the field and there was lightning??? Anyways, Hoizer and Jack Antonoff were somewhere near us,,, paralleled to this celebrities are not immune to the virus Can you tell me what's real? Last night was the pink super moon! I ran outside at around 12:30 am to see and it was beautiful, the rare, warm breeze made it especially eerie. This morning when looking at pictures far superior to my own, I learned that it's not called a pink super moon because the date (April 8) correlates with the starting bloom of a wildflower in parts of Canada and the United States. This blue chair reminds me of bernie. �He dropped out of the presidential race today and it makes me feel hopeless. What a time to say goodbye to healthcare for all. A person who has ALWAYS fought for the under dog and for the general good. April 12 If you don’t think about it too hard, life is okay. We have adjusted. We find new things to fill our time. We are adaptable and we are surviving.I wonder how these new found habits will affect us in the future. I have done some things, made some things, and read some things. It still sucks, I don’t like being told what to do; being told to stay home and feeling like my breathing is constricted when I go to the store. I watched Saturday Night Live this morning. It was a weird mess. But it's cool to see them still trying to make it happen. �These pictures are from my walk yesterday (April 11). SO refreshing I need to do this everyday. I talked to my brother and sister in law today and she said her family friend died from coronavirus. The closest ties I've had to a death caused by the virus. The nightly news that my parents watch is filled with sad stories from nurses in Boston and New York. Stories about moms saying they haven't hugged their children in weeks, or living in hotels so that they don't expose their family to the germs they are exposed to. I work a few hours a week at a nursing home with no cases still, wearing the mask is exhausting and hot. You are breathing in your own air and I find the stress of it all always causes my throat to feel a little sore after. I can’t imagine how these healthcare workers feel after 8-12 hour shifts. I can’t imagine the celebrations that will take place when this is all over. My roommate got into nursing school and celebrated her birthday since I’ve seen her last. Maybe NYC: How the city has changed from my window From crowded streets, to now only sparse beats Time passing nonetheless All the happenings, happening inside no longer under the sun, under street lights From a city of life and flesh To dry bone People and parties and countries divided on what is my freedom, what is her freedom, how should he protest the best, and will you act in a way that is better for your larger community? What does that look like? �Suddenly everyone is forced to take an opinion on how their governor is handling the shutdowns. Everyone must care about politics now because it now directly affects them. Whereas before, many of us could say, “I'm not into politics.” We had the privilege of not caring about the policies because we knew we wouldn't be the ones under the knee of police brutality. May 27, 2020 I have been absent from this journaling. But i've thought about it often- the activation energy in journaling is just too much sometimes. Whenever I get over the, more realistically, small hump of opening the doc. I have no regrets. I think I have a hard time processing shocking things in the moment. Even still- this whole thing doesn't seem real. And yet I am amazed at the resiliency of people. Then again I am seeing a small representation of people still doing and progressing. The ones struggling with mental illness are not the ones being highlighted and having their voice being heard. �About a month ago we found out my mom’s cousin and her husband tested positive for Covid19. They were fine, in their homes with manageable symptoms. Last week we found out that during this recovery she had a stroke- related to Covid. Her husband was not allowed in the hospital as she lay in a bed in the ICU for a few days and later on a Covid floor. It was a sobering reminder that no one is completely immune. They are in their mid 40s, pretty healthy. People provide blanket statements of hope- for the most part the young and healthy have not been too greatly impacted by the virus. Neighbors have gotten close, even strangers, forgetting about the virus that just a few months ago had me washing my hands at the top of the hour, (or more). It is no less dangerous than then. But- now it doesn't seem real. �Today, especially, the thought of spreading the virus is absent when fires are in the streets of where we stood a few hours ago. When “I can’t breathe” is not in reference to the rampant virus but the last plea to a police officer’s knee. � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-05-30_ANON_032 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-05-30 Title A name given to the resource Anonymous COVID-19 Journal Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ce32c46471d74e7cca31e54b0498e5e7.pdf 446391883367ec2568b97138688c1b83 PDF Text Text 1 Monday, March 30, 2020 We’ve just begun week three of having all of our classes online and my dominant thought today is, Monday’s are even harder now than they already were! I spent the weekend lazing around home where I live with my mom, dad, and teenage sister. Because Governor Gretchen Whitmer passed a stay-at-home order last week, none of us had anywhere to be. We watched the news, sat around, chatted a bit, watched some movies, watched more of the news. I felt like I was in an alternate dimension. Waking up this morning and realizing that I needed to catch up on class work, homework, and due dates made me feel almost confused. How can I do school when I suddenly have no structure? How can I think about learning French when the entire world is closed down and the study abroad trip I had planned for this summer is cancelled? How can I think about practicing clarinet - my major - when my recital is cancelled anyway? I entered into this stay at home period full of optimism, thinking it would be similar to when I lived at home in high school. My older brother has moved out of our family home already, so I set up his old bedroom as my own school/music practice room and prepared to go to “class” each day. But wow, it has not been that simple. Mainly because of the fact that it feels like the world is breaking down. None of us alive today have ever seen anything like this coronavirus epidemic. This means that as a young adult, I do not have the luxury of asking my elders, what did you do when you went through this? They never did. I can’t really look to the adults in my life for comfort because I can see through their masks of calm to the anxiety many of them feel underneath. My mother is a Registered Nurse, currently working at Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids. She has been a nurse ever since she graduated from college, and I’ve always looked up to her for her compassion for others, which I can almost describe as fierce. My mother will protect you, you have no choice in the matter, that’s what it feels like! I’ve watched her come home from her 14-15 hour long shifts at the hospital, which are technically only supposed to be 12 hours long, exhausted and heart-sore. She is the strongest woman I’ve ever known and she has never been afraid of anything. But now, when she comes home from work I see not only exhaustion and stress, but also fear. Back at the beginning of this when many were still convinced that the whole thing would blow over and we would all be fine, my mom was hearing the truth from other hospitals who were already facing a battle against coronavirus. She sat my sister and I down and explained that she didn’t want us visiting with anyone (this was before the governor mandated the same order). She said, “most importantly, I don’t want either of you two or Dad getting sick. I also don’t really want to be sick myself, but even more important than that, I need to be able to help at work. If I get sick I can’t help them fight this at work.” I’m sure those weren’t her exact words, but that was the gist, and even though I was sad that I would literally have to cancel the plans I had made for the following day, I decided then that I would stand with her and support her in any way she needed. Since then I’ve seen many newscasts honoring healthcare workers and pointing out the fact that without them, we wouldn’t have a chance against this virus. They’ve equated healthcare �2 workers to soldiers, saying that they are our first line of defense for this invisible enemy. People are finally seeing how hard they work, how ridiculously stressful their jobs are. It is easy to take these things for granted when the world is not in chaos. This virus has pulled many things into the light for humanity as a whole, and I hope we take the chance to learn from it and grow in a way we never have before. Tuesday, March 31, 2020 Yesterday I felt like there were a million thoughts racing through my head, about politics, about my friends, about my schoolwork and my family. Today, I swung in the opposite direction and had a hard time focusing on anything at all. I told my friends and my boyfriend that I was taking a break from technology today, because I felt too tired and drained to talk to anyone. I am an extrovert, so I get my energy from interacting with other people. Ironically, interacting with people online has the opposite effect. I don’t like holding seven different conversations, one through text, a few through facebook messenger, and a handful through snapchat. This is what I’ve been doing since I’ve been stuck at home and the incessant sound of my phone buzzing is driving me absolutely insane. I want to see my friends and family members with my own eyes, and hear their voices and be able to hug them! That is where I get my energy from! I’ve definitely been making good use of the many different video chatting apps such as facetime, google duo, google hangouts, and zoom, and those are wonderful ways to stay in touch but I am craving an opportunity to sit down across from my best friend at a coffee shop and just talk about anything. Or cuddle with my boyfriend on the couch watching a movie. I find myself missing my grandparents the most because neither of them are tech-savvy enough to use video chat. In the past, visiting my grandparents has served as a way for me to escape reality. I have my paternal grandfather, who lives five minutes from me in a tiny house that’s full of stories, and my maternal grandmother who lives in an old country house which is filled to the brim with her quirky, artsy personality. I need to call them more! Both of them have a way of making me feel like life is bigger than me and my problems. Now more than ever before I would love to drive out to my grandma’s house, away from my town, away from my school and work, and just breathe in the day with her. But both of my grandparents are in the “high risk” category of people during this coronavirus disaster. I cannot visit them, in case I’ve picked up the virus at some point. They also both have health conditions that put them in the very high risk category, so if they were to catch this virus, they would be in a massive amount of danger. I have a difficult time considering the fact that before all of this is over, I could be missing members of my family. As of right now, I do not know a single person who has the virus. I’ve obviously heard about tons of people getting it, but there is no one I know personally who is sick. I don’t consider myself to be very religious, but I pray to God that it stays that way. �3 Thursday, April 2, 2020 We just got the order from the Governor today that the rest of the school year for grades k-12 if officially cancelled. My younger sister Elise is currently a high school senior, so I feel like she got a pretty bad deal out of this. This was her final year with the people that she has been going to school with for her entire life. School was initially cancelled for them with little to no warning in mid-March so there was never time to say goodbye to anybody. She doesn’t get to walk for graduation unless they are able to pull something together at the beginning of the fall semester but it doesn’t seem like that would work very well because most of the students, Elise included, will be starting college at that time. She also doesn’t get to have a graduation party which I personally find to be the most unfortunate part. My experience at mine and all my friends’ graduation parties was that it was a time for everyone to honor the graduate’s hard work and accomplishments. I felt so special at my party in 2016. My Dad put together a few photo boards documenting my life, my Grandma decorated a beautiful box for me to put cards in, and my Mom made sure that I had vases of colorful flowers on the tables, and other music-themed decorations. Elise is much more introverted than me so I suspect she isn’t as heartbroken about missing out on this as we might expect her to be, but still, I wish she could have that. My only other sibling is my older brother, Drew. He lives with his fiancé Shannon and their two cats, and they have always had to scrape by with an insufficient amount of money. Because of the coronavirus, both of them have gotten laid off from their jobs. This has happened to an immense number of Americans which has caused the system they need to use to apply for unemployment to crash. With absolutely no income and no unemployment benefits as of yet, they are in an incredibly tight spot. Today my mom put together a box full of food for them to take back to the house they rent. To prevent spreading any germs back and forth, she put the box outside for them to pick up and though we went out on the porch to say hello, we kept our distance from them, like we’re supposed to! I actually cheated today with the social distancing… I absolutely take it seriously and have not seen any of my friends in person since this all started. But today I desperately wanted to see my best friend. Since it was the first sunny day we’ve had in nearly a week, she and I meet up at some trails to walk together and chat. We truly did stay at least six feet apart the entire time and we didn’t hug or anything, but it was wonderful to be able to see and talk to someone standing in front of me! Though it was extremely refreshing, it almost made me feel more lonely when I got back home. Since my Dad is now working from home at a makeshift desk he set up in the middle of our home, we find ourselves having to be quiet all day during the week. When my Mom is off work she keeps busy with chores and tasks around the house, and my extremely introverted sister likes to stay in her bedroom and read, write, or draw. That leaves me to attempt to entertain myself so I feel very acutely the lack of socialization. My boyfriend wanted to drop off a mystery gift to me today, so I baked some chocolate chip pumpkin bread to trade with him, and I was so excited! But in the middle of the day I got a voicemail from him saying that he had had a sore throat for the past couple days, and although he was almost certain it was only seasonal allergies, he didn’t want to risk passing anything on to �4 me or my family and therefore wouldn’t be coming. My mom expressed how much she appreciated his caution, but although I appreciate it too, I was disappointed to not have even that small bit of connection with him. The world is becoming a strange new place now. Last week I called my doctor’s office to try and reschedule an appointment that I had coming up. The nurse who answered the phone asked me to wait just a moment while she checked the calendar for later in the summer. A few seconds later I heard her whispering to herself, saying something like “no I didn’t mean to do that, go back,” speaking to her computer. I found this a little comical but tried to stop myself from laughing until I was saved the trouble by her own laugh and her apology as she said “things have been pretty crazy around here lately.” In that moment, though she and I were sharing a laugh together, I felt bad for her too thinking about how truly hectic it probably was at that doctor’s office. Another similar instance happened when I called Grand Valley student accounts to ask a question. A woman picked up and asked how she could help me but as I started to ask my question, I heard a baby cry loudly in the background. I paused and could tell the woman was trying to shush the baby and respond to my question at the same time. Unlike the nurse, this woman didn’t sound ready to laugh. She sounded stressed and tired. She quickly answered my question and I said thank you and let her go as quickly as I could, then took a moment to feel impressed that this woman was still able to give me a concise answer while taking care of a baby at her home. On a lighter note, it’s fun to watch the news now and notice all the different locations news anchors are suddenly reporting from. Many that I’ve seen have equipment set up in their homes and conduct business as usual from a distance. One news anchor was in his “man cave,” another in her living room with the dog laying on the floor in the background. The entire network of people who deliver the news to us on TV is scattered, yet they still manage to do their jobs. They have also made a habit of reporting light and happy stories about how people are stepping up to help in the effort to overcome the coronavirus, or about the different ways that those stuck at home have found to entertain themselves, from having puzzle tournaments, to writing funny songs, to learning how to draw. I’ve definitely noticed among the people in my own life that creativity is making a comeback. My grandma is a painter who hadn’t been painting the last several months, yet when I talked with her on the phone a couple weeks ago, she told me about how she was painting lots of things and exploring new styles and subjects that she had never done before. My sister pulled out a massive piece of paper that she had been saving and decided to start meticulously drawing a horse on it. My mother, who used to write beautiful poetry and still does occasionally, decided to start writing down some of her thoughts and experiences similarly to how I am doing right now. Our neighborhood has also come up with a way for kids to still have a fun easter egg hunt this year despite not being able to gather with a church community or family like they may have done in the past. We all received notes in our mailboxes detailing a neighborhood easter egg hunt. Kids will walk up and down the streets with their parents looking for participating houses. The houses that decide to participate hang strings of colored plastic eggs from their trees, mailboxes, �5 or eaves so that they are visible to kids walking along the street. The kids then count the eggs and try to find as many as possible. It sounds like a wonderful way to get our little community together without actually being together! Friday, April 3, 2020 I thought this would be an interesting additive. I was scrolling through Facebook and discovered a post that people have begun to copy and share so that it will appear in their memories in the future: Just so I NEVER forget….. April 2, 2020 ● Gas price a mile from home was $1.40 ● School cancelled - yes cancelled (students left March 12 and wouldn’t return) ● Self-distancing measures on the rise ● Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6 ft) from each other ● Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors ● Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed ● Parks, trails, entire cities locked up ● Entire sports seasons cancelled ● Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled ● Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled ● No masses, churches are closed ● No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now no gatherings of 5 or more ● Don’t socialize with anyone outside of your home ● Children’s outdoor play parks are closed ● We are to distance from each other ● Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers ● Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill ● Panic-buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel, no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer ● Shelves are bare ● Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE ● Government closes the border to all non-essential travel ● Fines are established for breaking the rules �6 ● Stadiums adn recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients ● Press conferences daily from the President ● Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths ● Government incentives to stay home ● Barely anyone on the roads ● People wearign masks and gloves outside ● Essential service workers are terrified to go to work ● Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-10) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020 Why, you ask, do I write this status? One day it will show up in my memory feed, and it will be a yearly reminder that life is precious and not to take the things we dearly love for granted. We have so much! Be thankful. Be grateful. Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone. We are all one! <3 Copy and share. Whoever first created this is someone who realizes how important it will be to remember this time in the future when it is finally over. My generation has always heard about the horrors of 9/11, which happened when we were too young to remember. Yet we still can feel the terror and grief of those who lived it. Our children will learn about the Covid-19 pandemic, and hopefully they will be able to draw hope from however we end up overcoming it. Friday, April 10, 2020 Yesterday our stay at home order was extended by Governor Whitmer to the end of April. We have already been stuck at home for weeks and looking at several more like this is a bleak thought. I have been staying busy with school but school becomes extremely tedious and suffocating when the experience is not shared with friends and other sources of support. �7 Unsurprisingly, the weather day to day seems to have the biggest effect on my moods - it’s the only thing that ever changes. Right now it is cold and cloudy and still outside and days like this make me feel the most trapped and the least in control of my life. Though I agree with the steps that have been taken to slow the spread of the virus, I hate having to abide by all the new rules. We must stay in our homes at all times. The only time it is acceptable to leave is when you must make necessary trips to buy food or supplies, go to the bank, etc., or when you walk your dog. I recently read somewhere that the new rule is that you are only allowed to take your dog for one walk a day, and that counts as your excursion for exercise for the day. Meaning that we are not even supposed to walk through our own neighborhoods more than once a day. Grocery stores and any other businesses that are allowed to remain open must now limit the number of people who are inside the building at the same time to 4 customers for every 1000 sq. feet of floor space. I will be interested to see what humanity actually learns from this experience. I read something somewhere that a person wrote saying, our grandfathers were asked to go fight in wars and we’re being asked to stay home and watch TV, what’s the big deal? Aside from being insensitive, this comment is missing an important factor that makes this current “war” different from any we’ve fought in recent memory. This is that we are not allowed to comfort each other, or do anything really. Something terrifying has hit and it’s not just our country, it’s every country around the world. There’s nowhere to go to escape this. Now when we need hugs and hand holds more than ever, not only are we not allowed to, but doing so would be to risk the safety of those we love. Now when we need distraction more than ever - and have in fact been used to distraction for most of our adult lives - we are instead forced to sit home with our thoughts and brood. There is much good coming out of this as people adapt and grow to be able to help others, yet this new life also brings the damaged parts of our society into stark relief. Saturday, April 11, 2020 Today I wanted to take a moment to focus on our president, Donald Trump. I’ve been avoiding talking about him because my writing will become one long rant if I do. But I found an article that I wanted to add here which describes many of the reasons why I think he is the worst possible person to be leading our country through this crisis. It is called “This Is Trump’s Fault” (the main reason it caught my eye), and cites actions that he has taken during his presidency to lead us straight into this fire. ● Quotes Trump on March 13 saying “I don’t take responsibility at all” ● Previously promised that casualties could be held near zero - has since changed his stance to the opinion that if we keep the death toll under 200,000 people, then apparently we’ve done a wonderful job. �8 ● The federal government let maintenance contracts lapse in 2018, which caused a loss of stockpiled respirators to breakage ● Failure to store sufficient protective medical gear ● States are competing against each other for access to the limited equipment available to combat the infection ● Spent nearly 10 weeks after discovering the coronavirus insisting that it was as harmless as the flu ● Failure to close borders early ● Constant (CONSTANT) lying about the actual facts of the case, which his medical advisors then have to correct him on ● Many key government jobs were empty or filled by unqualified people ● Trump’s ignorant son-in-law inserted as commander in chief of national medical supply chain. The coronavirus began in China in late December, 2019. The Trump administration was officially notified of the outbreak on January 3rd, 2020. The United State’s first confirmed diagnosis of coronavirus appeared in mid-January. The first person known to have died from the disease lost their fight on February 29, 2020. By March 20, New York City (our epicenter) had confirmed 5,600 cases. Only after this, on March 21, did the government begin marshaling a national supply chain to combat the threat. Between this date and January 3, Trump and his government did nothing except insist that the virus was not a threat. Wishful thinking. What disgusts me the most about Donald Trump is not his incompetence, but rather his compulsive lying which cause confusion and opposition at a time when the people of the United States should be working together, and also his lack of empathy or urgency as he decides that 200,000 deaths would be a small price to pay. Horrifying, disappointing, disgusting. Thursday, April 16, 2020 I have now been home from school for over a month. My Dad has been working from home for nearly the entire time so that I have to try and be quiet as much as possible during the day so that he can focus. I don’t have any problem with this that is aimed at him, but I’ve started to feel that there is so much pent up energy in me that I need to run and scream and jump and dance and go wild, but there is no outlet for me to do those things because I am never alone. I cannot say I would rather be alone during this period of self-quarantine (I’m very grateful for my family and my house!) but I desperately miss feeling free. I miss being able to visit friends and family spontaneously, and I miss that feeling of elation I would sometimes get when I realized I was the only one home. I would love to open the windows, blast some music, and sing and dance like a fool until I’m too tired, but all I can do is sit quietly and work on school. Tomorrow it will be exactly a month since I’ve been able to hug my boyfriend, and longer than that since I’ve been able to hug any of my friends. I’ve been staying in touch with all my friends and my wonderful �9 grandparents, but there is hardly anything for us to talk about when our days consist of absolutely nothing! I haven’t wanted to write like this because it sounds so negative and pessimistic, but today I’m really struggling. I’ve been reading a lot of books and watching a lot of movies and TV shows in my free time. They offer an escape from real life, and a chance for me to feel things that I wouldn’t otherwise have any reason to feel. In the past I’ve gravitated more toward light comedies when choosing movies or TV shows to watch, but lately I’ve gone more for dramas or mysteries things that make me feel and think. I’m wondering if I shouldn’t take so many adventures through books and movies though, because every time I come back to reality, I feel a little more caged in. Saturday, April 18, 2020 All I have been able to think about - despite trying hard not to - is the idiocy of President Donald Trump. He goes back and forth and contradicts himself daily, causing confusion and at this point anger and frustration. He won’t stop trying to blame literally anyone else for his failures, and especially when he tries to go up against state governors like New York’s Anthony Cuomo, it becomes evident that despite being the president, he somehow doesn’t have a solid grasp on the US constitution. In the last several weeks, I have heard Donald Trump go from literally claiming that he has “total control” over the states and whether or not they close to fight the virus, to telling governors “you are going to call your own shots” (which they had the right to do in the first place, based on the conduct laid out in the constitution), to then tweeting (how ludicrous is that in the first place) “LIBERATE MICHIGAN,” “LIBERATE VIRGINIA,” and “LIBERATE MINNESOTA.” In one of these tweets he added that citizens should rise up against their governors to fight for their second amendment rights which are “under siege”. First of all, the 2nd amendment is the right to bear arms. Does this mean that Trump was implying citizens should use weapons in their protests?? I cannot even begin to understand how someone who is the face of our nation can get away with saying things like this, and over social media of all things. What is more, he has backed states that have decided to reopen AND attempted to take credit for their reopening by claiming again that he has power over that. Trump’s actions are so random and nonsensical, that no one can keep track of them. I read multiple articles on this man every day and each time I learn something brand new. Further, each new thing I learn contradicts some other thing he did recently. I am now reading an article discussing Trump’s insane actions having to do with the tweets mentioned above. He recently announced a set of guidelines that states should follow before beginning to loosen restrictions in order to prevent any resurgence of the coronavirus. None of the three states that he openly �10 addressed in his tweets met the requirements which HE HIMSELF LAID OUT to be ready to reopen. This event is exemplary of the kind of things Trump does on a daily basis which make little to no sense, and only serve to turn citizens against each other. An interesting thing to note about this is that the three states Trump targeted with his tweets are led by Democratic governors who are apparently politically competitive with Trump. In other words, they stand a chance at beating him in the upcoming 2020 presidential election. I am sad to say that this past week in Michigan, conservatives protested at the state capital in Lansing, gathering together in a large group to claim that Governor Gretchen Whitmer is taking away our rights as citizens of the United States. They complain that she is taking away our freedom by putting a stay-at-home order in place, and that we must all come together to fight her and get her out of office. I truly do not understand how it is possible that people can be so incredibly STUPID. Gretchen Whitmer is doing a fine job in office by taking action to prevent the spread of the virus. She listens carefully to what the top medical experts of the country say should be done, she consults with other governors, she consults with specialists at some of the top universities in the country to make her decisions. To make the claim not only that people’s rights are being taken away, but that it is the fault of Gretchen Whitmer is utter BULLSHIT. They gather to fight for the right to continue life as normal at a time when a horrific virus has rendered the ENTIRE WORLD helpless to stop its spread. Except that according to the smart people who actually know what they’re talking about, there is one thing we can do to help, and that is to social distance. These utter imbeciles have failed to grasp this concept. Not only does their meeting alone potentially increase the spread of coronavirus, but they are protesting for something that would likely kill them. It is as if they are begging to be poisoned. But somehow they do not see this. These people follow the direction of President Donald Trump, who throughout his life and presidency has openly incited violence, mocked minority groups, disrespected women, and NEVER taken responsibility for any of his idiodic choices. They claim they like Trump because he is open and honest about his actions but it seems that they’ve failed to notice the countless times he has blatantly contradicted his own words. By countless, I do mean countless. It has happened so many times that we all expect it now. In fact, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Trump’s greatest care right now is not in fact the prevention of lives being lost to the coronavirus, but rather his own chances of reelection in 2020. If I were speaking out loud right now I would be screaming from frustration. I am unable to think clearly because of the frustration I have with Donald Trump. He is truly the worst thing to happen to our country. He is going to cause more deaths in a variety of ways, for instance by pushing to reopen too soon and thus causing a resurgence, or by encouraging violent uprisings with his reference to the 2nd amendment (the right to bear arms!). Tuesday, May 5, 2020 I haven’t written for quite a while for two reasons. First, there are really no words for what is happening right now in our country. It is carnage. Second, for the sake of my mental health, I’ve �11 been trying to avoid reading more than an article in a day. Some days I’ve avoided any news of the outside world altogether. Days like that almost feel like a dream. It is difficult to stomach the state of our country right now. The coronavirus has brought all our dysfunction into the light. Donald Trump leads the charge for those who want the right to do whatever they want even if it means hurting others. He gives them enough validation that they feel justified in maiming, killing, or otherwise harassing those who disagree with them. These people are wildly out of control and they are so loud. I think that a majority of Americans are good people who want peace and positive change, but none of those people seem to be doing anything. I imagine that like me, these people must be too overwhelmed or disheartened to get involved in politics right now. But therein lies the problem. The unstable, radical people who worship Donald Trump have decided that they want to be involved in the running of our country. Trump gave them a leg-up and they have taken their opportunity and no one is stopping them. On what planet is it acceptable for unstable, aggressive men to be allowed to parade around and through the capitol building with massive guns? Apparently ours. The bit that really makes my blood boil is that if these were people of color “protesting” in this way, they would be shot dead by law enforcement. Here we see racism at play - white supremacy, entitlement, and a total disregard for the safety of others. These people have always existed, have always held their poisoned beliefs, but Donald Trump has given them total permission to act in exactly the destructive, corrupt way they’ve always wanted to act. And the good people do nothing because they fear for their lives. If we take a moment to reflect on why people stormed the capitol with guns, we find further corruption, further ignorance and entitlement. These people want haircuts. These people demand haircuts, despite the risks that would accompany a rapid reopening of the economy. They either don’t believe that the coronavirus is anything more than a bad strain of flu (despite the fact that it shut down literally the entire world), or they believe that “saving the economy” is more important than saving lives. These people have literally compared our governor (who is doing an incredible job) to Adolf Hitler. By doing so, they imply that their situations are similar to what Jews faced during the Holocaust. This is beyond disgusting. Jews were forced from their homes and dragged to concentration camps where they were imprisoned in total squalor, their humanity stripped away. These people today are literally being asked to simply stay at home. Holocaust victims were killed without a thought if they were suspected of rebellion, if they were seen to be disrespectful, or for any reason a Nazi soldier came up with, and there was no justice for them. These people today are allowed to angrily march on the state capitol with massive guns, threatening violence if they can’t have what they want. Law enforcement apparently tolerates it when these people scream in their faces, despite the prominent risk of them spreading potentially deadly germs. Their situation is absolutely nothing like the Holocaust and Gretchen Whitmer is nothing like Adolf Hilter. In fact, ironically, expert historians as well as psychologists have likened Trump to Hitler a number of times. And just like with Hitler and his Nazis, Trump’s followers are utterly blind to the chaos and destruction he continues to cause. �12 Perhaps at this point it is fair to say though that our country was already in shambles before Trump came along. We were a forest of dying trees when he came along and dropped a match. I can’t continue to talk about all these things for very long or I begin to feel absolutely hopeless. But here is a bit of a list of the biggest problems that I see with our country. ● Absurd wealth gap - A vast majority of Americans are essentially poor while most of the country’s wealth is held in the hands of just a few people. ● Capitalist culture - People must work until they literally can’t anymore. Sick days are barely tolerated, mental health days aren’t even a thing. Pregnant moms often must keep working up until they deliver their child and get only a brief chunk of time for maternity leave. There is no paternity leave. All employees are expendable. ● Costs of education - Absolutely no one coming out of high school could possibly afford to attend college without substantial help from parents, scholarships and grants, loans, or other sources. Most full-time students I know have at least one job (I myself have two), which they will put directly back into their education come tuition-payment time. How can we be full-time, successful students while working copious hours at minimum wage jobs which barely earn us enough to live? ● Blind Racism - This needs no explanation, except the addendum that when slavery existed in the United States there was blatant, undisguised racism, and now though our culture still drips with the same toxicity, people have convinced themselves that it is no longer there. ● Profound Ignorance - I don’t know how else to say this…. People are just extremely dumb. I mean this very seriously, I am baffled on a daily basis by the alarming levels of stupidity I see from people. It is as if as a race we are losing the ability to think critically. People are walking through life blind and deaf to half of it. I can’t understand this and it is truly the most alarming thing to me because I think it is probably at the heart of many of our other issues. Because it’s not simply that people disagree on a topic, but rather that some of them literally cannot seem to see the opposition. The conclusions these people come to about the world and how it is or should be run are simply bizarre. It’s like they’ve read only every other chapter of a book and have pieced together a new reality for themselves. It is entirely baffling. To return to a positive note, the environment is thriving without humans mucking it up on a daily basis. I’ve been going outside for fresh air and sunshine nearly every day. I sit in my backyard and pet my cat, or I walk through this rolling green field that is enclosed by trees near my house. I play piano every day and for the first time in a while have started learning a new piece, Debussy’s Clair de Lune. I ordered a bullet journal starter-kit so I could explore this as a new hobby. It came with 10 fine-tip pens, 20 stencil sheets, 9 rolls of decorative tapes, and a bullet journal, and I absolutely love it. There is something extremely therapeutic about designing and creating a page here and there. I’ve also been doing yoga frequently, using the youtube channel called “yoga with adriene,” which has suddenly become extremely popular as more people stuck �13 in quarantine discover her! I’ve been doing her videos for 3 and a half years and I am excited that so many people are now jumping on board. Adriene Mishler is such a pure and authentic person, and at the moment she symbolizes to me all that is good about humanity. As a race, we need Adriene Mishler. I just hope her increasing popularity won’t ruin her life, like it seems to do with so many celebrities. Somehow though I have utter faith that she will never let it get to her. I cleaned out my childhood bedroom over the last couple weeks and rearranged it so that it better fits the person I am now. It makes me feel like I am being officially recognized as someone new. I am reading for the second time Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, hoping it can help bring me clarity and peace during this time when so much feels so wrong. In this book, Tolle discusses the existence of the ego, which left unchecked can entirely take over a person so that they are ruled completely by compulsive emotion rather than logical thought… Highly relevant today. I have only been growing closer with my family, even though I was worried that the opposite would happen after we’d all been stuck together for so long. In these times, it is a relief and a blessing to know that I can rely on my parents, grandparents, older brother, and younger sister to become even more supportive, even more understanding, and even more compassionate towards their loved ones than ever before. I have been calling both my grandpa and grandma weekly, and also sent them each a letter with some questions in them. I asked them both what they would buy if they suddenly became billionaires. Funnily enough, they both wanted their own version of a cottage on a lake where they could sit and feel peaceful. I asked my grandma what she would ask or say to her parents if she was able to but have yet to get an answer from her! I asked my grandpa what he is most proud of in his life and he said without hesitation that he is most proud of having met his wife (who passed away when I was seven), having two children, six grandchildren, and one great grandchild. He told me family is the most important thing and I believed him. I am closer to him than I’ve ever been and am so thankful for him every day. Saturday, May 23, 2020 Governor Whitmer has gradually begun to reopen Michigan, so that now we are allowed to have gatherings of ten people or less. The mother of one of my long-time high school friends set up a surprise party for her last night and invited myself and four other girls from high school. This family who threw the party (I’ll call them the Smith family!) all had Covid-19 within the last month. They are over it at this point thankfully, but two of the girls didn’t come to the surprise party, one because she herself didn’t feel comfortable, and the other because her parents didn’t feel comfortable with her going. So the three of us who were okay with meeting up at the Smith’s house made sure to keep our distance from one another, sitting outside and only touching our own things, not making contact with each other. We knew that most likely none of us have been exposed to the virus, but all of us decided to err on the side of caution, considering �14 how many deaths there have been. [Just counting deaths for a moment, there have been 65 reported in my county alone, 5,158 in the state of Michigan, 97, 414 in the United States, and over 341,000 worldwide.] But the Smith family have always had their own ideas about things. Mr. Smith is a loyal Trump supporter, and therefore believes the severity of the Coronavirus is a sham. He believes that the numbers are only as high as they are because they are being falsely reported. He believes that things like wearing masks, and social distancing, and wiping things down with antibacterial wipes is unnecessary, and in this case, stupid. He said so himself to us last night. We jokingly took a picture of all of us with our arms out, standing apart from each other to show that we were social distancing, and Mr. Smith laughed and told us that in a few years we would all look back at that picture and realize how stupid we were being. We all looked at him with blank expressions and his daughter said, no I don’t think we’ll think it was stupid, before quickly changing the subject. I’ve known this family for over half my life and he is a good man. He is very religious and he is kind and generous, yet he firmly supports Donald Trump, who in my eyes represents everything wrong with our country. The Smith family are also anti-vaxxers, because they believe in the holistic healing process and natural medicine. I don’t know exactly what their arguments are against vaccines, but they are totally convinced that they are right and the rest of the world is wrong. They are so calmly confident in their convictions that vaccines are terrible and no one should get them. I have not ever been able to understand this point of view. The daughter, who has been my friend for years, blindly follows her parents when it comes to this, though she herself is not even remotely medically trained. At her surprise party last night, we had one of the girls who had stayed home on the phone. This girl was just getting over being sick, and we teased her for being sick much more often than the rest of us. She then laughed and mentioned a time when she got sick right after getting her flu shot. The Smith daughter heard this and immediately shot me a look as if this one instance was irrevocable proof that vaccines are bad. It could have been simply a facepalm moment, but instead I was furious. I was so angry at their entire family for having the audacity to call our caution stupid, to believe things without even understanding the science behind it, to discount all the evidence collected by scientists all over the world which shows undeniably that vaccines have helped keep extremely deadly diseases at bay. I think their reasoning is that we need to give our bodies the chance to build up immunity to these illnesses. But what about the thousands and thousands of human beings whose bodies are immunocompromised for one reason or another? What about the huge demographic of elderly people who are just trying to live out the rest of their lives peacefully? Or the children who can’t help but run and play and spread germs everywhere they go? Or the pregnant women who need to be as safe as possible? By the Smith family’s reasoning, we shouldn’t try and control deadly health threats like the coronavirus because we’ll be weakening people’s immune systems… But does that mean they’re totally fine with only half the population making it through? Survival of the fittest? Natural selection? I cannot understand how people can look and see all the evidence and still refuse to believe they might be wrong. Despite thousands of people dying prematurely, they still prefer to �15 believe it’s a hoax. I read a news story that said a covid-positive hair stylist went back to work and infected upwards of 20 people. Maybe most of those people will have mild symptoms and be completely fine, but then they will be carrying it and spreading it to all the places they go. Then anyone they come in contact with could get it and spread it, and it will just keep going, killing some, and travelling through others. What on Earth is so bad about wanting to be careful? I am not afraid of this virus. I make runs to the grocery store and the bank. I take walks with friends outside and have even visited my grandparents a couple of times. But I wear a mask, and I bring hand sanitizer with me everywhere, and I stand apart from people when I’m speaking to them. These things are not difficult to do and even though I don’t like wearing a face mask or avoiding public places, etc., I would rather do all that than risk being responsible for someone’s death. I still believe our governor has done well making important decisions for our state. She has been constantly discussing with other governors around the country and with public health professionals to determine how soon and how quickly we can reopen. I would rather be stuck at home than go about my normal life knowing that thousands of people are dying all around me and I’m doing nothing to help stop it, but in fact may be helping cause it. It is alarming how individualistic our culture has become. How selfish and privileged we are. It makes me sad because I was raised to believe that the United States was a wonderful place full of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But it really isn’t that at all. Wednesday, June 3, 2020 A ton has happened in our world since I last wrote. As far as Corona goes, Governor Whitmer just lifted the stay-at-home order as well as other restrictions on Monday. More and more businesses are allowed to reopen and cases have been going down. They are apparently still worried about a second wave that would be even stronger than the first, but this issue isn’t even the focus anymore. Covid is the forefront in hardly anyone’s mind. Because on May 25th, George Floyd died. He was a black man suspected of forging checks, so he was apprehended by a group of (white) cops. There is video evidence that Floyd was complying with police orders, not resisting them at all. Yet they still threw him to the ground and pinned him there with their knees along his body. One of the officers, Derek Chauvin, placed his knee directly on Floyd’s neck while Floyd lay face down on the pavement. Two other officers were applying their body weight to Floyd’s back. They stayed this way for nearly 9 minutes, despite Floyd’s crying out that he couldn’t breathe. Eventually he passed out, and the officers remained with their body weights on Floyd’s back and neck for three more minutes, until Floyd’s heart stopped and he died. According to autopsy reports, Floyd did not die from strangulation, but the pressure applied on his back and neck were the cause of his heart going into cardiac arrest. Perhaps if the officers had acted to save him, he would have lived, but instead they remained on top of him until he was dead. �16 This insane act of cruelty - which is not uncommon in black communities - turned out to be a catalyst for nationwide and even worldwide outrage. There were riots the next day in Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed, in protest of police brutality. Businesses were broken into and looted and the city was trashed. Since then, protests and riots have continued in all fifty states, as well as in other countries as people everywhere have joined the Black Lives Matter Movement. This movement strives to bring attention to the injustices the black community faces daily just for the color of their skin. It brings attention to white privilege and educates the world about black history. It vehemently condemns police brutality and demands justice for those that have been treated unfairly, and especially those who have died for no reason other than that their skin was black. Many white people balk at this idea that racism still exists and that white privilege is so prevalent, but I believe it. I see it every single day when people of the white community stubbornly believe that if you just do what the cops tell you, you won’t get hurt. They continually believe that black people truly are just criminal and unruly. They continue to believe that black people do this to themselves, that black people are the only ones killing black people, that white people are innocent. They are ignorant. It is an extremely uncomfortable reality to have to accept, so many people don’t accept it. This is the point of the protests. Centuries of unacknowledged injustices without respite have finally given way to a movement fueled by anger and the condemnation of cops. I support this movement, though I do worry that, as happens with so many issues, we will first swing too far the other way. In other words, I am concerned that before we are able to find any kind of peace, there will be a massive and long-lasting hatred and mistrust of law enforcement, as well as the government and the media. When I scroll through Facebook I see countless different accounts and opinions about these issues. We cannot seem to find common ground on anything. I know I’ve been saying this in nearly all of my entries, but I honestly blame Donald Trump. He is behind the mobilization of the national guard to quell these protests, whose cause is righteous and which are most often completely peaceful. He is the one who has constantly condemned any and all news sources that do not agree with him. He is the one who has sown more hatred and division than nearly any other president in history. He is the absolute worst kind of person and seems to be trying to turn our democracy into a dictatorship. As far as I can tell, most people hate his guts like me. But Trump still has a hardy group of supporters who truly believe he can do no wrong. I have truly tried to understand these people, but all I can conclude is that they are just plain stupid. I plan to attend a silent sit-in today in the city of Grand Rapids, of which nearly 3,000 people have said they will participate. From 4-5 pm we have been directed by organizers to sit silently lining the sidewalks of Fulton street with signs that say “I’m still here. I’m still pissed.” We will not be blocking traffic at all, or causing noise pollution, or doing anything even remotely destructive. At 5 pm we are supposed to take a knee for 9 minutes and chant “I can’t breathe,” to represent George Floyd’s horrible experience. I was not originally planning on attending this for two reasons. First, despite the fact that no one is thinking about it, Covid-19 has not magically �17 disappeared, and I don’t want to contribute to spreading it more. Second, many groups who are separate from the groups of protesters have been coming to these organized peaceful protests with the sole purpose of causing trouble and discrediting the movement. I do not want to be at all involved in violence. I have decided to go because I think that this movement is more important than my reasons not to. The Grand Rapids chief of police has been in contact with the organizers of this sit-in and has actually agreed to participate in our protests against police brutality. I’m excited to go and see history in the making, and I hope desperately that this movement can bring about real change, both in America and in the world. Tuesday , June 9, 2020 Last Wednesday, nearly a week ago, I attended a protest in downtown Grand Rapids for the Black Lives Matter movement. I went to this one (and not the previous ones) because this was labelled as a peaceful sit-in, and was cleared with the Grand Rapids Police Department. The chief of the GR police also said beforehand that he would join in our protesting and take a knee for George Floyd and all the black lives that have been needlessly taken. Over three thousand people had responded that they were interested in attending this event on Facebook, and I would not be surprised to learn that they had all come. We lined the Fulton street single file (nearly everyone with a face mask on for Coronavirus) for what must have been miles and sat there - not blocking car or foot traffic, not being rowdy in any way - from 4-5 pm. Then from 5-5:09 we all knelt on one knee and chanted “I can’t breathe,” to relive the memory of George Floyd’s last experience on Earth. Following this we continued to sit peacefully until 5:30, which was when we were all supposed to go back home and clear the scene. This was a strict rule so that if any rioters did decide to show up and cause trouble, it would be very clear that they were a separate group from the peaceful protesters. Right before my friend and I headed back to the car, a chant erupted of “No Justice, No Peace,” among a large group of people who walked down the road, past all the protesters. During the hour and a half that we sat there, many cars drove up and down the street and at least half of them would honk their horns in support as they drove by, or reach a closed fist out the window, or give us some other kind of sign of encouragement. I am so glad I was a part of it. It was especially interesting to see what kinds of people turned out to support Black Lives Matter. I saw mostly people who were very near my own age, and quite a few more white people than black people. Yet I also noticed among the crowd middle aged people and even elderly people. It was excellent to know that this movement finds support among all demographics of people, throughout the country and even throughout the world. Though I was not near enough to the police station to know what was happening there, I later saw pictures of the police chief keeping his word and taking a knee with protestors at 5pm to chant “I can’t breathe.” As we were leaving, my friend and I had to walk a block over to the car and as we did so we noticed heavily armored police troops guarding the perimeter of the police station. There were no protesters in that area, and as far as I know, there never ended up being �18 any more destruction that night. But looking around me I could see all the destruction which had been done the previous weekend throughout the city. Many restaurant and shop windows had been smashed, and were boarded up when we walked through. This included the courthouse, which makes sense, but also many many small businesses that should not have been in the line of fire. The beautiful thing is that at this point, a small group of (african american) artists have been going through downtown and painting beautiful pictures of hope and peace on these boards. They are using art to change the boards from a symbol of past violence into a symbol of hope. Another major event that happened last week was Donald Trump’s disgusting use of force to clear the way through protestors for a photo-op. Washington D.C. was crowded with peaceful protestors calling for change, when Trump decided he wanted to walk to the small church there and pose in front of it with a bible. In order to reach the church, which was blocked by protesting citizens, he called in a force of police who reportedly fired tear gas into the crowds to force them to disperse. This in itself is absolutely disgusting. These were unarmed, peaceful protesters who happened to be protesting police brutality when our demented president saw fit to clear them and their very valid concerns away with a violent chemical, just so he could get a picture taken. This is far more disturbing when we consider that Trump does not even attend that church, which apparently nearly all American presidents have attended throughout history. He does not go to that church, nor any other church for Sunday mass. The bishop of the place was outraged to see that the president of the United States had used her church and a bible that he never reads simply to garner support for his reelection campaign. In a country that is plagued by a global pandemic and has given way to uprisings in every single state, the President uses excessive force to quell their outcries so that he can focus only on his popularity. If this story sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is the actual stupidest thing that I’ve ever seen, and not only stupid, but blatantly evil. Trump’s main supporters are people who blindly follow him without watching the news or educating themselves on any domestic or world issues. They seem to believe exclusively what Trump tells them to believe, so this disgusting and unnecessary show of power will probably appear to them as a good thing. His ill-won picture with someone else’s bible in front of a church that he doesn’t attend will probably make him appear to them as a very godly man who they should follow to the ends of the Earth. And the rest of the world laughs at us. Now there is a growing movement in the United States to defund and/or abolish the police altogether. This has understandably received mixed opinions. The first time I heard it from a friend I thought that was crazy. This friend simply told me that there was a movement to get rid of the police, and in my head I thought of all the true criminals in the world and thought that abolishing the police would be equivalent to allowing them to run free. There would be no one to call if someone broke into your home, no one to call if you were being followed down dark city streets, or if you’d been assaulted. I completely understand why every single person of color in the country would be all for this. Amazingly (bafflingly!) for a huge amount of black Americans, police have been one of the biggest threats to their health and safety. So where I (a young middle class white woman) see the police as a force for good who will protect me against evil, an �19 overwhelming number of others in the country are forced to see police as people who will harass them and threaten them for no good reason, and with no repercussions. And it goes without saying that they also must fear being unjustly murdered by the police on a daily basis. If I were a person of color, I would prefer anarchy to a police force. Since I am not a person of color, this most certainly was not my first reaction, and I still do not support the total eradication of any sort of police force. I have since learned however, that the idea is not to simply have nothing in place to protect people, but to have an entirely new system of public safety in which professionals in a variety of fields are called on to deal with problems that arise in a more individualized way. In other words, instead of sending strangers with guns to deal with every single problem ever, reformers want to be able to send out social workers, psychologists, behaviorists, etc. to help troubled people rather than simply arresting everybody and sending them to jail. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This is because our justice system is antiquated. Massive amounts of money are funneled into beefing up the police force so that they can continue to arrest everybody. Our prison systems are not to help rehabilitate convicts, but simply to put them in long timeouts. It doesn’t make any sense at all. This is why I support the abolish the police movement. Though I do think we need some semblance of the police to remain, I very strongly believe that sending a person to prison should not be the first solution. If a single mother steals from a grocery store because she does not earn enough to feed her children, she should be led to resources that could help her and her kids, not led to jail. If a high school student pulls a gun on classmates, he should be put in a rehabilitation center with professionals who can examine his mental state, not put in jail for the rest of his life to waste away. Certainly there will always be crime, but there would be far less if we funneled more money into programs to help people live a happy life. As soon as a person is deprived of their basic needs of food, water, and shelter, their fight-or-flight response will kick in and they will likely do something like steal or even kill others. If there was less crippling poverty, less unfair treatment by police, more attention from government officials, more prosperity and equality, there would be less crime. Let’s defund the police and reallocate that money away from weapons that will be used to hurt already damaged citizens and into programs that will help them heal. Let’s put that money toward funding public schools, which are struggling so much that they’ve begun to cut programs like art and gym class (which if you know a child are essential to helping them focus and absorb information). Let’s put that money toward buying more Personal Protective Equipment for the doctors and nurses across the country who have been helping to fight Covid-19 and putting themselves at risk this whole time. They have had to cover their clothes with trash bags and rewear masks (which renders them essentially pointless) because the government has not funded them well enough. This is disgraceful. Let’s put money toward getting homeless people off the streets and on their feet so that they have the option to reenter the workforce. Let’s put money into the foster care system so that parentless children don’t have to live through neglect and poverty only to be thrust into the “real world” on their 18th birthdays with no idea how to be a �20 productive adult. Let’s put money into bringing down the cost of college tuition so that education is available to all rather than just the middle and upper classes. We would have no need to beef up our police force if the country’s citizens weren’t treated so badly as to make them want to revolt. Donald Trump is like a really bad monarch and I can only hope that he will be overthrown this fall when we elect the next president. Thursday, June 11, 2020 Finally, after being home for months, I am beginning to feel like I can have a somewhat normal summer. I recently applied for a job at a ziplining adventure park near my house and have a virtual interview with them tomorrow. Thus far, I have only been earning minimal money at my Library job, which had to cut our hours when the pandemic hit. Luckily I haven’t been going anywhere or spending money on much of anything, so this hasn’t been a huge strain, but it will be once school starts and I have to start paying rent at my apartment! I am very excited to finally have the opportunity to begin making more money (in an environment different from my home!), and I feel ready to battle whatever struggles arise from reentering the service industry after so many weeks of people being cooped up. In addition to the scattered hours I’ve been able to work for the Library Virtual Services, I’ve also been teaching piano lessons several times a month to a couple of beginning students. One or two of them will continue through the summer, so that will be a tiny trickle of income for me as well. Every single penny counts! Though I have been stuck at home without much to do, I have tried to stay busy. I wrote up a list of all the things I have committed to this summer, which is as follows: ● French classes (one the first half of summer, one the second half), twice a week ● Piano lessons (2-3 times per week generally) ● Library virtual services shifts ● Band camp (A two week camp I help teach for my previous high school each summer. They only just got the official green light this past week to have it!) ● Family vacation (Likewise, we didn’t know if or when we would be able to have any vacation this summer, but it looks like we will be heading elsewhere at the end of July) ● Senior Project (Which I was unable to finish last semester due to the pandemic, and which is now due within the first month back to school this fall) ● Graduate schools research ● Clarinet Practice ● Yoga/daily exercise In addition to all of these things, my hobby is reading books. Despite its becoming more cheesy to me every time I read it, I reread the entire Twilight series a month or two ago. I love rereading books because it feels like visiting an old friend, or returning to a place from childhood! I’ve perused a couple different philosophy books and most recently charged through Roald Dahl’s Matilda. I am currently in the process of reading for the first time Jane Austen’s �21 Pride and Prejudice, which is absolutely phenomenal. I believe I mentioned in an earlier entry that I picked up ‘bullet journaling’ at the beginning of this quarantine, and have created several new designs that I am very proud of! I have loved being able to embrace all the creative pastimes that I don’t normally have time for during the school year, or when my week is full of work shifts. Because of this, part of me is sad to know that with this potential new job, my creative freedom and energy could come to an end. But I have no choice if I want to be able to pay for my apartment next year, as well as food, tuition, etc. Wednesday, June 17, 2020 I have always been someone who has used writing as an outlet for overwhelming emotions or ideas. These last couple months I have felt so many things that I haven’t even felt capable of writing them down. There is so much anger and hate in the world, as well as anguish and sorrow. So many incomprehensible horrors, things we have always read about in history books and never expected to encounter in real life. Even now as I sit here feeling on the edge of tears, I can’t think where to begin... I watched two videos recently of elderly men being violently pushed over by law enforcement, who were, both times, dressed head to toe in defensive armor. The first video I saw hit me so deep to the core that I felt physically nauseous and began to cry. In the video, a tall and thin elderly white man who was protesting with the black lives matter movement walked slowly up to a couple of police and began speaking to them and gesturing with his hands. He did not look in any way threatening, out of control, or even angry. In fact to me it looked like he may have been asking a question. Then, without warning, one of the officers shoved the old man forcefully backwards. He stumbled back several paces, waving his arms as he frantically tried to regain his footing, but his old legs couldn’t move fast enough and he tipped back. He crashed to the cement, the back of his head cracking on the ground and a pool of blood visibly forming around him. The officer who had stood next to the one who pushed the man began to lean down to check on him, but was immediately pulled away by the one who pushed. They walked past him and a group of more officers followed behind, all stepping over this elderly, bleeding man. The video went viral, and most people were equally terrified and appalled. I just recently saw an update on the man in my facebook news feed. His name is Martin Gugino, he is 75 years old, and now has a fractured skull and is unable to walk. This video circulated quickly and caused anguish in most who saw it. Most but not all, because our own president unfeelingly suggested that Gugino could be an ANTIFA provocateur, and faking the fall. This disgusting suggestion came after the knowledge that the police station had reported the incident by claiming that Gugino tripped and fell and that they had nothing to do with it. If it weren’t for the teenage girl who had been filming, none of us would know any different because an entire troop of cops were prepared to sell a blatant lie to the public to cover their own asses, at the devastating expense of their victim. �22 The second video I saw was fortunately less devastating, but still scarring in its own way. It showed another elderly white man, who was quite small and defenseless. He was simply standing on a sidewalk looking out toward the street when a group of cops came up behind him and started pushing him up the sidewalk. I truly don’t even know why or where they wanted him to move to. I cannot even describe the feeling of intense anguish for the man and hatred toward those awful cops that I felt when seeing this take place. The man jumped when he suddenly felt hands on him and tried to turn to see what was happening, but was not able to because they just kept pushing him further and further along. Like Gugino, this man quickly lost his balance and fell to the ground, though thankfully it was face first and he was able to absorb the fall with his arms instead of his head. These scenes awake some kind of animal instinct in me where I just want to rip and tear and I can’t imagine the otherworldly chaos I would be feeling had either of those men been my own grandfather or father. Here’s a bit of comic relief, which I will credit to the stupidity of our esteemed president. As I mentioned, he tried to claim that Martin Gugino (an innocent, previously unknown, peaceful protestor for BLM) was an ANTIFA provocateur. So I’ve had to learn recently what exactly ANTIFA is, because the way Trump talks about it makes it sound like an evil organization that exists to dismantle our government and destroy our country. He literally put forward a proposal to label ANTIFA as a terrorist organization. HOWEVER. IT’S NOT AN ORGANIZATION AT ALL AND ANTIFA IS SHORT FOR ANTI-FASCIST. So beyond the fact that Trump is putting forth blatant lies, he is also declaring himself against antifascism. Which, by extension, means that he has declared himself for fascism. Ha. Ha. He’s not even trying to hide the fact that he does every immoral thing in his power to be a dictator instead of a president with checks and balances. Probably because he believes his followers will follow him anywhere, even if it’s off a cliff. I hope that in the next few decades our democracy is restored and strengthened and history books will look back at this time as a low point that we must never repeat. Another point of grief on my mind today is that the Trump administration has apparently rewritten the Title IX rules, which is now thousands of pages long. Under the Obama administration, if someone came forward and accused another person of sexual assault, the accused could be considered guilty not with clear, obvious evidence, but with at least a 50% chance that it had happened. In other words, the old rules heavily favored the alleged victim in sexaul assault cases on college campuses, and subjected the accused to punishments such as being expelled from their university. At face value this may seem radical, but it was an aggressive measure put in place to help correct what had been a huge problem on college campuses for so long. Women have always been shamed for BEING RAPED. You don’t watch an innocent person get punched in the face and blame them for it because their face looked funny. You don’t hear that a woman was violated and blame her for dressing the wrong way. But people do. Because misogyny is so ingrained in our collective psyche that people aren’t even able to wrap their heads around the concept that a man who goes after a “provocatively dressed” woman actually just doesn’t have self control or respect for that woman. And other men protect rapists because they understand the feeling of being so tempted and wanting so badly to give in. �23 But not all men are racists, because some were raised right; some have learned self control and respect for others and some have integrity. Anyway, as a young woman who lives on a college campus for most of the year, the sight of a man walking toward me at night has the power to fill me with anxiety. I want to be able to know that were anything to happen to me, I could get the emotional support I need, and the man who assaulted me would face punishment. Trump’s new rules give universities the option to go back to the system that was used before Obama made changes, where punitive measures will only take place if there is evidence beyond a doubt that the accused committed the crime. In other words, Trump has changed the system back to heavily favoring the rapist. In the interest of creating an informed opinion, I must say that Obama’s rules resulted in a swing so far to the other side that girls were falsely accusing men that they didn’t like, who then were treated unfairly without further consideration into the matter. That occurrence is nearly as bad as a true rapist never facing consequences. So I agree that perhaps there needed to be more measures set up, but considering the history of this issue and the vulnerability of women, I personally feel that the rules should favor the victim rather than the accused. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that this new change came about under the Trump administration, as they have spent most of their time in office undoing everything that Obama did to help us. President Barack Obama began his presidency in 2008, when I was ten years old. I was young enough for most of his presidency that I wasn’t informed of most anything that he did. But my parents have told me that for them, having Obama in office was a welcome relief from the struggles that they’ve always faced in life. My family is situated firmly in the middle class, where we are generally very comfortable, but never waste money on frivolous things, and budget and save and sacrifice here and there so that we can stay comfortable. Many of Obama’s programs and laws went a long way toward making life easier for working-class families. As I said, I’m not familiar with his entire presidency, but I know that his Title-IX regulations made a big difference, as did Obamacare, and his treatment of immigrants. He did good things for the working class, and did his best to make the obscenely wealthy citizens of America pay more taxes for the good of all. (The wealth gap in this country is absurd, but that’s a qualm for another day.) Donald Trump these past four years has worked his way through undoing change after change after change made by Obama. � 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 Anonymous COVID-19 Journal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-06-17 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 COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives 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_2020-06-17_ANON-033 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 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8643fc3c8250ed059255f7eadb1bac8b.pdf 5f3a3e527dc77270b04aa9d407df9bfc PDF Text Text 3/27/20 - 11:33 am It’s hard to believe that school shut down 16 days ago. Time feels so relative now, like we should be measuring it in some other way. What constitutes a day in these uncertain times? Is it still 24 hours, or should I measure my days in anxious fits, depres sive episodes, moments of solitude? Most gruesome, should we start marking time by COVID deaths? That’s what the news is doing. “March- 25,035 27 total deaths.” On bad days, I used to take comfort in the knowledge that somewhere on the planet, many good things are happening. A baby is being born. A couple is getting married. A father and son are taking a trip. These microcosms of happiness combine to combat whatever obstacle I’m facing at the moment. Now, though, my front line of defense against the darkness is dwindling. Across the world, weddings are being canceled. Vacations are turning into nightmares. Babies are being born into oversaturated, infected hospitals. As I race to find the light, coronavirus is three steps ahead of me, snuffing out each can dle one by one. These are dark times indeed. 3/29/20 - 1:34 pm "As the sign of a deeper truth, metaphor is close to sacrament. Because the vastness and richness of reality cannot be expressed by the overt sense of a statement alone." - Jeffr ey Burton Russell In times of extreme duress, I retreat. For as long as I can remember, my immediate response to stress has been to jump on a horse and run away, sometimes quite literally. Now, as I feel stressed and - most frustratingly - trapped, I find myself retreating into books to retain my sanity. Books are deep wells where I can pour my emotions into and drain them all through the sieve of a great story. When they emerge, they are filtered clean and pure and stable. I drink from this well copiously,greedy in my conquest for release and solitude. Unfortunately, living with your boyfriend prevents a complete retreat from happening. The boy with whom I live subsequently became, through a series of strange events, the boy that I date. We had two other roommates, one who happened to be his ex. She found herself unable to live with us being together and promptly moved out. That knocks off one. Our fourth roommate was recently laid off and moved back home to quarantine herself in. That knocks off two. What ’s left is just myself and my roommateturned-boyfriend as we navigate trying to start a new relationship while being quarantined alone together. It’s been strange trying to find ways to be together and create space for each other in a tiny apartment. We both struggle with anxiety, and this crisis has flared my OCD to a nearly unmanageable point. There’s so much that’s overwhelming about our lives and our home that I struggle to find peace. This is where my books come in. But my boyfriend has never datedbookworm a who’s content to hole herself in her room and read for 12 hours straight. He’s an outdoorsy type; he wants to do yoga, walk outside, and my clean up the earth by picking up trash. I absolutely adore him for it, but I have to express that books are way of responding to the crisis. Sometimes, getting lost in the words of my beloved poets is the only way I keep my grip. �3/30/20 - 11:03 am Woke up today without the usual chest tightness that accompanies my morning anxiety. Perhaps my brain and nervous system are settling into this new normal. I picture my little apartment as this bubble that cannot be penetrated, by people, disease or otherwise. Last night my boyfriend’s friend came over to drop off some more concrete makeshift weights for themto throw around and he stayed to chat. I’m pretty sure my heart rate was well into the 100’s imagining him as an intruder breaking through our defenses and shattering my little bubble of defense. Though he stayed well away from both of us, I was torn betwe en welcoming the social interaction and wanting to kick him out. My parents are both old, well within the demographic most at risk from the virus. My father is turning 71 in May and my mother, who’s been a smoker her whole life, turns 58 in September. Tho ugh there’s been many days I’d love nothing more than to give them both a hug, I know that I can’t. Not until I wait out the incubation period, solo, to see if I have it. Every stranger that walks through my door sets my incubation period back and makes mylong-awaited hug that much farther away. I miss the days when I could jump into people’s arms without fear. I’m a hugger, a toucher, an extrovert; I thrive in social situations and am most content in a crowded, lively room. Now, as my boyfriend and I swim this sea alone, I know I’ll never take hug a from my parents for granted again. I pray that they’ll make it through this and we’ll see many more hugs on the other side of coronavirus. 3/31/20 - 12:48 pm The air has never felt more still. The virus became real today. It became a big, swampy monster that’s wreaking havoc on my life and tearing my loved ones away from me. Last night, a close friend from high school lost his battle to the virus. He was a mere 24 years old; a baby; a blink in the universe’s eye. Yet to me, and my tight -knit circle of friends from younger days, he was everything. Ben Hirschmann- you stood up for me when nobody else would. You had a twinkle in your eye and a bellowing laugh that filled our hearts. How this virusswallowed you whole I’ll never understand; your personality and enthusiasm was larger than life, larger than this world. Today I am heartbroken. I am emotionally ransacked and vacant; I have nothing left. My fragile sanity has been teetering on madness o f r weeks now and I fear this may be the beginning of a very long descent. For while I’m aching now, I know this won’t compare to how I’ll feel in a couple weeks. The monster is coming and it is incredibly hungry. Ben will certainly not be the only casualtyI’ll suffer in the monster’s wake. I can’t reiterate enough how devastatingly real this feels now. God help us. �4/7/20 - 7:08 pm Spent the last week grieving, processing, self-destructing, and rebuilding. Wasn’t sure I’d be able to write tonight but the air felt still and calm and suddenly I was drawn to my journal. It’s incredible to me how one can find moments of stillness and peace in absolute chaos. School has felt incredibly optional though I know, internally, that it’s very much not. I’m having trouble finding the motivation to get things done when everything around me is slowly evaporating. I lost my study abroad trip/summer plans and now I’m applying for internships that probably don’t even exist anymore. It’s terrifying seeing the newsreports display the unemployment figures, and I shudder to think how dangerously close to that I am. My school job ends in a few weeks, and then what after that? 4/9/20 - 7:51 pm Today has been overwhelming, but it’s almost asinine to use that word now. We’re literally living in unprecedented times, of course everything is going to be overwhelming. But school has proven to be especially trying. Today I finally counted up everythingI had to do to finish the semester. 14 things. It amounts to roughly 32 pages of writing, at least 6 hours of coding, and then 7 hours of online exams. I am so frustrated with the amount of work that’s been given I could scream. I know that professors don ’t know how to handle this either, but they could try by not randomly assigning papers just for something to do. I have to write roughly 6 pages of justreflection papers. Reflection on what? The online class I’ve had to suffer through for a month now? Notmuch to reflect on. I was telling my boyfriend yesterday that I can’t believe we’re two days shy from it being a month into quarantine. This month has felt like a blur. It was supposed to be my busiest; my grandest month yet. I had two trips to DC planned, a conference, an event to host, new candidates to welcome. I’m a Lead Fellow in the Leadership Academy and I was so excited to hug our new cohort in person. Each person I personally interviewed, took time in crafting. We’ve pulled together an incrediblegroup of future changemakers and now I don’t know if I’ll even see them for orientation. I’m tired of wondering when all of this is going to blow over. I’m tired of the fact that the piling deaths are having less of an effect on me now. My best friend st lo her grandpa, my dad’s friend lost his father.. The list goes on and on. I yearn for better, brighter days. 4/14/20 - 4:23 pm It’s getting harder and harder to journal. It’s depressing only having bad news to report, but that’s all that’s coming in. The IMF reported today that the global economy could take a 3 point shock, the worst since the Great Depression. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared to graduate into a depression. My family lost everything in the ’08 recession, and it’s taken us 12 year s to crawl back from square one. They say they’re doing okay now, but I fear the worst for my family in these coming days. I remember the last time we were so poor we �couldn’t afford groceries; those days felt so hopeless. I’m certainly not prepared for wh at’s coming, but how can you be? My mom told me today that life as we know it is over. I pray that it isn’t true, but, I know deep down she’s right. With the coming depression and the way lives have already been altered, there’s no way we can go back to normal. I know, too, that normalcy will be unachievable for the families who have had loved ones ripped away. The family of my friend Ben who died just a couple weeks ago is not done with their turmoil. Now, the father of the family has fallen ill as well. All over stories are coming in from households who are losing multiple people at a time and can’t hold a funeral. After all, the CDC traced the entire Chicago outbreak to just a single person who attended a funeral in the city. Now, because of that one person, ten thousand people in the city are infected, and I fear my parents are next. The virus is so infectious that if one person in the house gets it the others are likely to follow suit. How terribly violent and senseless it is to lose multiple family members in one sitting. Yet again, I remember this happens daily to people all over the world. In the Gaza strip, bombings regularly ravage families. In sub-saharan Africa, infant mortality kills 40% of babies before they’re even born. Are we privileged people finally getting a taste of the chaos we so carelessly create? I’m still mourning the loss of my summer plans and now my hopes for the fall are fading. If we can’t contain the virus or find a vaccine, it’s likely that the fall semester will be moved online as well. As difficult of a decision as it would be, I think I would defer for that semester and hold my hopes out for winter. I refuse to lose my senior year to this pandemic after I’ve already lost so much. From my apartment I can still hear the bells of the clock tower rolling over from campus. Those bells, which used to peeve me on my way to class, now sound like the melancholy remnants of a distant past. What I would give to be annoyed by those bells just one more time! I suppose the good news in all of this is that I’m still alive. I’m healthy, I have a roof over my head, food in my fridge, and a boyfriend who continues to be my rock through all of this. Perhaps all is not lost. 4/16/20 - 3:11 pm The days are starting to muddle together and th e moments are losing their luster. I need to feel reinvigorated but it’s hard with so much stress weighing down on my shoulders. In these tense times, though, I have found moments of extreme tenderness, and I began recording them. These are some of my favo rite things from the last week: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● The mouthwatering smell of fresh garlic and good olive oil sizzling in a pan The warmth I feel when my boyfriend holds me and I’m enveloped in his smell of tea tree oil and sandalwood Waking up to my cat lazily stretched out beside me, the sun rays warming her belly The comforting, homely smell of fresh coffee brewed in the morning, my hands wrapped around the steamy mug Signs of growth from plants I’ve been nurturing all year The happy look in my cats eye when she watches snowflakes fall through the window The roaring, resounding laughter of my friends coming through the phone, showering me with love and happiness �Yes, things are bad, but they can be relatively good too. Youstjuhave to find the silver linings. 4/18/20 - 3:01 pm Today my family and I were told that my grandmother’s nursing home has been exploded with cases of COVID-19. I have dreaded this day ever since I learned about the virus, knowing full well itsplications im for the older demographics. My poor grandmother Rosemary Risk, aka the light of this world, has been battling dementia for about ten years now. I used to wake up at 5 am before school every day and go give her a bath, change her diapers and shee ts, and sit with her while she ate her breakfast. She’s the sweetest little lady, always humming as she walks around. During bath times, she used to make me sing all of her favorite old showtunes. These are the lyrics to her favorite one: Here we are, out of cigarettes Holding hands and yawning, look how late it gets Two sleepy people, by dawn's early light And too much in love to say good night Here we are in the cozy chair Pickin' on a wishbone from the Frigidaire Two sleepy people with nothing to say And too much in love to break away Do you remember the nights we used to linger in the hall? Mm-hmm, your father didn't like me, at all Do you remember the reason why we married in the fall? To rent this little nest and get a bit of rest Well, here we are, just about the same Foggy little fella, drowsy little dame Two sleepy people, by dawn's early light And too much in love to say good night Here we are, don't we look a mess Lipstick on your collar, Wrinkles in my dress Two sleepy people, who know very well They're too much in love to break the spell Here we are, crazy in head Gee you're eyes are gorgeous, even when they're red Two sleepy people, by dawn's early light And too much in love to say good night Do you remember when we went dancing at the Palomar? When it was over why naturally we cuddled in the car So you ran out of gas, and I was green as grass Here we are keeping up the pace �Letting each tomorrow slap us in the face Two sleepy people, by dawn's early light And too much in love to say good night Grandma, I am too much in love to say goodnight to you. Please don’t leave us yet. 5/5/20 - 12:51 pm I took a break from journaling after the winter semester ended. I was so terribly burnt out after my grandma passed away that I needed a break from my own thoughts. Now I’m back to consultant work/journaling and can affirm that, oddly enough, things are pretty normal as far as quarantines and pandemics go. Life has definitely slowed down and adapted to the new conditions. I’ve been drawing quite a bit, planting and preparing my garden, and renovating my apartment. My boyfriend and I have grown quite a few egetables v from seeds and we’re hoping to get them all in the ground by the end of May. Some of the hardier vegetables like asparagus and kale have already been planted outside and I check on them like a dutiful mother. I’m pretty sure our neighbors think we’re nuts for having a full garden outside of our dinky college apartment complex but we take pride in our little oasis. Watching everything grow from seeds into strong young plants has been such a fun journey for us while we remain isolated in our home.ouring P ourselves into our hobbies has been a great way to stay sane. In unrelated news, 2020 has decided to play a new joke on us by introducing literal murder hornetsinto the narrative. Japanese murder hornets have somehow made their way over to the Nor theast coast and prove to be the icing on the cake of the strangest year ever. These giant hornets grow to be-32 inches in size and prey on precious bumblebees. They use sharp mandibles to decapitate the bees and take their thoraxes to feed their young. Japanese honeybees have developed certain adaptations that allow them to fight off the hornets, but our American honeybees have not. Entomologists say if we can’t eradicate all the hornet colonies within a year, we won’t be able to stop them from rooting he re permanently and decimating bee populations. To boot, hornets are so venomous that a few stings can kill a human. How much more fucked up can this year get?? I was watching a sweet, fat little bumblebee lazily sniff my begonia bush the other day and thought of it being decapitated by a murder hornet. I sincerely hope they fix the issue before it’s too late. 5/6/20 - 1:01 pm Found out today that I’m eligible to receive a huge grant from GV through the CARES Act to help support me financially through this pandemic. I’m really grateful for the extra income because now I can afford to help cushion my family a little bit through the crisis as well. My dad’s job is based on sports advertising, so the lack of sports has taken a huge toll on his income. My mo ther completely lost her job due to the pandemic so the only thing keeping them afloat right now is her unemployment benefits and my dad’s struggling income. We don’t complain because we know that we have it far better than many other people. There’s somuch talk about certain businesses that probably will never recover from this setback. They say we’re headed for an economic downfall that could rival the Great Depression, and I’m afraid for what the future holds. My brother is a prominent chef in New Yor k, but he’s not sure he’ll have a job when all of this is �said and done. New York relies on the tourism and food industry, and it’s damn near collapsed without it. My sister owns a little vintage clothing boutique in Brooklyn that may also never open its doors again. I’m trying to remain optimistic but, quite frankly, there isn’t much hope to hold on to. My family barely survived the last recession so I’m nervous about these projections. All I can do is hold on to the hope that maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem and we can find a way to bounce back sooner than we thought. I read an article today, though, that showed evidence Trump shelved a CDC document meant to help reopen the economy and provide safety guidelines. Why the document will never see the light of day is beyond me when so many people have been begging for ways to slowly reopen the economy and get people back to work. The stupidity of the Trump administration never ceases to amaze me, and I blame the president wholeheartedly for his impotence and lack of leadership in these times of duress. 5/7/20 - 8:48 am Today is the day! After months and months of quarantine and only seeing one familiar face, I am finally going to see another friend! My best friend and soul sister Lisa has been quaran tined with her boyfriend for the last couple of months. They both have the privilege (like I do) of working from home so it’s safe to say we will not be giving each other the virus. She was going to come visit me this past weekend, but she started getting severe back pains after a morning run. After a virtual doctors appointment and a carefully -socially-distanced MRI, we found out she has a bulging disk in her back. The poor thing will be bed bound for the next couple months and has to undergo physical ther apy to recover. I decided to surprise her to cheer her up by coming to visit with my boyfriend. She doesn’t know that I’m coming but her boyfriend does, and he says she’s been terribly glum. I do hope that our presence will lighten her spirit as being arou nd her will surely lighten mine. It has been so long since I was able to see others and hold them. I can’t wait to go! 5/9/20 - 7:31 pm It’s getting hard to find things to journal about because everyday is like groundhogs day! Seems like I have the same routine every day, the only difference between them is the amount of anxiety I’m carrying. I recently started taking pills to help cope with my severe anxiety. The pandemic and its stress have exacerbated my anxieties, making it nearly impossible to getthrough the week without a panic attack or emotional breakdown. It’s difficult being transparent about this knowing that someone will read this journal years after it’s writing and may judge me for my choices, but please understand how excruciating thishole w process has been. I’ve never been the type to turn to pills to get myself through; I hardly even take Motrin when I have a headache. Usually my anxiety is mild enough to be cleared up with a good strain of marijuana. The anxiety I’m dealing with nowsi a whole other beast; one I haven’t battled in many years. I knew that my mental health would take a turn with all of these changes but I didn’t expect a reaction like this. Every day there is a new looping circuit of anxiety in my head, swirling round an d round like a whirlpool. I can’t fight the currents alone, so the Xanax helps me swim to shore. I wish it didn’t have to be this way but my boyfriend reminds me that needing medication doesn’t make you weak; sometimes the strongest thing you can do is ask for help. I really need help and, for better or for worse, the pills help make these anxious days bearable. I do hope that I’m able to stand without them soon. �5/21/20 - 9:01 pm Today was an extremely hard but rewarding day. Without going into too much detail, my -girlfriend ex and I had a very passionate but tumultuous relationship for two years. We became so enveloped in each other that we lost our own independent identities. That, coupled with her family’s constant rejection of me and her sexuality in general, made the relationship a miserable chore. Despite that, I loved and continue to love her deeply and wish that it had worked out. I think the hardest breakups are the ones wh ere two people just aren’t right for each other no matter how real the love is. We broke up mid -January, and I started dating my boyfriend a few months later. The quick transition shocked both of us, and I hadn’t expected to move on so fast and neither did she. I’m a big believer that you can love multiple people at once, and the timing of my new relationship was incredibly unfortunate. It has made it difficult for my ex and I to stay friends, an endeavor we deeply wished for. Today, she came over to grabhet last of her things and give mine back. It was an incredibly emotional encounter filled with lots of tears, hugs, a couple joints, and some Taco Bell. We smoked in her car and ate tacos like we used to after practice when we played Grand Valley lacrosse together. It was jarring to be so near her doing familiar things when I’ve seen no one but my boyfriend in my house for the last few months. I know she’s been quarantining herself properly so I wasn’t worried about catching the virus, and it was so enriching to hug somebody new. We were able to find real closure and make progress towards embracing the new roles we have for each other. I’m so grateful to have a wonderful boyfriend who gives me the space to mourn my past relationship as we grow our new, beaut iful one. He’s so tender and genuine and I feel so lucky to have him. It is my dear hope that my ex and I will reconcile and she can get to know him the way I do. 5/25/20 - 11:43 am It’s hard trying to remember the last time I had a day without anxiet y. It eats at my insides, gnawing at what’s left of my hollow bones. 6/23/20 - 10:21 am So here it is, my first diary entry in nearly a month. I didn’t realize so much time had gone by, but then again, time had begun to mean nothing at all. I debated writing any of this because I didn’t want my dark times memorialized in the University archives, but in the end I knew vulnerability was the only option. I promised myself I’d not edit or water down any of my feelings or experiences so that thislittle snapshot in time would be as real as possible. I had somewhat of a mental breakdown weeks ago. I was going through the motions of daily life, trying to be as normal as possible, but everything felt hollow. I realized my use of anxiety medication wa s becoming addictive, so I did what I knew I had to do - cut cold turkey. Three days after my decision to quit, my parents informed me they were going through another separation. They’ve done this thrice before, but never has it been so explosive, or final.They began filing with attorneys immediately. I found it difficult to get out of bed every morning, and it took incredible amounts of patience from my boyfriend who gently coaxed me alive every day. I took to long hours of meditation and silence to cope ith w my anxiety, and eventually my frayed �nerves began to settle. Then, on May 25, George Floyd died. And the events that followed have certainly changed my life, and the lives of many others. This is a journal about the coronavirus pandemic, certainly, but I would be remiss if I did not memorialize my experiences during the beginning of what will certainly be a large chapter in the history books. George Floyd’s death is the spark that will flame an entire revolution, and I’ve seen the front lines of history. If you are a reader looking at this diary years after I am gone, surely you too will know how George Floyd. You will know more than I about the repercussions that follow the waves of his death, and I am hopeful that history is favorable to our revolution. I hope that his death will not be in vain. George Floyd is only one in thousands of black people that have died at the hands of racist police. We took to the streets in the days after Floyd’s death, but there were so many others we were marching for. Breanna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. J ustin Howell. Alton Sterling. Philando Castile. Oscar Grant. Sandra Bland. I could fill pages upon pages of this journal with the names of black lives lost to police brutality. We marched, protested, chanted, and burned down buildings and police precincts for them. In my city of Grand Rapids, we took to the streets for a silent march, a peaceful protest. We did not bring weapons or gear, but signs and our anger. We brought a desire for justice to the march, and the police showed up in riot gear. They cornered us in the streets with tanks and suped up police trucks. They barricaded off the streets to the police precinct so that no one could touch it. Before a protestor had so much as raised a fist, the police marched out in single formation, dressed in military style riot gear with shields, face masks, rubber bullet guns, tear gas canisters, batons, and even many real guns. Tear gas, which was deemed illegal to use in war after WWI, was used mercilessly on protestors who knelt on the ground with their hands up, screaming “don’t shoot!” I was on the front lines, my heart racing as we formed a barricade of white people to protect people of color from the police. We were weaponizing our privilege to protect those who have been targeted. The hatred from the police was so visceral; their gazes cut me like knives. I could feel their disgust that we were on the “other side.” I had never felt the reality of the police state until I was face to face with it, locked in a showdown that I was hopeless to win. They tear gassed us to much I felt like I was truly dying. I couldn’t see or breathe, and people were running and screaming in every direction. They shot rockets off and eventually rubber bullets. I was knees down on the ground, face in my hands as my eyes burned like fire, when a kind stranger lifted back my hair and poured milk on my face. I choked at first and then relaxed as the milk cooled my burning eyes. The stranger handed me water and I drank, grateful and unable to speak. I never caught their name as they ran away to continue helping, but I will never forget that moment of humanity. I will also never forget the way the police herded us like animals for slaughter, just for asking them to stop killing black lives. I will never forget how a peaceful protest was transformed into a war zone by cops who incited an agitated crowd. I will never forget when they brought guns and we brought signs. And reader, I hope you never forget this too. I hope these words burn into the back of your mind forever: We are not free in a police state. We are not free until every systemically racist institution is dismantled. Equality cannot be achieved without equity first. Demand reparations. �� 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 Anonymous COVID-19 Journal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anonymous Description An account of the resource Journal of an anonymous GVSU student's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-06-23 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 COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives 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_2020-06-23_ANON-034 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