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Collected Item: “The Start of a Shutdown”

Give your story a title.

The Start of a Shutdown

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

Text story

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

The date was March 20th, 2020. It was my best friend's birthday. Our friend group was preparing to throw a big party for her with lots of guests and food. We were all so excited for her to turn 18, finally able to vote. We were all also happy to be seniors and were looking forward to graduation and prom. March 20th will be forever cemented in my mind as the day it all went wrong. We found out that "Covid-19" was truly something very serious and our classes became virtual, no more seeing our friends in school. We couldn't have an in person birthday party for our friend, we couldn't hang out either. That day was so pivotal in all of our lives. We didn't know we would be stuck in quarantine for the next six months, we didn't know our graduation and prom would be canceled. We didn't know how much our daily lives would change. Sometimes, I wish I could go back to the pre-covid days. Everything seemed so simple then. No major pandemic, no masks, no overfull hospitals. But at the same time, as I reflect, quarantine has changed who I am as a person and has caused a lot of internal reflection and introspection. I feel like having to only see your family for six months makes you a better problem solver because you have to stay in the house and figure the issues out instead of going out and trying to brush it off. Overall, Covid is horrible and has caused so much loss. However, we need to also see the somehow positives that have come from this awful situation.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#covid-19, #prom, #family, #quarantine, #graduation, #friends, #party, #birthday

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

Ansley Nickoson

Give this story a date.

2020-03-20
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