The pandemic left me feeling very depressed and alone after losing what was left of my senior year. This all changed though when my family and I started hiking. Every day we would hike a new trail in the town in which I grew up in. On these trails is where I truly strengthened my relationship with my family members. We truly bonded with one another throughout our long hikes. These hikes made also gave me time to reflect on myself and where I was at that point in time. Throughout these hikes I was able to set some goals for myself on where I wanted to be in my future. It is definitely safe to say that I have achieved these goals as well up to this point. In all, I truly would not trade these long hikes for anything in the world. These hikes they really changed my outlook on life and it was here that I truly was able to strengthen my relationship with my family members.

During the pandemic, I was had more free time. When quarantine started, I was just using my phone all day since I couldn't go out, however, I became tired of just using my phone all day. At first, I didn't know how I could cope with my boredom, but then I remembered the instruments I had my ukulele and guitar. I started playing my ukulele first since I already had some experience doing so, and I improved, learning new strumming patterns and songs every week. However, I ran out of songs to learn, so I went to my guitar, which was a struggle to learn at first. I started out with some basic chords that allowed me to play plenty of songs, and I built up from there trying new complex chords. Playing these instruments gave me something to look forward to when I started quarantine since I had more time I knew what to do with, but now playing instruments has become a regular hobby. Quarantine was tough for people worldwide as we were separated from friends and loved ones, but I believe with the extra free time people are able to work and improve themselves, making them more interesting individuals.

My first mask was given to me by my dad.

Where to even start? 2020, the year where everything and everyone changed forever. 2020 did not just consist of the Covid Virus it consisted of many other threads that harmed everyone’s mental health including students. It was hard for all students during this time but in my perspective College students. This documents faithfully explain 2020 and I will be here to give you future historians a more in depth look at how it really was during these times. The document I chose not only explains how we went from going in person to virtual but also how it made me feel as a visual learner and as a college student of course. CUNY mentioned we were going to have a “Instructional recess from March 12-18th”, this day I will never forget because I did not know that March 11th was going to be the last day of my two-years of college. When I received this email on Twitter that CUNY had stated this I was overwhelmed and shocked. The thought of everything being virtual just didn’t seem right to me, although I did have all the access from computers to internet access, it just did not sit right. As a visual learner this was tough for me, this was a moment of you get classwork and you basically have to teach it to yourself, not seeing my professors in person and through a screen was very hard to get used to, the internet sometimes would not work and it would cut off and I would miss most of the important things said during the lesson, it was honestly very difficult, this was not just tough on students, as well as professors having the same issues. This era was honestly tough, but technology really saved a whole year worth of schoolwork. To the historians reading this in a couple of years from now, I, as a person who lived through these times want you to understand the rough time we went through, from masks to face shields to many deaths and virtually going to school. These were moments in time that no one anticipated. It shaped the future into what it had become, masks may become the new norm, working from home may be allowed for certain jobs and companies, schools just might let people continue to be fully virtual and things may be extremely dependent on technology from now on. To conclude this 2020 document, though it was a rough year where millions of people died worldwide, I can only be thankful that me and the ones I love are safe and okay. We now know how to take proper precautions in case anything like this happens again, though I don’t wish for a repeat of 2020. The year of 2020 is one for the books and one that will go down in history.

I assume like many New Yorkers, March 13th through 18th was when things really changed. It did for me on the 15th of March 2020 or the ides of March as I like to remember it. My store shut down for what seemed like 2 weeks. Of course, soon I would be given the news we would be shut down completely. I already knew where things were going, at the time I worked at an Asian restaurant, so I was hearing many of the conversations about China then. But I could not have predicted what would happen next. As slow and dreadful as 2020 was, things were moving at lightning speed for the situation we experienced. It felt like every few days something new would arise and test our nation. I selected these pictures because it shows how tired everyone is, the blank faces of people who are following orders, while the other side expresses their hardships all the while wearing masks, the bane of 2020. I want the historian of the future to know that no matter the situation at hand, many of us will still protest for what was wrong even if they got sick. It didn’t matter because we needed to send a message. The two images that you see in the beginning were taken by my friend, Emilio Lopez, who documented the protests, riots, and clashes between police in the summer of 2020. I did not go to the early protests because of covid and the violence/looting wasn’t the things I wanted to be a part of. I remember face-timing my friend to make sure if he was alright as I did not go with him. What he described to me that was happening in the parts of Fordham, and Union Square areas. Emilio had said many of the protesters were young men who were bored of the lockdowns and needed to do something exciting. There were fires, baton exchanges with the cops, and then the looting started. It all got a little too ugly for the whole week of George Floyd protests in New York. One of my close friend’s stores in Fordham was destroyed as a result. The images were taken right before things took a violent turn at Union Square. Where many of my friends were tear-gassed and beaten by cops to disperse when the first lockdown was getting implemented. Those two images, I feel like the body language of the subjects conveys how I felt about the lockdowns, the social injustice, in general about 2020. These were the first few weeks of protests that took place in the wake of George Fyold murder. I was shocked and scared when the masses went on to the streets because of the sheer amount while the pandemic was still going on. I hope the historians of the future can understand us even if they have to go through a cluster of memes from this era, real pictures with real human emotions will always speak louder I believe, and that civil rights in this country still have ways to go.

I think we all should take this as an experience to be prepare for the next major event.

I'm submitting a picture of doctors, including my uncle and members of the community gathered outside of the SUNY Downstate Medical Center University Hospital, to celebrate the discharge of a patient who beat Covid-19.

Hi! My name is Wendy! Right after a normal weekend in March, I never expected that we would switch to online learning. I was shocked to see the email in the picture on March 13th, saying that we would no longer go back to normal school. This screenshot is very important to me since it made me realize that Covid-19 was a bigger issue than I thought. There was talk of a new illness (Covid-19), but I honestly didn’t feel like it would turn into a whole pandemic. I was kind of thankful since I had a dentist appointment on Monday that would’ve made me be absent from class, but all the cons of Covid-19 outweighed the benefits. The first few weeks were awful- it was hard to adapt to the constant isolation, and being with my family all day was tiring. Also, school wasn’t as engaging or fun anymore. We weren’t able to connect with our teachers or talk to our friends in class. Furthermore, seeing the news and how thousands of people were dying was very frightening. But it's been more than a year of online school, and I found out that what helped me cope was the small things like texting my friends on Discord, hanging out (with masks and 6 feet apart obviously), and exploring things that I couldn’t do before quarantine like drawing or playing the piano. Of course, there were days where I was fed up with being inside or when I felt depressed, but making the most out of this situation gave me the drive to keep social distancing. So remember to keep wearing masks, keeping 6 feet apart, and get vaccinated! This lack of social interaction and not being able to go to school or public places normally is unfortunate but we must stay away from each other to stay together. When it gets hard, find ways to connect with others through safe means like social media and use all that free time to improve and discover things about yourself.

Interviewee discussed what life is like graduating during the pandemic, working in a small family-owned business and the pushback against COVID safety in Orange County. She describes how the pandemic has brought her family together along with the tight-knit community with similar social values she has created.

For my primary source, I selected a photograph I took at a protest held in front of the Bronx Community College campus on July 15, 2021. The Professional Staff Union of CUNY (PSC-CUNY), the union for the faculty and much of the staff throughout CUNY, organized the event to protest the BCC administration June 26 decision to lay off 36 experienced adjunct professors at the end of their 3-year contracts, even though that their departments recommended that they be rehired. People in the picture include BCC Faculty, staff, and students, as well as those from as well as people from Hostos Community College, who came to support the BCC community and were facing similar cuts. The day was very hot, but I was nervous to the subway because of COVID, so I rode my bike from my home (about 24 miles roundtrip). I was pretty sweaty and probably stinky when I arrived. It was the first time I had been to campus since March 10, when, on my way home from school on the subway, I learned CUNY was moving online. (The campus itself was locked, but we stood in front of the gate on University.) It was also the first time I people from school in person since March; I was so happy to talk to them. It was weird to be with a group people, after months of isolation, but we all wore masks and stood six feet apart. Cars honked their support as they drove by. I selected this source because I want historians of the future to understand how the pandemic hit higher education and the connections among the COVID crisis, social justice movements, and education. Although I went to larger marches after the murder of George Floyd, I believe funding for CUNY is a form of social justice. I was angry that politicians and school administrators were giving lip-service to the phrase Black Live Manners, while cutting funding and jobs from CUNY. BCC’s students are overwhelmingly Black and Latinx, and many studies show that a CUNY education is one of the best schools for supporting social mobility, helping people support themselves and their families. Firing the adjuncts not only meant the teachers lost their income, and, sometimes, their health insurance, but that BCC students would be in larger classes; larger classes mean faculty have less time to devote to each student, which can make it harder to for students to succeed. While I understood enrollment was down and the budget from the city and state would likely be smaller because of the economic toll of the pandemic, I thought there were other places the administration could cut costs. (Such as their own salaries). I want historians to see that the faculty and staff of CUNY fought for what their students deserved and the connections among CUNY, social justice, and New York’s economic recovery. I also want them to see how people approached protests, which require gathering together with other people and often chanting or shouting, while in the middle of a pandemic that required people to stay apart and cover their mouths.

A 2-week lockdown. That was how it started. Logging on to discord and joining my friends conversation about how fast it would pass, happy to get a break from school. Another a couple months later, we are stuck at home, waiting for everything to end. School was now online, and I didn’t have any fun waiting around for the classes to end. I started calling more people, hoping they could play any games online to relieve the boredom. The same schedule every single day. Wakeup, eat, go to class, finish homework, play some games, call friends, do chores, go to sleep. Every single day, and it wasnt like I could do something different. It would’ve been nice to do something different, even if it was just going to a store if I wasn’t busy. It still is being repetitive, which is fine. I can at least play some more games, since my friends and I are finding more. It isn’t as boring as the beginning, but its meh. Some of the best moments, were when we went to the mountains, which was pretty far, but was still fun to go to with family.

This piece of writing explains what I wish I could do after the pandemic ends.

My work ends here on 5/15/2021, I have curated on this website for 2 semesters at ASU and have read sad stories, funny stories, stories that are strange, and people who seem so lost, It was a nice refresher to see how people reacted to pandemic a lot more than my old job which was captioning hard of hearing people's phone calls. I heard so much more death and depressing tales there than in this archive which I find interesting but I have seen many sides of the pandemic. I did have to caption, not once but twice, old people having phone sex from that job and here have read hundred of children ponder the origin of the COVID-19 virus. It is strange but I have seen and lived many lives this pandemic thanks to my jobs.

This was written as an assignment for Paula Flynn's fifth grade class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. I hope that after covid i can live my normal school, spring, fall, winter, and summer life including: playing with my friends, doing sleepovers, going to the beach/playground, eating at a restaurant with no mask, summer camps.

This was written as an assignment for Paula Flynn's fifth grade class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. I dream for Covid to end and for everyone to be given the vaccine. The world has taken a heavy hit from covid and I know that we can come back from it. Covid has affected many people from around the world. I hope that we are able to all stay safe during this pandemic.

This short piece shares the struggles and experiences of choosing between working as an essential worker and worrying about my family's health during the peak of the pandemic.

I was driving back from the library and saw this protest with no masks outside of a hotel that ICE is holding migrant families. They were waving American flags and had signs that said things like "America First", "Biden = Cartel", etc.

Graduations during 2020 were conducted remotely. This meant that the students missed out on an important and memorable ceremony to mark this milestone in their lives. All ages were affected. The students were mostly home, and some had videos either as a live feed or prerecorded. Families tried their best to make the occassion memorable for their kids. Some schoolz had car parades for their graduates to "march" in front of their school or neighbors.

COVID-19 quickly became a political rather than a health issue. Conservatives tended to deny COVID's existence as well as the value of vaccines, quarantine and wearing masks.

This is the first mask my father gave me at the end of January 2020. We didn't think COVID-19 would be a big deal, and it was more of a precaution than anything else. When everything started shutting down, I got more masks, and lost track of this one while moving out of my college dorm. I found it in again in September of 2020, and it reminds me of just how much the world has changed. I've had two pandemic birthdays, caught COVID-19, and got my vaccines, all while trying to be a college student. Looking at this mask reminds me of how much everything has changed, and the good and bad that I've seen go along with it.

There was a backlash against wearing facemasks--mostly with the conservatively inclined people. They made all kinds of claims about that--that they forced you to breath your own toxins, that they caused cancer, that they did no good, that it wasn't the government's job to protect our health, that it was against our Constitutional rights, etc. Here are just a few of those statements. The battle over masks heated up considerably after the early stages--the time which these are from.

Here are some humorous memes about wearing facemasks. Wearing masks was something new and weird for us, so many people decided to find the humor in the situation

Wearing facemasks was very new to us and it was always strange to see people walking around with them. People offered tips, sewing patterns, and even artistic portraits with masks as a theme. As many of us felt isolated, people offered to walk by our windows and wave.

This is a set of jokes about bars during COVID which were closed for several months. There are many old jokes that start out "Three (different sorts of) people walk into a bar..." Here is a Corona version. Another one shows how people in an apartment building gather on the rooftop parking lot for cocktail hour, and the other two are jokes about when bars finally reopen.

During the initial outbreak of Coronavirus, barbers and hair salons were closed and we didn't feel safe going to them anyway. So many did some home-grown haircuts. The results, ummm, varied.

The plague of COVID-19 descended upon us in 2020. People created humorous memes and joked that this year wouldn't be the right time to unearth hidden mummies or other mysterious long buried. Who knows what might happen next? Best to avoid. Enough's enough.

During the pandemic many business had to close down because people were not allowed to go to social gatherings like restaurants.

The JFK Library and Museum closed during the shutdown and I lost the best job I ever had. I graduated Boston University without a ceremony. I spent my first year in grad school on zoom. I ended up living with my 2 adult siblings and my parents who were either working virtually or not at all. I decided that I would take the time at home to learn things that I had always intended to, mostly because I didn't want to lose my mind. I baked bread, lots of bread: challah, bagels, cinnamon rolls, babka and more. I knit a complicated sweater. I sewed masks for my friends and I played games with my family. I research and organized 7 generations of my family's pictures, documents, videos and newspaper clippings. I started growing vegetables and flowers and I watched hundreds of English Premier Soccer games. The most fun I had was hanging out with my dog. For Halloween I made he and I costumes from the movie Rear Window. I feel like I did my best to survive the Plague, I am proud of all I was able to accomplish and I have more good memories than I thought was possible. I appreciate the normal things I took for granted pre-pandemic and I look forward to the end.

Normally Chicago is one of the busiest city's in the United States, but due to the pandemic, everything was shut down and people became scared to come outside. This photo represents the emptiness that the pandemic has brought upon this typically alive city.

The Minnesota State Fair was canceled last summer due to the pandemic. These food stands are a lot of peoples primary source of income but due to the pandemic they were forced to shut down operations. As a result, they started to expand out to random parking lots throughout the twin cities. These stands are important to many people as the state fair is a tradition for so many people here in Minnesota. The fact that these stand owners figured out a way to get us the food we deserve is an example of how us Minnesotans have persevered through the pandemic.

It was the day the governor of IL announced school closures due to COVID-19

This is Tiger, the cat we adopted during the pandemic. Our only pet had been a single goldfish but since we had more time to be home, we added a kitten to our family. Tiger has provided great emotional support to us all and has become an important part of remote teaching. He sleeps on the bed behind me during Google Meets and Zoom calls.

My story is about the differences between two states; Illinois and Tennessee and their handling of the pandemic.

During quarantine we used software called Zoom. It allowed us to communicate from our homes and get some work done. It also allowed video connection. There were many goofs--people caught naked, bad hair, uncensored conversations when the mics were unknowingly on, etc. One meme shows the Jetsons which was a 1960s futuristic animated show that was very popular.

These memes humorously sum up the way 2020 went for us. We were stuck at home. Many of us baked bread and didn't get dressed for days. Our poiticians told us one thing one day and then contradicted it the next.

This article discusses Governor Andrew Cuomo's announcement that Broadway can reopen at 100% capacity starting September 14. Broadway has been shut down since March 2020. It seems like the ability to go to see a Broadway show may be dependent on whether or not a person has had a vaccine.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we celebrated my dad's birthday through a zoom call with my sisters!

Being an older adult, I qualified for vaccines before those who work. I am overwhlemed with gratitude and guilt that I am safe from COVID and others are not.

This is a lesson plan developed by Oaks Christian Curriculum Designer Tricia Hacker for the Oaks Christian Eighth Grade class. It contains 9 lessons with readings and a choice of two or three journaling prompts following each reading.

At the start of this whole pandemic i was hanging out with friends and doing all of my usual stuff. But then people i cared about caught the virus and died from it. So i have lost a lot. And the online classes is the worst thing i could ever do, because i feel like i haven't learned a single thing except for the fact that i hate online class. Due to this i think i may fail a lot of my classes which puts me way behind then where i'm supposed to be.

For the last three or so years I have been deeply interested in photography. I enjoy photographing people and cars, though during the pandemic I have had less of a chance to go out and photograph people, that’s why I thought this would be a good chance for me to get back into the hobby and share some shots I had already captured during the pandemic. These photos have meaning behind them that remind me of all the parts of my life over the last year. A primary source is any document about a subject that was created by someone who was at the event or took part in whatever the subject is. The portfolio that I created is a primary source as it documents the first hand experiences I had while in the pandemic. It has the highs and the lows, and shows an account of one person's life in the United States of America during Covid-19. My experiences in the Pandemic were very mixed. Some parts stayed the same, some better, and some worse. Before Covid I had a small group of friends that I hung out with and when all the stay at home orders began I was able to still see them sometimes, and I never went out much so I had a very similar routine. Though one thing that I lost was car meets and races. Not only did mask ordinances make meets harder to plan but Eau Claire also began cracking down on car meets more and more. It was really tough missing out on the fun cameroudery of car meets. I work at a car audio shop and one great positive of the pandemic is that because of relief checks the shop has been constantly booked for the last 6-8 months. Another positive has been going on late night adventures with my friends. We are constantly repairing something or upgrading our cars and so when we get done it is usually late and in the last year we have begun to do fun things late at night when we get done with the daily project. The first photographs I chose was a representation of the many small businesses in the area that have been closed due to rough times during the pandemic. Many great local businesses have struggled to stay open or failed even failed to do so. The photo was taken at a storage facility for signs of businesses that have closed down in the last year or two. The photographs of cars are meant to represent the many new late night adventures that me and my friends have had during the pandemic. These trips were one of the main things that helped me cope with the pandemic and hold on to normal life just a little bit. The photo of the room is of my childhood room at my parents house. During this fall at UWEC I got a call from the school informing me I had possibly come into contact with someone and I had to quarantine for two weeks. At this same time my father contracted COVID and this meant that I was confined to this one room for my two weeks of waiting. The room became my very own jail cell, after just a few days and it was very difficult for me to pay attention in school during my quarantine. It was one of the roughest my mental health has been in my life

This was an assignment in Paula Flynn's 5th grade class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. Dark but Reflections of light Sounds from across the world Later in my life is this still gonna be my dream The achieving satisfaction Sounds from across the world Sounds from across the world Sounds from across the world

This was an assignment in Paula Flynn's 5th grade class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. Universal Studios Color everywhere, and many people swarming around The sun shining on all of our faces as we wait in line The sounds of people whooping and hollering as they go on rides The smells of the giant donuts in Simpson Land. I enjoy spending the day at an awesome amusement park When will I go again? Universal Studios

This was an assignment in Paula Flynn's 5th grade class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. People hugging having a good time without a care in the world.No masks close together. Like before. A beautiful ray of sun beating down on there faces. Sharing it’s warmth with them.Casting shadows of them. The shadows black against the colorful world. I hear laughter, joy and relief, almost everyone is happy. Leaves are rustling in the wind as if dancing to a beat. Happiness, Laughter, Grateful When will this dream come true. When can we live like this again. Joy Joy Joy

Biden $4 trillion proposal

This was an assignment in Paula Flynn's 5th grade class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. I hope to see my friends again I hope to go to school in person I hope to travel around the world I hope to see relatives Why can’t it always be like this? Hope hope hope

Hugs, Laughter and Love I see my cousin running with me in the fields i don’t feel ashamed of what i am doing and neither are they The sounds of our feet crushing the grass with a smile just because we are finally together I taste the great food melting in my mouth Happiness, Joy and fun Joy, Joy, Joy

This is from an assignment in Paula Flynn's 5th grade class at Franklin Elementary School, in Santa Monica, CA. Hugs, relief, and happiness. Sunlight shining through trees at all angles. Laughter and chatter, both mushed together to create a beautiful moment. The wonderful aroma of food, once more able to be shared. Hope, joy, and love. Was the coronavirus caused for a reason?

This is from an assignment in Paula Flynn's 5th grade class at Franklin Elementary School, in Santa Monica, CA. Being at my Flight class Light from the sun in the Simulator The sound of propellers from the simulation Why can't we go back sooner Happy focus Tencasity Focus Focus Focus

I decided to put together a collage of some of the paintings/drawings I have made since Covid-19 started. Most of these were from when the pandemic first started which was when we could not leave the house at all. Under the collage I added a little comment describing the word lockdown and what it meant to me. My artwork does not specifically show things like wearing masks, the number of cases we had, or schools shutting down but the artwork signifies the thing that kept me sane while the lockdown was happening and while doing remote learning I explained in my source that the artwork was basically my escape from the real word and the horrible pandemic we were experiencing. I chose to represent my experience in this way because the lockdown, not being able to see friends and families was a huge effect from Covid-19 and it was also one of the hardest things for many people to do.