Project #3 – Emily's Site

draft 1

Often people forget how easily normal, everyday lives can be taken for granted. People easily get bored with the same routine every day- the same job, the same classes, the same people. When disaster strikes, it’s the “boring” everyday life that people strive for again. This year, the disaster that disrupted the lives of nearly everyone was the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus that originated in China. Many Americans, including myself, dismissed the threat of this virus until it was almost too late. The effects of the coronavirus are similar to those of the 1918 flu pandemic. Millions of people were falling ill all over the world, everything was starting to shut down, supplies were diminishing, and economies were in danger of crashing. Furthermore, there was no definitive cure for the virus so protection against it consisted of social distancing and a diminishing supply of disinfectant or face masks. Luckily, I am fortunate enough to live in an area where my community can work together to combat this pandemic and keep it from spreading. Through these hard times, I learned a great deal about not only my community, but myself and my friends and family.

First, I learned how easily it is to ignore a problem when it does not affect you. I saw this when the spread of the coronavirus started to worsen and we were all still at school. Many of us subconsciously ignored the news of COVID-19, thinking it would not affect us. When we were in school, we had nothing to worry about other than academics and our friends so we were blinded to the effects of the spreading virus. For instance, we did not need to shop for food so we did not witness the quick depletion of food and other supplies from stores. Furthermore, very few of us were working off campus so no one was aware of the severe decline in employment when businesses started closing. Before the pandemic, I never noticed how living on campus secludes us from much of what is happening in the world outside of school.

draft 2

When I came home I saw, firsthand, the strain that the pandemic put on my community and families all over the country. For example, I saw how preventative measures caused friends and families to stay apart to risk being exposed to the virus. Students were sent home from school, hundreds of miles from their friends and even those who lived in the same towns had to remain separated. Even some family members had to stay distanced to prevent any further spreading of COVID-19. One of my classmates, Ashley, saw this in her own family when she was no longer allowed to visit her grandmother because they could not risk her getting sick, so her grandmother was stuck home. In her narrative, Ashley writes “This pandemic has made me realize how important it is to make sure your family members are okay and have what they may need. If my grandma needs anything, my dad makes sure that he’s the one to go buy it and not risk her going into a store and becoming infected.” Even just a small gesture like going to the grocery store for your family members could save someone’s life during times like this. Ashley’s dad caring for his mother shows how important our family members are and how important it is to protect them. Furthermore, Ashley cannot see her mom either because she works at the hospital and cares for the sick patients who may have the virus. While her mother does her part to keep the community healthy, it is everyone else’s job to remain home and prevent the spread of coronavirus. While it is hard to keep ourselves separated from the people closest to us, it is important to stay healthy. I think the coronavirus pandemic has made people realize how important their health is, and the health of others.

draft 3

Many families had to deal with the loss of a job, as many businesses were forced to close to enforce the preventative measures against the coronavirus. The reduced income makes it difficult for families to make payments and buy groceries and supplies, and these families are forced to rely on unemployment checks. Those that do continue to work are putting their health at risk every time they go to work, such as people in the health profession. My mother and father work in the healthcare industry and they both are exposed to potential cases nearly every day, which puts them and myself at risk. Another classmate, Danielle, describes similar experiences in her family as her sister, Caitlin, works in COVID-19 unit. She has to deal with changing protocols and a diminishing supply of medical resources. When describing Caitlin’s situation, Danielle says “The only protection between her and the sick patient is a mask that may or may not prevent the virus from infecting her. During one of her shifts, she grabbed a mask to see a patient and when she turned around, the box of masks were gone because someone stole it. Caitlin is genuinely scared to go to work because she is directly interacting with those who tested positive for COVID-19.” The people who continue to work during this time do not know if or when they could be infected and must rely on a shrinking supply of personal protective equipment. These people are putting others’ needs before their own and during this time we can see how many people are really willing to help others.

draft 4

When I came home I saw, firsthand, the strain that the pandemic put on my community and families all over the country. For example, I saw how preventative measures caused friends and families to stay apart to risk being exposed to the virus. Students were sent home from school, hundreds of miles from their friends and even those who lived in the same towns had to remain separated. Even some family members had to stay distanced to prevent any further spreading of COVID-19. One of my classmates, Ashley, saw this in her own family when she was no longer allowed to visit her grandmother because they could not risk her getting sick, so her grandmother was stuck home. In her narrative What I’m Learning, Ashley writes “This pandemic has made me realize how important it is to make sure your family members are okay and have what they may need. If my grandma needs anything, my dad makes sure that he’s the one to go buy it and not risk her going into a store and becoming infected” (). Even just a small gesture like going to the grocery store for your family members could save someone’s life during times like this. Ashley’s dad caring for his mother shows how important our family members are and how important it is to protect them. Furthermore, Ashley cannot see her mom either because she works at the hospital and cares for the sick patients who may have the virus. While her mother does her part to keep the community healthy, it is everyone else’s job to remain home and prevent the spread of coronavirus. While it is hard to keep ourselves separated from the people closest to us, it is important to stay healthy. I think the coronavirus pandemic has made people realize how important their health is, and the health of others.

Many families had to deal with the loss of a job, as many businesses were forced to close to enforce the preventative measures against the coronavirus. The reduced income makes it difficult for families to make payments and buy groceries and supplies, and these families are forced to rely on unemployment checks. Those that do continue to work are putting their health at risk every time they go to work, such as people in the health profession. My mother and father work in the healthcare industry and they both are exposed to potential cases nearly every day, which puts them and myself at risk. Another classmate, Danielle, describes similar experiences in her narrative What I’m Learning. Her sister, Caitlin, works in the COVID-19 unit. She has to deal with changing protocols and a diminishing supply of medical resources. When describing Caitlin’s situation, Danielle says “The only protection between her and the sick patient is a mask that may or may not prevent the virus from infecting her. During one of her shifts, she grabbed a mask to see a patient and when she turned around, the box of masks were gone because someone stole it. Caitlin is genuinely scared to go to work because she is directly interacting with those who tested positive for COVID-19” (). The people who continue to work during this time do not know if or when they could be infected and must rely on a shrinking supply of personal protective equipment. These people are putting others’ needs before their own to help those who have fallen ill to the pandemic. During this time we can see how many people are really willing to help others for the greater good.

Many people that could not work still continue to help others to the best of their ability. Just staying home and away from others helps prevent the spread of the virus. Some people go beyond this and continue to help those in need outside of their jobs in any way that they can. Danielle’s mom, for example, cannot work during the outbreak because she is immunocompromised. Instead, she helps her community by making masks for people who need them, and they were not provided with them. Her mother saw how medical supplies were diminishing and knew she could help. Danielle explained “another reason why she decided to make these was to help decrease the amount of fear in people. There are so many people that are scared to go out of their house and worried that they will get so sick that they might die” (). With these masks, people feel much safer to leave their house and be around other people if necessary. People like Danielle’s mother who contribute as much as they can to a struggling community help decrease the amount of fear in our community.

Nurses today show a parallel to nurses during the flu outbreak in 1918. In Vanessa Short Bull’s narrative, Sadie Afraid of His Horses- Janis, she tells about her great-grandmother who, as a young girl, saved her family from dying from the flu. She recalls that the family was on a trip when some family members fell ill, which forced them to stop traveling. Her great-grandmother, Nancy, put the sick in different tents to keep them seperate and ensured that no one would be sharing any of the same supplies. She also treated each sick person with tea and some natural remedies she mixed. Nancy continued to treat everyone, knowing she may become ill, until everyone was healthy again. Vanessa recalls “In her desperation, my great–grandmother, Nancy, had applied the principles of quarantine, prevented cross–contamination, provided hydration and inhalation therapy, and used pharmacology to save her family. To this day, my grandmother Sadie has a medicine bag with flat cedar, sweet grass, bitter–root, and green tea” (). In other words, Nancy put her family’s health before her own in a selfless attempt to save them from the flu. This parallels nurses of today’s pandemic because they also continue to treat the ill tirelessly, knowing they could easily catch the same virus. The bravery that these people- like Danielle’s sister, Nancy, and more- have allowed us to trust that someone will have our backs when disaster strikes. I would argue that disaster can bring out the best in people that are willing to help.

Through these hard times, we can take comfort in knowing that we are not going through them alone. From this experience so far, I have learned of the willingness of people to help those in need, and the resiliency of the human spirit. We are lucky to have the heroes in our community who may be overlooked on normal days. I have also witnessed the cooperation and pride in the community that my town has. The supportive people and community will help us pull through such trying times. After this crisis, it is important to remember how lucky we are. Through this, hopefully people will remember the boredom of not going to school or work, and the loneliness of isolation. May people remember how important the health of ourselves and others is, and the fear of not having enough medical supplies or food. Hopefully people will remember not to take things in life for granted, because there are people who must live like this when there is no health crisis. We are all so fortunate to have the normal lives that we do, and may people continue these acts of kindness and sense of community through times of crisis.

Final Draft!!!!

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