COVID-19 Pandemic

I came across a number of questions circulated among NYC women leaders that made me reflect on my pandemic experiences as well. Even though I don't live in New York I thought that it would be an interesting exercise to complete and share. If you find this useful, you can also answer and kick this to your networks. Hopefully, this will help us process the collective trauma of the pandemic better. So, here are the questions and my answers:

1. Where were you in March 2020? Is there a moment that stands out in your memory?

I teach in a small liberal arts residential college in rural Pennsylvania. In Spring 2020, I was teaching a course in International Public Relations and we started to follow the pandemic spread as early as in January. A part of the course was studying the WHO campaign for smallpox eradication in 1950-80s, so it was a good exercise to compare the Covid-19 and smallpox epidemics and how they were handled in terms of information.

The moment that stands out is March 13, when Gov.Wolf ordered all Pennsylvania schools closed starting March 16, initially for 10 days. We just finished the first week after the spring break and were hoping that since we were so deep in the rural area, we would be able to stay teaching in person. However, during the week of spring break we as instructors all went through intensive training in Zoom and MS Teams so that we could continue teaching in the remote mode. When we followed the school closure order, we sincerely hoped it would be only for 10 days and we'd be back in the classroom soon. If only we knew...

Another moment that stood out was me hosting two international students from Korea who were ordered to go home as our campus closed. We had to organize their flights to Seoul in a hurry, and I drove them to the empty Pittsburgh international airport on March 19. They both cried, scared and not wanting to go back to their country that was being ravaged by the virus. Once they landed in Korea, they told me over Zoom about their quarantine measures and lockdown life. We managed to have them finish their courses remotely, despite the 12-hour time difference and many other mishaps, including learning how to use the new technologies for learning.

2. What about the early days of lockdown do you remember most? 

The sense of hope that it will all end soon. In the first couple of weeks, it seemed so surreal and unreal, like in a dystopian novel. However, as the first deaths in Pennsylvania were recorded and the stay-at-home orders issued for counties on a rolling basis, the pandemic became more and more real and the sense of dread ousted all hopes that it would end any time soon. The worst moment was when the first 3 deaths were reported in a retirement home in our county, which made it very real and close to us.

3. Were you with or separated from your family?

My family in the US is just me and my son who was graduating high school in 2020. Watching him deal with the pandemic that robbed him of all the rituals and experiences of the graduating year starting with playing spring sports and ending with the prom and the graduation ceremony that had to be done by driving through was a sad and sobering experience in itself.

4. How did you adapt to the lockdown? Was there any silver lining?

Living in the rural area gave us certain advantages: Shopping was not as big of a chore as in cities, grocery stores adapted to the social distancing norms quickly. It felt almost normal, but everyone wore a mask. I also was able to go on my daily walks in the local park, where the nature itself seemed to be enjoying the absence of humans and burst out in unusual growth. Deer, squirrels, and rabbits seemed to have lost the fear of humans and became kings of the landscape again.

The worst part for me personally was teaching online "live" (synchronously in our professional language). I was determined to have the learning experience for my students as seamless as possible, so I taught all four of my courses in front of the computer each day. I remember how incredibly draining it was, I couldn't do anything for the rest of the day so I resurrected my old skill of knitting to unwind my brain from the mental activity overload. You can find a couple of stories about my knitting and natural yarns that I became an expert in here as well. That was the silver lining, as well as spending more time with my son who was stuck with me, whining about missing his friends and sports. We cooked together and watched movies and TV shows.

Another skill I picked up in summer 2020 while on the break from teaching was furniture restoration and refinishing. Giving the second life to pieces made from real wood decades or sometimes a century ago was incredibly satisfying.

5. Has the Covid era affected your work or professional aspirations?

It has given me confidence that I can teach online, both synchronously (live) and asynchronously. I still believe that in-person teaching is much more effective and was happy to return to it as soon as it was possible, but now I know I can adapt to teaching in any learning environment.

6. Do you have any family experiences to share?

My son and I are big movie buffs. Before the pandemic, we went to the movies every weekend as I believe this is a great shared experience for us to bond with, create memories, and talk about. For us, it is second only to travel. The lockdown deprived us of both things. Watching the movies at home is not the same as on the big screen, and we went back to the movie theaters right after they started to reopen, even when most people were still afraid to do so. There were many movies in our local theater that were watched just by the two of us.

We also had a memorable trip to the Niagara Falls at the end of May 2020, when the New York state eased the lockdown restrictions. Seeing the Falls with only a few visitors was surreal and completely different to our previous trips, when people were lining up for everything, starting with parking and ending with hiking.

7. How have we changed as a society – what stands out for you?

We certainly have learned how to do more things and activities online and remotely. I always tell my students, "Any time your future employer tells you to be in the office as something cannot be done remotely, remind them that we did it for almost two years."

I also believe that the individual isolation and atomization added to deeper polarization of society as people had more time to sit in front of their computers and go into the rabbit holes of their ideological information bubbles. And of course we have yet to see how the lockdown effects on children who had to be schooled remotely will translate into their experiences as adults. Teaching in college, we are already seeing that the high school students who are now college students lack in their skills of interpersonal communication and simple things like spending quality time with each other, but it will be interesting to see if those who were in the elementary and middle school during the pandemic will be able to outgrow and heal from this collective trauma.

8. What are some of the changes you have made that stick to this day?

Starting the day with a glass of water spruced up with the juice of 1/8 fresh lemon and a teaspoon of honey and ending the day with a small piece of fine dark chocolate.

9. What will you remember most about these years?

The sense of dread and uncertainty, and we probably need to distance ourselves from the experience to truly comprehend all the repercussions of the lockdown and the global disruption it caused. On the flip side, I will remember warmly the skills and experiences I acquired and the ability to practice deep self-reflection.

10. How do you feel about “going back to normal” – do you feel or sense a resistance to it?

Excited. I am happy to be able to travel again and can't wait to visit my mother and sister this summer, whom I haven't seen in person since 2019.

11. How do you feel about NYC?

It's still my favorite city in the whole world, and I've been to many (over 120 in 36 countries, at the last count). The first city my son and I went to when the lockdown restrictions were eased was NYC. It has a special place in my heart.

If you liked this exercise, please reflect on your own pandemic experience and share the questions with others.