Denise MacDonald
MY COVID EXPERIENCE: Overall my life during COVID-19 has not changed as drastically as with others. Living in a more rural part of Ontario, our community has not been impacted by as many COVID-19 cases or outbreaks as other areas. I have continued to work my part-time job which is constantly switching between open to the public and curbside pick-up. Schooling has been the part of my life that has changed the most; I was an excited and nervous first-year student who was ready to get away from home, live in residence, and start "adulting" as many would call it. Instead, I got to stay at home with my family for an extra year and figure out how to adapt to online classes and assignments while yelling at my two sisters who were also home to kindly be quiet.
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OBJECT IMAGE Finn, The Little Great Dane Puppy |
OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND RELATIONSHIP TO COVID-19: This is Finn, one of the newest additions to our family. We were originally not looking for another dog in our household seeing as we already had two older dogs, however with the pandemic and everyone being home we decided that it would give us plenty of time to train him and give him the attention he needs. I chose to add this to the archive because once COVID-19 stopped the world in its tracks and people were staying home for work and school, there was a substantial increase in adoptions of both cats and dogs. While this piece of the archive is a happy emotion for me, there is also sadness as many of the animals adopted during the pandemic were then rehomed once the owners discovered how much work a new pet really takes. So while it is a happy time for many to have a new animal in their home, it is also very saddening that many people chose to buy an animal for fun while they were at home, then decided they were too much work and sent them away again, and I believe that is a very important part of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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PRIMARY SOURCE DESCRIPTION: This primary source was taken at my local Home Hardware Building Centre during Ontario's third provincial lockdown. Since this third lockdown began in early April of 2021, the tensions have been steadily building in small and more rural towns in Ontario. I selected this source because I believe it shows how after a year of constant lockdowns and only hearing about the most recent rise or decrease in cases, the world's patience has run out. While this is just a mere example of a small town in midwestern Ontario, it is just proof that people have thrown caution to the wind and just want to get back to the things they haven't been able to do in the past year. I think this source and information can help future historians understand how after only a year of the pandemic, the world felt the need to get back to their regular routine with no more speed bumps in the way. I think it will be a very interesting contrast to previous plagues and pandemics when looking at how many cases and deaths there were, as well as how fast the country and/or world recovered from it. |
PRIMARY SOURCE Home Hardware Wants Ontario Open |
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NEWSPAPER HEADLINE COVID-19 Impacts Mental Health In All Ages |
PERSONAL REACTION TO THIS HEADLINE: To me, this headline brings both sadness and fear to mind. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has suffered in some sort of way. Whether it was not being able to talk to or hang out with friends, losing a job, or having to adjust to a completely new system in a very short amount of time, it has been an incredibly stressful year for pretty much everyone. This sudden and prolonged stress would cause significant damage to everyone's mental health, but it undoubtedly has had a much larger impact on the mental health of teachers, parents, and teenagers. Over the course of the past year, students and teachers have had to switch to online and then back to in-class learning numerous times. The constant changes and readapting have caused a massive strain and stress on everyone, it is not shocking that there has been a drastic rise in mental health issues and disorders. |
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Vaccination Progress |
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VISUALIZING COVID-19 |
COVID Q&A
Describe the moment you realized how serious COVID-19 was: The moment I realized that COVID-19 was serious was after the extra two weeks of March break, my younger sister was told she would not be returning to in-person classes and likely would not be going back until September. That was the beginning of the first lockdown in Ontario and would last for nearly three months from March until June. This feeling was only increased with the discovery of new mutations and variants that were only getting worse and worse and were become more resistant to the found treatments.
What did you learn about yourself or the people you live with during COVID-19? I think one thing that I learned about myself during COVID-19 was that I should try and get back to doing some of the activities that I have always loved doing but have been too busy to do due to work, school, and other obligations. The pandemic was almost a blessing in disguise as it seemed to slow down the everyday rush of life and gave everyone a chance to take a break from their everyday routines and spend a little bit more time with their family and take up new hobbies or even old ones during their time at home.
Other than wearing a mask, what was the biggest change you made to your daily life? Do you think this change will remain when all lockdowns are lifted? The biggest change made to my daily life during the pandemic would be continuously washing my hands, especially after I am out shopping or getting home from work. While it's mostly because of the germs and trying to be precautious about the virus, it is also due to the gross sticky feeling left on your hands from the continuous use of hand sanitizer.
Have you learned any new skills during the pandemic? A new skill I have learned during the pandemic would be gardening. I decided that I wanted to try some new things and gardening seemed like a fun idea, so this year's crop consists of mostly peas, tomatoes, and peppers, very common and likely the easiest to grow. I have also become better at setting up and fixing issues on computers, not only for myself but also for family members and at work; it has become a much-needed skill set within the last year and a half.
How do you feel about university education in the last year? University education in the last year was tolerable but was not an ideal situation for an education that costs so much to partake in. Online courses were fine, and the assignments were altered to fit the new form of education, however, it seemed that many courses gave additional assignments than they would have when classes were in-person, and it made time management and taking time for mental health nearly impossible.
List one positive thing and one negative thing you'll take away from 2020: One positive thing that I can take away from 2020 was my Covid-puppy Finn, being the size of a small pony now, he was and has continued to be a little bit of light at the end of what seems like a dark, neverending tunnel; he has been a good reminder to smile and laugh in such a hard time. One negative thing I'll take away from the year 2020 would be the feeling of dread that there are so many ignorant people in the world who are so selfish that they will willingly put others in harm's way, whether it be by ignoring safety precautions and spreading COVID-19, or by using race as a way to "justify" their hurtful actions against other people.
What is the best movie or TV show you've watched, or the best book you've read, in the past 18 months? The best TV show that I have watched during the pandemic would be "Tiger King" on Netflix. I decided to watch it because it was incredibly popular at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, and it is honestly one of the most bizarre documentaries I have ever seen. Incredibly, the events of the documentary are actually still being investigated today and updates will still show up in the news once in a while.
How large of an impact do you think COVID-19 has had on your mental health? Between not being able to talk to or do things with my friends in person, and school all being online with very little chance of making any real friends with classmates, it has been pretty lonely and I would definitely say that my mental health has suffered during the pandemic. While being able to chat and text over the phone is an acceptable alternative, in-person conversations and interactions are still far more fulfilling and are much more personal than reading words on a screen. Working through the pandemic has also taken a large toll on my mental health simply with the added stress of constantly not knowing what is happening or what is going to change next, as well as dealing with frustrated customers who while stressed and upset, take out their anger on the workers, who are stressed and upset themselves but cannot react as to not escalate the situation or upset the customer further.
How has technology impacted your life during lockdown? Technology has become a very large part of nearly every aspect of my life due to the pandemic. With school being all online I have learned how to use many different programs such as Respondus, Microsoft Excel, and other necessary programs in order to complete assignments and tests. At work, with the lockdowns and the pet store at which I work having to turn to curbside pickup, I have had to rely on mostly fulfilling online orders and making sure everyone who needs to be has been contacted either by phone or email. Overall, in the past year, most of my time has been spent in front of a screen of some sort and while it has not done any damage at the time, I think it will be interesting what sort of damage the blue light from the screen has done on many students eyes over time.
How has the pandemic brought wider acknowledgement to systemic racism in Canada? I believe that the pandemic has brought more awareness to systemic racism in Canada due to everyone's increase in the use of social media and the incredibly close following of the news. With many people stuck at home whether for schooling, work, or lack of anywhere else to go, many people spent much more of their time online and on social media. This increased use of websites such as TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram, became a much larger platform for bringing more awareness and showing the raw proof that racism is still present in today's society and brought about inspiration to change.
In what ways do you envision society changing due to the pandemic? I think some ways society will change due to the pandemic would be making more time to spend with their family and making sure they are keeping in contact with them when they cannot over Facetime, Zoom, or Skype. I think something else that won't change after the pandemic would be the use of masks and hand sanitizers. While many people dislike them or find them a nuisance, some people have become quite used to using them and they have actually proven to help decrease the cases of the common cold or even the flu just in the past year. I think society has realized that our previous ways were actually pretty gross, for example when stores weren't wiping down shopping carts or debit/credit machines after every use and people were crowded into stores like a can of sardines.
Now that you are done with both the course and your additions to the archive, is there anything you'd like to reflect on? Overall this course and archive brought a very interesting perspective not only on how COVID-19 impacted the world, but also how other pandemics and plagues impacted the world too. It was interesting to investigate and talk about the different aspects of the pandemic such as different objects and their meanings, how pandemics impact sports and economies, and many other aspects one would typically never think about connecting to a pandemic. This course and archive have been an incredible opportunity to learn about history while it is actually still happening, as well as actually making history too, and it has been a great experience.
Gallery
Other archival items connected to my experience of COVID-19. Click on any image to enlarge.
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| Covid Protocol Vandals | Family Day Fun | Drive-In Theatre Hopes to Reopen | Getting Back To Nature |