COVID-19

Introduction

Whether we find ourselves scavenging through our local grocery stores while masked, or cancelling group plans for the foreseeable future, the COVID-19 crisis has affected everyone in some shape or form. With the uncertainties of each day lingering into the next, I thought it would be very important to document this unsettling time. This autoethnography will describe the events of the COVID-19 global pandemic of 2020, a time that will be historically remembered by the lethal virus which not only has killed over 300 thousand people worldwide, but also has significantly damaged global economics. My autoethnography will specifically describe the effects the COVID-19 pandemic can have on a family, my family to be exact. This paper is primarily driven by my own experiences during COVID-19. From having to transition from the best moments of my life in college to being stuck at home, this pandemic has definitely had a negative effect on my life. The perspectives of my family members during this time will also provide insight into more harrowing challenges they’ve had to face over the past few months. While most of this piece will discuss the primary research conducted through my family and myself, I’d also like to address how my community has been affected by the pandemic. I think it’s very important to include information of how my community is doing during this time, as my surroundings are an essential piece to my story. Throughout my autoethnography, I will seek the answer these three driving questions: 

How has COVID-19 affected my life so far?

How has COVID-19 affected the lives in my household? 

How has COVID-19 affected the lives of those in my community? 

Methodology

For the primary research portion of my autoethnography, I will be telling my own story of my life before and during the COVID-19 crisis. I have also conducted three separate interviews that encompass three very unique perspectives of my family members. The primary research will show how the pandemic can affect a single family in many different ways. My secondary research conducted for this autoethnography consists of online research, primarily through statistics, and timelines that represent COVID-19 in Oregon, specifically the areas around me. I’ve also gone out into the city to take pictures to get a visual representation of how the pandemic has affected the city of Portland. 

Primary Research

My Perspective

Act I: Before Quarantine

My first semester at college was tough. Struggling through my first year biology student courses, I wasn’t enjoying my life at school. Most of my time was spent stressing out over every assignment and barely grazing by with mediocre grades. With my workload increasing dramatically for the second semester, I was honestly really scared. I dropped all of my biology classes and applied to Dodge for film, meaning I needed to raise my GPA for their requirements. Through a lessened workload, I was already feeling much better about college. I was able to be more social, going to my first college parties in the middle of second semester. My friends and I went viral on Tik Tok, and we were always excited to keep making videos together. I started my modeling career with the help of my friend, Jaden. It felt like the stars were aligning and I was finally in the right place. Then, things got weird. Suspicions of the Coronavirus became more prevalent everyday. Yet, my friends and I were pretty unfazed. We thought school would get cancelled and we’d still be able to skate and party. Even on the infamous day where everyone at Chapman got the email saying school would be going online for the next eight weeks, we celebrated. To us, no more going to class meant more time to do fun stuff. Chapman later emailed us saying to go home immediately if possible. This is where the story gets messed up. 

Act II: The Transition 

After the news broke that Chapman was going to continue school online, there was a very strange feeling all around campus. If I could describe it, I would say it was deep sentimental uncertainty. Everyone greeted each other with questions, unknowing what the situation was and whether or not this would be the last time we’d see each other. Although this period was hectic and often sad, I kind of enjoyed how everyone treated each other. It was a real sense of community. Every meal at the Caf and every skate session lasted longer than normal. We’d just sit, talk and hug afterwards; it felt meaningful. I spent lots of time just sitting in my dorm room with my roommate Owen, laughing about all of the messed up moments we shared together. We were all just trying to get some sense of closure, even though the situation wasn’t really allowing it. We celebrated the final nights together, then one by one, everyone began to go home. The day I left Chapman was surreal. My best friends still at school all spent the day helping me pack up my things. We took pictures in my room, documenting the last moments I’ll ever have in North Morlan 260.

I gave Owen one last hug, and hugged all of my other friends who were crying at this point. My best friend Amber drove me to the airport and we listened to all of the songs that reminded us of the good times we spent together over the semester. Saying goodbye to her was the hardest. In the blink of an eye, I was on the plane going home, wiping down everything with disinfectant wipes, unable to process what just happened. It felt like the best time of my life was wiped away in a couple of emails. 

Act III: Quarantine 

The next few weeks were dull. I was stressed out because all of my stuff was still in my dorm room, but my uncle who lives in Yorba Linda was able to move everything out for me in a single afternoon. I was happy to be home since I’m a little bit of a homebody. Sleeping in my own bed felt amazing at first, but I couldn’t help but think of all of my friends still in Orange. I couldn’t help to be sad about what just happened. I immediately felt an immense stress about finishing the semester at home and online. I was left with nothing but memories of better days. For the past couple months, I’ve been spending the majority of my time in the confines of my room. Although I could easily sleep in everyday, I try a decent amount to stay productive by learning how to cook and deliberate binge-watching. With more free time on my hands, I’ve been able to work out nearly everyday with my dad, which is the only thing keeping me motivated. Being at home and having to take online classes is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to accomplish, not due to the difficulty of my classes, but because it’s very hard to stay motivated for school. This is something that’s taken a toll on my mental health due to the fact that I need to maintain a good GPA to be in a safe position for my Dodge application. Going online has prevented me from ever feeling like I’m doing as best as I could in any of my classes.  

In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic has definitely affected my life in a negative way, yet I am so lucky to be in the position I am today. At times, things can look very bleak and I may be so confused about my life, but then I realize that everyone is feeling that way. COVID-19 has allowed me to spend some quality moments with my family that I’ll cherish forever. I’m lucky to be able to be here and be conducting this autoethnography in good health, while my family and friends are also in good health. Personally, the pandemic has had its effects, but it’s not something I can’t handle. I’m trying my best to stay optimistic through it all. 

Rain:

My youngest sister, Rain, is currently finishing up her senior year at the University of Oregon. Although she’s graduating this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented her from being able to finish her college career in person. Rain was forced to move home from her apartment in Eugene early due to the campus closure. It’s been rough transitioning from in person to online classes, as all of her classes were intended to be taken in person. The school has yet to release a statement about having a graduation either in person or online. She said that after four years of grinding in school, it sucks that she doesn’t get a proper ending. 

Rain’s had the same roommates since she was a freshman. When news broke that everyone had to return home, she was the last one to leave their apartment. Rain said that one day she woke up to an empty house. Everyone had moved out, she was scared and lonely, and it was overall a cold ending to her college experience with her roommates. Their plans of going to Las Vegas and Coachella during the semester were cancelled due to the pandemic. Rain is particularly sad about missing those shared moments with her best friends. 

It’s hard to always know what you’re doing after college, but it’s even harder to know what to do during a global pandemic. Rain has an added layer of stress because she originally intended to take time after school to figure out what she wanted. She said she’s trying not to be so hard on herself because things are scary enough right now. 

Ultimately, Rain said that quarantining has taken a toll on her life. She misses being around her friends and her routine to keep her in check. Since COVID-19 ruined so many of her future plans, she feels her mental health is all over the place. 

Brooke: 

My oldest sister Brooke is currently seven months pregnant with her first child. Before COVID-19, her life was on a promising path. She was up for a big promotion at work and in her second trimester of her pregnancy. She was planning for the future while enjoying life in San Francisco. 

In terms of her pregnancy, COVID-19 stripped away a lot of the excitement and normalcy of having a baby. Her doctor’s appointments were scheduled by necessity and conducted over the phone. Due to restrictions, her future visits are limited to only her entering the building. On the day of the gender reveal, Brooke went through the process alone, having to share the news with her boyfriend, Key, waiting in the car. She’ll be very limited to the amount of people accompanying her during her delivery, and she has to be extremely cautious of the people around the baby after she’s born. She is mainly saddened about how she’s unsure of when her baby can meet family members and whether or not she can have a baby shower. 

Having a baby while living in San Francisco is ridiculously expensive. COVID-19 forced all Paper Source stores nationwide to temporarily shut down. Brooke was one of sixteen managers that was able to stay but on reduced pay. Key was unable to keep his job at the hotel. While worrying about the financial stability during Brooke’s pregnancy, they had to move home to save money months before they planned to. Brooke’s work is conducted in a completely restricted way with less pay, Key is looking for work, all during a pregnancy that requires a lot of money.

Overall, Brooke is great at staying positive. She said that she feels good mentally and physically, but wishes she just had a week to decompress. 

Dad:

My father is the primary source of income for the family. As an orthodontist of twenty years, this is the only period of time where my father has had a prolonged time not working; he hasn’t gone in to work since March. He’s been using his “sick bank” time, as well as his vacation days that he’s built up over the years to maintain income while their office has been closed for months.

His main concerns during this pandemic are about his staff and his patients. The majority of the staff at his office are on furlough unemployment with hopes of coming back to work. He worries about his patients who are worried about their teeth, people who are due to get their braces taken off or their invisalign completed. The longer applications stay on teeth, the harder it is to stay healthy. 

My father has to work in an entirely different way when he returns. He’s only allowed to work one day of the week where he sees around 15 patients a day instead of his normal 80 patients. Appointments are spaced out, he’s wearing more personalized protective equipment, and he’s without the majority of his staff. Work is going to be slow, meaning he’s not getting paid as much due to being paid on production. They’re staying away from aerosol equipment, and over-sanitizing the entire office. 

This time has made my dad think about not only his future, but the future of dentistry and orthodontics. Because of the economic problems and the fact that orthodontics is an elective service, less people are going to spend on dental work. 

Overall, my dad’s been enjoying his time away from work. He’s wanting to retire soon, so this was just a taste of what retirement is like. Throughout the pandemic, he’s been staying positive, but the change in lifestyles wasn’t ideal.  

Interview Analysis

Before interviewing two of my sisters and my father, I had a basic understanding of their situations. I knew their lives were more affected by the virus than anyone else in my family, but I was unaware of the specifics of the problems they were dealing with. By learning more about their stories, I was able to further grasp their feelings through this tough time. The interviews made me greatly appreciative because it made me realize that these people in my family are going through things that I was unaware of, yet they never show it. Everyday, everyone is trying to be as normal and optimistic as possible even when things aren’t looking to be in their favor. I’m very grateful to be surrounded by such a loving family and I’m thankful they were so open and helpful to lending their stories to my autoethnography. 

Secondary Research

Portland, Oregon is home to 664,103 people, and it’s where I like to call home, with Beaverton being a mere ten minute drive from downtown. Typically, the city of Portland is extremely lively, with streets filled with local businesses, coffeehouses and food trucks. Due to the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, the areas around me have changed drastically. The statistics as of today state that there’s over 3,623 confirmed cases and 137 deaths in the state of Oregon. 2,431 of those cases were found in Multnomah, Washington, and Marion County. I live in Washington County, and I’m surrounded by Multnomah and Marion, therefore I’m in the most prominent region for the COVID-19 virus in Oregon. Although the numbers may seem daunting, Oregon is actually in the lower half of states for COVID-19 cases, and I accredit that to how well Oregonians are social distancing. Oregon has abided by the rules of a statewide school closure. By April 8th, every school in Oregon finished their year online or terminated completely. Oregon’s economy has also been heavily affected. Since March 23rd, our governor Kate Brown has issued a state-wide stay at home order, which only allows essential businesses to stay open. Throughout this time, most local businesses have been either forced to conduct their business in a way where safety precautions are applied extremely to lower the curve of transmissions, or temporarily stop business altogether. This pandemic has also caused job losses for a great mass of Oregonians; as of today, well over 300,000 people have claimed unemployment in the state. Another way that COVID-19 has altered the lives of Oregonians, specifically in the Portland area is the cancellation of the NBA season. A Portland staple, and one thing that really brings the community together is the camaraderie of TrailBlazer games. Because of COVID-19, the NBA took precautions and cancelled the rest of the season, a season in which the Blazers were fighting for a playoff spot, something my friends and I were greatly looking forward to.

I went to the city with Brian to take pictures and see if I could visually document the effects COVID-19 had on the city. It was surreal to see the streets of a normally booming city practically empty. 

This picture shows a “Street Closed” sign in front of the Moda Center, where the Blazers would be playing if not for the pandemic.

Portland’s famous Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall sign next to an empty street and sidewalk. 

COVID Graffiti

COVID-19 has obviously had an effect on Portland, as if all of the people, sounds and sights that gave the city life had vanished. 

Conclusion

By conducting this autoethnography, I’ve gained a deeper sense of appreciation for my family, friends, and community. I’ve gotten emotional thinking about the memories that I’ve had and cherished before quarantine, and I hold them closer to myself today. I wrote this project from a place of great privilege. My family and I are healthy and able. While I talked about our struggles, these struggles don’t compare to the hundreds of thousands that are losing loved ones to this virus. It’s made me more self-aware and grateful for my life, and I’m praying for a better tomorrow for everyone. 

Works Cited

Coronavirus (COVID-19). (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://news.google.com/covid19/map?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

COVID-19 Related Business Layoffs, Closures, and Unemployment Insurance Benefits.

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://govstatus.egov.com/ORUnemployment_COVID19

Pappas, S. (2020, May 15). Oregon: Latest updates on COVID-19. Retrieved from

https://www.livescience.com/oregon-coronavirus-updates.html

Portland, Oregon Population 2020. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/portland-population/

Staff, A. K. G. W. (2020, May 17). Oregon coronavirus updates May 17: No new deaths reported

for third straight day. Retrieved from

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-covid-19-real-time-updates-oregon-sw-washington-may-17/283-46d82eff-906f-4c87-aae5-c6ccf301ca9e

The New York Times. (2020, April 1). Oregon Coronavirus Map and Case Count. Retrieved

from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/oregon-coronavirus-cases.html