Junior Year Writing, NatSci 387, Lecture 4, Group 3:
Brenna Tomaino (Animal Sciences), Rachel Blasko (Animal Sciences), Cory Rebello (Natural Resource Conservation), Tina Cardone (Earth Systems /Geology)
FINAL VIDEO TRANSCRIPT (April 27, 2020)
Intro:
Hello, my name is Brenna and I am a junior Animal Science major.
My name is Rachel and I am a junior Pre-vet major.
Cory, I’m a senior Natural Resource Conservation.
And I am Tina, a senior Earth Systems major on the Pre-Med track.
We each are going to describe lessons and advice we have learned from this global crisis that are worth taking into consideration. We each have our own individual stories to tell. These are ways we can adjust to a new normal and prepare for the future.
Brenna
This entire experience with Covid-19 has made me reflect a lot on the way I carry out my day to day life. All of a sudden my world was changed from a scheduled day to a completely unscheduled day every day. Even my work days have changed. I work at a doggy daycare and a veterinary ER. Doggy daycare is not even opened at the moment, and the other one has changed immensely. At the ER, we are required to wear a mask and gloves at all times and the clients cannot come into the building; we come to them. My home life and routine has also changed. I have been walking or running outside every day. It is a very simple task, but being outside and exercising has helped me keep a schedule in these unstructured times. I never really focused on walking or running before. I have found that in quarantine there is not much to do other than this. I have spent a lot of my days working out or going on a run outside just to keep myself busy. You can still exercise together with friends during this time of social distancing as well. Goldman’s Article Just Keep Moving and Sometimes Double Your Distance, says that they do not know of any “documented transmission of COVID-19 through a baseball, basketball, football or frisbee game, although… it’s theoretically possible” (Goldman 2020). So it could be safe to play a game of catch or frisbee with your friends while maintaining a proper social distance of at least 6 feet. I know that I have been missing my friends in quarantine and this is a way to stay active and happy while seeing my friends. I would tell my past self to not take the time I have with my friends for granted.
Question: What have you done to set a schedule during quarantine?
Discussion:
Rachel: I definitely believe maintaining a schedule and some physical activity is important. I make sure to wake up and go to sleep at the same time and stretch or do yoga everyday. We might as well utilize our extra time to keep in shape!
Tina: I have also been trying my hardest to wake up and go to bed at the same time every day. Some days are more successful than others, of course, but the intention is there. I have also been making sure that I am working out for at least 30 minutes a day, whether it be strength training, running, or just getting outside. I think it is really important to stay active, especially since we are stuck at home.
Cory: Yeah, I have mostly kept an alarm to wake up at about the same time. That will keep some semblance of a routine in place. At large it has been a bit of a mess as far as a routine goes.
Rachel
So, I have learned a few things to help us stay healthy and prepared for a future pandemic from living through this one. Regarding health, I stocked up on natural antivirals such as oregano, basil, green tea, garlic, rosemary, and many other types of teas. In the article What Are Antiviral Herbs?, the author discusses the usage of herbs and how they work (Foret 2020). I drink tea everyday, sometimes more. I also started yoga, specifically stretches that help to drain lymphatic fluid, and lung strengthening exercises. I found all of these videos on youtube and followed along in my living room. Whenever I went out, I wore a mask and made sure to wash my hands once I got home and disinfected my keys, phone, and door knob. I have also heard that it is best to leave your groceries or whatever you have bought outside for a few days in case the virus is living on it. Once we ran out of lysol wipes, we used rubbing alcohol and paper towels to make our own wipes. Surprisingly, with all of the stores disinfectants wiped out, family dollar still had a lot of gallons of bleach so I would definitely go there. On top of wiping down surfaces, I also burn sage in our house because of its antiviral properties. I am not sure how effective it is, but anything helps. I would also recommend growing your own vegetables. In the article How to Grow Vegetables Indoors by Marie Iannotti, she explains how to grow different types of vegetables inside. The best thing to do during these times is to be as self-sufficient as possible.
Question: Would you be willing to try these and what are your thoughts?
Discussion:
Brenna: I have actually been growing vegetables in my garden for two summers now and they are such a convenient thing to grow and have. I definitely believe that growing your own food in times like these is super beneficial becaue are not taking the same risk as you are by getting food from the grocery store.
Tina: I have also been growing vegetables and we have fruit trees in our backyard as well. I agree that it is highly important that we be as self sufficient as possible. Also, the antiviral herbs you mentioned were really cool to learn about and I happened to have most of those in the kitchen. So,I am going to use them more.
Cory: So with plants central to my career, I have always been interested in growing my own food. This situation has given me more time and reasons to feed my plant hoarding obsession with various vegetables. I am particularly interested in the edible plants that are perennial here, like say strawberries or asparagus or even brussels sprouts.
Cory
So as a natural resource conservation student, I find it tough to stay at home and sit in front of a computer to do school work. I need more activity in my routine, even if it’s just walking to classes while at school. Particularly with my interest in plants, going outside and tending to a yard full of plants is far more enticing. I also have a deceptively large amount of time on hand. In reflecting on my new routine, grasping at straws of productivity, I was reminded of a podcast episode I heard. In her podcast Before Breakfast, Laura Vanderkam titles an episode “Watch TV Wisely” and points out how it is designed to keep you watching. I’m sure most of us can relate to an intent to watch just a single episode then do something more productive. I find myself in a similar position with many activities that, while still productive, overshadow more important tasks like say school work. Especially in these unique times the traditional crutch question of where to find the time is not as applicable. Instead, we need to ask ourselves what we are doing that is hard to stop. Once we realize this, then we know what needs to be before the item. With her focus on watching TV, Vanderkam suggests that you do the other thing that you wish you had time for before stepping on the slippery slope of watching TV. The TV is just one example of a slippery slope in our lives that may need to be addressed. (Vanderkam, 2019)
Question: Ladies, have you noticed any of these slopes in your lives?
Discussion:
Brenna – I have definitely noticed myself getting into the netflix or social media slope. I also have a bad habit of procrastinating, so slipping down one of these slopes is not hard to manage during times where it is easy to get bored and sidetracked.
Rachel: I have been watching a lot more TV, but honestly I have been on my phone more. TikTok has taken over my day. When I am home and not in the college atmosphere, it’s very easy for me to spend hours on my phone and not be productive
Tina: I have also found myself getting sucked into social media more, especially YouTube. I have been on my phone a lot more as well, more than I would like to be. It’s gotten to the point where I need to put it in another room so that I don’t just stare at it all day.
Tina
So, lastly, I wanted to draw on some personal experience for my part of our video. First off, this whole crisis has greatly changed my plans for the future. I am set to graduate in the next few weeks and was supposed to start my journey towards medical school and my career in the military. But now that COVID-19 has virtually taken over our everyday lives, most of what I had planned has fallen through. It was beyond discouraging at first and I lost most of my motivation to continue with school work, etc. But, as the weeks have dragged on, I now realize that this is not the end of the world. I must say I am really glad we are not living through a world war right now but either way it is still a global crisis that is going to greatly shape our everyday lives for the foreseeable future. So, I wanted to take this time to share some insight from one of my favorite authors, C.S. Lewis, who you may know as the author of The Chronicles of Narnia. He wrote a letter of advice to students who are living through a global crisis that I found quite interesting and it was written in 1939 during World War II. He cited three enemies to the student during times of global crisis, “excitement, frustration, and fear” (Griffith, 2020). Excitement refers to how the news and media are currently overwhelming our thoughts, actions, and, not to mention, draining every last bit of motivation from our minds. The frustration that we may be currently feeling seems to be more of a frustration with our futures and how uncertain they seem to be at the moment. The third enemy that C.S. Lewis wrote about was fear, which is, in our case, a fear of you or a family member contracting the virus as well as a fear of what if we don’t make it. That can be through the illness itself, economically, mentally, etc. (Griffith, 2020). I think all of these thoughts and feelings are perfectly valid to have. I have had them myself. I think one of the most important things to remember at this point is that this is all temporary and that it is not going to be forever, even though it feels like it will be. As students, we cannot give up. We set out in this journey to learn and educate ourselves and we need to try our hardest to keep going. My advice to ourselves right now and those living through future crises is to keep your mind occupied so that you don’t feel like you are wasting away into a world of anxiety and fear. Occupy your mind with upcoming assignments and exams, read a book, create a daily schedule/ routine, exercise more, play a video game, or anything that helps you to stay relaxed and sane. Trust me, I know it is easier said than done, but we will all come out of this for the better if we don’t give up on ourselves and go down a path that will set us back. So, keep on keeping on everyone, we can do it! Enjoy every moment because they are precious.
Outro:
Tina: So, we decided that this was a great way to end our video. If any of us have any final thoughts, we can share those now.
Brenna: Thank you for listening and thank you for listening to our tips.
Tina: Thank you everyone, we enjoyed making this little video. I hope you all enjoyed.
REFERENCES
Forêt, R. d. l. (2020). What are antiviral herbs? The Spruce. Retrieved from https://learningherbs.com/remedies-recipes/antiviral-herbs/
Goldman, T.Just Keep Moving. And Sometimes, Double Your Distance. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2020/04/01/825143172/just-keep-moving-and-sometimes-double-your-distance
Griffith, J. (2020). C. S. lewis’ advice to students during A pandemic will do us good. The Federalist. Retrieved from https://thefederalist.com/2020/04/09/c-s-lewis-advice-to-students-during-a-pandemic-will-do-all-our-souls-good-right-now/
Iannotti, M. (2019). Use these tips to grow vegetables indoors. Retrieved from https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-grow-vegetables-indoors-1403183
Vanderkam, L. (Host). (2019, April 28). Watch TV wisely [Audio podcast episode]. In Before Breakfast. iHeartRadio. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-before-breakfast-30642889/episode/watch-tv-wisely-30897036/
BIOS:
- Tina Cardone: Hi, my name is Tina Cardone and I am a senior at UMass Amherst. I am majoring in Earth Systems (Geology) and I am on the Pre-Med track. I hope to one day become a surgeon for the United States Navy.
- Brenna Tomaino: My name is Brenna and I am currently a rising Senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I study Animal Science on the Animal Management track. On weekends I work at a veterinary emergency room as a technician assistant.