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Well, one of the enduring aspects of the entire pandemic has been the slow development of

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knowledge about it.

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So we were limited because of a knowledge deficit.

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And although that's gotten better over the year and a half, we still don't know everything

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we'd like to know regarding the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

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So the initial days and weeks were particularly difficult because we really didn't know what

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we were dealing with.

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It sounded bad, but we didn't know how bad it might be.

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We had no vaccines available, no treatments, and there was a lot of uncertainty.

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So trying to help the community, the UND community, get through something with all

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of these uncertainties was clearly the biggest challenge because we wanted to be truthful,

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we wanted to be transparent, and yet people were hungering for definitive statements,

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and we couldn't offer any.

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And even today, a year and a half later, we have some things that we know a lot better

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than back then, but there still are a lot of unknowns.

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And that, I think, is the enduring challenge as we've tried to deal with the pandemic.

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So I think the lessons are pretty obvious.

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Whether we've learned them, or more importantly, whether we apply them appropriately, time

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will tell.

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I think one of the things that many of us in the public health arena have been warning

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about for some time is that we don't have a robust enough public health apparatus in

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the country.

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Now, North Dakota is somewhat of an exception because we're better prepared than many other

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parts of the country, but we've been warning about this for years.

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The point where I really had a feeling that this was serious was Wednesday, March 11th.

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I was in Florida for an alumni event.

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The alumni event, I think, was scheduled for that Friday, and that Wednesday, the NBA made

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a decision to cancel the rest of their season.

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And at that point, the NCAA tournament, basketball tournament, which is untouchable also, they

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either postponed that Thursday or canceled outright.

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And at the same time, I think the President had issued an order to all U.S. citizens traveling

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abroad in Europe had to come home, and those folks were hitting airports on that Friday

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and Saturday.

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I was trying to make my way home from Florida for this alumni trip on that Friday or Saturday,

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and I just remember the crowded airports, the pictures that we saw on the news of people

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trying to make their way through airports, whether it was Chicago or New York, and it

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was that sequence of three or four days where I said, all right, this is something different

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and we haven't seen anything like this.

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I have seen such a sense of care and hard work by so many people across the campus.

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There was a pandemic working group that met beginning, I think, on March 11th or March

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15th.

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I forget which exact day, and they were meeting every day since then, and they backed off.

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Now they're doing two days a week.

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But this is a committed group of people who have said, you know, we owe it to the people

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of our campus to make sure we get this right, and because of that, just the time and the

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energy and the passion and the concern for safety has really, they've just exuded these

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characteristics.

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And so the most impressive part has been certainly that sense of willpower and that sense of

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commitment.

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It's been extraordinary.

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Yeah, I think we had some differences on that front, and we tried to find the best path

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forward.

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The university went to masking very early.

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We had a populace that was split on that, and you could see that from the council.

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You could see that from myself.

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And eventually, when the cases got bad and the hospital was really filled up, we went

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to that option, and we took a lot of heat on both sides, both as a mayor, as an administrator,

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and as a council.

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So we had to carry that burden, and we felt that.

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We felt the angst that people had, the struggles that people had, people that were dealing

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with this, and then the other side that people thought that their freedoms were being infringed

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on, and they were very vocal as well.

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So it was a challenging time, and we had some differences of opinions, but at the end of

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the day, we all wanted the best for the citizens of the city and the people at UND.

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You need to have great contacts back and forth, not just with the university, but with the

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hospital, with the county, the school district.

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And getting everybody together in one room, sort of all the decision makers, that was

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really crucial, and I think that's a group that we'll keep.

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So it's something that I think we've all learned, and that we're going to continue

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to meet going into the future, and it'll be successful on big, scary things like this,

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but also small things, and celebrating little victories together, too.

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And we got two phone calls, two voicemails on a Sunday, so somebody, a couple constituents

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had called in, and the first constituent was very angry, and, you know, you need to lock

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the city down, we need to go into a month-long lockdown, we need to have much more mitigation.

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Very angry said that, you know, we had blood on our hands and that we needed to act.

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The very next message said, how dare you close the bars down early, I can't believe you'd

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infringe on our freedoms, you know, this is unconstitutional, we're going to come, you

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know, we're going to take you out of office, all this.

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So to have two calls that were so polar opposites at the same time, it was tough, but at the

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same time, we kind of rebounded off that and said, well, maybe we're threading the needle

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and we're doing okay if we're hearing it from both sides, so.

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We needed to mediate prior to the hospitals being exhausted or overstretched.

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So we were trying to stay a step ahead of the hospital all the time.

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That's where it was really beneficial to have those meetings with the emergency management

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from the hospital as well, kind of kept us informed about where they were for numbers

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and preparation, and they were able to augment their beds at different times, and the good

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part about ending my career during a pandemic at UND was I don't think ever in my life

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I've had an opportunity to work so closely with so many different entities and different

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hats with really one same goal.

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There really was no power plays that I could feel going on.

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Everybody was just really concerned about the health and welfare of our whole community.

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I would counter that saying that never in my professional life have I ever experienced

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such a pull outside of Grand Forks and the greater country of political pull versus science.

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That was difficult as a nurse to maneuver at times.

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I know in the past you'd ask me something about specific moments that I remember, and

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I think one of my darkest moments was the evening of August 28th, 2020.

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That week prior we had done a battery of testing as students were coming back to campus, and

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that was a Friday night.

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We were getting our results back and we already had over a hundred students positive.

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It was 1030 at night and President Armacost called a meeting of the Executive Council

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and I was invited and Debbie Swanson from Grand Forks Public Health was with us, Sean

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McBride, the epidemiologist was present.

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We all were there and that was, I remember President Armacost saying, do we have to close?

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I mean the kids were just coming back.

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Do we have to close?

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We didn't think we could do it.

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So my perspective is that I think the university has been very proactive and definitely had

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a team approach and very comprehensive.

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It hasn't always been fun, it hasn't always been easy.

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I think fighting for resources and coordinating things has been challenging, but I do believe

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that the university took a lead with Grand Forks Public Health, the North Dakota Department

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of Health, with other universities to create a very strong response and try to keep our

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students in the forefront of our mind of what makes it best for students, what makes their

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university career keep going, but also keep them safe and healthy as best as we can.

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I will say one of my favorite things to say is the silver lining of COVID is it has helped

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introduce me to people all around campus that I probably never would have known nor would

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have had a relationship with.

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And I think and hope that there's many others that would say the same thing.

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I think ultimately it's going to create a stronger university into the future.

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But the number one factor was that students really wanted to make music together and to

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keep working together.

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And as I told them, I knew from talking to my colleagues across the nation that there

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were many, many schools and universities and colleges who were not getting a chance to

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do that at all.

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They were maybe doing some small chamber pieces from their large groups or sectionals or just

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not playing.

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And so as long as we could keep making music, the students were willing to do whatever it

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took to do that, make that happen.

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It's very challenging to make music when you have to have bell covers on your instrument,

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which changes the way the instrument is played a little bit and having to put your mouthpiece

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through a mask, which is very challenging.

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The singers, our vocalists have had to have special masks made that are longer out so

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they are singer's masks so that their voice can project and get out and even be heard.

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So while they're frustrated like everyone is around the country and the world with what

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we're having to do right now, they're willing to make that sacrifice as long as we have

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to in order to continue doing that together.

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And so I can't tell you how proud I am of them and my colleagues and the administration's

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support of that.

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I think our students have definitely felt challenged by the new classroom environments

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during the pandemic.

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And the one thing I heard from them constantly is that they missed the community being on

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campus.

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They missed the opportunity to interact with their peers and see what their fellow classmates

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were working on and doing.

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And so although I feel that they did an excellent job adapting to the demands of this new educational

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environment, I could tell that they were really craving the chance to be in the same space

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as their fellow classmates, work with them, and feel like they were part of the campus

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community that we celebrate here at UND.

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Do you think the students learned anything about themselves because of going through

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this?

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I do.

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I think they learned how to be adaptable.

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As I said earlier, nurses are used to change.

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Change is inevitable.

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One day is never like the other.

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So they've really learned that they have to think a little bit differently about how they

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provide care.

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COVID has given us something we don't know about and we're learning now, we're looking

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at the research and how it's affecting patients not acutely but long term.

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So there's a lot out there where our students have to use their resources, their thinking

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skills to help determine what's the best course of care for a patient.

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I think the UND did a really outstanding job and a lot of the friends across other universities

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in our field, they were complaining about their institutions not being straightforward

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about the information or not providing PPEs or things like that and then not being really

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accommodating faculty's request.

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But then I feel like compared to those institutions and complaints that I received from my peers

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in other institutions, UND has done a really good job, I think.

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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that we were able to kind of redirect the curriculum a little bit and get students thinking

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more broadly about other artistic possibilities and other sort of ways of thinking about sculpture

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that they may not have always thought about.

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We often think about sculpture as being durable or made out of stone or bronze but, you know,

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sculpture can be a lot of things and I think it provided an opportunity for students to

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think about sculpture in sort of an expanded way and sort of keep them socially distanced.

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How did the students respond to the assignment?

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At first I think they were a little puzzled but I sent them out and they went out in the

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world and I am so happy with the results.

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They really came through with the assignment and in addition to actually doing the assignment,

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we studied other land artists.

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They wrote a traditional paper about land art and learned more about this movement that

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is associated with sculpture and the ending result, the exhibition, was beautiful.

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We also talked about how to photograph the works, like what time of day might you photograph

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these to further bring out sort of the aesthetic or the beautiful qualities of the work that

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they did.

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They did a fantastic job and the response to the show has been really phenomenal.

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I find that students tend not to complain and they don't tell me when they have problems.

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Some do but a lot don't and so I started in probably the last five years saying if you

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need an extension, let me know because I'd rather you turn in work that is meaningful

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to you and that you feel proud of than just getting it in by the due date and I think

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has made that all the more important is recognizing that students have so many responsibilities

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outside the classroom and so just being flexible and understanding with them.

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Of course you still have to have standards.

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That's part of being in school and learning but the pandemic has I think in some ways

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brought me closer to my students in that respect that we all are struggling and we need to

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be generous with each other.

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If anything I think they might be struggling more.

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I've heard from students that now that we're kind of back to normal, they're not used to

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it and so I think for faculty we've been doing this gig for a long time.

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It was pretty, you know, it hasn't been easy.

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It's been a transition but getting back to normal might be easier for us because we've

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had the normal experience for so many more years whereas some of our students, some of

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them never have had a normal college experience.

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I can speak to the level of the university and say at large I think the university has

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done a very good job of responding to things locally at my own both department and college

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level.

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I've had a lot of, I've been impressed with the leadership there as well who have shown

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understanding to folks' situation and tried to be as flexible as possible to enable public

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safety and our employees and our students' safety to take the primary seat and also deliver

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a high quality education at the same time.

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That's not always an easy edge to balance and I think the institution has done a remarkable

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job of making that happen.

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Of course there are always things that we could have done better but I think that from

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the larger view that's my overarching takeaway.

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It could be that time has colored that now and I don't know if I have my rosy colored

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post-pandemic glasses on it and so thinking about students' educational opportunities

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and how travel impacts and study abroad impacts student learning and our students here at

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UND, that's been a dramatic change in the opportunities that we've been able to offer

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our students and that's always one of the great advantages to me and one of the exciting

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parts of our discipline and encouraging that international travel and those lived experiences

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from studying abroad and being a part of, being a minority in a majority culture where

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you aren't speaking the language or learning, you're a language learner and you understand

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what it's like to be in that language learning position every day and all of those wonderful

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transformative experiences we haven't been able to share with our students in the same

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way that we did pre-pandemic.

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So those are also some impacts on my field particularly that have been not only from

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our colleagues' side is traveling to conferences and doing research together but also that

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student experience of the study abroad, short or long term, that has been impacted too.

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So I'm looking forward to the day when we can travel more freely again and immerse ourselves

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in other cultures and live alongside new folks and new neighbors and have those opportunities.

231
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Well I can tell you a direct lesson that I took, you know, not probably most people unlike

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me were not here in 97 that were dealing with the 2020 COVID pandemic, but what I took directly

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and shared with other people was, hey, we're not in ideal circumstances.

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This is not something that you would say this is what you would do normally or this is what

235
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you would plan to do, it doesn't matter.

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Whatever will work for this student in this circumstance, that's what we're going to

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support and that's what we're going to do.

238
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And it may be something totally different for the other student, it may be something

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totally different for the other faculty member, we can be as specific and as unique as we

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need to be to get this done and help people finish the term successfully.

241
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How much resistance did you run into, I'm thinking of faculty?

242
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Very little, very little really, I mean every, you know, they say that you see what, you

243
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know, the best in people in emergencies and I think that's, that was a commonality between

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the flood of 97 and this.

245
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The normal kind of, you know, little rivalries or carping that goes on in academic circles,

246
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I mean that just disappeared.

247
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Yeah, it wasn't what anybody wanted to do, but everybody I think understood this is a

248
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unique situation.

249
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So I don't think I at least personally wasn't aware of any resistance, everybody simply

250
00:19:09,780 --> 00:19:14,460
was trying to do the best they could, everybody recognized that.

251
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And students?

252
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Students, you know, the biggest issue with students was just the access they might have

253
00:19:22,180 --> 00:19:30,980
to the tools they needed to get through the term and people at UND, staff at UND, departments

254
00:19:30,980 --> 00:19:33,660
at UND did what they could to help out.

255
00:19:33,660 --> 00:19:41,300
So we got mobile hotspots for people that didn't have Wi-Fi, could tap into satellite

256
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or cell coverage and create Wi-Fi hotspots for them at their parents' house up in northwestern

257
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North Dakota or wherever.

258
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We loaned out laptops.

259
00:19:55,220 --> 00:20:09,580
We got, people like up here on third floor of Cali provided technological support to

260
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students and to faculty who had never used Zoom before.

261
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I mean, I'm not sure I knew the word Zoom before that time.

262
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So I think that students too didn't resist, didn't cause, you know, they didn't sweat

263
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the small stuff.

264
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They just needed certain assistance in some areas, but it was surprisingly, given the

265
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number of students we had, the number of kind of little fixes and assistance we had to give,

266
00:20:50,260 --> 00:20:52,980
it was really minimal as well.

267
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I think that students helped each other out as well.

268
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And with that, we began to look at how can we help alleviate some stress?

269
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How can we help students get through this?

270
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So we looked at things like changing grading scales temporarily, you know, we instituted

271
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pass fail for core major classes.

272
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The counseling center instituted online first appointment scheduling, which was huge, something

273
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that we didn't have before.

274
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So the university was really looking at, you know, what can we do for students to help

275
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them and help us as an institution get through all of this?

276
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You know, especially in my term as student body president, like there were nights that

277
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I woke up, or nights that I'd go to sleep and hope I woke up with, you know, no news

278
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of tragedy.

279
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The number one thing that I wanted in my term and in my time at UND was to keep students

280
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safe and to keep us on campus.

281
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And that's why I fought for, with other student leaders, a consistent masking policy with

282
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the university and the city.

283
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That's why we pushed for all sorts of different health and wellness initiatives during that

284
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time.

285
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You know, as for a low point, just seeing those cases spike up in what would have been

286
00:22:10,580 --> 00:22:16,780
the September to November timeline of 2020, I myself had COVID in the time.

287
00:22:16,780 --> 00:22:21,100
I got it shortly after my birthday, actually, in October.

288
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And you know, just kind of going through that and experiencing the symptoms and whatnot

289
00:22:26,460 --> 00:22:30,940
firsthand, but then hearing the stories of other students definitely weighed on me.

290
00:22:30,940 --> 00:22:37,260
And I think that helped me as a leader and me as an individual sympathize and move forward

291
00:22:37,260 --> 00:22:41,020
in what I would consider to be an appropriate manner.

292
00:22:41,020 --> 00:22:48,700
I think, you know, I think our student body did a really good job transitioning online

293
00:22:48,700 --> 00:22:51,100
in that spring of 2020.

294
00:22:51,100 --> 00:22:55,580
And last academic year, too, I think our student body did a really good job at, you know, while

295
00:22:55,580 --> 00:23:00,620
they were going through tough times, keeping that morale and keeping that energy so that

296
00:23:00,620 --> 00:23:05,980
as we came into this school year, while I've graduated, I've gotten to witness, having

297
00:23:05,980 --> 00:23:10,460
still been in town, an excitement to be back.

298
00:23:10,460 --> 00:23:16,660
And so while they continue to keep in mind the ongoing situation, that energy and that

299
00:23:16,660 --> 00:23:18,140
love for campus is still here.

300
00:23:18,140 --> 00:23:19,140
And that's incredible.

301
00:23:19,140 --> 00:23:26,140
Yeah, when I came back after COVID, after being adjusting to online classes, it was

302
00:23:26,140 --> 00:23:27,140
really hard for me.

303
00:23:27,140 --> 00:23:32,580
I had a lot of anxiety about it just because I hadn't been on campus in so long.

304
00:23:32,580 --> 00:23:38,180
I hadn't had that face-to-face communication and I was nervous to do it again.

305
00:23:38,180 --> 00:23:42,980
Yeah, I think that my experience was very common with me having a lot of mental health

306
00:23:42,980 --> 00:23:52,460
issues, a lot of anxieties, a lot of, yeah, it was very isolated, I would say, last year

307
00:23:52,460 --> 00:23:53,700
compared to this year.

308
00:23:53,700 --> 00:23:56,700
I think a lot of my friends are doing a lot better now.

309
00:23:56,700 --> 00:24:00,700
We're all much happier people now that we can talk to people again.

310
00:24:00,700 --> 00:24:03,780
I think that the university did the best they could.

311
00:24:03,780 --> 00:24:07,260
I mean, I didn't think that they could have done anything else.

312
00:24:07,260 --> 00:24:10,420
I thought that they handled it the way that they should have.

313
00:24:10,420 --> 00:24:13,540
And I'm glad that we're back now.

314
00:24:13,540 --> 00:24:18,780
If we would have had to stay online this year, I think that that would have been an issue

315
00:24:18,780 --> 00:24:19,780
for me.

316
00:24:19,780 --> 00:24:24,660
I think many of the measures that the university pursued during the pandemic were ones that

317
00:24:24,660 --> 00:24:28,700
had the best interests of the students at heart and still allowed students to do as

318
00:24:28,740 --> 00:24:34,460
much as they possibly can to stay in their academic circles, continue to learn, continue

319
00:24:34,460 --> 00:24:40,460
to thrive while still staying safe from the pandemic.

320
00:24:40,460 --> 00:24:44,620
I would say yes, in some ways.

321
00:24:44,620 --> 00:24:49,700
I was thankful to be home for my health and my safety and the health and safety of my

322
00:24:49,700 --> 00:24:53,740
family because obviously at the beginning of the pandemic, vaccines were not readily

323
00:24:53,740 --> 00:24:56,740
available.

324
00:24:56,940 --> 00:24:59,340
So in that way, at that time, I did not feel cheated.

325
00:24:59,340 --> 00:25:03,260
I felt like it was the best option for everyone's safety, myself included.

326
00:25:03,260 --> 00:25:08,980
And so in that way, I do feel a little sad about the things that I might be missing out

327
00:25:08,980 --> 00:25:09,980
on.

328
00:25:09,980 --> 00:25:13,580
But ultimately, health and safety is very important to me.

329
00:25:13,580 --> 00:25:17,380
And so that's been something to take into consideration.

330
00:25:17,380 --> 00:25:21,900
And now with vaccines being available and being fully vaccinated myself, I feel more

331
00:25:21,980 --> 00:25:27,100
comfortable studying with my friends in safe spaces like the library or going to the new

332
00:25:27,100 --> 00:25:32,020
union building and studying on campus and places like that where those safety precautions

333
00:25:32,020 --> 00:25:33,020
are in place.

334
00:25:33,020 --> 00:25:37,380
Well, the main thing, obviously going off campus.

335
00:25:37,380 --> 00:25:44,900
So with like my painting classes, a big part of them is doing critiques in person.

336
00:25:44,900 --> 00:25:49,500
So getting to see everyone else's work and then having people share their reactions with

337
00:25:49,540 --> 00:25:55,940
your work and having to do that over Zoom is not ideal.

338
00:25:55,940 --> 00:25:58,300
It kind of changes the whole dynamic.

339
00:25:58,300 --> 00:26:00,300
You're not walking around looking at the pieces.

340
00:26:00,300 --> 00:26:04,820
You're not like having that connection with your classmates and your teacher.

341
00:26:04,820 --> 00:26:15,580
So that kind of was probably the most difficult part for that aspect of being online for

342
00:26:15,580 --> 00:26:16,980
the pandemic.

343
00:26:17,140 --> 00:26:24,060
And then as far as like the university's response, I thought they responded like in a good way.

344
00:26:24,060 --> 00:26:31,020
But yeah, it was definitely, I think with everyone, difficult for being online so much.

345
00:26:31,020 --> 00:26:32,020
Yeah.

346
00:26:32,020 --> 00:26:37,780
So right before COVID, like as COVID was hitting, we were about to go to our spring break trip

347
00:26:37,780 --> 00:26:41,260
to Florida for the tennis team.

348
00:26:41,260 --> 00:26:43,700
And that night we had everything packed.

349
00:26:43,700 --> 00:26:45,860
Everyone thought we were still going to go.

350
00:26:45,860 --> 00:26:49,780
And then that next morning we heard that like couldn't travel, like everything got like

351
00:26:49,780 --> 00:26:50,900
super serious.

352
00:26:50,900 --> 00:26:53,900
And so that got canceled, which was super surprising.

353
00:26:53,900 --> 00:26:58,180
And then from there, the rest of our season, because right around then is when we enter

354
00:26:58,180 --> 00:27:01,740
like our conference matches and like the main part of our season, right around then everything

355
00:27:01,740 --> 00:27:03,180
just got shut down.

356
00:27:03,180 --> 00:27:06,140
We couldn't do anything and everyone pretty much went home.

357
00:27:06,140 --> 00:27:08,140
It happened like super quick.

358
00:27:08,140 --> 00:27:15,260
COVID has been very interesting, especially for the music department here.

359
00:27:15,660 --> 00:27:21,300
Just like everybody else, we went online in March of 2020, and that meant that all of

360
00:27:21,300 --> 00:27:26,620
our music ensembles couldn't meet for the rest of the semester.

361
00:27:26,620 --> 00:27:34,980
And as that is a big part of our curriculum, it affected us quite a bit.

362
00:27:34,980 --> 00:27:39,860
We lost out on half a semester of experiences that we'll never get back.

363
00:27:39,860 --> 00:27:48,620
And moving forward, we had all of our instruments required playing with bell covers in addition

364
00:27:48,620 --> 00:27:56,100
to masks that have slits in them so we can still play following the guidelines and still

365
00:27:56,100 --> 00:28:01,880
be able to make music despite the conditions that we're in now.

366
00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:08,780
So last year we were all sitting six feet apart and the guidelines required us to take

367
00:28:08,820 --> 00:28:17,340
a break every about half hour to let the room aerate and the air exchange to happen to keep

368
00:28:17,340 --> 00:28:19,100
everybody safe.

369
00:28:19,100 --> 00:28:24,540
And so that took time away from our rehearsals and just wasn't as effective as a year as

370
00:28:24,540 --> 00:28:25,540
it could have been.

371
00:28:25,540 --> 00:28:32,340
So I feel like music education was, or music department in general, was affected more than

372
00:28:32,340 --> 00:28:35,940
most across the campus.

373
00:28:35,980 --> 00:28:41,980
It was weird because you would walk into Wilkerson or Squires, which is closed right now, but

374
00:28:41,980 --> 00:28:46,940
Wilkerson Dining Center and there was one person per table so you didn't have the option

375
00:28:46,940 --> 00:28:51,620
to even, if you were outgoing enough, to walk up to someone random and sit with them.

376
00:28:51,620 --> 00:28:59,420
You didn't have that option and everyone was just very isolated.

377
00:28:59,420 --> 00:29:03,060
Everyone walked around with their AirPods in and there was no need to talk to anyone

378
00:29:03,060 --> 00:29:08,460
because no one knew anyone because all the classes were online.

379
00:29:08,460 --> 00:29:13,300
Well I wasn't going to do any online schooling at all after my first year at my university

380
00:29:13,300 --> 00:29:15,940
in Williston because I didn't like it.

381
00:29:15,940 --> 00:29:19,060
I didn't get as much out of it and I like people.

382
00:29:19,060 --> 00:29:23,960
I like learning from people and I get a lot out of a professor if they're excited about

383
00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:25,380
what they're teaching.

384
00:29:25,380 --> 00:29:29,660
And so online you don't get any of that, it has to be all you.

385
00:29:29,660 --> 00:29:34,980
And so it's affected me last year a lot because all of my classes were online.

386
00:29:34,980 --> 00:29:39,340
So it was just kind of a, you just have to do it, you got to get through it and do your

387
00:29:39,340 --> 00:29:43,520
classes is kind of how it felt, but it wasn't what I would have preferred.

388
00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:49,500
This year it's much better because we are on campus and I get to learn from my professors,

389
00:29:49,500 --> 00:29:51,700
which is nice.

390
00:29:51,700 --> 00:29:56,900
Okay it was my freshman year and everything was great for the first semester.

391
00:29:56,900 --> 00:30:02,260
I loved living on campus, I loved my roommates, it was fun, it was really fun.

392
00:30:02,260 --> 00:30:03,260
I liked college.

393
00:30:03,260 --> 00:30:10,220
And then spring break was extended and I was like well cool, I'll go home for a little

394
00:30:10,220 --> 00:30:11,220
bit.

395
00:30:11,220 --> 00:30:15,240
I had plans to travel to California for spring break and I was like immediately booked my

396
00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:20,260
plane ticket for the extra five days longer because why not?

397
00:30:20,260 --> 00:30:23,300
I was just going to take a longer spring break and then come back to school.

398
00:30:23,340 --> 00:30:29,060
And then we found out that school was not going to return in person at all.

399
00:30:29,060 --> 00:30:33,700
So my mom and I came up here sometime in April and moved all my stuff out of my dorm.

400
00:30:33,700 --> 00:30:37,960
I didn't see my roommate again for like seven months, which is really hard because she's

401
00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:39,300
my best friend.

402
00:30:39,300 --> 00:30:42,940
She doesn't live too far from my house, but both of our families were fairly strict about

403
00:30:42,940 --> 00:30:47,780
COVID when the fear was higher and we did not hang out for a while.

404
00:30:47,780 --> 00:30:51,760
So it was weird to not say goodbye and just like she moved out first, so when I went back

405
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:56,640
to my dorm to move out, it was like her half was completely empty and my half still looked

406
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:57,800
perfectly lived in.

407
00:30:57,800 --> 00:30:59,480
It was really weird.

408
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:06,680
And then I was really nervous about especially my Calc II class being online and my professor

409
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:11,900
was nervous about doing the technology online learning thing.

410
00:31:11,900 --> 00:31:17,800
So that was definitely my hardest course that was online, but everything went well.

411
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:23,840
There was a lot of like grace from the professors as they were not sure what they were doing.

412
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:31,040
Cheated is a good word for how I felt my sophomore year and certainly with certainly with social

413
00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:32,040
aspects.

414
00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:36,080
I'm really thankful that I get along well with my roommates because we spent every moment

415
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:39,420
together, especially when we ended up in quarantine.

416
00:31:39,420 --> 00:31:43,520
We were really together like 12 hours a day every day.

417
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:53,980
But yeah, parties and meeting like other age, I had my friends in my major from freshman

418
00:31:53,980 --> 00:31:57,800
year and we knew each other and we were in the same courses, but getting to know other

419
00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:02,760
kids throughout clubs and organizations and stuff like that, it made it harder to bond

420
00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:04,960
with people you didn't have class with.

421
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:09,120
Like class was a good excuse to get together, but I didn't really get together with anyone

422
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:10,520
outside of class.

423
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:16,400
Do you feel you learned something or grew in some way because of COVID and having to

424
00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:17,400
deal with it?

425
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:30,720
Yes, I think it made everybody more flexible and more compassionate almost.

426
00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:37,800
Like if they were going back to like assignments in school, I guess there's more grace with

427
00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:45,560
things going on and a lot of my professors were very kind with like, well, you could

428
00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,980
be going through something at home and they don't really know.

429
00:32:48,980 --> 00:32:52,360
So like if you were in quarantine, it wasn't a huge deal.

430
00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:58,000
Well, no, it wasn't a big deal at all to not be in class, but especially like to get

431
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,080
notes from other people or help with a homework assignment, they were always really willing

432
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,960
to meet over Zoom and make it work.

433
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,720
So definitely flexibility.

434
00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:12,600
I don't know about personal growth necessarily.

435
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:13,600
Time management?

436
00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:18,280
I feel like I've always kind of been good at that.

437
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:20,320
You've always been pretty good at that.

438
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:21,320
Yeah.

439
00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:22,320
Oh my.

440
00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:29,320
There have been so many lessons learned and as a director of a health department, I've

441
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:35,640
been faced with making decisions every hour of every day, decisions of significance.

442
00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:42,520
And it's been a really big challenge to continue to run this marathon when the virus keeps

443
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:44,000
changing the finish line.

444
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:48,440
And, you know, the virus is the enemy here, not one another.

445
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:54,240
So some of the lessons I think learned are you can never be too prepared.

446
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:55,240
Communication is key.

447
00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:56,240
Absolutely.

448
00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:00,600
We had to be transparent and communicate with the public all the time.

449
00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:06,360
The lesson that I'm still learning is how to work with individuals who really don't

450
00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:11,960
believe that this virus is a threat and who are really fearful of the vaccines.

451
00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:15,680
I'm still learning about that.

452
00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:19,840
I'm also learning that people have a depth of resilience that I never imagined, including

453
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:26,160
myself, you know, just coming to work every day and making significant decisions.

454
00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:30,200
I found a resilience that I didn't know that I had.

455
00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:35,240
And everybody has a story and everyone's also caring for their family, their children,

456
00:34:35,240 --> 00:34:38,440
maybe their parents, and also doing their jobs.

457
00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:43,720
And so the lesson learned is we have to really take care of people who are on the front lines.