March 2020 through May 2023 was an unprecedented time in World history. Not since the 1918-1920 Influenza Pandemic has the world experienced a global health crisis on such a scale. Life was completely upended due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Schools, businesses, and public spaces began to close citing health risks due to the rapid spread of a new, potentially deadly respiratory virus. Suddenly people were buying their groceries, working, and attending school all online.
We lived during a historic event that has changed us in surprising ways. In my history classes at SRC, I wondered how I should help my students to grapple with what was happening in the World. An online search brought up a website from the California Historical Society (CHS) which asked the public to submit their pandemic experiences. Inspired by the CHS, the idea of the SRC Pandemic Experience Project began in 2020 as a history assignment on the value of primary source documents. Students wrote narrative essays explaining their pandemic experience up to that point in time and interviewed another person about their experience. The stories ranged from heartbreaking to ah-ha moments, to outright laugh-out-loud.
To reach more students at DVC and to create a body of COVID-19 Pandemic primary sources, I consulted with History professor Bridgitte Schaffer, SRC Librarian Amanda Choi, and CIS professor Mario Tejada, to create the SRC Pandemic Experience Project. Over a two-year period, DVC students submitted over 100 written, oral, and visual records of their pandemic experience. We are now in the process of collecting these sources into a book and making them available in this library guide.
This project was invaluable for several reasons. It allowed students to analyze their own pandemic experiences in real-time. It provided an opportunity for student workers to organize, edit, and arrange the project contents. And the SRC Pandemic Project created and preserves a comprehensive body of knowledge in primary sources for future students, researchers, and historians alike.
Debbie Lee
This is a picture of some baby chicks that my dad brought home in September of 2020. I remember being in a zoom call when my dad brought a box into my room. He was smiling from ear to ear and I had no idea what to expect when I took a peek in the box. Nevertheless there were 5 adorable chicks. They might have been smelly and dirty but I couldn’t stop holding them. I don’t think I had ever held a baby chick until that moment. This was important to me because not only did I get to watch them grow up, we now have an endless supply of eggs. I was most thrilled about eating their eggs because I can’t stand how hens are treated in the egg industry. It makes me happy to see my chickens walking around our backyard and not in a small cage with little to no room to move around like those in the industry.
At the start of Covid when you could not go anywhere, the one place that was open were golf courses. My twin brother and I took this opportunity to get out of the house and started to learn how to play golf. Before Covid my brother and I were always busy doing different things but during Covid it brought us back together as we could not meet with friends. Being together outside on the golf course was a nice way to bond and it is something that he and I will continue to do together.
- Kevin
This is a picture I took right at the beginning of the pandemic in April of 2020. This is the view point near my house and you can see the bay and San Francisco on a clear day. I would come here almost everyday, sit in my car, and just stare at the view. I felt claustrophobic being trapped in my house and I felt so lonely and I was scared of the uncertainty of COVID. I would come here to gain a sense of independence when I felt like I had none. This view spot gave me peace, and a sense of control when things were out of my control. This view spot will soon be covered up with future homes, but I will forever be grateful for the time spent here. It added color, and beauty to my COVID experience.
- Daniel
This is a picture of my Garage Gym that I spent a lot of time in during lockdown hanging out and lifting with my friends. This picture was taken on May 20,2021 when lockdown was taking place and everything was closed and there were no sports going on. I chose this picture because it's really all me and my friends did during the pandemic and it created good memories during a tough time.
- Nico
When the pandemic hit, many were left with more free time than usual. I, like many more, spent that time binging shows while laying in bed, eating breakfast, or while doing homework. One of the shows I got hooked on was the Queen’s Gambit. It reignited a lost passion of mine from when I was a kid. I had utterly forgotten the curiosity the game had brought me, the way my imagination transformed it from a mere board game to a spectacle of tiny warfare. Every time I visited my cousin, we both played for hours at a time, trying to best one another. And so, when I finished the show–taking no more than two days–the memories returned to me in a wave of nostalgia, motivating me to hop online and relearn the game; I was captivated. So naturally, I bought a real chess set and suggested to that same cousin of mine to play like we once had. This picture was taken from one of our many games where I discovered a clever(ish) tactic to win his queen. Chess, for me, represented a place of order; nothing is left to chance–a much-needed sentiment during that unpredictable time.
- Jose
This is a picture out of my rugby senior book that commemorated my time in the program. I got this during COVID when I was at a weird point in my life deciding what I wanted to do with my life. When I looked through the book it gave me a sense of calmness.
Here are some of my paintings I made during covid. During covid I spent a lot of time working on my art thinking of being a fine arts major. As covid continue I really started to have a lot of mental health problems but art was one way of putting my feelings into something since I don’t have a therapist or anyone to help me with my mental health problems. I did like 2 more other pieces during the covid times. Covid helped me figure out some hobbies, but it was terrible for my mental health.
- Ashley
This is a photo that I took when I went to LA over the summer with my family. This view was taken from the hotel room window that we were staying at. I choose this picture because I love sightseeing and the view was simply spectacular. I could also use this photo as a memory of what I did over the summer and it represents how much I love going to LA, because of the amazing food and things to do there! During this stay, I visited Koreatown and really enjoyed the different types of food that I had there like Korean BBQ and Galbi-jjim (Korean braised beef short ribs). We also went shopping and visited many fashion branded stores like Supreme and BAPE.
- Skylar
This picture is of my pants, drying in my laundry room. During the first year of COVID (March 2020 to May 2021) I worked entirely from home, and I continue to work partially from home. Because people could only see me from the chest up in Zoom meetings, I took to wearing these comfy, stretch pants, a lot. Plus, I succumbed to some COVID weight gain. I chose this picture because it reflects the same-ness of my daily life during that first year of COVID (against the backdrop of upheaval and change in the news) and even, to an extent, now, because I still am mostly working online. I wake up, sit down at my desk, check what my calendars say I have to do that day, and spend the next 8, 10, 12, and sometimes 14 or 16 hours at my computer going back and forth between email, grading, prep for classes and Zoom meetings. Rare non-work days (until very recently) likewise had limited options: walk in the park with my dog, read, watch TV, and Zoom with family.
- Bridgitte
Throughout the duration of the Pandemic gyms were obviously closed with the occasional re-opening before closing again. Because of this I chose to invest in home gym equipment and with the newfound free time I was able to spend a significant amount of time exercising with friends. Time spent exercising with friends doubled as a workout and social interaction during lockdowns and because of this I chose to share an image of a barbell I purchased early on in the Pandemic.
This is me at the FEMA Vaccination Site at Oakland Coliseum. I volunteered to go back to Active Duty Coast Guard from 01 March 21-01 May 21 where we worked 12-16 hours each day and 6 days on 1 off for both months. This was how we gave back to our community. I watched so many people come in crying and thanking us for doing this and making it possible for them to receive a vaccine. Truly a great feeling being able to help in some capacity. It was scary interacting with roughly 500-700 people a day and preying you do not bring Covid-19 home to your family.
- Lance
This is a picture of my cat Vega and my boyfriend Ege, taken in October 2020.
I rescued Vega from the street right before the lockdown started in Istanbul. She was so friendly but also was incredibly sick; little did I know she’d be my lifelong companion. After we took her to the vet and finally took her home, my boyfriend came to visit us. Then, however, another lockdown happened without notice. So we basically got stuck at my place with him and my cat, plus my family! Despite all that happening, it was sweet times for sure, I was grateful to be around my loved ones. Ege would show Vega lion documentaries, for her to “reach her full potential” and this photo was taken at that moment. Soon later, I moved to the States with Vega, now we are living here together. She’s still not a lion though, just a healthy feline baby.
This is a picture I took in Costco June 2020. While my family had not been in dire need of toilet paper, just seeing Costco finally restocked after so many months was a sign that progress was being made. I remember turning the corner and being shocked to see the wall of toilet paper back as it had always been. It seems silly in hindsight, but I think it is a good artifact for COVID and 2020.
Here is a small collage highlighting our pandemic 2020 experience. I spent a lot of time with my daughter doing crafts, baking, building a garden, and planting veggies/fruit and flowers. The first picture shows three raised bed areas that I put in for my family. You can see a bit of our harvest in the third picture with sunflower stalks behind. It was a tough time for the world, but you can make your time work for you if you stay busy keeping a positive mind set!
The COVID-19 Pandemic started in the middle of my senior year in high school. Out of nowhere, everything I looked forward too was so uncertain. By the end of the school year, it was clear this pandemic was nowhere close to being over, so the schools had to come up with something for us graduating seniors. Concord High, along with many other high schools, ended up having a drive-thru graduation of sorts. It was upsetting to not get to have a normal senior year and beginning of college, however it seems as though this is the new normal for the next few graduating classes of seniors as well.
- Georgia
My mom is a huge travel junkie. She loves to find new places to explore and of course share them with her kids. It was very hard for her during the pandemic but she still found new ways to make sure we were living outside our bubble. We would go to the farmers market or even randomly take a drive to Santa Cruz one day. Things like that made the pandemic tolerable. When the pandemic started to cool down, you could physically see the excitement manifest in my mother. She began looking for new places we had not been before. She read about the Mayan Temples and was destined to go there as if her life would not be complete without it. We spent a week in Mexico and went to Chichén Itzá where I saw the most beautiful sights ever. I love this photo because to me it just represents that you can still travel outside your bubble even in the most hardest of circumstances.
