Kate Muse: I am 18 years old and a first-year student at Hampshire College. I am from California but during the COVID-19 pandemic, I moved across the country to Virginia. I am a music student with an interest in computer science.
Sarah Smith: From Fairfax, Virginia, Sarah Smith is employed full-time in the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service. Sarah is also a single mother of a ten-year-old boy. Sarah had to adapt to working full time from home and learn how to keep her son entertained during the summer of quarantine.
Reflection: My interview with Sarah went really well. While I wish we could have been in person, we were fortunate to have no Internet or Zoom problems and had a nice and comfortable interview. Everyone’s experience during this pandemic is unique, and the isolation of the pandemic can be challenging. I think that giving Sarah a chance to share her experience about her life during the pandemic offered her some relief.
During the interview, I learned a lot about not only Sarah but also myself. When talking about her son getting used to online school, Sarah said, “When you’re in a school building, you’re expected to sit at your desk in your chair, not really moving around, not fidgeting. My kid has a turning chair where he sits there and spins the whole time on a chair, or he’s on the ground—on the floor with his laptop down there, or he’s sitting in a bean bag chair. So he has that flexibility that when he gets bored or needs to fidget, he can.” When Sarah said this, I realized that I relate to her son. There are many good things that I feel like we have learned from this pandemic, things that we sometimes take for granted. When Sarah was talking about the things that she felt good about, it helped me realize and cherish the good things throughout the pandemic.