Interviews & Submissions

Navigate through our expanding collection of interviews and other submissions by clicking through the links below.

"And I think the reason why I'm not so afraid of this pandemic is because I kind of went through SARS, even though I don't remember much of it. I mean, I'm okay. I survived. A lot of people died from that too, over there. And the mask thinking has been going on since as long as I can remember. So it's nothing new to me, but obviously still scary, just that I'm kind of used to it in a sense where I know what to expect. So it's interesting."


"As the pandemic started to grow and it became increasingly clear that we were encountering a pandemic. Our institution, just like other hospitals, transitioned to daily calls. So we had daily meetings on what was going on. We also had daily conferences with our national organization to say what is going on. So we kind of ramped it up like any type of disaster. We didn't think it would go on for a year and a half, though, it's still not over. But as part of our emergency preparedness or disaster planning protocol, we actually had daily calls to discuss what's our current situation."

"My friends here in Hawaiʻi, the communication hasn't changed as much because I'm still video chatting them anyway when I'm in Chicago. It's, it's different because I don't have as much physical hanging out time with, with friends whoever they are because of the, you know, the virus and social distancing. But it has changed the way that I interact with my friends a little bit..."

"I think for me, the main thing is -- and that's something I've been talking to my family, my close friends and my colleagues about -- what each of us can do to create a better new normal. I am trying to find ways of convincing people -- find ways for myself, also -- of figuring out, each in our own way, what we can do to not just return to the way things were, but to have a better new normal going forward. And there are things that each of us can do that can help, either spread the word or specific actions that we can take."

OTHER REFLECTIONS ON COVID-19

"So, I mean, it's going to sound weird, but I think that more as an individual now it's like everybody needs to pay more attention to their own lives and continue to get better personally. Because these things can happen at any given time and you need to have like a forté. You need to have a good foundation just in case this happens again or if it happens at a bigger scale. You have to look at. Well, you know, I guess, you have to support yourself. At least me, you know I'm looking from it from my perspective because I cannot look from other people's perspectives. But from my perspective, I need to continue to do good things and to get better as a person and to continue to develop good habits and get better at health and things like that."

"People here are so willing to help each other out. From what I've heard from people that aren't in America as well as on social media, but it does not seem that communities are rising up quite as much, you know, not to the level of how we are here in Hawai'i. Like with the food drive or food distribution, people wearing masks. I know we have some people here in the islands that don't want to wear masks because, you know, it impedes their freedom. But from what I've seen... since we have, you know, we have kind of a large Asian population here, too, and, people that come from Asia, they're really used to wearing masks. I mean, like Japan, everybody wears masks anyway. You have a cold, you wear masks because you don't want to give it to others. So there's that kind of, you know, if you're used to it or not. And I just think that people here really try to get along with their neighbors because you are eventually... you're either related to somebody that you don't know, but you, you know, that is out there or you're going to know somebody that is related to them."

A song by The Tidelands.

"And the song is a somber reflection, I guess, on the public health crisis. But with a glimmer of hope as well, especially in terms of the land being able to rest while we humans are kind of largely confined to our homes."

-- Matt Ito

A collection of poems written by Jeanette S. Akamine.

The “pandemic” is a blessing in disguise.
Closets and storage spaces were cleaned and
Emptied
More time was spent
Caressing my potted plants
Anthuriums, chives, ginger root, green onions,
Sweet potato leaves
Turmeric and various edible plants
Ah! What a
Bountiful Blessing

November 20, 2020

Betsy Morrigan bakes sourdough bread to share during pandemic times

Personal essay by Betsy Morrigan.

“It was the Best of Times, it was the Worst of Times. It was the Age of Wisdom, it was the Age of Foolishness.” (from Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.)

"I am lucky. I am a non-essential worker, a semi-retired senior citizen, a part-time college professor at Hawai`i Community College, working from a comfortable, peaceful home. The best of times for me as I have experienced the coronavirus pandemic were the early days of the lockdown here in Hawaii starting in March 2020..."

"And it also affected them because the traffic, or foot traffic, was drastically lower because everybody is now being quarantined and staying home with their dogs. So no one brought their dogs over for day care. And a lot of people, I guess, just didn't, you know, want to bring their dog in just because they had to stay home. "

Katie Jenkins

"I had a kidney infection. I had a bladder infection. I had just multiple things going on with me that it spread, and because of COVID-19 they were really hesitant to even accept me into the hospital. And as soon as my fever was below 100, they dismissed me, which caused me having to be rushed back to the ER later--few hours later--when, of course, these symptoms had not been fixed. And I didn't have proper medication, so overall COVID-19 was really impacting the hospitals as well because they just don't wanna keep anyone in there that they don't have to. It's a safety precaution, and I totally understand where they're coming from. It just was also disheartening that when I felt like I really needed someone's help, we couldn't get it because there are just so many other people that need help and need to be in a safe place keeping their distance. "

Think of this as something like an audio journal where you record your experiences and thoughts. In a traditional oral history, an interviewer will ask you questions to answer. For this project, you will be answering a set of questions that will help future researchers understand the impacts of COVID-19 on people's daily lives.