4/28/20 Alexandra Shinkareva Period 8

Modern Mythology 2020

Blog date: 04.28.20

Name: Alexandra Shinkareva

Period 8

Blogger number: 25

1. What is it like working from home?

I personally do not like working from home, however this is not what I expected my “working from home” experience to be like. When I went to school, there was a lot of structure, with school starting and ending at a particular time and classes being at the same time every day. Now, there is minimal structure and I miss the feeling of having lessons and actual assessments. Classes do have assigned days and times, but it is not mandatory to be there at that exact time and it is very easy to simply not do the work at the right time. While it is nice that I can wake up late and go to sleep late, everyday is starting to get repetitive and all the school assignments feel like busy work. I am thankful that I learned everything I need to know for my AP tests before we began working from home because I have learned almost nothing from the new topics that we have been doing. Homework is very easy and lessons do not feel as engaging. I also don’t like online assessments because it's very easy to cheat on them and it doesn’t even feel like an assessment anymore. I expected my “working from home” experience to be a lot more structured than it actually is.

2. What are the updates around the world/community regarding the virus?

I am writing this blog on April 30th, so there have been new updates since April 28th. One major update is that in America, jobless claims have surpassed 30 million, which is 12.4% of the workforce. This is a huge amount, considering that the normal unemployment rate is around 5%. This record was last broken in the early 1970s. This shows how America is continuing to plunge into an economic recession because of the virus. In addition, Americans cut back on spending by 7.5% in March, which is the biggest monthly decline since 1959. Because of this, businesses in a variety of fields are being hit. Another update is that the US death toll from the virus has exceeded 63,000 and the world death toll has exceeded 231,000 today. The third update is that Europe is already making plans to reopen and lift lockdowns. France set their date for the lockdown lift to May 11. Germany is going to start reopening small stores and some schools in the beginning of May. Other European countries, such as Spain, Portugal, and Greece have similar plans.

3. Your own personal feelings and thoughts about what is happening right now.

I don’t have many strong feelings about this whole situation, mainly because I am still absorbing everything that’s happening. This event is so widespread and hard-hitting that it is hard for me to even process what is happening, especially in NYC. Everyday, I take a quick look at the news to see what is happening around me and I am very thankful that it is not affecting me. My dad is an essential worker, so he has to go to work everyday. I am grateful to see him come home feeling healthy everyday. However, I still worry about my friends and extended family, as I already know people affected by the virus. Thankfully, those people have already recovered. I’m just sitting in my room, like everyone else, waiting for this virus to just magically disappear so I can go hang out with my friends and not have to worry about being 6 feet apart and wearing face masks everywhere I go.