5/7/20 Belinda Zhang Period 1

Belinda Zhang Blogger #33
Modern Mythology PD 1
05/07/20

1. What is it like working from home?

With the AP tests beginning next Monday, remote learning has been especially difficult
this week. This year, the AP tests are being administered digitally at home, marking an
unprecedented moment in AP exam history. The tests are open-book, have multiple forms, and
will consist only of free-response questions in efforts to deter cheating. Our teachers have been
incredibly supportive in helping us prepare, providing us with review material and hosting
Google Meets to explain key concepts, go over AP rubrics and practice questions, and answer
our questions live. However, without in-person instruction and practice, it has been hard to get
feedback on my work in order to identify and understand my mistakes.
Of course, maintaining focus and self-discipline are also great challenges when studying
at home. To help combat this, I’ve started to use the SelfControl app on my computer and utilize
the Pomodoro studying technique. The Pomodoro method divides work into 25-minute intervals
with 5-minute breaks in between, helping me stay focused since I’m only required to stay on task
for 25 minutes at a time. Following this technique also helps to create some structure in my
studying schedule. I use this website to time the intervals: https://tomato-timer.com/. Meanwhile,
the SelfControl app allows me to block certain distracting websites on my computer for periods
of time such as YouTube, Instagram, Netflix, etc.

Reflecting on the past 2 months of working at home, I feel that I’ve experienced certain
“stages” of productivity and enthusiasm, and perhaps other people might be able to relate to this.
I can best compare this idea to the seven stages of grief, except it’s the stages of… a global
pandemic. But firstly, of course, I’m aware of the immense privilege in even having the option to
work from home and being able to stay in a safe household where I can have time for myself.
Around the beginning of quarantine, or the first “stage”, everyone around me had a surge
of motivation to be productive and make the most out of this time stuck at home, declaring that
we would not only get ahead on work but also pick up some new hobbies, get into shape, learn to
cook, you name it. But this just ended in me being quite harsh on myself, feeling guilty or
insufficient if I wasn’t studying, exercising, baking a cake, and reading a new book all day and
every day. In “stage” 2, I noticed that many started to accept that it wasn’t necessary to be
constantly productive and I too realized it was alright to slow down and take some time for
myself. But in the third stage, I took this permission to relax a bit too seriously, falling off the
rails for a bit until stage 4, where I began to find my balance. Currently, I am still working
towards completely achieving this balance while also growing to appreciate the smaller, more
mundane things in everyday life.


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

As of May 7, 2020, there are a total number of 3,912,156 COVID-19 cases worldwide,
1,292,623 cases in the United States, and 337,421 cases in New York State. The CDC recently announced six new COVID-19 symptoms which included chills, repeated shaking, muscle pain,
headache, sore throat, and the new loss of taste or smell (https://www.gbmc.org/the-cdc-
announces-six-new-covid-19-symptoms).

New York remains the most impacted state in the US, with 337,421 total cases and
26,365 total deaths, and New York City makes up 173,288 of these cases. The New York State
on PAUSE order is still in effect. NYC has announced that starting on May 11 th next week, the
city will work with the lab company BioReference to test up to 140,000 people for COVID-19
antibodies free of charge, testing 5,000 people a day (https://www.bioreference.com/how-to-get-nycs-free-covid-19-antibody-test/). This information will help the CDC estimate the total number
of people who have been infected with the virus and collect demographic data from those being
tested. The tests also allow the CDC to learn more about how COVID-19 affects the immune
system and how it spreads among those exposed. Also, yesterday morning, NYC began its
subway shutdown, closing the subway system for the first time in 115 years in order to carry out
overnight disinfection of trains, stations, and equipment. For those traveling, the subway is now
remaining closed from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. daily.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/nyregion/nyc-subway-close-coronavirus.html

There was also recently a health alert sent out regarding a pediatric multi-system
inflammatory syndrome that is observed among children and is potentially associated with the
coronavirus. Symptoms resemble those of shock and Kawasiki disease, including fever, cardiac
inflammation, and abdominal pain. PICUs in NYC have reported 15 patients of ages 2-15 who
have been hospitalized with symptoms associated with this syndrome. Some of them had tested
positive for COVID-19 while others had not.
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/han/alert/2020/covid-19-pediatric-multi-
system-inflammatory-syndrome.pdf


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

As said by Max Brooks in his take on the pandemic in the article we read for class today,
having a “unified, single voice” is crucial in handling the virus. Furthermore, he notes how we
need to be letting facts and science based on the advice of qualified experts dictate that voice.
Yet, I feel that we not only lack unity in our country right now, but we also have been witnessing
many actions that go against facts and science. There was no centralized national response to the
pandemic and conflicting information, some false, about the virus still continue to circulate,
resulting in divided reactions and approaches to the pandemic. Some Americans still believe that
the flu is more of a threat than COVID-19, while some claim that the virus is a “hoax” and others
protest social distancing guidelines, even comparing quarantine to slavery. Many protestors in
states like Michigan, Florida, NY, and more have broken lockdown guidelines, underestimating
the virus and fighting for inessential enjoyments such as haircuts while medical professionals
push to help COVID-19 patients fight for their lives. In Las Vegas, Mayor Carolyn Goodman
had called for the reopening of nonessential businesses and casinos, while refusing to take any
responsibility in providing social distancing guidelines to do so safely. I am very concerned
about our lack of a unified voice, and the dangerous and irreversible effects that may result from
it.

Furthermore, not only is there disunity among approaches to the pandemic, but also
among our communities. Although COVID-19 has most of America at home, the tension
between racial groups seems to have only grown stronger. At the onset of the pandemic, the
unsubstantiated hostility towards Asian Americans was appalling and dangerous. And recently,
recordings of violent social distancing arrests in NYC of people of color starkly contrasted
photos of officers handing out masks to non-POC groups gathered in parks, causing public
outrage. These arrests happened in areas including Alphabet City and East New York, and
disturbing footage spread on social media afterwards. Looking forward, as our ability to defeat
this virus depends on working together, I can only hope that our communities will come out of
this pandemic more unified and empathetic towards each other.