INTERVIEW OF ANTHONY POOTA (13 YEAR OLD BROTHER)

Q1: Do you like wearing a mask?

A1: Yes, I don’t care.

Q2: Do you like doing your classes online?

A2: Not at all.

Q3: Explain in depth why you don’t like taking your classes online.

A3: I don’t like sitting in front of a screen for that long. It feels like we aren’t even learning, we just have to turn in our busy work by 11:59. It’s easier to get tardy’s because of my computer acting up. Class in person would be much easier. It’s not as fun, I don’t get to see any of my friends.

Q4: When do you think school will be normal again?

A4: Probably the middle of the 2021 schoolyear. Hopefully a little sooner but being realistic, probably that time or later.

Q5: Have you or any of your friends gotten Covid-19?

A5: I haven’t, my friend Joseph got it. He stayed at home for 3 weeks when he got it and just played videogames the entire time.

Q6: How has Covid-19 affected your mental health overall?

A6: I’ve been way more stressed with school and sooooooo bored.

Today is Saturday the 5th of December, morale is at an all time low. Just kidding, living with covid is normal now. As I am reflecting on the past few months I’ve realized a few things. Masks are completely normal to me now, I always keep mine in my left pocket with my wallet and keys. Something else I realized is that we’re not too far away from Covid-19’s 1st birthday. It’s scary to say that out loud, I can’t explain how uneasy I feel when I ask myself how much longer life is going to be like this. I feel that a lot of people at this point have lost motivation in completing everyday tasks. I know I have had a much harder time maintaining a healthy sleep schedule, especially waking up early for classes. All I can do is take things one week at a time, hopefully I make it through my first finals week in online college.

INTERVIEW OF MICHAEL KONJA (pictured)

Q1: How has this pandemic affected you directly?

A1: I’ve started working out almost every day now. Coming out of Highschool I was absurdly scrawny now I’m starting to develop a decent frame while staying on task with my schoolwork.

Q2: What do you think about the rules Governor Whitmer has put in place?

A2: The rules she put in place mean nothing when they’re so openly ignored. I feel like most people don’t even listen to what she says anymore. A lot of restaurants have tents set up outside or have built a small dining room outdoors just to abide by the “outdoor dining” rule. What is the point of that? Do people think they won’t get Covid if they eat in a tent? If there’s no one actively enforcing these rules what is the point of them?

Q3: How has online school affected your transition to college?

A3: Well I’m currently at Michigan State University and want to go to med school. Because of this I’m taking bio this semester. Online bio lectures make me want to drop out. My grades aren’t even as good as I thought they would be considering everything is online.

Q4: How do you think this pandemic has affected your mental health?

A4: I think I’m going a little bit crazy, but just about everyone is. You literally shaved your bald in March. I’ve spent so many hours on tiktok it’s getting bad.

Q5: If you could change 1 thing about Covid-19 what would it be?

A5: Well first of all I wish it could only be transferred through saliva or blood. That would kill the spread, that would also mean masks would most likely not be mandatory. Do you know how uncomfortable masks get after wearing them for 9 hours straight?

Powerhouse, WestBloomfield. Me and my friends have been working out more often to keep in touch with reality during this pandemic.

Today is Thanksgiving. A lot of people are spending their night with only their immediate family, and a lot of people are not. Regardless of what each person is doing tonight one thing is clear, this pandemic has largely impacted our Thanksgiving. My family decided to quarantine ourselves and get tested before Thanksgiving came around so that we could have a small gathering while still being safe. Although it hurts to not be able to have a normal Thanksgiving some people are taking it better than others. Some of my classmates stayed at home with their immediate family and cooked enough food for them, and their usual guests. My family started heading over to our cousins house when most families Thanksgivings were already over, it’s how Chaldeans do things. We couldn’t include our grandparents because we didn’t want to put them at risk. So many sacrifices this year, altogether I think most people found a way to enjoy Thanksgiving anyways.

Today is Friday the 20th of November, it’s been 5 days since I was first exposed to COVID. I decided that I would go to urgent care and get tested today. I wanted to avoid the test but since I had no symptoms whatsoever I felt like I needed to know if I was asymptomatic, or didn’t have COVID at all. I got there around 4 in the afternoon and went inside. I was disappointed, but not shocked, to hear that I’d have to come back at 6 to actually get tested. I didn’t want to drive home so I went to get some food and camped up in the parking lot on FaceTime with my girlfriend Erica. Finally it hit 6 and I went back inside to hopefully get tested. Nope, I was told to park in the back in a specific spot and that a physician would be out to speak to me soon. Unfortunately I ended up waiting 40 more minutes in my car before the physician arrived and another 25 minutes for his assistant to actually perform the test. Finally the assistant came to my car and gave me the test, I can’t even explain how weird it felt. I was thankful it wasn’t painful, just an uncomfortable feeling. I actually thought my nose was bleeding afterwards and I asked the assistant if it was. Overall a very interesting experience that I hopefully won’t have to deal with again.

Today is Wednesday the 18th of November, nothing special is going on nowadays. My sister came home a few days ago and found out she has COVID. Because I’ve been exposed I told my boss that I probably have it and she told me not to come to work for 2 weeks. I was laying low doing classwork and watching Netflix when my boss called me and said the office is getting partially shut down. This was the best news I’d receieved all month, I’ve been aching to work from home. After setting up my laptop and working 1 shift I had much better sales than usual, all while being at the comfort of my desk. Being a contractor from home is everything I’ve wanted and more, things are starting to look better for me.