Pop Culture's Relation to the Coronavirus

    While it may seem that the coronavirus has had a negatively huge affect on pop culture, ironically, pop culture has mended its way into the pandemic. It has become a part of the pandemic. An example of this is a trend that began on Instagram in the U.S. called the #IStayHomeFor challenge. Many celebrities took part in this challenge trying to raise awareness of the coronavirus and how important it was for people to stay at home so that they were not only protecting themselves, but also those around them. Just a few of the celebrities who participated in this program include Emma Watson, Demi Lovato, and Milly Bobbie Brown.

Emma Watson participating in the #istayhomefor instagram challenge

Millie Bobbie Brown participating in the #istayhomefor challenge

Demi Lovato participating in the #istayathomefor challenge

    

    This trend then became a "thing" and all people (not just fans) jumped aboard the challenge as well, sharing their own personal reasons for staying home. This is clear evidence of the way pop culture has played a part in awareness of the coronavirus in the U.S.. However, we have also seen a how pop culture has become a part of the pandemic in other countries.

    Let's go over seas, and take a look at how Korean Pop (K-pop) has become a part of the pandemic in South Korea. Daegu, one of the largest cities in South Korea, was hit the hardest by the coronavirus. Many were being infected as the virus spreaded quickly. South Korean boy band, BTS, was truly hurt by this and decided to do what they could. Suga, one of the eldest members of BTS, was devastated because he lived and grew up in Daegu. As a result, he donated 100 million won (US $86,00) to Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association, to prevent the spread of the virus. Similarly, 11, 000 BTS fans, also known as A.R.M.Y (Adorable Representative MC for Youth) donated more than half a billion won to the same relief association. Many others used their ticket refunds from BTS' April concert to provide goods for those suffering due to the pandemic. This is just one of the very few ways that BTS has provided help and support during the coronavirus. 

    As is seen, pop culture is somewhat extremely important in relation to global health. It has taken a significant role in the coronavirus pandemic. We have seen this not only in the U.S., but also around the world.

   

Time to Fill Up!

     With the pandemic, we have seen many price fluctuations. Prices have increased immensely for some items, while prices for others have gone down. However, today, I want to focus on the price change in gas. I can remember about a week after the pandemic began, hearing my Dad come home from work telling all of us who had cars to go "fill up" soon, because the gas price had dropped to one dollar and twenty-five cents (one of the lowest prices seen in Kentucky in a very long time)! While I have not been living in the U.S. for long, this was the lowest I had seen gasoline prices in Kentucky. 

    I suppose it is pretty obvious that the reason for the price drop in gasoline was due to the road traffic dropping. Gasoline companies had no choice, but to drop their prices! The price remained low in my hometown for about a week. While it did seem almost pointless for me to fill my car up with gas while having nowhere to go, it was still nice to be able to fill up for such a low price and very interesting to see the almost full dollar decrease in gas. I was left completely in awe of how drastic of a change the pandemic could make in the environment. What I had not realized was that this gas price drop was just one of the few changes that would occur due to the pandemic.

                                    Gas price in my hometown at the beginning of the pandemic

Covid Binge or Covid Diet?

     The coronavirus has brought about many different things this year. One of them being a difference in the way people eat. People have either put on a lot of weight or lost a lot of weight. In my household there has been somewhat of a significant difference in the way that my family and I eat now versus how we ate before the start of this pandemic. 

    If I were to rate the way that my family eats in general I would say that it is pretty good. Even before the beginning of the pandemic my family would normally eat fresh, home cooked meals. We would eat out at restaurants once every 2-3 months! Of course we did have Cheez-Its in our pantry and ice cream in our freezer, but for the most part we tried to maintain healthy eating habits. 

    However, when the pandemic hit we had to alter our eating habits a little bit more. Of course, since all restaurants were closed at the time, we always ate at home. Also, we were almost forced to buy healthy food at the grocery store because most of the junk food was gone whenever we'd go grocery shopping. We would walk into through the aisles and almost all the prepackaged, unhealthy food was gone ( most likely due to the fact that people were stocking up on "easy" food). Ironically, it was a blessing. My family and I ate more fruits and vegetables, drank more water instead of soda, and as a result, lost a lot of weight while also gaining strength.

    Overall, I will have to say that our diet has improved since the pandemic began. We made an overall decision together, duding the pandemic,  that we would take care of our health, and diet was definitely a huge part of it. It was very easy for me to eat healthy before Covid-19 and even healthier during because my parents strictly believed in a healthy diet. 

"Hello From the Other Side"- College Communication Throughout a Pandemic

    What is key to a good relationship? What is key to a good marriage? What is key to anything, really? It's communication. Since the beginning of this pandemic, communication has changed greatly. It has brought challenges to business, schools, and people all over the world. For the little time that I have been in college, I have noticed how strange and difficult it is to communicate with not only faculty and professors but even peers due the coronavirus.

    Most of my classes this semester are online, as is the case for most students. Exams are coming up next week and I am slightly concerned. While I have taken plenteous notes, made note cards, and listened to numerous online lectures I feel as though I haven't learned anything. As a visual and active learner, being online has been quite difficult. It is of course nice to be able to roll out of bed and begin your school day , but grasping the material can be difficult online. When trying to communicate with my teachers over Zoom, an online face to face chat service, it seems as though some technical issue always comes up. For example, in my online Geo class today, my mic suddenly stopped working while I was trying to participate in a discussion. I had to log off of the app completely and rejoin the meeting only to find out that the discussion was over.

    Communicating with faculty through masks has been probably the most awkward. While both students and faculty understand the current situation, it does get somewhat annoying having to repeat yourself over and over again because you can't hear each other underneath the mask.

    Last, but definitely not least, communication with peers has been different. It's very difficult enough already meet people with restrictions, due to the pandemic, but it's also very difficult to get to know people. Every time conversations begin, the coronavirus comes up and it seems to takeover  the entire conservation. Suddenly, you end up simply talking about the problems it has caused rather than getting to know the individual. 

    Communication has definitely become a new experience. However, instead of looking at it as a problem, maybe this new way of communication will teach our society something new and help it develop as a whole.

Online college class on zoom

    

    

Coronavirus: What Am I To Believe?

    Since the beginning of this pandemic, different information about the coronavirus has been broadcasted throughout the media. News channels say one thing and government officials say another, while millions decided to use their own interpretation as their basis for the knowledge of this virus.

    If I'm being completely honest, throughout this pandemic, I have not really been following along with the latest news. I try my best to avoid it, because it always puts me in a bad mood. Occasionally, I will look at Apple News f only because it shows up on my laptop every day. Every now and then I look at the CDC and watch Fox News. I also will occasionally read journal articles from Universities. However, if I'm being honest I don't know who to trust. My parents will occasionally tell me what they hear on the radio, but even they don't whole-heartedly trust it. Whenever I watch the news, I normally only pay attention when a health official is speaking. I trust the direct words of a health official slightly more than that of other officials. However, even them I don't trust so much. Since the beginning of this pandemic, I've tried to filter all the information that I take in by following CDC guidelines. However, if I had to chose one source I would probably say journal articles from universities, simply because I know that they have research behind the information they are sharing. 

    

    As far as my family and friends I can't think of anyone who I believe is relying on faulty information because I don't really know what is faulty or what isn't. Because of that I have not really had any conflict in my life. 

    I would say that the reason I'm not sure who to trust or what to trust is because of how politicized the pandemic has become. This corona virus has almost somewhat brought a greater divide between people. I have not personally been affected, but have seen different things on social media grouping people who don't follow the CDC guidelines as republicans and those who do as democrats. Even if they don't say it directly, they imply it. This politicization of the coronavirus is starting to become slightly scarier than the virus itself. Are people going to loose their lives, because of their political party? Is someone going to put another individual at risk of attaining the virus, because there political beliefs are too important? There's not telling what will happen next due to the politicization of the corona virus!

    

Has It Made It's Way To My Floor?

    Everyday that passes by it's hard not to wonder if you will get the coronavirus. It seems like everyday you hear of somebody that sadly gets the virus. Coming to college I was a little worried knowing that I was going to be around a lot more people than I had been around since the pandemic began. 

    I moved in about a little in about five weeks ago. Since I lived quite near the university and there wasn't much going on at campus yet, I decided to go back home for a couple days. Moving in, eased my anxiety about being around so many people up until I received a text message from our dorm's group chat saying that someone from our dorm got the virus. I can remember laying on my bed at home that night, watching my phone get bombarded with text messages. Many people were getting pretty nervous, while others were trying to tell everyone to stay calm. Personally, I wasn't worried because the student had not even arrived on campus yet. 

 

    After staying home for a bit I went back to college. During move-in week, I was already hearing chit chat about parties. While many thought it would be fun, others, including myself, tried to warn them about bringing the virus not only to campus, but specifically, our dorms. I had a friend who was already being quarantined on campus, and I did not want that to happen to us. Unfortunately, many did not listen and that lead to a problem; someone on my floor got the corona virus. I remember the day I heard that news our floor was overpowered with the smell of lysol. I quickly walked into my room, pinching my nose to avoid the smell. After getting in my room, I was starting to worry not really about myself, but about bringing the virus to my family back home.

    Thankfully, since I've arrived on campus, nothing more/worse has happened to or around me in regards to the covid-19 . However, as a student all you can do is carry on with you daily life while following guidelines, and only hope and pray that you aren't the next to get the virus.

All Online?!

     We are approaching the four week mark since the beginning of classes. From eating at the student center to studying at the library to simply just hanging out with friends I have noticed many different things making me wonder if we will spend the rest of the semester on campus or not. If I were to give a definite answer as to how I think the semester would end, I would not only be lying to myself, but also to every one else. Personally, I believe that my viewpoints on the matter have changed from my first week here to now.

    The week I arrived at the university I was somewhat sure that within two weeks, we would be completely online.  I noticed a lot of students going out to parties, a lot of "non-social distancing", and also numerous students ignoring health guidelines when authorities weren't around. To be honest, I was a little worried not only about getting the Covid-19, but also not being able to stay on campus. However, after a couple of weeks my viewpoint changed.

    It wasn't till about my third week of being on campus, that I actually started to believe that we would be able to finish the semester on campus. After things slowed down a bit, and classes began to get "intense", I noticed a change in the actions of my peers. On my way to my in-person classes, I noticed more people keeping their masks on, more social distancing, and heard of less parties. Don't get me wrong though, all of these things are still happening on campus, just not as much as the first weeks.

     While I have complete faith in the university and am happy that they are doing so much to make sure everyone is safe, I do believe that it is in the hands of the students to determine whether or not we spend the rest of the semester on campus. From what I have observed lately, I do believe that we will be able to make it to the end of semester without having to completely go online. However, as mentioned earlier this is in the hands of the students and their actions can change at any moment. So, Big Blue Nation, what are we going to do about it?

First Week of Classes

     If there’s one thing I thought could not get more confusing, it was college. However, thanks to this worldwide pandemic, there has been a great change for colleges all across the world.

    About two weeks ago, classes started back up at the University of Kentucky ( the college I am attending). I was about to leave my dorm, but soon quickly remembered to grab my mask and sanitizer. As I started heading to my classroom building, I noticed multiple signs all across campus reminding students to wear their masks, wash their hands, and maintain a 6 feet distance between them and others. 

                                               Sign on table at Student Center promoting social distancing

Sign on table at Student Center encouraging students to watch their hands

    As I entered the classroom of one of my only two in-person classes, I felt extremely awkward walking into a large lecture hall containing only about 15 students. The professor stood behind a podium surrounded by what I comprehended as a plastic shielded wall. Finally, after an hour and fifteen minutes of us students trying to hear our professor behind her mask, class was over.

    On my way to lunch, I was stopped by a reporter who asked me multiple questions addressing how the adjustment to classes have been. Internally, I was saying how strange it was. However, after thinking about it (at least for the five seconds I had to think, before the reporter expected an answer), I replied saying that I knew the university was doing all they could to keep everyone safe and that ultimately everyone was just happy to be on campus.

WKYT asks students if they feel safe on campus