March 24th,
2020 – the day I left Canada – was a year ago. Getting to the airport and being
seen off by people other than my parents. Making my way through air travel
during a pandemic. Being received by my family after finally landed in Oregon. Life
goes on, but in unexpected ways.
Coming home to family has allowed me to reposition myself with many activities,
ranging from remotely writing academic papers to participating in eternal
hobbies like Toastmasters. At the same time, departing Canada forced me to
cancel research plans in-progress, placing me in a difficult position professionally.
During this comparative stability, however, I faced the tragedies of losing an
uncle in July 2020 to COVID-19 and losing my grandmother
in October 2020 to elderly age. For my uncle, a Zoom funeral prayer. For my
grandmother, a Zoom celebration of life that my family and I put together.
Managing these difficult emotions pushed me to remain active in my hobbies and
work in lockdown. This process has remained arduous, but now I feel comfortable
in sharing how my year has gone.
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Here is the chronicle of my time from March 2020 to March 2021, reflecting a
most turbulent of times. For the purposes of brevity, I am sharing the parts of
my pandemic experience that are especially prominent.
This post is split into sections:
1. Professionalism in a pandemic
2. Resuming healthcare
3. Seeing all of nature
4. Keeping entertained and adjusted
5. Disability advocacy
Professionalism in a pandemic
During this year, I have experienced many unique experiences, even while
enveloped by a quarantine. In April 2020, I shared the results of my research
project abruptly cut short. I submitted three literature reviews since then,
receiving two publications in the process. (As luck would have it, just yesterday
I learned that my most recent paper has been accepted with minor revisions.)
Alongside these efforts,
graduate school applications maintained a grip on my attention. The typically
grueling graduate school application process was made even more challenging by
lengthy periods of Zoom interviews and an especially competitive atmosphere. In
parallel, lab meetings with my group from Canada continued, filling in my
schedule. Even now, I have found yet another project to keep me occupied while
I cement major life decisions.
Resuming healthcare
Of course, healthcare changed dramatically for everyone. For the first few
months of lockdown, I did not pursue any medical appointments (which may have
been normal for many others as well). After getting situated, the courage
returned. In late June, I received a bone density scan followed by an in-person
neurology appointment the next month. During this time, I even restarted
physical therapy, providing me a rare chance to converse with people outside my
household. (Of course, this experience was improved by everyone’s commitment to
risk mitigation.) Since that time, physical therapy has been regular for me. In
August, my other regular appointment – counseling – was reinstated, albeit over
the phone. Though the changes to my healthcare were significant, I found myself
especially lucky in this regard. Because of my condition, my parents and I received
the COVID vaccine earlier than expected; our vaccination was completed as of
February 20th. (I covered this experience in detail in a previous post.) Outside of formal medical appointments, I also initiated daily walks to
maintain my health and stave off boredom, allowing me to construct a skeletal
form of a routine.
Seeing all of nature
This section of the post will largely consist of photographs, rather than any explanation. By and large, these photos come from Oregon, with a big exception in Mt Rainier (located in Washington state).
Blossoms at home: Mar 27 2020
City blossoms: March 29 2020
The glow of blossoms at night: March 30 2020
Pink sea: April 25 2020
Ducks: May 2020
Japanese Garden: June 2020
Rose Garden: June 2020
Crater Lake, Oregon: July 2020
Waterfront geese: August 2020
Smoky days: September 8 2020
Cannon Beach, Oregon: October 2020
Yachats, Oregon: October 2020
Beautiful skyline:
October 2020
Mt
Hood National Forest: November 2020
Mt Rainier: December 2020
Arboretum: December 2020
Christmas lights drive-through: December 2020
Mt Hood revisit: January 2021
Unexpected peacocks: January 2021
Surprise snowfall: February 2021
Ducks: March 2021
Astoria: March 2021
Silver Falls: March 2021 (second visit of Pandemic!)
Tulip Farm: March 2021
Keeping entertained and adjusted
The trend of Jackbox games and other online pursuits certainly did not pass me by. Even as of April 2020, I was participating in Jackbox nights and weekly trivia quiz contests. Unfortunately, this trend largely trailed off around July 2020, when restrictions loosened across the US (especially on the east coast). As an early pandemic endeavor, it sufficed in keeping boredom at bay until the situation was better sorted out.The time around my birthday in quarantine is especially memorable. A great personal triumph of mine was hosting a trivia game remotely with my older sister – on Skype of all things – on May 16th, allowing us to devise many difficult but fair questions. The next day, she surprised me with a Google Meet Jackbox game night, which is about the most 2020 thing someone could ask for. She managed to invite multiple of my friends and some mutual friendships cultivated through Online Activities.
My birthday itself fell on Monday, allowing for me to experience both a Toastmasters meeting and an excellent salmon dinner prepared by my mother. Furthermore, she created a cheesecake while my younger sister prepared a cookie cake. I greatly enjoyed both! All in all, a remarkable triumph within the quarantine. (Various birthday-related photos below.)
This time also proved
to be prosperous for my time in Toastmasters. My local group made their
first Zoom meeting on March 23rd – just the day before I left Canada
– introducing me to the digital sea of remote visits that would follow. The Canadian
group I joined started online just two short weeks later. The act of
participating in meetings was straightforward. Some aspects proved far more
stubborn, though. For the first several months, I found giving prepared
speeches disorienting. At some point, the gears clicked into place, especially as
I used speeches to capture my own experiences.
During the pandemic,
I have accomplished many feats in both organizations, including:
1. Proposing novel formats for online Toastmasters meetings (October – November 2020)
2. Judging one Club Contest (Jan 31st 2021) and participating in two other Club Contests (Feb 8 and March 10th 2021) as a contestant
3. Giving a 22-minute keynote speech that I invited multiple guests to see (Feb 22nd 2021)
4. Delivering a speech where I managed a difficult audience
5. Arranging a mock United Nations night where participants got to be diplomats (March 1st 2021)
6. And maintaining extremely consistent attendance for both clubs during a global emergency!
Though I have learned how to effectively lead and speak in the remote world, I still dearly miss the in-person experience of Toastmasters. The previous such experience was a Speech Contest in Canada held on March 11th 2020, which passed us by recently. My intention is to continue Toastmasters, ‘when this is all over’, but with the insights learned from a year on Zoom.
Since late May, I
have continued my participation in the Japanese Conversational Club, which has
generally met every week during the pandemic. In August, I began attending a
second group (which had begun collaborating with our club). Throughout the
pandemic, regularly studying Japanese conversation and writing has been a major
part of my experience. Like with Toastmasters, I very much intend to continue
this journey even after the mask era.
Disability advocacy
Alongside these efforts to keep my mind fresh, I also continued to work with
disability advocacy. For example, I published an article focusing on ADHD and leadership, using media as an example. This article was in-progress even as
early as mid-March – it was the last work I remember performing in Canada with
other people still present. Its publishing just last month, in February 2021,
was a great cause for celebration. At the same time, I spoke with advocacy groups
in Canada, even giving accessibility suggestions for the University of Alberta’s
Student Union Building. Recently, my interest in working with the Muscular
Dystrophy Association (in the US) was rekindled and I am in the process of
building those ties.
Ultimately, there are a million and zero words that can possibly describe this
time. Throughout the pandemic, I have experienced tragedy, personal and
existential, but am still making my way forward. The fortune of receiving the
vaccination already also gives me the chance to properly plan my future. May I
have many more tales to tell through this format and others!
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