5/28/20 Lillian Tong PD1

5/28/2020       Lillian Tong PD 1

Modern Mythology 2020

What is it like working from home?

     Some of the lessons thus far are really interesting as it allows you to research a little more by yourself as you read the lessons on your own time. There have been a lot of times in past classes where there would be something that catches my eye on a slide, I write a note down to look more into it when I’m at home, but I end up usually forgetting about it as my day goes on. Of course, there are a lot of elements that are missing from the at home setting that we would get from a more traditional classroom. The element that I miss the most is being able to interact with people on a personal basis as we go over literary lessons that have been passed down generations. It’s significantly different now, as I read through the slides at my own pace and the extra time helps me articulate my thoughts more clearly, but it’s difficult when I don’t understand something and get stuck at a concept; something that didn’t happen as I could rely on Ms. Fusaro to help me fill in the blanks and provide a deeper way to look at a scene. 

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

     As of writing the blog, the United States tops the charts with 1,662,768 cases. New York City’s own cases total around 370,000 with 29,000 deaths. Places like Long Island and Western New York have been reported to be in the process of reopening, which is great news. With cases plateauing, it gives hope to those who can be able to work again, such is a case as my family, but it also would be good to remember how fast things can spiral out of control out of nowhere, so it’s important to not jump the gun and be patient with how things are progressing.

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

     These past few weeks I’ve been reading the news and having conversations with my family and friends about the situation. Seeing as I am still young and inexperienced, it didn’t really hit me how real everything is, until my friend’s grandparents got it. It has worried my family how it might affect my grandparents, as they live near each other. It also is interesting how people react in these times; with videos surfacing online of stores rightfully turning away people refusing to wear masks to shop and these people would throw tantrums and threaten lawsuits, as well as videos of discrimination against Asian Americans that involve slander, harassment, and at its worse, extreme violence. It puts into perspective how far society has progressed only to be undermined by a few people who never really grew up to see beyond their own immature agendas.

5/28/2020 Iris Lee Period 5 (LATE)

Iris Lee (LATE)
5/28/2020
Period 5

What is it like working from home?
Now that I have school from home, the only commute is from my bed to my desk, which is pretty nice. However, it was difficult to adjust to remote learning. I was used to seeing my friends and in-person learning. It is more difficult now because I'm in a setting where I normally would come home and have a place to relax and unwind. It just feels like hours of homework everyday while your family also expects you to do other things around the house. Overall, working from home is just a sad and irritating adjustment.

What are the updates around the world/community regarding the virus?
Some states in the US have started to reopen. States like Texas, As of New York, it is anticipated to have businesses reopen soon. On May 10, there was a report of 190,000 people tested for the virus in the duration of two weeks. There is about 360,000 people with the virus and only about 1/6 of them actually recovered. The virus has killed over 23,000 people.

Your own personal feelings and thoughts about what is happening right now.
I personally feel sad about everything that is happening right now. Especially since New York's cases are very high in numbers. Also, not knowing if someone you are standing right next to has the virus is very frightening. Everything used to be so accessible but now we have to take precautions and a bunch of businesses have closed. I sure hope that the number of cases start to reduce and everything can go back to normal. I miss seeing my friends and being able to hangout with them and talk to them in person.

Meghan Stackhouse (LATE)
5/28/2020
Period 5
Sophomores 2020

Your own personal feelings and thoughts about what is happening right now:The strangest part when thinking about the current situation in the world is that it grew from something many of us joked about into something massive, that affects each and every one of our lives in completely different ways. We're all suffering a reality that nobody anticipated would reach this point of gruesomeness and chaos.What it's like working from home:Working from home I feel was a negative change for me personally. It suddenly became so much more difficult to communicate with teachers and your peers for something that if we were still physically in school, would take less than 3 minutes to talk about at the end of class. I enjoy not having to make the commute, but at this point I would take it if it meant life could feel more normal again.

Learning about the world/your community based on reactions:
I feel in a way as if people across the world's true colors began to show during quarantine. Even those who viewed themselves as extremely cautious and careful and followers of the rules are some of the same people you see acting the most carelessly, and taking the least precautions. While in the other hand, others who might not have anticipated such a sharp change in daily life where everything has suddenly become a danger are embracing the needs of others and doing their part, like frontline nurses and essential workers.

5/14/20 Michael Zverev Period 7 (LATE)

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

Here are some up-to-date facts according to CNN outlets: The US reported 18,611 new cases of Covid-19 and 693 related deaths on Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That raises the national total to at least 1,680,913 cases and 98,913 deaths. The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. Peru reports more than 5,000 new coronavirus cases Worldwide restrictions: Australia angered China by calling for a Covid-19 investigation. Now Beijing is targeting its exports Google plans to reopen some offices in July Employees at those locations will be able to return to the office, but each will be limited to about 10% building occupancy at first, with plans to grow to 30% capacity by September. Antibody tests for Covid-19 are wrong half the time, CDC says Coronavirus model now projects 11,000 fewer deaths in the US by August As states began reopening, IHME upped its forecast for the number of US deaths, based in part on cell phone mobility data that showed people moving around more. But the institute began revising its projections downwards last week, saying an expected increase in infections had not yet occurred. Latin American countries are getting hit hard. Most are in their current worse state. 

What is it like working from home? 

Personally I enjoy working from home. I always valued the ability to schedule my studies around times that are convenient for me. At this point in the quarantine, it seems like every day is just getting faster and faster. After completing my AP assignments, it is finally time to relax a little bit and finish off the school year strong. Getting my assignments online really helps me out as well because i am able to work at my own pace, creating a schedule that works for me and allows me to get work done. Also, it feels like i have more time to myself, and it feels like i'm able to put more effort into my work because of it. After having some time for myself everyday, I naturally put more passion into my work because I'm always content with myself almost everyday. Another thing is that i am definitely more focused on myself now instead of worrying about unimportant issues, which really helps out with my mental health, and that translates into my schoolwork and assignments. 

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

At this point in time, it seems obvious that people are beginning to get tired of quarantine. People are starting to go out and not social distance like their county is immune to the coronavirus or something. I understand that people miss each other, but warm weather does not mean the pandemic is over. Personally, I have gone to see my friends many times and I came back safe. But even i practiced social distancing to protect my loved ones had i caught something. Another thing that bothers me is the threat of a larger second wave due to the increased openings of counties across the nation. I think that we need to play our cards correctly, because opening too early will lead us into a state that would be much worse than the one we have experienced already. This would prove detrimental to our economy and status as a nation. As far as legislation is concerned, I believe the state of NY could have held the situation a little better. I think certain funds need to be redirected to more pressing issues, such as towards homeless shelters, and healthcare, instead of direct general funding to agencies such as WHO and the CDC. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to fund them for research and cure purposes, but it just felt like we left our people behind in the short run. Hopefully we can find a cure and vaccine to prevent a catastrophe like this ever happening again

4/17/2020 Timothy Yao Period 1 - LATE

Timothy Yao
5/25/20
Modern Mythology Blog: April 17
What is it like working from home?


Working from home is slowly becoming more tolerable, there aren’t that many significant
occurrences. My family works from home so there isn’t much time to interact with them
despite being with them all day. I enjoy having the voice chats on the discussions because
the teachers and classmates bring up interesting things to talk about and it fills space
between boring times. This work that we received has become more tedious, but we get
used to it.

What are the updates around the world/community regarding the virus?
People are slowly easing in relations to the quarantine, apparently more rural areas have
nearly fully re-opened. According to an infection rate map I saw, apparently almost all
infections are isolated to urban areas of the US, New York being the largest in amount, so
rural areas are more or less safe to re-open in a limited regard. Still we should exercise an
extent of caution in this.

Your own personal feelings and thoughts about what is happening right now.
Personally, I’m indifferent. I didn’t have much to do anyways and being forced to stay home
made me realize all the things I’ve forgotten to do, mainly I’ve been dedicating more time to
my hobbies and interests while at home. Still I hope that we re-open some time soon, but we
might be like this for multiple periods, apparently in person colleges are aiming to end before
the winter since that’s when it’s expected for the virus to hit again.

5/21/20 Derek Coffey Period 1

Derek Coffey
5/21/20

1. What are the recent updates around the world regarding the virus?
At this time in our collective battle against the virus, there have been many different sources of information. The news networks, social media, and of course reactions from friends and family all contribute to our collective knowledge about the current status of the “invisible enemy”. At times it has been difficult to know where to go for unbiased, unfiltered facts about important information such as the mortality rate and safety of certain activities. The differing perspectives seem to many times be fueled by political sides and personal experiences. For example a nurse working in the ICU seeing people breathing with the help of a ventilator on a regular basis is going to have a different opinion than a small business owner who just wants to be allowed to open as to have a chance to survive the economic hardship. This is essential to understand when talking to people in regards to the virus as everyone has a unique experience that has lead them to shape their own opinion. With that being said, there are certain facts that need to lead our decisions as a local community, state, and country in the upcoming weeks. First off, we are seeing through the data that the coronavirus is not nearly as deadly as we once anticipated. This has nothing to do with doctors opinions because statistics do not care. People under 60 that are healthy are extremely likely to recover from the virus. Secondly, the states that have been reopening are showing it can be done safely and without leading to a second wave that infectious disease experts such as Dr. Fauci has been warning about. States such as Florida have been doing an excellent job by utilizing their private sector and local governments to make sure that businesses do have the choice to open while following all of the social distancing that we have become accustomed to in the last two months. These two points that the virus isn't deadly for people under 60, and we can reopen safely (hence Florida, Georgia, and many other states) should be large factors as we consider how and when to reopen the country.

2. I am learning a lot about my community as well as family and friends throughout the pandemic. I’ve learned a lot about people's priorities including my own, as every activity that we’ve enjoyed our entire lives have been stripped from us. Personal liberty has been taken in the name of safety. Also I have learned a lot about my friends and who I will continue to be close with for the rest of my life and who maybe we shared just a brief moment as high school friends. Based on the reactions of the many people I've spoken to about the virus I have listened to many different viewpoints ranging from those who think we should have never shut down and those who believe we cannot open without a cure (which is nonsense).

3. My own personal opinion on the situation before us is fairly simple. We have all sacrificed a great deal to contain the health crisis to this point. This was not our fault as Americans. For me personally, one day everything was normal. I had my first game of my senior year baseball season. As many of my peers I was looking forward to completing my high school journey with events such as prom, graduation and many more. The next day, everything changed. And frankly I am not upset about missing out. Why? I have a friend who lost his Dad to covid. Nothing I could miss out on would be able to compare on the scale of losing a family member. So I am thankful everyday for the health of my family and pray it continues. Many more people would have lost their mothers, fathers, grandparents if we didn’t sacrifice all that we have. Maybe a million Americans would die if we continued with our business. So it was the right decision at that time when our hospitals were reaching capacity, and there was still much to learn about the coronavirus. 2 months later, we find ourselves with the inevitable repercussions from the shutdown. Nearly 40 million Americans have applied for unemployment. Suicides have skyrocketed as well as drug use. And being in New York, it still remains unclear when our normal lives will return. Most hospitals are currently less than half capacity and losing more money everyday from the loss of elective surgery which they make most of their money from. We have done our part by staying inside to prevent a disaster and flatten the curve. Now it's time to get our Country back.

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.