Dublin Core
Title
Jackie Gassler oral history
Subject
Jackie Gassler oral history of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Description
Jackie Gassler oral history of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Creator
Stephanie Czeslowski
Date
12/2/2020
Language
Emglish
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Stephanie Czeslowski
Interviewee
Jackie Gassler
Location
Zoom
Transcription
Could you just tell me alittle about yourself, who you are, where you went to school, and all of that?
I’m Jackie Gassler. I went to school at FIT, which is the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York [City]. I was an illustration major and I just finished up my last year the start of this year. I'm a comic book artist. I like that kind of stuff. I do that in my free time.
If you remember the [Coronavirus] pandemic was declared a pandemic on March 11th , do you remember what was happening in your life at the time, like schoolwise and all of that?
I remember when it kind of got more serious, I guess. We were in, me and my friend, were actually in one of our digital design classes, and he was freaking out about getting sick. I was like, “Nick, you're not gonna get sick.” He’s kind of like a little bit of a hypercondriac with like if you even mention any kind of sickness he thinks he has it at some point. So of course he was like look at the symptoms. And he was asking me what the symptoms were. I was like you don't have any of these like you're okay. It's okay right now. He’s fine so yeah. It was fine. But I remember that happening and that was the last day before we didnt go back anymore. So I think that was different and what else? I remember, cause I got up at six in the morning to get on the train to get to school. So I think I remember my mom saying, “This is your last day like before.” Cause I think we were gonna do a week out of school. And then they were gonna try and figure out what they wanted to do afterwards. And I think that was the last day of saying I think this is probably gonna be our last day of school. And I was like yep. This is probably gonna be the last day. It was an interesting experience. To say the least.
With you being an art student what was that like having to transition into online classes?
Most weren't that bad just because in my thesis class, and we had just general illustration classes. So we had so a lot of that was already like, if you're doing like digital art you’re on your computer anyway doing your stuff sitting in the classroom. And it's very individualized, even if you're doing traditional art you're sitting at this thing doing your traditional art. So really being able to do it at home literally was just like “okay I don't have to sit in my class anymore I just sit at home and do it instead.” So that wasn't that hard to like to transfer over. But then I had a live model class where you literally every week had nude models come in to pose and you would have to do like sketches of them. So that didn't happen anymore. It was mostly just got turned into him going, “Okay here's this one person pictured. Just draw this from the screen.” So it kind of didn't really transition well. And then we had teachers that just gave up and were like never mind. Were not doing class anymore apparently. And that was like the easy business class. I don't know why. I think he just gave up and didn't know how to use the computer. So that was kind of it. That was interesting.
With last semester being your senior semester, your last semester of school, and that being cut short what do you miss most about going to school? And what do you feel like you missed out on with it ending the way that it did?
I think mostly I probably miss the people that I went to school with and like teachers obviously. I think cause a lot of the art stuff was getting really individualized you really weren't doing things in groups. It was very like to yourself. But I think the people that we had a very small major and by the end of it, it was even smaller, so I think you kind of got very close knit to the people that are around you. So I think that, that definitely, like we still talk to each other like we have a group chat and discord and we [talk] to each other. But I think seeing them every day was like okay we won't see eachother anymore that's kind of sad. So I think that was definitely probably the most, the thing that was like disappointing was I didn’t get another how many months with like the people I liked so.
You already lived at home and with commuting but what was it like to then have to be at home and stay at home? And not then have the outlet of going to school?
I mean definitely I don't miss commuting because I was literally going for the week of like waking up at five in the morning or no six in the morning catching a seven oclock train getting to school at nine and then having to go in directly to the class and then being in class from nine in the morning to nine at night and then getting on a train and then getting home at midnight. I don't miss that at all. That was a terrible experience I never want to continue. So that was fine not having to do that anymore. But definitely just being inside and not going out and everything. We didn't have too many breaks at school but it was still cool to just walk around the city and just walk around the streets and just kind of kill time. You kind of miss that like a little bit of that like, not freedom, but just a little bit like just change of scenery. I think that definitely was a, yeah I think just the change of scenery, liking being in a different state also. Cause like where I live is very like suburbia so it was just having the city of like, I was gonna say street walking but I’m not gonna say that, just it was different. I think that was definitely having to adjust back to just being in the suburbs full time.
With that adjustment and obviously everything in the world being crazy what are some of the things you do to kind of like cope with all of this and kind of like take your mind off of everything?
For me I was mostly, since this all started I was doing a lot more, well after school kind of ended I got to do a little more, but I’m a self publisher for my comics and everything. So I definitely dov into that more. I started a new series called Vices and I actually recently within the past few months got the first issue out and now I’m working on the second. Because I'm still inside and don't do much other than go to my regular job. So I think definitely being able to like write and draw and that kind of stuff with my comics definitely kept me sane in a way. And being able to kind of like, I had so much time on my hands that I had to do something cause I was getting a little bit stir crazy. I was like I’m sitting here not doing anything so I had to create something. So having a comic to self public was very nice.
Is there anything you wanna talk about? Is there anything that stuck out for you in this whole thing?
Stuck out? I think it was interesting that like I mean, I feel like everyone has the story of really being secluded in their house and not being able to go out so I think that it was interesting what came from that. Like everyone definitely handled it differently. Like I have so many friends, I have you and Lauren, like how you guys handled it versus people that I knew from school, versus people that I knew from home and everything. I think just like how everyone just probably got to know themselves a little too much. Cause I definitely know people who are life friends who are saying stuff like oh what they did during, just like being in the house and everything. So I think it was interesting to like your stuck inside with yourself for weeks on end and having to deal with yourself is probably not the best for that long. I think that was definitely something that stuck out was just.. You think about a lot of things. I think being alone with your thoughts was definitely a little eye opening I think. You change and you grow.
I think just from me knowing you for so long [eight years] how have you been coping with not being able to go to concerts?
Oh my god that's been terrible. I mean I think with the last one I went to I wanted to say it was in January and we saw Motionless [in White] I think in New York [City]. If I knew then what I know now I would have totally went harder at that concert. In the beginning I used to go to like one concert per month or every few months and everything. So definitely not being able to go see live music has been hard. And I have to deal with just like the people, cause I mean even them [the artists] are not really creating to, too much because a lot of people can't be together and create a lot of music. So I think even like there are slow realises and everything but it's been hard. But I;m also saving money on it. So like I think that's also a thing of like well I’m not going out as much but I’m also I can spend more money on other things. So I think it’s kind of a give and take. But also like I know that once they start opening up more and being able to do live music I think I’m definitely gonna go a little overboard with that and just go to like every single thing I can get to, to like make up from this year. I was gonna see Rammstein so I;m missing that.
How has it been for you trying to stay in contact with the people that you used to see like on the reg, every day, every other day, like all the time? How's that been?
For me I think, I have my one really good friend Taylor from school and I mean like we've, she’s lived at school for all four years so we've always talked to each other. So that's been no problem of staying in contact. I remember before I said that our illustration department has a group chat that we all get to talk about and talk about like art projects that were doing and if we need help. It was like a nice so we kind of stay together. Definitely with you guys it was nice to hang out with you that one time at the park. That was a good break from this. My other friend, my home friend from high school, we do talk a little more. It's interesting cause you don't really get to see them as much as or at all as you used to so you have to find more things to do without seeing each other. Like definitely we've done a lot more movie nights of just like screen recording and like trying to hang out and watch movies or zoom calls and everything. But definitely a lot more movie nights that we've been doing of like just groups of watching movies and shows that we've been wanting to watch. So that was very nice.
So kind of along that vein any unforeseen benefits from this whole thing?
To this? Well again I really like that I got my comic out that I;ve wanted to do so I think that was a benefit. I think I wouldn't have had time to do this. So I think that was a good benefit of all of this. I don't have to wake up at six oclock in the morning anymore and go on the train for two hours one way. So that's very good. I don't have to get home at midnight. So that was good. As much as I said that it's hard to be alone with yourself for a while I think it was good to like kind of step back and you have to kind of reevaluate yourself in a way. So think that was like a good growing technique of just having to live with yourself and be by yourself cause like I mean honestly when all this eventually passes most of us will be moving on to more of an adult life of having to move out from your parents and that kind of thing. I think it's like interesting, maybe this was some sort of not first try but like an interesting way to think about it.
I’m Jackie Gassler. I went to school at FIT, which is the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York [City]. I was an illustration major and I just finished up my last year the start of this year. I'm a comic book artist. I like that kind of stuff. I do that in my free time.
If you remember the [Coronavirus] pandemic was declared a pandemic on March 11th , do you remember what was happening in your life at the time, like schoolwise and all of that?
I remember when it kind of got more serious, I guess. We were in, me and my friend, were actually in one of our digital design classes, and he was freaking out about getting sick. I was like, “Nick, you're not gonna get sick.” He’s kind of like a little bit of a hypercondriac with like if you even mention any kind of sickness he thinks he has it at some point. So of course he was like look at the symptoms. And he was asking me what the symptoms were. I was like you don't have any of these like you're okay. It's okay right now. He’s fine so yeah. It was fine. But I remember that happening and that was the last day before we didnt go back anymore. So I think that was different and what else? I remember, cause I got up at six in the morning to get on the train to get to school. So I think I remember my mom saying, “This is your last day like before.” Cause I think we were gonna do a week out of school. And then they were gonna try and figure out what they wanted to do afterwards. And I think that was the last day of saying I think this is probably gonna be our last day of school. And I was like yep. This is probably gonna be the last day. It was an interesting experience. To say the least.
With you being an art student what was that like having to transition into online classes?
Most weren't that bad just because in my thesis class, and we had just general illustration classes. So we had so a lot of that was already like, if you're doing like digital art you’re on your computer anyway doing your stuff sitting in the classroom. And it's very individualized, even if you're doing traditional art you're sitting at this thing doing your traditional art. So really being able to do it at home literally was just like “okay I don't have to sit in my class anymore I just sit at home and do it instead.” So that wasn't that hard to like to transfer over. But then I had a live model class where you literally every week had nude models come in to pose and you would have to do like sketches of them. So that didn't happen anymore. It was mostly just got turned into him going, “Okay here's this one person pictured. Just draw this from the screen.” So it kind of didn't really transition well. And then we had teachers that just gave up and were like never mind. Were not doing class anymore apparently. And that was like the easy business class. I don't know why. I think he just gave up and didn't know how to use the computer. So that was kind of it. That was interesting.
With last semester being your senior semester, your last semester of school, and that being cut short what do you miss most about going to school? And what do you feel like you missed out on with it ending the way that it did?
I think mostly I probably miss the people that I went to school with and like teachers obviously. I think cause a lot of the art stuff was getting really individualized you really weren't doing things in groups. It was very like to yourself. But I think the people that we had a very small major and by the end of it, it was even smaller, so I think you kind of got very close knit to the people that are around you. So I think that, that definitely, like we still talk to each other like we have a group chat and discord and we [talk] to each other. But I think seeing them every day was like okay we won't see eachother anymore that's kind of sad. So I think that was definitely probably the most, the thing that was like disappointing was I didn’t get another how many months with like the people I liked so.
You already lived at home and with commuting but what was it like to then have to be at home and stay at home? And not then have the outlet of going to school?
I mean definitely I don't miss commuting because I was literally going for the week of like waking up at five in the morning or no six in the morning catching a seven oclock train getting to school at nine and then having to go in directly to the class and then being in class from nine in the morning to nine at night and then getting on a train and then getting home at midnight. I don't miss that at all. That was a terrible experience I never want to continue. So that was fine not having to do that anymore. But definitely just being inside and not going out and everything. We didn't have too many breaks at school but it was still cool to just walk around the city and just walk around the streets and just kind of kill time. You kind of miss that like a little bit of that like, not freedom, but just a little bit like just change of scenery. I think that definitely was a, yeah I think just the change of scenery, liking being in a different state also. Cause like where I live is very like suburbia so it was just having the city of like, I was gonna say street walking but I’m not gonna say that, just it was different. I think that was definitely having to adjust back to just being in the suburbs full time.
With that adjustment and obviously everything in the world being crazy what are some of the things you do to kind of like cope with all of this and kind of like take your mind off of everything?
For me I was mostly, since this all started I was doing a lot more, well after school kind of ended I got to do a little more, but I’m a self publisher for my comics and everything. So I definitely dov into that more. I started a new series called Vices and I actually recently within the past few months got the first issue out and now I’m working on the second. Because I'm still inside and don't do much other than go to my regular job. So I think definitely being able to like write and draw and that kind of stuff with my comics definitely kept me sane in a way. And being able to kind of like, I had so much time on my hands that I had to do something cause I was getting a little bit stir crazy. I was like I’m sitting here not doing anything so I had to create something. So having a comic to self public was very nice.
Is there anything you wanna talk about? Is there anything that stuck out for you in this whole thing?
Stuck out? I think it was interesting that like I mean, I feel like everyone has the story of really being secluded in their house and not being able to go out so I think that it was interesting what came from that. Like everyone definitely handled it differently. Like I have so many friends, I have you and Lauren, like how you guys handled it versus people that I knew from school, versus people that I knew from home and everything. I think just like how everyone just probably got to know themselves a little too much. Cause I definitely know people who are life friends who are saying stuff like oh what they did during, just like being in the house and everything. So I think it was interesting to like your stuck inside with yourself for weeks on end and having to deal with yourself is probably not the best for that long. I think that was definitely something that stuck out was just.. You think about a lot of things. I think being alone with your thoughts was definitely a little eye opening I think. You change and you grow.
I think just from me knowing you for so long [eight years] how have you been coping with not being able to go to concerts?
Oh my god that's been terrible. I mean I think with the last one I went to I wanted to say it was in January and we saw Motionless [in White] I think in New York [City]. If I knew then what I know now I would have totally went harder at that concert. In the beginning I used to go to like one concert per month or every few months and everything. So definitely not being able to go see live music has been hard. And I have to deal with just like the people, cause I mean even them [the artists] are not really creating to, too much because a lot of people can't be together and create a lot of music. So I think even like there are slow realises and everything but it's been hard. But I;m also saving money on it. So like I think that's also a thing of like well I’m not going out as much but I’m also I can spend more money on other things. So I think it’s kind of a give and take. But also like I know that once they start opening up more and being able to do live music I think I’m definitely gonna go a little overboard with that and just go to like every single thing I can get to, to like make up from this year. I was gonna see Rammstein so I;m missing that.
How has it been for you trying to stay in contact with the people that you used to see like on the reg, every day, every other day, like all the time? How's that been?
For me I think, I have my one really good friend Taylor from school and I mean like we've, she’s lived at school for all four years so we've always talked to each other. So that's been no problem of staying in contact. I remember before I said that our illustration department has a group chat that we all get to talk about and talk about like art projects that were doing and if we need help. It was like a nice so we kind of stay together. Definitely with you guys it was nice to hang out with you that one time at the park. That was a good break from this. My other friend, my home friend from high school, we do talk a little more. It's interesting cause you don't really get to see them as much as or at all as you used to so you have to find more things to do without seeing each other. Like definitely we've done a lot more movie nights of just like screen recording and like trying to hang out and watch movies or zoom calls and everything. But definitely a lot more movie nights that we've been doing of like just groups of watching movies and shows that we've been wanting to watch. So that was very nice.
So kind of along that vein any unforeseen benefits from this whole thing?
To this? Well again I really like that I got my comic out that I;ve wanted to do so I think that was a benefit. I think I wouldn't have had time to do this. So I think that was a good benefit of all of this. I don't have to wake up at six oclock in the morning anymore and go on the train for two hours one way. So that's very good. I don't have to get home at midnight. So that was good. As much as I said that it's hard to be alone with yourself for a while I think it was good to like kind of step back and you have to kind of reevaluate yourself in a way. So think that was like a good growing technique of just having to live with yourself and be by yourself cause like I mean honestly when all this eventually passes most of us will be moving on to more of an adult life of having to move out from your parents and that kind of thing. I think it's like interesting, maybe this was some sort of not first try but like an interesting way to think about it.
Duration
14 minutes