Dublin Core
Title
Interview with Liana - From Ignorant Bliss to Informed Fear
Subject
Interview with Liana about her first days of the COVID-19 pandemic
Description
Interview with Liana about her first days of the COVID-19 pandemic
Creator
Varoon P
Source
Liana
Publisher
Varoon P
Date
October 4, 2020
Rights
Liana agreed to be interviewed via email
Language
English
Type
Transcript of Oral Interview
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
From Ignorant Bliss to Informed Fear
Interviewer: Varoon Phondge
Interviewee: Liana
This is an interview with Liana about her first days of when COVID-19 was announced a pandemic. This interview was conducted on October 4th 2020 over FaceTime. Liana is a 20 year old college Junior who attends Rutgers University-Newark for their nursing program.
Varoon: Hello, can you please state your name, age, and what you do?
Liana: My name is Liana, I am 20 years old, and I am a nursing student at Rutgers.
Varoon: Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed. Let me first start by asking what you were doing the few days before March 11th when COVID-19 was announced as a pandemic?
Liana: A few days before then, I was working and doing things for school as I normally do. Actually, when Rutgers had announced they would be starting spring break earlier that week because of COVID-19, I was out to dinner for my roommate’s birthday. I went to work the next day and then spring break started.
Varoon: Now, when and where did you first hear about the fact that COVID-19 was a pandemic, and what was your reaction?
Liana: Right before March 11th, I was actually in my Microbiology class where we were learning about pandemics and epidemics, so my mind was already kind of on Corona being a pretty widespread disease. But the first time I heard about COVID being called a pandemic was around the time Rutgers University said that spring break was starting earlier than planned. I don’t remember the exact date, but it was around that time I heard that Corona was officially a pandemic.
Varoon: So what was the first you did when you left school for spring break? Did you leave for home? Liana: I actually went to go visit my friend at the University of Delaware on March 13th because it was something I do every year. I didn’t know how serious Corona was going to be, and I thought it was going to be like the flu. I knew it was pretty bad in other countries, but I did not think it was going to be on the scale that it is now in the U.S. I stayed at U-Del for a few days and then drove back home to New Jersey afterward.
Varoon: When you visited Delaware, what were people’s reactions to the pandemic? Were they scared, indifferent, on edge?
Liana: Well, just as I drove down there, The University of Delaware had announced that they were closing the university, so a lot of the kids had three days to pack their belongings and leave. There were many students there who lived in farther off places like Massachusetts and California, so they were mostly panicking on how to get back home. They were all not necessarily worried about the pandemic itself, just sad that they had to go home. Like, we all went out to a restaurant and ate. Nothing had really changed at that point. Looking back now, I never would have gone on that trip if I knew the severity of COVID. I did not know how bad it was going to get.
Varoon: When did you leave for home, and what were the reactions from your family? Did you guys feel like they were more alarmed or cautious?
Liana: I came home from Delaware around March 15th. I think my grandparents were more worried because they were originally from countries where healthcare was not that great and didn’t know how even the U.S. could cope with this virus. My grandmother is old and tends to have some health problems so she was very worried about it. But, my parents, siblings, and I weren’t too worried mostly because we wanted to offset my grandparent’s worry and also because we were not sure what was going to happen since there was such limited information about the severity of this disease. My family had also been hearing about Corona hitting other countries and a few other U.S. states for so long that we were desensitized to the quick spread of the virus. At the same time, we knew that being at home allowed an opportunity for my family to bond closer together. After a few more days at home, my parents started to take more precautions like wearing masks and going to the store only once a week to take care of those vulnerable in the family. I also started to take more precautions because my father had cancer at one point, so he was still going through chemotherapy and was still immunodeficient. I remember increasingly becoming more scared of going to stores as the days went on because I did not want to get anyone in my family sick. After March 15th, I did not really leave the house at all.
Varoon: How do you feel the media portrayed the virus, and how did you feel when you saw reports of COVID-19 during the first days it was announced as a pandemic?
Liana: After I got back home from Delaware, I started to watch the news a lot more carefully. When I was in school I felt like I was unaware of the things going on in the outside world since I basically lived in the Rutgers bubble. Since coming home, I would look online at charts like the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus tracker and see how cases were increasing. When I saw the numbers spiking, I thought it was unbelievable.
Varoon: Finally, how did you feel the first few days of the pandemic overall?
Liana: Honestly, I thought everyone was having an overreaction because I lacked so much information about what was really going on. I thought this was just another flu. I thought everyone was getting hysterical over something little, but I didn’t know enough information to actually have a proper judgment of how bad this virus was. It took me literally two days at home and going through different articles and reports to realize how serious COVID-19 was. I saw how this disease was much deadlier than the flu and it was scary.
Varoon: Well, that is all the questions I have, so thank you for participating in this interview.
Liana: You're welcome. Take care!
Interviewer: Varoon Phondge
Interviewee: Liana
This is an interview with Liana about her first days of when COVID-19 was announced a pandemic. This interview was conducted on October 4th 2020 over FaceTime. Liana is a 20 year old college Junior who attends Rutgers University-Newark for their nursing program.
Varoon: Hello, can you please state your name, age, and what you do?
Liana: My name is Liana, I am 20 years old, and I am a nursing student at Rutgers.
Varoon: Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed. Let me first start by asking what you were doing the few days before March 11th when COVID-19 was announced as a pandemic?
Liana: A few days before then, I was working and doing things for school as I normally do. Actually, when Rutgers had announced they would be starting spring break earlier that week because of COVID-19, I was out to dinner for my roommate’s birthday. I went to work the next day and then spring break started.
Varoon: Now, when and where did you first hear about the fact that COVID-19 was a pandemic, and what was your reaction?
Liana: Right before March 11th, I was actually in my Microbiology class where we were learning about pandemics and epidemics, so my mind was already kind of on Corona being a pretty widespread disease. But the first time I heard about COVID being called a pandemic was around the time Rutgers University said that spring break was starting earlier than planned. I don’t remember the exact date, but it was around that time I heard that Corona was officially a pandemic.
Varoon: So what was the first you did when you left school for spring break? Did you leave for home? Liana: I actually went to go visit my friend at the University of Delaware on March 13th because it was something I do every year. I didn’t know how serious Corona was going to be, and I thought it was going to be like the flu. I knew it was pretty bad in other countries, but I did not think it was going to be on the scale that it is now in the U.S. I stayed at U-Del for a few days and then drove back home to New Jersey afterward.
Varoon: When you visited Delaware, what were people’s reactions to the pandemic? Were they scared, indifferent, on edge?
Liana: Well, just as I drove down there, The University of Delaware had announced that they were closing the university, so a lot of the kids had three days to pack their belongings and leave. There were many students there who lived in farther off places like Massachusetts and California, so they were mostly panicking on how to get back home. They were all not necessarily worried about the pandemic itself, just sad that they had to go home. Like, we all went out to a restaurant and ate. Nothing had really changed at that point. Looking back now, I never would have gone on that trip if I knew the severity of COVID. I did not know how bad it was going to get.
Varoon: When did you leave for home, and what were the reactions from your family? Did you guys feel like they were more alarmed or cautious?
Liana: I came home from Delaware around March 15th. I think my grandparents were more worried because they were originally from countries where healthcare was not that great and didn’t know how even the U.S. could cope with this virus. My grandmother is old and tends to have some health problems so she was very worried about it. But, my parents, siblings, and I weren’t too worried mostly because we wanted to offset my grandparent’s worry and also because we were not sure what was going to happen since there was such limited information about the severity of this disease. My family had also been hearing about Corona hitting other countries and a few other U.S. states for so long that we were desensitized to the quick spread of the virus. At the same time, we knew that being at home allowed an opportunity for my family to bond closer together. After a few more days at home, my parents started to take more precautions like wearing masks and going to the store only once a week to take care of those vulnerable in the family. I also started to take more precautions because my father had cancer at one point, so he was still going through chemotherapy and was still immunodeficient. I remember increasingly becoming more scared of going to stores as the days went on because I did not want to get anyone in my family sick. After March 15th, I did not really leave the house at all.
Varoon: How do you feel the media portrayed the virus, and how did you feel when you saw reports of COVID-19 during the first days it was announced as a pandemic?
Liana: After I got back home from Delaware, I started to watch the news a lot more carefully. When I was in school I felt like I was unaware of the things going on in the outside world since I basically lived in the Rutgers bubble. Since coming home, I would look online at charts like the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus tracker and see how cases were increasing. When I saw the numbers spiking, I thought it was unbelievable.
Varoon: Finally, how did you feel the first few days of the pandemic overall?
Liana: Honestly, I thought everyone was having an overreaction because I lacked so much information about what was really going on. I thought this was just another flu. I thought everyone was getting hysterical over something little, but I didn’t know enough information to actually have a proper judgment of how bad this virus was. It took me literally two days at home and going through different articles and reports to realize how serious COVID-19 was. I saw how this disease was much deadlier than the flu and it was scary.
Varoon: Well, that is all the questions I have, so thank you for participating in this interview.
Liana: You're welcome. Take care!
Original Format
Originally audio file adapted to text on Google Documents