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The disruption and loss of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic boggle the mind. We hope never to experience such a pandemic again in our lifetimes, but history indicates epidemics and pandemics are likely to continue. How do we know? Viruses evolve. Bacteria live. Others have documented plagues and pandemics in diaries, narratives, newspapers, books, and online. The bubonic plague, cholera, yellow fever, scarlet fever, typhoid fever, smallpox, polio, diphtheria, Spanish influenza, H1N1, and more have assaulted human beings.
For the confined and those who have time, write your own narratives of the current pandemic or record the events in your videos and photographs. Document the happenings still unfolding. Keep your records for family members and future generations.
Journalists feel a strong sense of duty to provide the factual information you read. They acquire source material from interviews, research, and people. I'd like to record in the newspaper what the past semester at college was like for students. Although a person might feel uneasy providing narratives for the newspaper or online, I'm politely requesting your information. I can easily edit paragraphs and fix errors prior to newspaper submission.
I'm currently targeting college students. Would you send me a paragraph or two telling me what your first semester was like? What I write for the newspapers becomes documented information. What happened this past semester? What emotions did you feel? Have you felt hope, despair, or both? What strategies currently allow you to be resilient during adversity? What would you like to say?
Please send a paragraph or narratives to me at kbennettdodgevillechronicle@gmail.com. Your experiences matter. I'd like to document your history in the making. Photographs help me, too.