USA

When the crisis has deepened your friendships

The biggest challenge for me was back when Covid just hit in 2020. I was about to leave for my studies in the States but wasn’t able to do so. I had to wait for over a year to finally start my American study experience. I was glad to be home with my family and in Austria where healthcare is affordable and better organized than in the US. I think the Corona crisis really deepened my friendships. Everyone was home and since there wasn’t a ton to do and we all kind of had to find our peace and quiet, we spent more time on our phones and talked via Whatsapp. Read more

When 2020 was one of your best years

As a photojournalist I documented my new way of life. As a mom, I facilitated homeschool. I actually liked having my daughters home with me, so I would say my mental state was happier with my home life even though Covid is and was a tragedy. My work situation got better actually during the crisis. While I lost many of my event photography gigs, I gained a freelance contract with Reuters so my photography career actually leveled up. I shot one of Reuters most important photographs of 2020 and the crisis. 2020 was one of my best years, which is so odd considering what it cost so many other people. Read more

Working only with people who are vaxxed and are getting tested

At the moment, it seems like cases are trending up once again, but it’s hard to know because the testing and reporting schema have changed. I’m being very cautious because I do not want to mess around with possibly having “Long Covid.” I’ve been tested at least once a week since testing became widely available, and some weeks I was tested 7-10x a week. The entertainment industry has really been on top of everything. I’m working a lot, but always with people who are getting tested all the time and who are required to be vaxxed. The crisis showed me that Americans are, by and large, selfish. Read more

When the speed at which science dealt with the crisis gives you hope

When our foolish ex president said that it wasn’t serious is when I knew it was. I am satisfied that the government AFTER trump did all that it could. Things may have been much better for all had not the previous administration denied the seriousness of the threat. But the speed at which science dealt with the crisis tells me that we can handle anything if people will listen and learn. The crisis also showed me the true nature of some people and how much they care about others or themselves. Read more

When the crisis showed you that life is unpredictable

I realized the situation was serious when I was traveling abroad in Curacao and the day I returned home in March, lockdown began. We never had a formal lockdown, people just stayed home. I missed leaving the house and seeing other people. But it helped to hang out with my brothers. I became closer to certain friends during the crisis, and I felt it made dating more difficult. In general, the crisis showed me that life is unpredictable and things can always get worse. Read more

When you are afraid that people don´t get vaccinated because of politics

About 3 months into the pandamic you could feel the tension rising in the US. Covid was the tip of the iceberg in the US and everything exploded. And now the country is even more divided than ever. I´m afraid that people don’t get vaccinated because of politics. The biggest challenge for me was the travel ban. Because my husband and I are expats in the US and on an L Visa, that meant for us that if we would leave the US we couldn´t come back. Which wasn’t an option at all because we both work here and have our life here. Thankfully the travel ban was lifted in November 2021 and we were able to see our families again. Read more

Having lost a friend who thought he could forego the vaccine

During the lockdown, I missed our small, but very close circle of friends so we did ‘drive-by’ visits and saw each other from the street in our cars. It was weird, but at least we saw each other a bit. My long time assistant was quite ill and I feared we would lose her, but she made it. We lost a dear friend recently because he was convinced to forego the vaccine. It broke us. We are vaccinated – we have done all we can and the rest is in fate’s hands now and I refuse to live in fear when I have done all I can do. Read more

Switching from being a keynote speaker in person to one via Zoom

I am a keynote speaker and travel to colleges, I also do promotional items for events. Both of those took a huge hit however I quickly transitioned to being a Zoom speaker and actually spoke to more colleges in 2020 than in all previous years combined! I always work from home, but usually on my own. Having my family home meant it was hard to find a quiet place in the house. But I have a flexible schedule so even though my work has to change a bit to help homeschool our kids, I am thankful I have the flexibility to do so. Read more

Finding the light in the darkness

I spent the lockdown with my fiance and it was difficult to adjust to being at the house at the same time. I’m used to being out in the field and/or traveling and that all stopped immediately. We had to figure out how to be together 24/7 without bickering or resentment seeping into our relationship. We worked on it every day. Also my friendships were strained. I self isolated a bit, due to boughts of depression and anxiety, so I had to make an extra effort to not forget to check in on people close to me. I sometimes let long amounts of time span without seeing how others were doing and made a conscious effort to work on that. Read more

Being thankful for getting a mRNA vaccine at 28 weeks pregnant

I got pregnant during COVID so we welcomed our little one last month and my husband has been able to be home throughout the pregnancy and birth which was great. He tours with bands as an audio engineer so he hasn’t worked in over a year and our state has made unemploymnet really difficult. I have been vaccinated for ~5 months now. I got one of the mRNA vaccines at 28 weeks pregnant and was SO thankful for that opportunity. I’m actually really disappointed in how selfish I found out during the crisis so many humans are. It was also really difficult to see how many people rejected science and evidence. Read more