Coronavirus Chronicles: How the pandemic has shifted life for these CSUN students
The Sundial, in collaboration with CSUN Journalism Feature writing class, presents nine students’ stories on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their everyday lives. Get a glimpse of the new reality for essential workers, caregivers and other student workers through their voices.
Curing boba cravings during COVID-19
Five days out of the week, I arrive home sticky from syrups and exhausted from my seven-hour shift at a popular boba lounge. My roommates greet me with sanitizer spray and a sentiment shared among millions: “We’re bored!” they shout. I wish I was, too. My days are jam-packed, beginning with mandatory class lectures via Zoom. Once the session expires I have 15 minutes to get to work. From 2...
I’m not high risk, but I act like I am
My alarm rang at 5:45 a.m. on Friday, March 20. However, it wasn’t to let me know I had to get ready for a class at CSUN. It was to let me know I had to leave soon to go shopping at the local Vallarta Supermarket. With the World Health Organization classifying the novel coronavirus as a pandemic, supplies have been flying off the shelves at nearly every store. Some markets, such as Vallarta, have...
Amazon: Last of the employed
Jessie Magallenes received a call from his manager on March 14. He’s a lifeguard at a local pool and usually he’s being called to cover a shift, but instead, he was told to not come back. On that same morning, I also got a phone call. It was Amazon telling me they need me to come in for 10 hours. Like my friend Jessie, nearly 10 million Americans have been left unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some e...
The coronavirus canceled our quinceañera
When my aunt started planning her daughter’s quinceañera last year, she never imagined a disease would get in the way — until COVID-19 entered the picture. Sitting in their living room, three days before the big event, my aunt Anna Medina received a call from the banquet hall manager telling them the event had to be canceled. Anna and her daughter Andrea were devastated. “Her little face...
Baseball is canceled, and so is my paycheck
Opening Day is an unofficial holiday in Los Angeles. Every year, almost 60,000 Dodger fans descend upon Chavez Ravine to celebrate the beginning of a new baseball season. For the past three years, I’ve spent my Opening Day working as a lot attendant at Dodger Stadium. I would rush around trying to get thousands of cars, trucks and other types of vehicles parked. I could also feel the excitement...
I am in the high-risk category, but I still have a family to take care of
The baby I cared for was 30 days old when I started. I spent 30 hours a week with her and experienced her first smile. I screamed for joy as I heard the first sound of a tooth hit the spoon when her first tooth was sprouting. She would sleep to my lullaby in my arms when she was sick. I helped her roll, crawl and held her hand to support her first steps. I taught her the first words. I miss her badly....
Prepared or paranoid parents?
Washing our hands every 15 minutes, wearing masks, and disinfecting keys, phones, and doorknobs was only the beginning. As I’ve been in quarantine for the past few weeks, I’ve realized the massive impact it has had on my parents. If anyone in my house sneezes or coughs, everyone freaks out and looks at you like you might be infected. I think my parents might be going insane and it’s terrifying. My...
Coming of age during the coronavirus
“How come I can’t hear you very well, Chris?” asked my 73-year-old grandmother on FaceTime while she’s quarantined in her Reseda apartment. I responded, “Grandma, we’re on FaceTime. You’re not supposed to hold the phone up to your ear.” For most family celebrations, my grandparents and older half-sister would come to our family’s house and party with us. Unfortunately, the coronavirus...
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