Collected Item: “Graduating During COVID-19”
What type of object are you contributing?
Image
Provide a brief title for the object you are contributing.
Graduating During COVID-19
Provide us with a brief description of this object and, if it is not obvious, how it connects with the Chippewa Valley. For example, if this object is an image describe for us what the image displays and why it is significant.
Painting has always been something I enjoy. I used to dance, and ever since I stopped, painting has given me another creative outlet to turn to when I need to let out how I am feeling. I knew from the beginning that I would choose to do a painting as my project, but I did not know what it would look like until my brush laid its first strokes on the canvas.
As a graduate of the high school class of 2020, I can say that the end of our senior was quite literally taken away from us by the COVID-19 pandemic. All of the “lasts” we were supposed to experience either never happened or happened at a much later date than anticipated while looking very different. One of these is graduation. My high school had our graduation in early August instead of late May when it would take place under normal circumstances. While people were dying from the virus, I was graduating high school. I was having an in-person graduation ceremony with my 198 other classmates, parents, and faculty. As the death toll climbed, I was walking across the stage, my mask on my wrist, elbow-bumping my principal, and receiving my diploma.
The painting I have created is a primary source because I have lived through the events it is based on myself. A primary source is something that can provide a firsthand experience. Because I have lived through the COVID-19 pandemic, my art piece is qualified as a primary source.
I believe that future researchers and students could learn from the primary source I have created. It provides a look into the life of a high school senior graduating during the pandemic. The numbers in the background are the death tolls throughout the year of 2020 worldwide from the virus. The numbers get larger both in numerical value and in size as they go down the canvas. The numbers at the top are also visible, whereas those on the bottom are covered up. This is meant to symbolize that in the beginning people cared a lot, but as more people were infected, as more people died, as time went on, people cared less and less about the increasing numbers.
As a graduate of the high school class of 2020, I can say that the end of our senior was quite literally taken away from us by the COVID-19 pandemic. All of the “lasts” we were supposed to experience either never happened or happened at a much later date than anticipated while looking very different. One of these is graduation. My high school had our graduation in early August instead of late May when it would take place under normal circumstances. While people were dying from the virus, I was graduating high school. I was having an in-person graduation ceremony with my 198 other classmates, parents, and faculty. As the death toll climbed, I was walking across the stage, my mask on my wrist, elbow-bumping my principal, and receiving my diploma.
The painting I have created is a primary source because I have lived through the events it is based on myself. A primary source is something that can provide a firsthand experience. Because I have lived through the COVID-19 pandemic, my art piece is qualified as a primary source.
I believe that future researchers and students could learn from the primary source I have created. It provides a look into the life of a high school senior graduating during the pandemic. The numbers in the background are the death tolls throughout the year of 2020 worldwide from the virus. The numbers get larger both in numerical value and in size as they go down the canvas. The numbers at the top are also visible, whereas those on the bottom are covered up. This is meant to symbolize that in the beginning people cared a lot, but as more people were infected, as more people died, as time went on, people cared less and less about the increasing numbers.
When was this item created? Please use a "month day, year" format, for example, "April 10, 2020."
April 30, 2021
Share with us the geographic location where this item was created. Please include, if possible, a ZIP code and an address or cross streets to help us map this location. For example, "Rice Lake, Wis., 54868, intersection of Main and Knapp."
810 University Drive, Eau Claire WI, 54701
Who created this object?
Amy Baranowski
Tell us who is contributing this object to the Covid-19 archive. For example, "John Smith."
Amy Baranowski
Help us identify a category for this item by selecting one option from this list that best fits the item you are contributing.
Education
(Optional) If there is another category that this item also fits please select it from the list.
Health and medicine
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about this object? Feel free to add relevant hashtags or a course hashtag if applicable.
#UWECHIST172
Your name.
[private]
I have read and agree to the terms and conditions associated with contributing objects to this project.
Yes