With everything going on at once, from all Virginian schools being closed until July 1st to the US becoming the most COVID-19 infected country in the world, there’s a lot of unanswered questions and confusion. We interviewed Mrs. Lisa Hill, an 8th grade Language Arts teacher; Miss Shaniah Moss, an 8th grade student; and Mrs. Nataliia Kalinichenko, a Russian stay-at-home mother, to find out different  opinions and perspectives about the situation we are in right now. 

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When we asked the interviewees how interesting the situation is on a scale of 1 to 10, both Hill and Kalinichenko  rated the situation as a 10. They described it as being fascinating because it’s not something that they’ve experienced before.  Moss, however, rated it as a 1, and when asked why, she explained that  “ it’s not very interesting. I mean, I don’t really care about it. It just makes me mad.” 

With all the panic happening, the next question we decided to ask them was how scary do they think the virus is on a scale of 1 to 10. Hill described it as being 6 out of 10 because it is very worrisome for people with compromised immune systems. Kalinichenko said 10 because of the high number of deaths around the globe and what she described as “fear of the unknown.” As for Moss, she said it’s a 5 because the number of people getting sick increases by many each day, but she’s not that scared herself. 

 

COVID-19 led all schools in Virginia to close until the end of the academic year. We asked our interviewees if they like distance learning better than physical school, and all of them answered “no” to that question. They are also very sad because of this unexpected closure. Hill and Moss said that they miss social interactions and other students and teachers. In addition to that, Hill said that she “miss[es] the energy of the students,” and also added that “there’s so many things that especially 8th graders won’t get that every other year they’ve gotten. Like every other year the 8th graders had the 8th grade formal, they have a field day, they get to walk across the stage on the last day of school.” Kalinichenko, however, likes school better because she thinks that a lot of students don’t do as much work at home as they did in school, but she still thinks that virtual learning is useful and even more efficient than school for people who can self-organize.

Not long ago, the stores were out of toilet paper, water, and hand sanitizers. Why? Because everyone kept buying them! We asked all 3 of our interviewees for their opinion about it, and they all agreed that some people bought more than they really needed. All of them said that people just have to use their rational thinking and buy as much as they need, but not too much. Kalinichenko also added that some people really do plan to stay at home for a month without leaving the house, so that explains why they buy so much.

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Many countries around the world have been responding to the situation in many different ways, such as shelter-in-place and even more serious quarantine practices.We asked our interviewees  if they think that the same fate awaits the US and/or Virginia. They were not very sure, just like no one can be, but they do think that it will probably happen. In addition to that, they believe that it would be good for stopping the outbreak, but all of them have different reasoning behind it. Moss thinks that it would be useful because the situation is bad and hospitals don’t have enough supplies to treat everybody. Kalinichenko thinks that if it’s the way to stop the outbreak, it has to be done. Hill said that “it might make some people take it more seriously that currently aren’t.”

For the last question, we decided to ask them something more personal. The question was “For you, what is the toughest part of the situation we are in right now?’ For Moss, it is listening to her aunt when she is worrying because of her job. She said, “Not very many people want to come and get their hair done right now, and it’s kind of sad cause like people need money to survive, and if they don’t have money, they won’t be able to get the stuff they need.” For Hill, the toughest part is multitasking. For example, doing her job as a teacher while helping her own children study, all while taking care of the house. As for Kalinichenko, it is again, as she said in the beginning, “fear of the unknown,” because no one really knows what will happen next, and she finds it very worrisome.

These interviews show the differences and similarities between people of different ages and occupations in perception of the current pandemic. Remember to wash your hands and stay healthy!