Quarantine Diary 6: Parents & Zoom

Hello world!! My name is Lauren (also known as Coolest Graduate Assistant at the UGL, I respond to either) and I’m writing to you from warm, sunny, Dallas, Texas! Let me just take this moment to brag; please see the weather forecast for today below……..*chef’s kiss*Screenshot of weather forecast for Monday, April 27, reads a high of 82 and low of 69. The perfect day. As I’m sure many of you did, I ended up quarantining at home after Spring Break aaaanndd……never left. I am currently with my family (M56, F49, F17, F15), which has been /an experience/. There was definitely a period of adjustment and there were many times I wanted to pause my Zoom calls to enjoy food made by my mom;

Screenshot of tweet reads: sorry professor can we pause the zoom lecture my immigrant mother has cut me some fruitwe are finally starting to eat the 20lbs of bulk dried pinto beans that my dad bought when our local grocery store had a half price sale;

Screenshot of tweet reads: My mom was prescient when she bought 2 years worth of TP after a Walgreens closed. The best way to save money is to invest in commodities. Sometimes the survivalist immigrant mentality pays off in times of crisis. I am also constantly finding MY things in my sisters’ room that I have been looking for since the semester began.

Screenshot of tweet reads: #GrowingUpWithSiblings going into their room to steal stuff and seeing stuff stolen from your roomAll in all, there are no other people that I’d rather be doing this with than them!! I have also been spending this time searching for the best Zoom backgrounds to use. My favorite so far is the This Is Fine meme (see image below), but you can decide for yourself and reference this Mary Sue list for more options.

Screenshot of cartoon room on fire, with a dark cloud covering the ceiling and a cup of coffee casually sitting on a tableI’ve also loved scrolling through the memes about Zoom meetings in general

 

Screenshot of a man in an office saying “if you could just mute yourself during the zoom meeting that’d be great” but he looks very sarcasticScreenshot of two dogs: one is captioned with “Audio only” with a dog with scraggly hair, and the other is captioned with “With video” and the dog is neatly groomed and wearing clothes

 

It hasn’t been too bad (yet)!!! I only have one last final research project (20 pages — excuse me while I cry) to do before GRADUATION!! If you’re finding yourself in the same position and have no idea what to do about your research assignment, feel free to ‘drop in’ or schedule a Research and Writing Consultation with me, or other Graduate Assistants at the UGL!! You can schedule an appointment though the UGL website, or ‘drop in’ by saying “I would like a research consultation” in the Ask a Librarian chat.

Still of Laurence Fishburne from The Matrix movie saying “What if I told you there are research methods besides your favorite one”

Finally, I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate all of you who are graduating this semester. You are about to embark on a new journey – ready or not – and this final semester has not been an ideal end. Thank you for choosing to attend the University of Illinois; the UGL, at least, has been better for your interaction with our collections, staff, and faculty, in any capacity – large or small. Best of luck, now and always.

Screenshot of tweet reads: First-gen Latinx PhD candidtate here. Was chatting with Mom about possible cancellation of commencement ceremony. Me (in Spanish): I’m bummed cuz I wanted to share that moment with you. Mom: Mijo, I was with you every step of the way. One day doesn’t define the journey. Crying emoji.

Written and Edited by: Lauren

 

 

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