1 00:00:00,750 --> 00:00:09,750 Hi! So I was asked to share a little bit about how I am living this situation, so that's 2 00:00:09,750 --> 00:00:18,929 definitely what I would like to do with you guys. So first of all, I can only say family, 3 00:00:18,929 --> 00:00:30,629 friends, loved ones, thus far to my knowledge, are healthy and keeping safe and trying to 4 00:00:30,629 --> 00:00:37,030 do as best they can um during the situation so that's definitely something to be thankful for 5 00:00:37,030 --> 00:00:49,969 um aside from that we here are safe and healthy as well um and I would say maybe the biggest 6 00:00:49,969 --> 00:00:58,509 challenge throughout this has been really feeling the distance of being far away from family 7 00:00:58,509 --> 00:01:10,170 and loved ones being far away is not necessarily something new for me personally but I think with 8 00:01:10,170 --> 00:01:17,269 all of the added pressures and stressors of this situation it's definitely something that's been 9 00:01:17,269 --> 00:01:24,930 felt a lot more during this time so that's been definitely something to check in with 10 00:01:24,930 --> 00:01:32,310 and be aware of as something that is sort of worrying me or stressing me out a little bit 11 00:01:32,310 --> 00:01:40,810 throughout this time. But to sort of quell that worry or any other worries that kind of pop up 12 00:01:40,810 --> 00:01:49,950 during this time, I have been trying to keep some promises to myself. So the first promise is to 13 00:01:49,950 --> 00:01:54,849 call or speak to my parents one way or another every single day. 14 00:01:56,849 --> 00:02:03,170 Even with the time difference, rain or shine, no matter how stressed or busy I might feel like 15 00:02:03,170 --> 00:02:12,289 I am or they are, to at least try and speak to them and reach out every single day. And it has 16 00:02:12,289 --> 00:02:18,689 been really helpful in kind of quelling the worries and the stresses that come up in just 17 00:02:18,689 --> 00:02:26,789 general everyday life um so that's been a really nice thing to do the second promise has been to 18 00:02:26,789 --> 00:02:34,729 try and step away from the computer once a day at least for like an extended period of time to 19 00:02:34,729 --> 00:02:42,530 just put it down and walk away and do something like a puzzle or chess or jenga or playing songs 20 00:02:42,530 --> 00:02:51,229 from middle school and just dancing or stepping onto the balcony and just sort of like taking a 21 00:02:51,229 --> 00:02:58,530 moment for myself. So small little things like that have been really nice to just disconnect my 22 00:02:58,530 --> 00:03:09,909 eyes from technology at all. And the third promise is to plan something positive and bright for the 23 00:03:09,909 --> 00:03:15,789 future to try and get myself out of the sort of present moment and the worries of the present 24 00:03:15,789 --> 00:03:23,349 moment. So through that, I have realized that there's a master's program that I'm really excited 25 00:03:23,349 --> 00:03:31,889 for and really interested in that I would like to participate in. So I've been trying to figure 26 00:03:31,889 --> 00:03:37,189 that out and the logistics of all of that during this quarantine. So that's been really exciting. 27 00:03:37,189 --> 00:03:48,090 um i have been also trying to really intentionally inject inject um laughter and comfort into my day 28 00:03:48,090 --> 00:03:53,789 it's really easy to get stressed without even realizing it during this time especially 29 00:03:53,789 --> 00:04:03,110 so i've been trying to make sure that i'm watching shows that make me laugh and make me feel 30 00:04:03,110 --> 00:04:09,169 comforted or reading books that make me laugh or feel comforted instead of turning to things that 31 00:04:09,169 --> 00:04:17,649 might stress me out even more. So I've definitely been turning to things that I've watched before 32 00:04:17,649 --> 00:04:25,870 and I know can make me laugh or make me feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside like The Office or like 33 00:04:25,870 --> 00:04:32,910 New Girl or Harry Potter has definitely been a big one when I'm feeling homesick or anything 34 00:04:32,910 --> 00:04:40,470 like that. The book, the audiobook, any one of the movies, I have all three and they've all 35 00:04:40,470 --> 00:04:50,269 done the trick. So those have been really good things to turn to. My family and I would say 36 00:04:50,269 --> 00:04:59,550 overall just my homes personally are sort of divided into two places. One is the U.S. of course 37 00:04:59,550 --> 00:05:07,009 and one is Ethiopia and speaking with family in both of those places checking in with them 38 00:05:07,009 --> 00:05:12,810 and really getting a sense of what they're experiencing has been really interesting for me 39 00:05:12,810 --> 00:05:19,589 because their experiences are so different in terms of number of people who have contracted 40 00:05:19,589 --> 00:05:25,750 the virus in terms of governmental response in terms of just daily life and experience it's been 41 00:05:25,750 --> 00:05:31,209 really different um so that's been something that's interesting to think about um and to hear 42 00:05:31,209 --> 00:05:39,029 about and aside from that um I'm honestly just really thankful to have the San Juan community 43 00:05:39,029 --> 00:05:46,769 to just have all of you and I'm so proud of how you guys are handling the situation however you're 44 00:05:46,769 --> 00:05:52,949 handling it honestly um I never experienced anything like this of course when I was in high 45 00:05:52,949 --> 00:06:00,910 school. So I hope that you guys just get at least a moment every day to do something that makes you 46 00:06:00,910 --> 00:06:07,449 laugh, that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, or that kind of gets some of the stress off of 47 00:06:07,449 --> 00:06:16,870 your shoulders. At least just a moment to yourself every day to reflect and to check in and make sure 48 00:06:16,870 --> 00:06:24,709 that you are trying to relieve yourself of as much stress as you possibly can. If you need 49 00:06:24,709 --> 00:06:31,389 someone to reach out to, if you need an open ear, whether I was the assistant for your class or not, 50 00:06:32,189 --> 00:06:38,970 please feel free to reach out and email me. I can definitely be a listening ear if you would 51 00:06:38,970 --> 00:06:49,269 like me to. Thank you for listening. I will talk to you soon. Maybe. Hopefully. We'll see. Big hugs. Bye.