Category: Virtual Coffeehouse (Page 4 of 8)

As mentioned in my last coffeehouse post, an app that I’ve been using is Pinterest. I haven’t been posting on it but I have been using it for ideas. For instance, I’ve been craving Starbucks a lot lately. I use to go everyday before this happened and would normally get a Mango-Dragon Fruit Refresher. I wanted to switch it up and try something else so I went to Pinterest for help. People would post “secret menu drinks” on there that either the workers or other people have created so people could try them out for themselves or drinks you probably would’ve never considered when you walked into Starbucks. Another thing I looked for on Pinterest was workout routines. Pinterest is the place to go especially if you’re looking for specific workouts for specific areas of your body to work on. The app has helped me with school work to even finding captions for instagram. If anything ever comes to mind, I typically always go to Pinterest or Google. Either one helps.

Since quarantine started along with this online semester a problem that I have been going through is dealing with getting assignments done in time. Every day I would receive notifications from blackboard with assignments, lectures, and exams. Many of my teachers aren’t being reasonable with due dates and isn’t giving their students time to “breathe”. With that I also have a issue with going to sleep very late causing me to wake up around 12 everyday which makes me late to some lectures.

Another problem I have been going through is that I would get sick easily. I have been experiencing a lot of sneezing and coughing in which I hope is just seasonal allergies. But I’m very paranoid that I’ll get my parents sick or not know if I’m seriously sick or not. I have been getting a little better. I don’t know if I’m the only one but I have been getting more headaches because I’ve been on my laptop and phone recently. But hopefully after this quarantine ends I’ll have less screen time.

A problem that has recently occurred is being very tired and lazy. I’ve been sleeping for over 12 hours and I am not very motivated to do any work. I try to do my work and be active during this quarantine but I always end up on my bed watching shows and movies. I have also been having a lot of pain in my back, shoulders, and neck. Before this quarantine, I was going to physical therapy because of my back pain, but now that I can’t go, my back has gotten worse and it hurts to stand up for a very long time. I’m usually the one to wash dishes, do laundry, and clean the bathroom in my family, doing all those things have been difficult because of my back. 

One problem that has recently occurred is that I have been feeling sore throughout my body and tired. Being home had made me inactive as I spent too much time on my laptop and phone. Since the quarantine, I have been staying in one spot most of my days staring at my screen and haven’t taken any breaks. To solve this problem from wrecking my sleeping schedule and aches. I have started stretching and working out once a day. There are several good works out videos on youtube which I follow along. After exercising, I would be drinking plenty of water as well which I rarely do. Though I still use my devices, I began limiting myself and started doing other things like napping. During the weekends I would paint or draw for fun if I have the time.

Ibrahim Mfosah

Coffeehouse Discussion 

Problems during the crisis

Since the lock down, the major problem has been the availability of essential things. Most people still have no access to some, or most these essential needs. I have been volunteering along with other people to supply needy people with the things they need, and food as well. The major problem with this is, since our supplies are limited, it is hard to give everyone who needs it. Another problem is going to all boroughs(except Staten Island). Each day we have to go to the four boroughs(Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx). Doing all this along with school work and other family duties, has impacted my physical health, and to some extent, my mental health as well. It is really surprising to see how many people are very helpless. Thankfully there are more people out there doing good, and helping as much as they could. 

Another problem I am facing is lack of sleep and unstable mental, and physical health. With all these things on my to-do list, I have yet to have time for myself. All my time is divided between volunteering, and working on my classes, or doing other family duties. All in all, I have hope that this will all eventually be over, if not sooner. 

            With transition from physical classes to online classes, the demand to wake up early has faded away. Since my online classes are flexible, it is like I have room to go to bed anytime I want. Before it was really like the weekend and off days during the week I was going to bed kind of late, but now it is everyday I’m heading to bed like at 7:00 am in the morning. There is times I just stay up the whole day for some of my live session classes, then I will catch some sleep. Essentially, the main problem is I’m missing out on majority of my day, and my sleep schedule is all over the place. I know when everything goes back to normal, It definitely going to be a hard time attempting to sleep early. I even try to fall asleep early now, but still can’t seem to stay sleeping. Thirty minutes later, I’m up once again. 

I haven’t really found a concrete solution yet. Some of my friends recommend I download an “rain sounds” app to help me fall asleep, or watch a movie until I get sleepy. I can vouch for the movie idea(work for me before), but it doesn’t work most of the time. Ultimately, I would have to try different things out so I can at least be sleeping by 1 or 2 am, its’ a process.

Leviza Murtazayeva

Prof. Scanlan-  ENG1121

Virtual Coffeehouse

    Besides the pandemic crisis being a huge problem during this time, I have never thought that escaping the problem in my safe area, home, would be a problem for not only me and many other people in the world, all physically and mentally. The problems I have been facing this month was the inability to go out and be more active. Something about staying home makes me drown in bed and rarely get out, because, there is no apparent reason to do than a routine. This made me gain some weight, really lazy, and sleepy. I don’t like the experience of what I am going through. I feel disorganized and my home does not feel like home at all. Looking back to the days before quarantine, I was a lot more stable and was able to have a good routine and was able to finish everything. Time is a very confusing part of my daily life right now. It seems like I have a great deal of time, simultaneously the time goes by rapidly, without me noticing. Here I am and most other people, at their fourth week of quarantine, attempting to normalized everything around us.

To help myself with the organization of schoolwork, especially. I tape a post-it paper in front of the working area and checklist of all assignments I need to do for the week. I refresh the post-it every weekend and try to keep up with the 5-7 assignments I need to finish by the end of that week. It is really hard to bring in work and everything else into the escape area, but there is no other option to choose from. we have to accept and make it work with what we have.

One problem that has recently bothered me was working in an imperfect intellectual home. Everything seems perfectly fine and fit for my intellectual home at one sight, but right after I finished preparing and ready to work, I was fully distracted by the continuous clicking sound of my brother’s mouse. Again! He’s playing LoL with his friends! I really understand under the influence of the epidemic, people get bored and can’t do much but play games. But, it gets very annoying and distractive when one tried to work under such noises. To combat this distraction, I came up with a few solutions, one play music that can help me concentrate, two choose a different time to finish work, third is work in the living room. The final decision I made was to work at a different time.

Siyu,Wu

4/24

Problem

In the first few weeks of  home quarantine，I never think about problem I will face, because I thought there were no problem need for worry. I have over 400 medical masks，food supply enough for 2 months，and enough emergency budget，no finance issue，everything looks perfect. The truth is nothing is perfect，one of the factors which I did not put into my perfect home quarantine plan is myself. In the past few weeks distance learning，no need to take MTA subway to school，no any outdoor high-intensity activity. The only outdoor activity that I had is driving，instead of walking outside this is the safest  outdoor activity during the COVID-19 crisis. Lack of enough  activity cause my body weight dramatically increase，a jump from 220lb to 230. This extra 10 pounds become a burden for my daily life，litter bit earlier， my family doctor told me that my blood pressure is high.

First I realized after I eat my lunch or dinner, I feel the size of my T shit is changed，smaller  than it used to be，and I feel my belly is hanging evening when I am seating . Later in a video chat with my father，My father said:“ Looks like you are getting a lot of weight，I can see the fat appear in your face and jaw. You have to do something.” Then I measured my body weight  ，finally realized  my body weigh is my largest cerise  during COVID-19 quarantine.

The best I can do it to increase my indoor exercise such as push up，jumping jacks, playing basketball with my neighbor‘s kids in the backyard  and the same time reduce the amount of energy that I am getting from food, hopefully my weigh will under control soon.

During this quarantine, I find it challenging to go to sleep at a normal time. Most nights I can’t even sleep until 6am in the morning. That’s when I usually wake up to go to school!!! It could’ve been because of my binge watching movies habit. However, I stopped last week. Because I’ve been getting more and more assignments. It’s hard for me to remain calm. School has always been one of the biggest stress factors for me. It honestly can drive me insane sometimes. I haven’t found anything new to cope, but if anyone is stressing out like I am. I highly recommend it on a white board or piece of paper or even on your phone (reminder app is great) and write down all your assignments and due dates. Then start listing out which ones are harder and which ones are easier. From there on, you can match out the time within that subject needed. 

I’ve been thinking of buying adult coloring books on Amazon to help cope with stress and worry. There aren’t many solutions I found personally, but everyday I am focusing on my mental health.