From a Blue Sky
Devontay’s Essay

“During covid and staying it was frustrating and I worked hard trying to help the family but It took some time to get used to as time went by I started working out and learning what was going on in the world as everything was falling apart. The whole quarantine was stressful and I couldn’t handle the stress so I came to the conclusion that I need to work on myself and be a better version of myself. Having to stay In the house for long periods of time makes you really think about things that you never thought about in turn making you understand how things could be and would be if you have done things just a little differently. While stuck in the pandemic I came to learn and understand that life goes on no matter what and it’s not going to wait for any of us.“
Devontay, 2022, 9.37 × 18.34 × 10.75 in, Mixed Media Photo-Sculpture
Classroom, 2020
Leo in Class, 2020
Hand, 2020
Shawntrese’s Essay


“My name is Shawntrese Essex and the pandemic experience for me was enjoyable and also something I had to adapt my life to!! I had to go to school online which for me was something extremely hard because I’m a visual learner. I was able to work extra hours at work and earned more money. I was able to spend more time doing things I loved like hanging with my cousins and going out with my boyfriend. It wasn’t hard for me to stay home most of the time because I did that a lot anyway. It was definitely a different experience but I was able to adapt and overcome the obstacles of the pandemic doings!!!

   Online school for me was terrible, i failed my classes and my gpa dropped very low. I guess I just saw the work from classes and got discouraged and overwhelmed so I didn’t try to do it. That’s one of my biggest regrets is not trying because that impacted my senior year of high school. I enjoyed working a lot because I got to earn more money to go out with my cousins and buy things I liked from the mall. My boyfriend and I got to spend extra time together and get to know each other way more. I overcame the stress about school and decided to try and I ended up working stuff out with my teachers to pass on time!! 

    Basically this experience was hard and fun to millions of people but the reasons why it was hard or fun is the interesting part. For me I feel like my experience was bad because it could’ve been worse so I’m grateful. I’m glad things loosened up now and people are able to carry on with their normal lives. I’m proud of myself for not giving up and taking care of my business with so much in the way.”
Shawntrese, 2022, 9.17 × 21.5 × 7.87 in, Mixed Media Photo-Sculpture
Antonio in Class, 2020
Velasco Family in Class, 2020
Student, 2020
Ashariah’s Essay


“Covid19 has greatly affected my life in a negative way, though the impact of it also affected my life in a positive way. This pandemic has been difficult in certain ways because I had to get used to being on a computer every day and actually pushing myself to do my work. Not having someone to motivate you and push you to do your work could be difficult because that is something you are used to since I have been in person all my school years. Which is why this quarantine taught me that in order to be successful you have to motivate yourself, especially if you want to accomplish your goals. It affected me in a positive way because it showed me to be independent, to care for my health more, and push myself to do things that can help me in the future.

This pandemic showed me to be independent in different ways because since the shutdown many items in stores were not in stock people’s families were getting fired or let go because of the looting and which caused people to lose their jobs and they couldn’t provide for their family. Since virtual school learning started, I had the opportunity to have more time in my hands because mostly what I needed to do was turn my work in and I could leave class. Which helped me be able to get a job and work more hours to support my family.

Taking care of my health is something that I take seriously now because of all the people who lost their lives due to Covid and I wouldn’t want to be in that situation. It was very scary and I feel that this pandemic had a toll on plenty of people. I myself lost someone to covid which was really devastating and it opened my eyes. To take care of your loved ones and be on them about what’s important for their health.

Pushing myself was the greatest thing I did this quarantine because it showed me I don’t actually need someone to push me to work hard if it’s something that I desire and want to accomplish like doing hair will definitely make sure I make it happen. I had time to practice with my mannequin head and do braiding styles to improve my braiding technique. I also was able to do a couple of hair styles on myself which gained a lot of people’s attention in public and they even asked me if I am taking clients.

In conclusion this pandemic has greatly affected me in many ways where I was able to see things differently and be a better me. I was able to accomplish a lot during this quarantine and if i can do better and get in-tune with things that are my long term goals you can too!”
Ashariah, 2022, 9.50 x 21.50 x 8.00 in, Mixed Media Photo-Sculpture
Globe, 2020
Jupiter Eating Lunch, 2021
Michael’s Essay


“The pandemic had a good impact in my life, and it was a good emotional and physical experience because I grew in every aspect of my life, I learned a lot about the pandemic and learned not to take things for granted. I started off quarantine like pretty much everybody, playing the game binge watching shows and doing nothing but staying in the house, then I thought about how I could better myself and made a plan.

We started off a plan about taking my sports career to the next level, so I dedicated a lot of my free time to getting to that level. We started working out early in the morning and getting better for 3 months till we knew if we would have a football season or not. The football season later ended up being canceled. So I decided to transfer school and wrestle for that school. When the wrestling season started I saw that the hard work I put in over quarantine was paying off, I went undefeated the whole season and finished the season out strong. 

In conclusion the quarantine had a pretty good effect on me, it made me dedicated and it exposed me to more positive things and put a lot of recruits on my radar and it got me to use my time wisely and be better.”
Mike, 2022, 11 x 17.25 x 11.75 in, Mixed Media Photo-Sculpture