Share your story
UNG Special Collections & Archives needs your help! As a part of our mission to document the people, places, and events of Northeast Georgia, we’d like for you to share your COVID-19 story with us. Our goal is to collect the stories you share, preserve them and make them available for future generations of students, scholars, and researchers. Your stories offer unique perspectives into life during the 2020 quarantine. All of us have had major changes affect our daily lives, whether you’re a parent who is now working from home and helping you children with school work or a business owner that has had to change your service model to accommodate for social distancing. Nothing is too mundane to share, the little things give us a complete picture of what it’s like for everyone. While we encourage our students, faculty, and staff to contribute to the collection, we also welcome submissions from the broader UNG community – alumni and residents of Northeast Georgia.
What we’re asking you to share are some of things you’re already sharing via Facebook or Instagram or any other social media platform. Photos, videos, notes of encouragement or stories about what is going on in your life. These may be photographs you’ve taken of your family, local businesses, or signs you see around town. You may also be keeping a journal about this time in your life or just jotting down notes about things that have happened to you during the quarantine. Maybe you’re creating something and you’d like to share a song you’ve written or a painting you’ve done. How about stories from the last year you’d like to share in a quick video (recorded on your device or via Flipgrid)? All of these are wonderful insights into the times we’re living in.
To submit your story, please use our collection form and either upload your file with the form, record your story using the Flipgrid link at the bottom of the form, or email it to archives@ung.edu. Submissions can be handwritten or typed, videos, photographs, or audio files and multiple submissions are welcome. Please don’t worry about length, spelling, grammar, or handwriting, we just want to hear your story!
Not sure what to submit?
There are suggestions below or you can see what others have submitted in the Documenting COVID-19 Exhibit.
- What has brought you joy during this time? Have you written a story, poem, song you’d like to share? Have you finished a project, performed a song, painted, etc.?
- What do you miss or is there something you’ve lost?
- Have you made masks or designed a pattern for masks? Have you volunteered somewhere?
- What has it been like switching to working/schooling from home? Have you transitioned back into the office/school? What was that like?
- Do you have photos of walks around town? Have you taken pictures of signs or businesses around town that you could share?
- How did you celebrate the holidays over the last year? Did you get to spend time with family? Did you use Zoom or Facetime to spend the special day with your family?
- How has your professional life changed? Do you work from home more often? Will your job transition to a work from home position even after things have reopened?
- For healthcare professionals and first responders – how do you feel about what is happening? What is it like working in pandemic conditions? Are there stories that stick with you? How has working in pandemic conditions affected life at home?
- How do you stay in touch with family, friends, coworkers, etc.? Maybe you’ve done “window visits” with family members in nursing homes or have weekly Zoom or Facetime calls with your friends.
- Have you gotten your vaccine yet? What was it like – do you feel less anxiety about going to work or shopping now that you’ve gotten it? Did you have side effects? How was it scheduling your appointment? Do you have plans for after the vaccine or when things totally reopen?