Titans Remember: A COVID-19 Community Archive: Home

Titans Remember, organized by Pollak Library's University Archives & Special Collections, is a community archive whose intent is preserve our community’s experiences and responses to this historic event. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reshape our lives, we aim to continue documenting the expansive economic, environmental, and social sea changes that have swept the world along with the virus.

By using your words, photos, videos, art, music, and/or any medium in your preferred language to contribute a story about your life during covid-19 to this research archive you can help document this historic era. . Your narratives, poems, songs and digital or physical creations are all welcomed. Together we will create a unique repository of lived experience in Orange County that tomorrow’s researchers will be able to consult to learn about one of the most historically significant moments in modern human history. Your submission can remain anonymous.

Here are some suggested prompts to get you thinking about your personal narrative, no matter what form it takes:

Students:

• What challenges have you faced learning in an all-online environment?
• Have you experienced food, housing, or job insecurities?
• Are you juggling family and caretaking responsibilities with school?
• How would you rate CSUF’s response to the pandemic?
• What do you miss about campus life?
• Were you forced to leave the dorms? What did you do?
• Are you one of the students remaining on campus? What has that been like?
• Are you an Imperial Valley student? Have you felt supported? How has this impacted your community?
• If you’re an international student, how did this impact your studies? Were you able to return to your home country/family?
• Were you in a study abroad program? How did the pandemic unfold in the country where you were studying? Did you have a hard time getting home?

Faculty, staff and administrators:

• If working remotely, what has working at home been like?
• If working on campus, what has that been like?
• Are you at the Fullerton campus? How has the pandemic affected your work? Your community?
• Are you juggling family and caretaking responsibilities with work?
• How are you communicating with colleagues and students?
• What changes have you had to make to your teaching? 
• What challenges have you faced in this online environment?
• Have you had to adjust your teaching philosophy?

Alumni:

• How would you rate CSUF’s response to the pandemic?
• Have you felt disconnected from the campus community? What have you missed the most?
• How might this compare or contrast to your own college experience? 

Everyone:

• How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you, your family or your community?
• What challenges have you encountered?
• How are you coping with social distancing?
• How has your daily life changed?
• How is your community responding to the crisis?
• Have you experienced any major milestones or life events since the start of the pandemic (birthdays, weddings, funerals, graduations, etc)?

Whether or not you choose to submit your reflections to Titans Remember, creative expression such as writing, can be personally helpful and a good coping mechanism worth trying. Should engaging in the writing exercises bring up personal distress, it is recommended to contact CSUF's Counseling and Psychological Services and schedule a meeting with a mental health counselor.