WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:04.360 April first, twenty twenty one. I graduate in one month, 2 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:07.400 just one. It feels like no matter how much I 3 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:09.639 say it, it's just not going to feel real until 4 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:12.280 it's time. I think I'm just at a point where 5 00:00:12.280 --> 00:00:14.600 I'm just trying to figure out how I feel about everything. 6 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:19.040 I just need something now. I need it, I want it, 7 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:22.400 But most importantly, I think I'm ready for it. 8 00:00:26.680 --> 00:00:30.080 From Futuro Media and PRX, It's let you Know Usay 9 00:00:30.200 --> 00:00:34.199 by Maria no Rosa. Today, one student shares her story 10 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:38.240 of laws and growth after the pandemic, but her senior 11 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:46.120 year of college upside down. Sandy Flurmond, a first generation 12 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:50.840 Haitian American student at Temple University in Philadelphia, was really 13 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:57.279 looking forward to her senior year of college. She had 14 00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:00.920 dreams of studying abroad, and she had a vision of 15 00:01:01.160 --> 00:01:05.800 seeing herself graduating on a field full of friends and family. 16 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:08.520 But being a college student. 17 00:01:08.240 --> 00:01:11.600 In twenty twenty meant that a lot of these long 18 00:01:11.600 --> 00:01:18.399 awaited milestones didn't go according to plan. In collaboration with 19 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:23.720 Philly Audiodiaries, an organization that trains young people in Philadelphia 20 00:01:23.720 --> 00:01:27.600 to tell their own stories, Sandy takes a look back 21 00:01:27.720 --> 00:01:30.480 on the things the pandemic took away from her in 22 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:34.280 such a pivotal year, but also the things that she 23 00:01:34.520 --> 00:01:38.320 learned about herself, leading her to forge her own path 24 00:01:38.800 --> 00:01:43.560 in a moment of a lot of uncertainty. Here's Sandy Plurimond. 25 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.040 I've always wanted to do something big for myself, run 26 00:01:51.080 --> 00:01:55.120 a marathon, write a book, go bungee jumping. However, as 27 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:57.800 a first generation kid to Haitian immigrants in New York City, 28 00:01:58.240 --> 00:02:00.920 for a long time, doing something big just meant graduating 29 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:04.560 from college. It was everything my parents talked about. All 30 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:07.280 the struggles of attempting to achieve the American dream were 31 00:02:07.320 --> 00:02:09.120 worth it once they got to see both of their 32 00:02:09.200 --> 00:02:13.079 kids with degrees in hand. In twenty seventeen, I moved 33 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:17.560 to Philadelphia to study at Temple University. Definitely, the first 34 00:02:18.320 --> 00:02:22.800 night in my dorm was really eye opening. I remember 35 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:29.720 just staying up for almost three hours, just crying and 36 00:02:30.320 --> 00:02:34.720 feeling really overwhelmed with just like the emotion that I 37 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:37.919 was in a new place and I would never live 38 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:41.520 at home with my parents again. But I was really 39 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:44.960 excited too. Although I was by myself, my mom still 40 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:47.200 called me every single morning for the four years of 41 00:02:47.200 --> 00:02:54.839 my undergrad Ahi, mamma, Hi, sorry I missed your call. 42 00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:03.880 I'm good, I'm good. They were never long conversations, usually 43 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:06.280 no more than five minutes, and they were always about 44 00:03:06.320 --> 00:03:09.040 the same thing. Had I eaten yet? What did I 45 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:11.640 eat last night? When's the next time? I'm coming home? 46 00:03:12.320 --> 00:03:15.000 Every day those three questions in some sort of rotation. 47 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:18.200 My mom's worked in the kitchen at an Italian restaurant 48 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:20.919 for the past twenty nine years, so eating has always 49 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:23.520 been one of the most important things for her. On 50 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:26.520 the phone, we talk about a childhood memory, or something 51 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:28.800 funny that happened to either of us the day before, 52 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:31.480 or maybe even some drama going on at her job, 53 00:03:32.040 --> 00:03:35.520 but nothing more than that. My love life, my anxieties, 54 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:38.800 everything else outside of those things didn't exist in those 55 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:44.360 conversations with my mom. Something that I didn't mention in 56 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:46.720 these phone calls with my mom was that I had 57 00:03:46.760 --> 00:03:49.880 decided to switch my major from journalism to media studies 58 00:03:49.880 --> 00:03:55.000 in the spring of freshman year. I think, honestly, it 59 00:03:55.200 --> 00:03:58.640 wasn't ever a sit down conversation where my parents were like, 60 00:03:58.760 --> 00:04:00.720 you're going to college and this is what you're going 61 00:04:00.760 --> 00:04:05.120 to study. But it was a lot of conversations and 62 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:09.200 passing that were like sharing with me that someone in 63 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:12.680 their family, their kids that were around my age, decided 64 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:14.680 to go to law school or decided to go to 65 00:04:14.720 --> 00:04:17.719 med school, and so it was just like very much 66 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.520 understood that that is what they would have wanted me 67 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:25.120 to do. So I was always under the impression that, like, 68 00:04:25.200 --> 00:04:27.560 if I wasn't going to do that, I had to 69 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:30.240 do something that I really really enjoyed doing. And so 70 00:04:30.440 --> 00:04:35.000 that's definitely why I went with media studies. The first 71 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:37.520 hands on media class I ever took was radio and 72 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:41.000 podcast production. I interviewed my mom for one of the projects, 73 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.279 talking to her about the stigmatization of menstruation that both 74 00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:48.480 she and I had grown up with. Mom, how did 75 00:04:48.520 --> 00:04:51.720 you learn about periods? Who told you about it? 76 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:52.760 Nobody? 77 00:04:53.440 --> 00:04:54.640 Nobody told you about it? 78 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:56.280 So how do you know? 79 00:04:57.040 --> 00:04:58.839 Open? We are? 80 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:07.560 Parisi manidbaisaiu D six D. 81 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:10.720 My mom gave me the answer I expected her to 82 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:14.120 give me. No one told her about periods because everything 83 00:05:14.200 --> 00:05:17.839 from sex to basic anatomy were kept absolutely hush hush 84 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:20.479 and haiti. Talking with her made me realize that there 85 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:22.400 was a large culture gap between the two of us. 86 00:05:23.320 --> 00:05:25.800 During the course, my professor Ann Hoffman let me know 87 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:28.320 that she believed i'd be a good addition to her program, 88 00:05:28.760 --> 00:05:31.760 Philly Audio Diaries. It was a program that taught young 89 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:34.640 people from alternative high schools how to tell their stories 90 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:37.720 for broadcast, and asking me to work for her help 91 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:40.360 me realize that this was something much bigger than a class. 92 00:05:45.960 --> 00:05:48.120 Declaring on media studies major was one of the first 93 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:50.840 big decisions I took for myself, and in the fall 94 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:53.040 of twenty nineteen, when I was a junior in college, 95 00:05:53.520 --> 00:05:56.279 I was ready to take another big decision. I wanted 96 00:05:56.279 --> 00:05:59.839 to study abroad. It was definitely something I always wanted 97 00:05:59.880 --> 00:06:04.160 to do, but I think one of the things that 98 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:08.039 made it seem so far out of reach was well 99 00:06:08.200 --> 00:06:11.120 with my whole college process. I did it pretty much 100 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:15.479 all on my own, like applying to colleges and applying 101 00:06:15.520 --> 00:06:19.240 to financial aid and finding out programs and stuff to do. 102 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:22.200 I couldn't really get help from my parents for that 103 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:26.120 because they'd never done it themselves, so it was up 104 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:29.600 to me to figure everything out and answer my own questions. 105 00:06:30.320 --> 00:06:34.160 Getting into college had already been such a triumph for 106 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:37.520 me because I knew that I did it myself. That 107 00:06:37.760 --> 00:06:41.720 study abroad seemed like a leap into like a much 108 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:46.039 bigger pool. Studying abroad had always just been a tiny 109 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:48.599 dream in the back of my mind, something I couldn't 110 00:06:48.640 --> 00:06:51.440 imagine myself doing because it seemed like something reserved for 111 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:53.840 people who had a lot more money than I can fathom. 112 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:56.240 It was something that I often felt about a lot 113 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:59.520 of other things too, like going on family vacations or 114 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:02.360 going out for family dinners. It was something I was 115 00:07:02.440 --> 00:07:04.920 never surrounded by growing up, so I put it all 116 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:06.560 in a box that I felt like I didn't have 117 00:07:06.640 --> 00:07:10.480 a place in. One day, I let myself have the thought, 118 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:13.960 what if I did study abroad. I decided to read 119 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:17.080 brochures about it and visit the Study Abroad Office. Once 120 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:19.600 I did my research, I discovered it was actually something 121 00:07:19.640 --> 00:07:22.800 that I could do, and so I submitted an application 122 00:07:23.080 --> 00:07:27.560 for a program in London. London. It's kind of hard 123 00:07:27.640 --> 00:07:33.000 to describe, but I just always felt a connection to 124 00:07:33.200 --> 00:07:38.240 It also seemed like the perfect amount of different to 125 00:07:38.400 --> 00:07:41.160 New York, and I think my whole life, I've been 126 00:07:41.280 --> 00:07:44.400 trying to find something like that because New York is 127 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:47.080 a really big piece of me. It's my favorite city ever, 128 00:07:47.200 --> 00:07:50.320 It's where I grew up, but I just wanted to 129 00:07:50.400 --> 00:07:53.320 find something that gave me the same feeling that New 130 00:07:53.400 --> 00:07:57.080 York did, but in a completely different way. And especially 131 00:07:57.240 --> 00:08:01.840 once I talked to the Study of Broad program and 132 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:06.000 read the info packets, it just in my body felt like, Yeah, 133 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:08.520 I think this is the place that I really really 134 00:08:08.640 --> 00:08:15.280 need to go to. In January of twenty twenty, I 135 00:08:15.400 --> 00:08:17.680 was accepted into the Study of Broad program and I 136 00:08:17.760 --> 00:08:21.080 paid the deposit. I had also gotten an internship through 137 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:23.320 the Study of Broad Program that was going to involve 138 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:27.080 me writing and posting about different restaurants in London. Even 139 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:29.600 though my mom's a chef. Growing up, we never went 140 00:08:29.640 --> 00:08:32.520 out to restaurants, and I discovered in my adulthood it's 141 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:35.040 one of my greatest pleasures. I had gone through the 142 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:38.600 whole process of applying all by myself without telling anybody, 143 00:08:38.880 --> 00:08:43.040 not even my parents. When I got my passport in 144 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:45.880 the mail is when I told my parents, because I 145 00:08:45.920 --> 00:08:48.360 had never had a passport and I was so excited 146 00:08:48.400 --> 00:08:51.680 about it. I'm pretty sure I like jumped for joy 147 00:08:51.880 --> 00:08:54.319 once I got my passport because it was this like 148 00:08:55.280 --> 00:08:58.599 physical embodiment of these dreams that I had and it 149 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:01.000 felt like it was coming true. So the day I 150 00:09:01.040 --> 00:09:03.760 got my passport is the day that I called my 151 00:09:03.880 --> 00:09:06.679 mom and my dad to let them know that I 152 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:10.240 was pretty certain that I was going to be going abroad. 153 00:09:13.040 --> 00:09:18.280 My mom was like why, and my dad was also 154 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:22.800 just like, where is this coming from? So I think 155 00:09:22.880 --> 00:09:26.199 I just had a really honest conversation with them and 156 00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:30.120 was honest with the fact that I was feeling also 157 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:33.240 a bit stuck in Philly. I felt in myself that 158 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:37.040 I hadn't been doing enough to challenge myself to seek 159 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:40.920 out happiness for myself. That is when they really became 160 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:44.520 understanding and supportive of that, because I knew that they 161 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:46.960 wanted that for me too, but I had never expressed 162 00:09:47.040 --> 00:09:52.599 that to them. Then life as we knew it for 163 00:09:52.679 --> 00:09:59.920 everyone in the world changed COVID nineteen. It was March nineteen, 164 00:10:00.160 --> 00:10:02.840 twenty twenty, and my girlfriend Aliana, who I had also 165 00:10:02.920 --> 00:10:05.560 planned on setting abroad in Italy that summer, got lunch 166 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:09.559 with me on campus. Things weren't necessarily normal. The hallways 167 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:11.679 were filled with people talking about different theories of what 168 00:10:11.920 --> 00:10:14.440 was to come, but it was the last normal day 169 00:10:14.640 --> 00:10:17.920 we would experience. One moment, we were laughing about stealing 170 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:21.280 each other's food and the next we both received emails 171 00:10:21.320 --> 00:10:24.160 getting the crushing news that our summer plans were no more. 172 00:10:26.840 --> 00:10:31.520 I went through probably the stages of grief all within 173 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:34.679 like five minutes. For the first time, I had a 174 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:38.440 bit of fear in my heart, like if they were 175 00:10:38.520 --> 00:10:43.040 canceling London, Like what was COVID? What did this really mean? 176 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:47.160 I remember that night was just a sad, sad night. 177 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:50.920 We like took the long way to walk home and 178 00:10:51.040 --> 00:10:54.400 we just talked about it. And honestly, it was really 179 00:10:54.520 --> 00:10:57.360 nice to have each other, I would say in that moment, 180 00:10:57.520 --> 00:11:02.720 because we both were morning these but we both felt 181 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:08.000 really scared, I think, and really confused. As COVID became 182 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:10.520 worse and it raged across the world, my girlfriend and 183 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:14.400 I watched from our tiny apartment in North Philadelphia, disinfecting 184 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:17.840 groceries and taking turns talking the other down from believing 185 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.199 that a doorknob we raised earlier that day may have 186 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:23.599 given us the virus. As everything around me seemed to 187 00:11:23.640 --> 00:11:27.080 be drastically changing, I held onto the little bits of normalcy, 188 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:35.040 like the daily calls with my mom, I Mama, I 189 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:42.400 had got dumby. Honestly, you wouldn't tell that COVID was 190 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:44.840 happening during those phone calls, which I think is interesting 191 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:47.760 because my mom would call every day and ask the 192 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:51.960 same exact thing that she always had, And so while 193 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:56.160 I was worried about her because my mom is kind 194 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:58.959 of older and she works a lot, So while I 195 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:01.000 was worried about her, and she was worried about me 196 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:04.679 because I am away from her and she doesn't really 197 00:12:04.760 --> 00:12:07.480 know what I'm doing every day, we sort of put 198 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:10.640 those words to the side and didn't confront each other 199 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.520 about them, to give each other that bit of peace 200 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:17.160 because we were having these phone calls and being like, yeah, 201 00:12:17.520 --> 00:12:19.960 I'm doing good, and I made this really yummy thing 202 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:23.719 last night, and I thought of you. In between the 203 00:12:23.800 --> 00:12:26.439 nagging fear of the pandemic and the anxiety of the 204 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:29.680 uncertainty of the future, all I had were my journal 205 00:12:29.800 --> 00:12:36.520 and my voice memo app April fourteenth, twenty twenty. It's 206 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:39.800 the tenth day of quarantine and its raining today. I'm 207 00:12:39.880 --> 00:12:42.240 not sure if this is actually the tenth or the eleventh, 208 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:44.800 now that I think of it. The rain makes it 209 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:47.360 seem like the days are even more blurrier than before. 210 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:50.960 People online keep talking about how they're going stir crazy 211 00:12:51.400 --> 00:12:53.880 and I can't say that I disagree with them, but 212 00:12:54.040 --> 00:12:57.440 more than anything, I'm really confused and I'm really scared. 213 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:00.320 How was it that eleven days ago we were all 214 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:03.079 walking around and now the thought of leaving our houses 215 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:10.920 seems so scary beyond belief. At that point, I was 216 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:13.439 living in the smallest apartment I had ever lived in, 217 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:18.719 and so I had really built a routine of not 218 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:21.959 spending time in that apartment, just doing things outside and 219 00:13:22.160 --> 00:13:24.959 doing things that I liked to do, and just like 220 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:27.439 really utilizing that as a place to eat and sleep. 221 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:32.480 So the first couple days of lockdown quarantine were so 222 00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:34.920 difficult because I was spending so much time in this 223 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:39.480 enclosed space that I hadn't even really considered home. It 224 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:41.600 was only a couple of weeks before we packed up 225 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:45.560 all our stuff and headed to my girlfriend's rural hometown, Williamsport, 226 00:13:45.880 --> 00:13:51.880 for ten weeks. May twenty six, twenty twenty. I'm riding 227 00:13:51.920 --> 00:13:54.400 this in the middle of the woods in suburban Pennsylvania. 228 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:58.319 How ridiculous is it that that's actually the least ridiculous 229 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:01.760 thing to have happened this summer. I've been in Williamsport 230 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:05.400 for five weeks now, cases are still rising everywhere, and 231 00:14:05.520 --> 00:14:08.600 it feels like this may be life forever. That thought 232 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:11.199 feels too bleak, though, so I'm writing it down and 233 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:13.280 letting it go so I don't think of it too much. 234 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:16.840 I was supposed to be in London. Now I can't 235 00:14:16.880 --> 00:14:19.280 help but wonder what it would have been like. Would 236 00:14:19.280 --> 00:14:19.880 I be happy? 237 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:20.880 Sad? 238 00:14:21.880 --> 00:14:25.360 I've regretted it. All I know is that I'm healthy 239 00:14:25.520 --> 00:14:28.400 and my family's healthy, and that's all that really matters 240 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:28.840 in the end. 241 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:29.560 I guess. 242 00:14:30.880 --> 00:14:33.040 I was used to the chaos of the city, but 243 00:14:33.160 --> 00:14:35.600 more than ever, the sounds of nature provided a much 244 00:14:35.680 --> 00:14:41.400 needed escape. For the first time in my life, I 245 00:14:41.560 --> 00:14:43.800 was able to go on these long walks in nature 246 00:14:43.920 --> 00:14:49.520 and just read. Whenever I felt overwhelmed, angry, tired, sad. 247 00:14:50.160 --> 00:14:56.600 I could just have a little escape. When the time 248 00:14:56.680 --> 00:14:59.080 came to finally leave, I knew that coming back to 249 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:02.400 Philadelphia and June of twenty twenty meant confronting the reality 250 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:05.280 of COVID again. In August of twenty twenty, I was 251 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:07.440 going into my last year of college and it didn't 252 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:10.080 feel like it at all. I had just spent the 253 00:15:10.160 --> 00:15:13.280 last couple of months doing online classes, and the days 254 00:15:13.280 --> 00:15:16.200 seemed to blur together more often than not. For the 255 00:15:16.280 --> 00:15:19.280 first time, I wasn't working in the service industry. I 256 00:15:19.400 --> 00:15:22.440 was doing online classes every day, and the few times 257 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:24.680 I was working was with Anne and the Philly Diaries 258 00:15:24.760 --> 00:15:27.520 team remotely. I had always been someone who worked better 259 00:15:27.560 --> 00:15:30.480 outside of the house, so when COVID came, I didn't 260 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:32.360 even have a desk to sit at in my apartment. 261 00:15:32.880 --> 00:15:35.040 This led to me taking every Zoom class from my 262 00:15:35.160 --> 00:15:38.920 bed and having more accidental naps than ever before. It 263 00:15:39.040 --> 00:15:41.320 wasn't until COVID happened that I realized how much I 264 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:44.760 valued being in the actual classroom. Life felt like it 265 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:49.720 had become one big screen. I remember my last final ever. 266 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:53.520 I just submitted it online on like a random Tuesday, 267 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:55.480 and then it was just it. Then I was just 268 00:15:55.560 --> 00:15:59.680 done with undergrad about too. 269 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:05.800 Oh, go pick up my down this morning. I can't 270 00:16:05.800 --> 00:16:11.560 believe it, right, I graduate in a week. That is 271 00:16:13.040 --> 00:16:15.320 so ridiculous, but I'm so excited. 272 00:16:16.800 --> 00:16:19.520 For months, everyone in my class waited to know whether 273 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:22.560 or not graduation would be happening online or in person. 274 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:25.080 When the news finally broke that I was going to 275 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:28.000 be in person, I felt a mix of emotions. I 276 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:30.240 was grateful and excited that I was getting to have 277 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:33.080 this shot at normalcy, but I was quickly brought back 278 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:34.960 to reality when I found out my parents had to 279 00:16:35.040 --> 00:16:38.120 work that day and my visitors wouldn't be allowed inside 280 00:16:38.160 --> 00:16:40.480 the ceremony. They would be able to watch me on 281 00:16:40.520 --> 00:16:43.800 a livestream from home instead. These were just moments that 282 00:16:43.880 --> 00:16:46.360 I had held in my heart for a long time. 283 00:16:47.160 --> 00:16:49.800 Getting to hug them right after I got my diploma, 284 00:16:50.160 --> 00:16:52.720 or getting to hear that they were proud of me 285 00:16:52.880 --> 00:16:56.000 in person, or getting to see them in the crowd. 286 00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:58.440 And so while I'm happy that they saw me in 287 00:16:58.520 --> 00:17:01.400 this like hybrid kind of way there is, it's just 288 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:04.399 there's still a bit of sadness there that they didn't 289 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:06.320 get to do it in the way that I had 290 00:17:06.600 --> 00:17:08.360 hoped for so long that they would. 291 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:19.560 Welcome to the spring twenty twenty one graduation ceremonies for 292 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:24.560 the lu Klin College of Media and Communication held in person. 293 00:17:26.359 --> 00:17:29.760 We graduated in a field, and we were all still 294 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:33.479 socially distanced, and I think seeing the empty chairs at 295 00:17:33.560 --> 00:17:38.000 graduation made me also think about the fact that I 296 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:40.479 was here, I was experiencing this moment that I had 297 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:43.560 been waiting for for so long, but I was seeing 298 00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:48.119 the actual physical effects that COVID was still having on 299 00:17:48.280 --> 00:17:50.040 these seemingly normal moments. 300 00:17:51.040 --> 00:17:57.560 Sandy Florimon, Congratulations graduates. 301 00:18:02.800 --> 00:18:05.119 Later that night, as I celebrated with my friends in 302 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:07.800 my backyard, my parents called me to let me know 303 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:10.199 they were able to watch and how proud they were 304 00:18:10.280 --> 00:18:15.960 of me. May twenty twenty one. I'm officially a college 305 00:18:16.040 --> 00:18:20.640 graduate as of two days ago. It was the most 306 00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:23.119 special day because I couldn't have predicted any of it. 307 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:26.439 I've learned to be so grateful for everything, because if 308 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:29.119 there's anything this time has taught me is that I 309 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:32.440 can be all taken away in an instant. I got 310 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:35.160 to see my friends and celebrate in my tiny backyard, 311 00:18:35.320 --> 00:18:38.440 and it felt perfect. I couldn't help but think about 312 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:42.119 how different it felt last year. A year ago, Aliana 313 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:44.600 and I were hiding away in Wilding Sport, and a 314 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.720 year later, I'm vaccinated, surrounded by people who love me 315 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:55.879 to celebrate my graduation. But soon doubts started creeping in. 316 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:00.480 At that point, everyone loves to ask what you're doing 317 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:03.760 after and I just really couldn't. I couldn't deal with 318 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:07.400 that that question, and I was just in my own 319 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:12.840 head really nervous because I think I just really wanted 320 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:15.879 an answer to that question for myself, and I didn't 321 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:19.040 really have one. I didn't have a huge job lined 322 00:19:19.080 --> 00:19:21.720 up or anything. But of course with that nervousness, I 323 00:19:21.840 --> 00:19:25.600 was just really excited to just start something new. Two 324 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:29.280 days after graduation, in my room, all by myself, I 325 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:31.680 made the decision to take back one of the things 326 00:19:31.800 --> 00:19:37.840 that the pandemic took from me. It's eleven PM and 327 00:19:39.280 --> 00:19:47.320 I just bought some plane tickets to go to London. Yeah. 328 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:54.440 I don't know what I'm doing, but I think I'm 329 00:19:54.480 --> 00:20:00.080 going to go to London this summer. I seven one 330 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:03.440 hundred dollars of my own money. But I think this 331 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:06.000 is going to be good. I think this is going 332 00:20:06.040 --> 00:20:10.159 to be real good. I had graduated college in the 333 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:12.600 middle of a global pandemic, and I was ready for 334 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:16.200 something big. I had worked and saved up throughout lockdown 335 00:20:16.320 --> 00:20:18.720 and realized that I had this opportunity in front of me. 336 00:20:19.320 --> 00:20:21.520 I just had to take it. Just like a year ago, 337 00:20:22.040 --> 00:20:24.480 I waited until everything was already set to tell my 338 00:20:24.560 --> 00:20:27.919 parents that I was going. This time, I wasn't asking 339 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:32.600 them May fifteenth, twenty twenty one. I'm going to London. 340 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:36.200 It's official. I bought the tickets and booked my airbnb. 341 00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:39.240 It's all set, and I leave in less than ten days. 342 00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:42.000 I don't know what it is, but I just decided 343 00:20:42.040 --> 00:20:49.040 that the only thing that's stopping myself was me. My 344 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:54.840 dad is loading up a car right now, and I'm 345 00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:58.720 in my childhood bedroom about to leave for the airport. 346 00:21:00.280 --> 00:21:05.040 My flight is not for another five hours, but I've 347 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:10.479 never been anywhere before, so better safe than sorry. Oh 348 00:21:10.560 --> 00:21:13.920 my god, Yeah, okay, I gotta go. Before I left 349 00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:16.000 for the airport, my dad came into my room and 350 00:21:16.080 --> 00:21:18.760 gave me a hug. I knew in that moment he 351 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:21.360 was saying more than he could ever allow himself to say. 352 00:21:22.040 --> 00:21:23.639 He let me know that he would miss me and 353 00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:26.480 that he would be thinking of me every day. The 354 00:21:26.560 --> 00:21:28.720 hug also felt like all the hugs we weren't able 355 00:21:28.800 --> 00:21:30.640 to have over the year we weren't able to see 356 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:33.639 each other. He packed my stuff into the car and 357 00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:36.960 we drove to JFK in silence. We got to the airport, 358 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:39.879 had one last hug, and he waved goodbye. As I 359 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:47.040 walked to security, I felt a jolt of energy walking 360 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:50.320 onto the plane and hearing that the flight crew was 361 00:21:50.359 --> 00:21:53.480 speaking in British accents video. 362 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:56.280 Seatbelt securely backwards until the packs of seatbelt time was 363 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:57.080 being PLACEBLT. 364 00:21:57.600 --> 00:22:01.720 I was like grinning in my seat way before takeoff 365 00:22:01.800 --> 00:22:04.520 even happened, because I was like, I'm sitting on a 366 00:22:04.600 --> 00:22:09.840 plane at JFK with a full British flight crew going 367 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:15.720 to London, Like, who am I I had a nine 368 00:22:15.840 --> 00:22:19.000 pm flight, so I knew I wasn't going to see 369 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:22.800 much for like the first couple hours. This is so 370 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:26.200 dramatic in the best way, but I like really wanted 371 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:30.080 to experience lifting up the window and seeing the ocean. 372 00:22:30.760 --> 00:22:33.880 And so I remember I woke up and I had 373 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:36.920 no idea what time it is, but I could see 374 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:39.800 in different pockets of the plane that light was starting 375 00:22:39.840 --> 00:22:43.040 to shine in where people had their windows open. So 376 00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:45.520 I knew that it was light outside, and so I 377 00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:50.840 lifted it up and I saw just like pure pure water, 378 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:55.880 and I was so amazed. I think I probably really 379 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:57.040 loudly gasped. 380 00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:57.600 One. 381 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:01.200 Ladies and gentlemen are very warm, welcome a fine payite. 382 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:04.000 London, Egra where we'll be arriving on the cgate and 383 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:06.679 the local time here at nine thirty am. 384 00:23:09.040 --> 00:23:11.119 Once I touched down in London, I felt like it 385 00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:18.320 hit me immediately. I had never been in a place 386 00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:21.359 so different by myself, but I knew I could handle it. 387 00:23:22.080 --> 00:23:23.760 It was going to be the space and time where 388 00:23:23.800 --> 00:23:27.400 I wasn't putting expectations on myself or letting anyone else 389 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:30.800 place expectations on me. It was time to let myself 390 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:33.760 just be mean. It was time to just enjoy new 391 00:23:33.840 --> 00:23:37.880 things and experiences. It was just finally the right time. 392 00:23:50.760 --> 00:23:54.640 This episode was produced by Sandy Flurmont and Julia rochap 393 00:23:54.760 --> 00:23:58.199 It was edited by Marta Martinez and mixed by Gabriella Bias. 394 00:23:58.560 --> 00:24:02.560 The Latino USA teaming dudes Andrea Lopez, Gruzsado, Mike Sargent, 395 00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:08.600 Julieta Martinelli, Victori Estrada, Patriji s Ubi, Montalbo, Alejandra Salasad 396 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:12.480 and Rinaldo Leanos Junior, with help from Raoul Perez. 397 00:24:12.840 --> 00:24:15.240 Our editorial director is Julio Ricardo Barella. 398 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:19.359 Special thanks to Anne Hoffman and Philly Audio Diaries. Our 399 00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:24.359 supervising Senior Engineer is Stephanie Lebau. Our Assistant Senior Engineer 400 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:27.920 is Julia Caruso. Additional engineering by Lea shot Damaran with 401 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:28.600