Hear from Kedisha Trotman and Karina Rivera--two BSN students from Chamberlain University's North Brusnwick campus--about their experiences moving from campus to online learning and how they are settling into their "new normal." They talk coping, connecting and the importance of continuity in uncertain times.
Hear from Kedisha Trotman and Karina Rivera--two BSN students from Chamberlain University's North Brusnwick campus--about their experiences moving from campus to online learning and how they are settling into their "new normal." They talk coping, connecting and the importance of continuity in uncertain times.
spk_0: 0:11
Hi. My name is Tracy Henry and I'm part of the National Academic Success Team and we have decided to do a podcast today. An interview, a couple of people throughout our Chamberlain family. One of them is Stephanie Guy Burson, and she's a certified holistic health coach and also works as a life coach for a North Brunswick campus. We're gonna also talk with two of our students. One is Kadisha Trotman. She's currently in community health at North Brunswick and Karina Rivera and she's currently in mental health at North Brunswick. Kadisha is single and at home with your sit by herself in Karina is married with an 18 month old child. So we're gonna talk about how they're balancing life work at home right now during the covert virus. So I'm going to start asking some questions and Kadisha, I'm going to start with you. So I'm just curious. Does this feel like a vacation or a disruption to you? Um, this honesty
spk_1: 1:06
feels more is a complication, to be honest, in my part, only because it's like I'm not really, like, required to let go outside. I'm not part of the essential crew that has to go outside and currently work. So it's like I have more time now at home instead of having to keep me to go to school. Art took immediate to go the clinical. So for me personally, I feel is like a little bit more provocation.
spk_0: 1:28
What have you been able to do with that extra time of your, uh, studying? Are you hanging out? Exercising? What? What are you finding that you're dealing? The first
spk_1: 1:36
thing I did and I realized that we were going to be off campus, and now online. I made, like, a schedule, like, literally a 24 hour schedule toe manage Each time that I have, I've put in more time to actually watch TV because I haven't actually personally haven't been waiting watching TV since I've been in school because I really just wanted me like focus. So I've added more timeto just spend some time just watching TV. Sometimes I've also been doing some yoga I've downloaded. Is this new up that littering guides you each to each poles each step like there's a video tutorial as well? So I've been doing that also.
spk_0: 2:12
Okay, Karina. So tell me about you. Do you feel like this has been a vacation or disruption with your life.
spk_2: 2:17
This has been more off a disruption for me just because it's a lot to handle. Baby at home while trying to complete my assignment. Try Thio study. Try to get everything organized for school. So it's really hard because with a child that young, they want to be in top of you. They want to play and you know it cuts your focus all completely. I feel like so for me, it's really hard for me, too. Balance work Well, my schoolwork and a baby at home. However, it's really nice having her, but it's been a little disruption for me.
spk_3: 2:58
So how do you manage Carina like, What do you actually do in order to get your work done?
spk_2: 3:03
So what I do, Um, I start waking up in the morning. Honestly, I start interacting with the baby, you know, interact with her, Of course. Play around with her, get her tired a little bit. By the time you're done for enough, which is around 12 30. That's my start with my work. Then the baby wakes up and I'm trying to get other stuff done in between and it's almost impossible. So her bedtime is at seven at seven. PM and that's when I start my study. So and then I stay up late, which I'm not the type of person to stay a plea. I actually like to sleep, but now I have to stay up late so I could get my work done and my study done. So it's
spk_0: 3:46
hard, it's very
spk_3: 3:48
hard. And, you know, one thing I want to just interject with here is that nothing's gonna be perfect in this time. You just have to do what you can when you can and just get
spk_2: 3:59
you. Yeah, and I from what I gained from this is I basically have to organize my day. According to my
spk_0: 4:06
daughter, not even
spk_2: 4:08
to myself. So this is all about her? Me spitting my schedule in her schedule?
spk_3: 4:14
Uh huh.
spk_0: 4:16
If we weren't under quarantine, we could just send your daughter over to Conditions house and then she could hang out. Get chip. What? You doing your homework,
spk_2: 4:24
right? You have a lot of time on their hands. Maybe
spk_0: 4:29
so could you should tell me. How do you get through your day? Give me an example of which a normal day is today. Our new normal.
spk_1: 4:36
I knew normal. Okay, so, um, typically, I would wake up. Now I'll wake up, look around eight o'clock nine o'clock a little bit later, before when I had to leave a wake up a little bit earlier. But that's no eight o'clock that say I break up and then I go and start some tea shower, get ready, get dressed, have some breakfast, usually a smoothie. And then I would like, See what? What assignments are going to be Judas upcoming Sunday, And then I will see if I can get some stuff done, finish an assignment and then start reading like the required chapters of Dominique and then hopefully not get carried away and hopefully eat something and then come back and continue because,
spk_0: 5:16
you know, like
spk_1: 5:16
sometimes you you sit down, you feel like you're in the zone and you let's forget everything that sometimes happens. So it's also important to just get up and maybe stretch a little, and then I just continue doing work. And then from there I would just do, um, I'm studying. And also, since I'm so close to me and the end of the program. I've started to use my Saunders book more, and I've also been looking into like you weren't and stuff like that. So I just like preparing myself to take the exam in a couple of months as well. So that's typically P my day.
spk_0: 5:45
It's funny that you say that I, uh, usually again you can work from home and forget you've had breakfast or lunch or whatever. Now I feel like I was telling Stephanie on my other podcast that I need to socially distance myself from my refrigerator. I need to literally separate for my refrigerator for some reason. Now, I feel like I have, like, an open past, just munch all day long, so I don't know if you all are feeling that, but ah, my scale is feeling that for sure.
spk_3: 6:10
Definitely. It's so easy to just kind of pop up, have a snack. You know, every time you walk through the kitchen, you get a little snack, a little drink. You can definitely lose track of that very quickly. But one thing I want to say about um Kadisha and her experience is that it's it's almost inspiring to hear her experience because we're hearing so many, um, difficulties of people and how hard it's been on them. So it's nice to hear that, Um, you know, we're so resilient you as humans, we we can really get through hard times. And Kadisha is a great example of that where, you know, the the whole environment has changed, but she's still maintaining a positive attitude and really kind of making it through. Now. Of course, you know, Carina has a different situation. People have kids and stuff, so obviously things change when other people enter the situation. But it's, I just think it's inspiring to hear such a positive outlook.
spk_0: 7:12
Absolutely. Karina, tell me a little bit about a day and you don't told us a little bit about a day in the time and the life of Karina today. Tell me what's different from now from you know? So who was taking in helping with your child and everything? When you're in school? What's that difference? Why is it different now that you're home?
spk_2: 7:29
Because I have her in daycare?
spk_0: 7:31
Oh,
spk_2: 7:32
I have her in daycare while I'm in school, and it's been the best decision I've ever made because I just saw her in day care when she was, um 11 months. So the time before that I had baby sitters and and now I have to rush home. I couldn't really work because I just felt like I always had to rush home and care for my daughter. But before this whole Coram Corona virus, I had her in daycare, which was great. I could and I also used to watch her from the camera for my phone. Um, so it was great, and it was very comforting. And it was It just gave me a lot more time for me to focus on my studies and not worry so much about my daughter. But now my typical day here I wake up late at 8 30 cause I'm tired from being up early, trying to study or read. Um, my hair is up in a messy bond. I'm in a robe all day. I could barely get stuff done around the house, but and then in between, while she's sleeping, that's nice. Fit all my working. But, um, I've tried doing the whole workout exercise being like we saw
spk_0: 8:45
completely sells
spk_2: 8:47
the first week. But overall, it's been a challenge about the same time. I do enjoy spending time, much more time with my daughter because she used to be in a car all day. I'm personnel, um, with her draft a day, which I love learning her new, all the skill she's been learning that I wasn't able to see throughout the day when I had her in daycare. So that's a positive from this, and I really, really enjoy the little things. Those words, the new gesture she makes is really, really very comforting. Comforting in that sense.
spk_0: 9:22
Stephanie, do you have any advice that you can help with Karina?
spk_3: 9:26
You know, I think I think she nailed it on the head, is really You have to appreciate what you do have from this whole situation. You know, being home with your child and seeing her, um, new growth spurts and what she's learning. That's like the gift of the whole situation you're in. So you really have to each day kind of identify a few things that you're really grateful for. A lot of people can at night they could make a gratitude list and just think about what went right today. because, you know, we know that we're in this for at least another 30 days to be home. So, um, in a way, that could be a gift. Because you can plan. We now complain for 30 days. We know we're gonna be home. You know, you're gonna be with your daughter. You're gonna be able to see her every night. You could make a little mental list like what was great about today and that ultimately will give you the fuel to start again tomorrow and not feel like ground hog day.
spk_0: 10:23
It doesn't look like I need to watch that. Maybe, actually, um, so both tell me, have you had any issues? You frustrated all about getting answers to questions you would usually get when you walk into school? You know, I've got you walking to school. If you need a question from your student service is manager. You walk into the office. If you have a question for your professor, you see him in the hallway. You have a question for your friend. You could just ask him. Are you feeling that there's any kind of pressure issues with getting answers or causing pain? Your patients about it or or Ah, is it not been a problem? Kadisha? You could start if you'd like. I don't really
spk_1: 10:57
see a difference really is only just online area just after sending email, and then you just have to be patient and wait because they may have other stuff. They haven't know that home too. So they have their own life to worry about. So you wouldn't want to be have patients until they are able to answer your questions. But everything is just basically digital.
spk_0: 11:17
Perfect. Perfect. How about you, Carina?
spk_2: 11:20
It hasn't been a challenge at all, actually, um, with my group of friends in
spk_0: 11:25
school were
spk_2: 11:26
so texting. So we ask each other all these questions is one of us know the answer before we go and ask someone from scores in an email off. And we do have a question. Uh, either one of us will go ahead and send an email out to that person to the professor or to Ah, uh, student advisor. So in that, um, I haven't really been a challenge because we did. After what I did, Ask a few questions and they respond with today, which is expected, like conditions said. They have lives that you know. They might take a little bit longer, unusual, so we have to be a little bit patient. But overall, I think it's been working out and working out fine.
spk_0: 12:09
That's good. That's good. It looks like both of you all are really Ah, showing a wonderful patients through all of this. It seems like, you know, obviously we're all trying to show a little bit of patients or find patients we might have not had. But it's hard to be a nurse and not be a patient as well. So it looks like you're dealing with that well, anything else that you can add to that. Stephanie.
spk_3: 12:28
I think the group texting is a great idea. What a fantastic resource. I mean, you can maintain your kind of study group online, whether it's ah and Zoom Group or a chat, you know, on your phones. But what an awesome resource to be able to reach out to people who may have the exact same question and can give you an immediate answer while you wait for the official answer
spk_0: 12:52
exactly what some of our friends are having, Um, group happy hours. Anyone with our colleagues in the evening where we're all getting together and we're talking about Netflix series. That's what we're doing right now, really horrible Netflix series that we would never watch in a 1,000,000 years like Tiger King and Love Is blind and all those crazy shows that I can't believe people are actually getting paid for. But they are, and I'm watching them, you know, and that's what we're doing. We're having conversations about that. Tell me, how are you? Also, you've talked a little bit about staying connected. Um, you've talked about it on a professional or on using your colleagues at school. How are you staying connected with the outside world besides your school's people?
spk_2: 13:30
So there's an app called House Party. Yes, and it's really fun because you could connect with everyone. They could send the message. Is it sending notifications all the time when their home or maybe a little reminder? Maybe you should call this person. So it's really cool because you get so many people on the tax and video calling each other, and it's so much fun.
spk_0: 13:56
I really enjoyed
spk_2: 13:57
that. I do that with my family.
spk_3: 13:59
How is it different from like a zoom party or a zoom A zoom group.
spk_2: 14:04
I never tried doom, so I can't really compare. I'm
spk_0: 14:08
not
spk_2: 14:08
too sure, but this app it it just looks very fun and with a lot of colors. And it just looks like a party. Literally. It does look like a house party, so I don't know, maybe the other after a little bit more professional.
spk_0: 14:23
Understand?
spk_2: 14:24
Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. So the house party is a little bit more fun and more. You know, you could relax a little bit more, I guess when you're using it, um, it also had filters that you could use, though your
spk_0: 14:36
face is on the way out on steroids. Yeah. Yeah. So you have
spk_2: 14:39
your face on there, and then you're in like, uh, you're not boot. It's really
spk_0: 14:44
cool. Yeah. How about you? Haven't you kadisha
spk_1: 14:49
me personally? I just use the same phone I have. I just call our face time or we'll use What's that? What's up is really popular. So if any brought Google? Yeah. If anything I need I have actually yesterday I've had, like, um and clicks based I studying with one of my friends. Stuff like that just just that we can stay connected. Just just anything simple like this. A call like that? Yeah, it was good.
spk_3: 15:14
Yeah, I have to say that social connection is just as important as eating right and getting sleep and all that, because I really need to. Even though we're in physical isolation, you don't have to be socially isolated that can really affect it, affects your immune system and affects everything about you. You don't want to get depressed and feel bad. There are so many resource is to be able to connect with people. So that's a great idea to be able to even just have. Even if you're sitting there studying quietly and having the video on, it's almost like you're studying with someone.
spk_0: 15:50
Exactly. And you know, it's funny. I'm thinking about one of the other life coaches I spoke with. She made a good point. I wish they had not called its social distancing and called it more physical distancing as we're not, don't need to ever social distance. Ah, we need to physically distant, so keeping that social connection is key and important. First, all to get through this and you know, I find. I even have to make myself get up, which is going to be a habit that I carry with us, which we'll talk about in a second and have it all carry after this is make myself get up every hour and just go sit outside for 15 minutes. So it has been sit outside and silence and look at the pretty sky, realizing I'm safe in my house, I'm safe where we are. Food in my pantry. I've got a roof over my head. I've got a job and so I've really got really nothing to complain about right now. So I really try to put life in perspective. About 15 minutes of every hour of every day is what I try to do to kind of keep my sanity. That's a great idea. So you know, one other thing that we all deal with that's kind of hard for me to deal with. That I have to actually make myself stop doing is watching the news. I now try to only watch the news. Maybe once in the morning and once in the evening or before I go to bed, I'll look at the Johns Hopkins virus account to see where we are. What do you all do about dealing with the news? Do you block it out? Do you listen to it? You know what? And what does it do to you? Kadisha? You can start if you'd like
spk_1: 17:10
at first when Everything. I, of course, couldn't help but washing use because it's like I need to know that information like I need to know what's going on. But in after wall, like is kind of was bombarding. It looks like there's so much Okay, this pace, I'm just a lot of death. This base have so many cases, new cases like just here's all the information overload wasn't me personally. It wasn't good is not That's like a very bad energy bad vibe. So I just had to stop myself from doing that. Like you said before, I would I just checked the cults like how much cases? And then I will just leave at that. Like, if I feel like I may need something, I would like research it, but I don't want to be like it's like seeing other people other people like Camelot. Is news tonight panicking and doing like I don't want to be that type of person. So I just tried to just just keep that daily checks like you do, and that's about it. Has a right now. It's
spk_0: 18:02
perfect. How about you, Carina
spk_2: 18:04
saying, Basically, I stopped at in the beginning, it was hard to not watch the news with all the information. And of course, you're learning everything at the beginning, making sure you're protected, making sure you do enough shopping. You could say quarantine and limit yourself from going outside, um, and how to be protected. Which was very important, however, that kept coming up coming up. And then they started talking about a mob stock power going on and just everything over all of going on and so negative that that's all. They kept putting on the news with all negative information, which you get tired of the negative. So I turned off the TV completely, and I stopped watching the news. But I do go online and I do read probably once at night. Um, before I go to bed, Um, yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot of news is a lot of negativity around the world right now that we, you know, work. We're stuck at home and we have a state they seen, and I'll go drive yourself crazy because of the news. As long as we're following the rules and we're staying home, what really matters and being protective?
spk_0: 19:15
I broke my rule yesterday. I watched that NBC special on the Corona virus from the Today Show, and I actually and I'm not a panicky person. But I got a little panicked last night and thinking maybe I should go buy a deep freezer. I have to refrigerators and freezers, but maybe I should go diet by Deep Freezer. Then I couldn't find one online history to panic more. Then I'm like, Okay, stop. You know, we know that the numbers were going to get worse in the next three weeks, just not necessarily because more people are being infected. It's because more people are being tested. So it's That's the issue at Hamburg, just becoming aware of the people that have been sick. And there's probably more people again that we didn't even know that were sick, that have already recuperating like myself. So, you know, I really had to put it back in perspective before I went to bed and say again, Just take that kind of mindfulness breathing practice my mindfulness breathing exercises, staying calm and saying this is three weeks. We know it's gonna get worse before it gets better. And you've got food in your pantry again. You've got a you know, you got your bills paid for the month. You have a roof over your head for the next three weeks. You're doing all that you can do to stay safe, and that's all you can do. So just let it go and just do do. All I can say is, do my part in my parts to quarantine and to not over hoard toilet paper and make sure that I've got all the things that I need. Yeah,
spk_3: 20:31
I think that's the, um the part that is really important is that you do what you can and you let go of what you can't control because you said it. You were approaching the crescendo. You know, it's going to definitely get worse. It's going to feel scary, but we can only do so much. You do your part and then you control what you can And, um, I think also going back to the whole news, Uh, sequence is I think it's really important to know your boundaries with the news. I of course I was also, you know, watching everything. My husband's a news junkie. He was like, Oh, look at this one. Look, that one. I'm like, I can't do this It, like afraid my nerves. So I get, like a from CNN. I get a morning newsletter. That kind of gives you a very quick wrap up of what's going on. So that's what I check in with in the morning. And then at night we watch. We call it adrenaline news. It's the David Muir CBS Nightly News was like half a Knauer of total panic, but basically gives us you know, what? We need to know about what's going on, and that's it, because it just it becomes too much, and you also have to consider the sources of your news as well. So make sure whatever you choose to do as faras your ingestion of news, make sure it's sources you can trust. That is not making you unreasonably panicked. You know, like you don't want to use social media as one of your store cast news
spk_0: 22:06
now, I actually picked the same news channel and watch the same news Channel one has. All three of them are going to say the same pretty much the same thing. But I feel like that they bring up something different it again. It's all gonna be this. At the end of the day, the virus is the same across the board, so I just picked with one consistent person. Then I'm gonna listen to. So just like with 9 11 I lived on George Bush's every word that came out of his mouth and only listen to when he got on online to speak in the Same with that. So I picked David Muir to So David's the one who I sit and listen to I don't listen to anybody else. Except I broke my rule last night in a panic. So no more breaking the rule, I learned my lesson. You know your boundary, right? That you have to remember exactly. Well, we're gonna talk one last thing about or two other things. I want to talk about some technology that you used to cope. You had mentioned Karina about House party that you use. That's a wonderful tool. Um, how about you? Could they should use any types of APS during this time. I'm just typically like yoga, APS meditation. Perhaps there's also for about a name, but there's like a breeding at that. Literally times you told him I could breathe it in, hold your breath and re now just so relax ation. And this year I watched her. I watch does that all the time, and I always tell her body we mute it for the day. Usually like like dumdums. But now what we do is I don't meet mine anymore. Now I actually take that breath
spk_1: 23:26
like yeah, and then also just use facetime as well, because that's at least to get connected with the people. If my family who are in different parts of Jersey and if my mother whose company stay in New York So yeah
spk_0: 23:41
and Stephanie, you talked one about ISAT headspace? Yes,
spk_3: 23:45
headspace. There's another one. Calm, calm. There are so many yoga studios offering free classes online as well as workout studios. Um, and a lot of them are offering, like a month free, so that would get you through April at least. And, um, there's also like, um, I know Michael's has, like, a craft for the family every Wednesday at three o'clock and you know there's so many free offerings online, I would suggest just when you google what you're looking for, just add Corona virus at the end. A lot of a special that they're offering, right? So it'll show up. Kind of what? What's available to you. But it is a It's a wonderfully rich resource right now to go online and look for what you need, because it's out
spk_0: 24:35
there. And Karina, I was going to tell you there's also Jennifer Gardner I saw on the news this morning. Is doing this read aloud books, and she's gotten all these different celebrities greening like story time for Children. So they were doing at set times. And they're having all these different actors and actresses doing story time with books. So that might be something that would be good for you to do with your daughter.
spk_2: 24:58
Perfect. Shoving her little book in my
spk_0: 25:04
baby styling business every day. Pick, pick an actress. You don't read to your daughter for you. Um, have a I've got one last question for you all. Where is the silver lining in this. Where do you think? So tell me what you think could be the silver lining to all of this kadisha.
spk_1: 25:22
Um, the silver lining would be Earth, maybe name with stay home commute. Really driving having that part eliminated. So now I'm at home. I'm able to like just being my own environment is just calm. It's safe. Exactly like that's like the civil line into me and being just be able to this be like you were saying before I'm grateful that I have a roof over my head. I have I'm having a food. I have. I have stuff like I'm not doing a very bad So it's just just being being able to be alive, to be honest and healthy is just the silver lining that I have does
spk_0: 26:02
the basics. How about you, Carina
spk_2: 26:05
Thing with Kadisha be healthy and having a roof over our head, which is very important to stay safe at this moment, but also the continuing the continuity of of education. So I find that so amazing that we could continue our jin education and not put us at a pause. Um and then backs is up which is something everyone was worried about up for the word enough graduate later. Um, if we were, you know, everything is gonna move around Dick in a But I think just the the opportunity we have that we have technology today to continue our education is great because right now, the world is that pause for Arctic are our education isn't which is completely great. And I really appreciate, um, our professors for doing this for a test. Well, because
spk_0: 26:59
this is really
spk_2: 27:00
hard in the also have families and he also have, you know, and they have to sit down and teach at a certain time. So that's my over while lining in the
spk_0: 27:10
that is definite that so we have our instructors that are on the front line, just like our nursing, um, nursing. We haven't healthier workers and everyone that's been on the front line. So I've been so impressed with Chamberlain and how they pulled together and very what we think we in the time that we knew that we were gonna be closing within what, less than a week to 10 days or whatever, that we pulled everything together and put everybody online and we're all just flowing with it. And the patients patients. The students have been so patient with a CZ trying to ramp up to what it is that we need for our students. And so we've been very appreciative of the staff faculty leadership. And our students especially, have been patient with us as we've put this all together, and we're all kind of walking through this together. Stephanie, do you have any final remarks about that?
spk_3: 27:56
Yeah. I mean, I I think it's just been amazing. Watching everyone kind of come together and help each other and just the strength of the human spirit is inspiring. You know, we're all we're all not alone. We're all in this together, and not one person hasn't been affected by this. So in that in itself is a feeling of like solidarity. But it also feels like we're going to get through this together, and we're going to come out more knowledgeable, more appreciative, will be inspired to do things that we've been putting off. Um, it can be a great thing to kind of give you a new perspective on your everyday life, for
spk_0: 28:37
sure. Absolutely. So I want to just end this with just thanking Kadisha Carina and definitely Stephanie for her advice and at condition Korean. Thank you so much for sharing your stories because I really hope that this helps other students across our country. I'm hoping to speak to other students across the country to see if they're experiencing, which I'm sure they are the same thing or if they have any new advice versus well. But I really appreciate your time today to speak with us for our Chamberlain family.
spk_2: 29:05
Thank you so much.
spk_0: 29:06
All right. Thank you So much pleasure. Thanks.