Joshua is a a fourth-year Criminology, Law, and Society student. You can read the abstract for his field diary below, as well as select quotes and excerpts.

Abstract: The Field Diary acts as a record of my personal experiences throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The first entry of the diary depicts my time during a household quarantine that lasted about four weeks. I explain how my parents and I responded to both of their COVID tests returning positive, specifically discussing the rules that we set and how the event changed our view of the coronavirus from a distant problem to an immediate threat. A majority of the other entries describe my experiences with celebrating holidays during the pandemic. Specifically, I discuss how my family celebrated the Fourth of July, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. I also describe my experience with the election during the pandemic. A continuous topic throughout each entry is the reactions that I observed from my family members and friends as well as myself. In this regard, comparisons are drawn among the reactions that I observed from my relatives, my close friends, myself, and occasionally the public reaction as I perceived it. The final entries, specifically entries seven and eight, involve my perception of possible future events and comparisons between the holiday season from 2019 to the holiday season of 2020. Ultimately, the entries each act as descriptions of how the pandemic directly or indirectly affected my life as well as the lives of those with whom I am familiar.

Keywords: field diary, pandemic, quarantine, holiday

Throughout the pandemic, holidays had always been a concern, especially in regards to family gatherings. The Fourth of July, for example, acted as a form of test for many people in my hometown of Bakersfield. We were all uncertain as to how we should celebrate while ensuring that none of us would contract COVID at the celebration.

Agerton, December 2020, Entry 2

Tonight, I was verbally able to speak to my friends first the first time since late October due to an increased amount of schoolwork as well as our inability to meet in person.

Agerton, December 2nd, 2020, Entry 7

I took a brief break from my work late in the day and watched some of the live recordings of the musicians’ performances. I enjoyed watching the musicians’ each masterfully play their instruments while shouting to the crowd to raise their excitement. In one particular video, the New York City skyline was visible across a body of water. I watched the packed crowd cheer and dance while listening to the upbeat music and began to feel excited as well. The video reminded me of a time when a packed crowd was common, especially near a populace city like New York. I thought about how I wished I could have been there, even before the pandemic began.

Agerton, December 8th, 2020, Entry 8