FIELD STUDY STUDENTS SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS  

Members of Advanced Field Study, a select group of Social Ecology students who are
chosen from a pool of applicants to participate in a year-long field study experience and
course, had their internships and traditional college experience cut short this year.
During our final quarter of the year together, during which we met weekly for two hours
via Zoom, we discussed their reactions as the world fell apart around them. First came
the pandemic and social distancing, then came the death of George Floyd and the
response of the Black Lives Matter movement, both of which were imprinted on the
lives of these students. This year was anything but dull, instead full of raw emotion and
painful realizations of the fragility of the human condition and the extent to which we
need one another. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for our students to chronicle
their experiences — the good and the bad, the lessons learned, and ways in which they
were forever changed by the events of the past four months. I invited all of my students
to write an essay describing the ways in which these times had impacted their learning
and their lives during or after their time at UCI. These are their voices. — Jessica
Borelli, associate professor of psychological science
The current state of affairs put the world on pause, but this pause gave me time to
reflect on troubling matters. Time that so many others like me probably also desperately
needed to heal without even knowing it. Sometimes it takes one’s world falling apart for
the most beautiful mosaic to be built up from the broken pieces of wreckage. 
As the school year was coming to a close and summer was edging around the corner, I
began reflecting on how people will spend their summer breaks if the country remains in
its current state throughout the sunny season. Aside from living in the sunny beach
state of California where people love their vitamin D and social festivities, I think some
of the most damaging effects Covid-19 will have on us all has more to do with social
distancing policies than with any inconveniences we now face due to the added
precautions, despite how devastating it may feel that Disneyland is closed to all the
local annual passholders or that the beaches may not be filled with sun-kissed
California girls this summer. During this unprecedented time, I don’t think we should
allow the rare opportunity we now have to be able to watch in real time how the effects
of social distancing can impact our mental health. Before the pandemic, many of us
were already engaging in a form of social distancing. Perhaps not the exact same way
we are now practicing, but the technology that we have developed over recent years
has led to a dramatic decline in our social contact and skills in general. 
Since the start of the most drastic change of our lives, I have had the privilege of
helping feed more than 200 different families in the Santa Ana area and even some
neighboring cities. It has been an immense pleasure seeing the sheer joy and
happiness of families as they come to pick up their box of food from our site, as well as
a $50 gift card to Northgate, a grocery store in Santa Ana. Along with donating food and
helping feed families, the team at the office, including myself, have dedicated this time
to offering psychosocial and mental health check-ups for the families we serve. 
Every day I go into the office I start my day by gathering files of our families we served
between the months of January, February, and March and calling them to check on how
they are doing financially, mentally, and how they have been affected by COVID-19. As
a side project, I have been putting together Excel spreadsheets of all these families’
struggles and finding a way to turn their situation into a success story to share with our
board at PY-OCBF and to the community partners who make all of our efforts possible.
One of the things that has really touched me while working with these families is how
much of an impact this nonprofit organization truly has on family’s lives. I have spoken
with many families who I just call to check up on and it turns into an hour call sharing
about how much of a change they have seen in their child who went through our
program. Further, they go on to discuss that because of our program, their children
have a different perspective on the drugs they were using before and the group of
friends they were hanging out with. Of course, the situation is different right now as
everyone is being told to stay at home; however, there are those handful of kids
who still go out without asking for permission, increasing the likelihood they might
contract this disease and pass it to the rest of the family. We are working diligently to
provide support for these parents and offering advice to talk to their kids in order to have
a serious conversation with their kids so that they feel heard and validated.