What it's Like to be Alive Today

 The year 2020 has already been described as a major turning point in history. Plenty of history has been made in 2021 already as well. 


Just as we love to read or hear first-hand accounts of significant historic events today - from the letters home of ordinary men fighting in the Civil War included in Ken Burns’ documentary, to the stories our own grandparents tell - people in the future would love to hear from us about What It’s Like To Be Alive Today. 


Many local history and other organizations are soliciting the submission of pandemic stories from the public.  The archives of the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids and Aquinas College are collaborating to encourage both Sisters and Students to share stories in a public, online forum about What It’s Like to Be Alive Today.   

Every two weeks we will introduce a new topic or writing prompt.  We are asking participants to submit stories of 1000 - 1500  words related to that subject.  We will review all entries for grammar and general appropriateness and those chosen will be posted here on the Aquinas College Archive's blog. 


We are hoping the blog will promote comparisons and/or contrasts between the experiences of Sisters and Students.  We encourage interaction in the form of responses to specific previous posts.  Most of all we want to share stories and preserve them for the future.


Our first prompt asked students to recall the moment they realized the COVID-19 Pandemic was going to be a global, life-changing event. (This question was also recently posed by NPR!) Stay tuned to see what two Aquinas students considered to be the moment everything changed. 

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