Conall Mathis

SPEAKERS: Fredrik VanBeuren, Conall Mathis

VANBEUREN: I'm Fredrik VanBeuren with the COVID Oral History Project at Wells College. Today's date is 4/14/22. I'm in Conall's room with Conall. This is an unrehearsed recording, recorded interview. Thank you for joining us today. I'd like to begin by getting to know more about your background. Could you start by telling us about yourself, your full name, date of birth and where you were born?

MATHIS: I'm Conall Mathis. I was born on October 29, 1999. I'm from Oklahoma, Ardmore, Oklahoma, smack dab in between Oklahoma City and Dallas. What were the other things?

VANBEUREN: Oh, that's pretty much it. So where did you live growing up?

MATHIS: Well, I was born in Louisiana, and then moved to New Mexico, and then moved to Dallas, Texas - No I'm sorry, I moved to Louisiana moved to Dallas, Texas, moved to Mexico, lived in El Paso for a while and then move to Ardmore, Oklahoma. My dad was a military, military guy. So I was a little bit of a military brat. But then, once I was five, six, we finally settled in to a place, I just remember moving a lot. And then finally not moving a lot which was kind of cool. Grew up in Ardmore. I don't know kind of southern town. That no Yeah, southern Oklahoma acts more southern and then the further north you get it gets more Midwestern, but yeah, rather southern.

VANBEUREN: So what was it like there growing up?

MATHIS: Um, really boring. I was homeschooled. I went to Ardmore Christian School from like first to sixth grade. My parents were are still our fundamental evangelicals. So and then I was homeschooled from sixth to graduation, and there was really nothing to do. There were pasture parties, you'd go out into the pasture with a keg of beer, and you'd party. Could go, spotlighting, where you just took high powered flashlights, and like little gun like 22's or whatever. And you go on the back of someone's truck, and you go out in the pasture, and you try to hunt, whatever is crawling around there, like rabbits, raccoons, foxes, whatever.

VANBEUREN: I've actually done that.

MATHIS: Yeah, it's fun.

VANBEUREN: I'm from the city. But I've I also grew up in Amish country, Pennsylvania, and New Holland. So one day, me, my god sister and her boyfriend, we hopped in the back of the pickup truck. And we grabbed, again, a giant spotlight. And we didn't shoot anything because we didn't have any guns, but we 00:03:00just went looking for deer.

MATHIS: Yep, We couldn't shoot deer, because you don't have a tag for them. And they were actually worried about that. But they did shoot. We did shoot that Oh, and then you could go out to the cow ponds. And you'd wait until like five or six o'clock at evening. And then the turtles would start popping up. And again, you'd have your 22 and you just sit out you'd shoot turtle heads. And that was kind of fun. Kind of fucked up now that I'm thinking about it. But it was fun, as a kid. I don't think I do it now.

VANBEUREN: So how would you say it's similar or different from Aurora?

MATHIS: It is incredibly different. I mean, it's like people are rural up here, but they're not. Really. It's the rich rural-ness this I guess. You have to drive everywhere, which is kind of like Aurora, you had to drive for where I live. I'm like, actually live like 15 miles outside of Ardmore. So it's a 15 minute drive to get there. But so driving and living in a rural place and everybody being Republican is what's pretty much similar Other than that, it's not really, it's very different. I, Auburn is the closest thing to Oklahoma I can think about. Wow. Like the people how the people dress in Auburn, get rid of the piercings get rid of the tattoos get rid of the different hair colors, that's Oklahoma people like that's Yeah.

VANBEUREN: Who do you consider to be your family? Could you tell us about your family?

MATHIS: Um, I have my immediate family. So, you know, mom, dad lived with them. Then I have younger siblings I have a, oh shit how old are they now, 17 year old sister. 15- Daniel's 15, And then John John, my littlest brother, he's 13. He's going to turn 14 this year. And then Syd, my partner, I guess I just consider them my family. Like, that's about it, but mostly Syd more than my actual family.

VANBEUREN: Cool. Tell us about the people you lived with. When you were growing up, when you were growing up with like, who were you especially close with.

MATHIS: I grew up kind of lonely, honestly. I didn't really have a lot of friends. It was a really small class that I was in there was like, it was a Christian school, but there were like 60 kids in it. So it was maybe at most 12 kids in my class that I kind of grew up with. I didn't really get close to anybody there was some that we just hung around with a lot but we didn't really vibe outside of school . And then I was homeschooled and didn't really didn't 00:06:00make any friends. Yeah, no, I really wasn't close with anyone.

VANBEUREN: So yeah, my my. My best friend growing up, he also went to a really small Christian school. And I think the most he, like in his class was 15 people. So I definitely I know what that's like, even though I went to a really big public school I like I know what that's like. What were you like as a child? Could you share perhaps a special memory about yourself as a child that you vividly remember?

MATHIS: I was a really stupid naive child. I will say like very very stupid very, but very book-smart. For childhood memory, I don't really have anything that sticks out. I guess. I don't know high school is like a sad depression blur for me. I don't really have anything that sticks out like genuinely, very boring childhood. very sheltered.

VANBEUREN: Would you mind like, going deeper, like high school? Like I know you mentioned depression. Are you comfortable sharing?

MATHIS: Oh, yeah. So basically, was homeschooled. Huge air quotations there because there wasn't really much schooling going on. So like. Maybe did algebra one., Algebra Two, didn't do geometry. Then I did a year of English. No, I didn't even do a year of English. I did like half a course of Brit Lit.

VANBEUREN: Wow.

MATHIS: Then my dad gave up, one year of American history. And then like a vo-tech or BOCES like a vocational school or whatever. I did two years, that's how I actually learned biology and advanced microbiology and like, you know, environmental like sciency shit, how I actually learned that. Didn't know evolution was a thing until I didn't completely understand how evolution worked until I was here.

VANBEUREN: Well, that's I mean, your background, being in such a religious place. I mean, there's like I was watching a movie the other day and they mentioned like the Bible Belt.

MATHIS: Yeah, Oklahoma's the belt buckle of the Bible Belt.

VANBEUREN: Wow. That's, that's crazy. I like I I mean, I went to church growing up, but you know, just hearing that is actually a real thing.

MATHIS: And it's up here too, because there's someone I think we know someone 00:09:00that like pretty much grew up the same way. I did.

VANBEUREN: Wow. So you didn't you didn't learn about evolution at all?

MATHIS: No, I was taught the world was like 6000 years old.

VANBEUREN: That's wild.

MATHIS: Because my parents - So there's in evangelicalism, there's like, two, there's the old, old Earth theory where you're just kind of take Genesis as like, Oh, this is poetic. It's not really literal. It's an oral history of the Jewish people. You know, the educated view on it. And understanding that it's not a literal thing.

VANBEUREN: That's kind of like what Darwin went into.

MATHIS: Yeah. Where it was like, Oh, this is oral. Like, he was very - Darwin was still very religious.

VANBEUREN: He was very religious actually just did a project on how he was pretty religious, even with his evolution of variant, like evolution views.

MATHIS: And then there's the young earth creationist who literally think the world was made 6,000 years ago and like, I was taught fossil records weren't a thing that like dinosaurs lived with humans, because the Bible talks about the Leviathan, and different like,

VANBEUREN: Oh my god

MATHIS: Biblical shit and like In Job or whatever they talk about it. Yeah, so that was a thing. So I didn't really get much high school education. So super, super depressed in high school because I A, the only social time I had was Wednesday with youth group. And that was about it. And then we had some homeschool stuff, but really it was. I was like once a week during fall. That was about it.

VANBEUREN: Wow, that's literally like the complete opposite of how I grew up.

MATHIS: Yeah, very repressed. I didn't know any people of color besides like, my family being like whitewashed Mexicans or that my mom is Mexican. We're not whitewash still connected to our culture. But

VANBEUREN: I understand.

MATHIS: Yeah, and Oklahoma. Oh, and then church on Sundays. Just normal church, which is oddly, we had a very oddly progressive church for a oddly not progressive family.

VANBEUREN: Looks fun.

MATHIS: So I don't know. But yeah, so since I didn't do fucking anything in high school or anything, of note, tried to get involved with clubs, and then my parents got bored and then never did anything. So I was just in my room all the time. Really sad. I'm terminally online.

VANBEUREN: I've heard that term quite a bit recently. Like, chronically online.

MATHIS: Yeah. No, it was funny. Because like, during COVID, my parents were like, Yeah, life hasn't changed for us. We don't go out. Like we just stopped going to church. Now we go online. Like we're just doing our thing. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, that's that's a sad way to live. That was 18 years of my life.

VANBEUREN: Yikes. All right. Speaking of high school, going into college, let's 00:12:00jump ahead In time to when you started thinking about college. When did you first start thinking about going to college?

MATHIS: Probably when I hit junior year, I always knew I was going to college because my mom, she doesn't have a degree, but she was literally 17 credit hours away from graduating. So she's educated. Like, I don't know how someone can be 17 credit hours away from a microbiology degree and not believe in evolution. But here we are.

VANBEUREN: Ohhh

MATHIS: Yeah. My dad got his business degree and then got his master's while I was still in high school in Divinity of course, from Liberty University.

VANBEUREN: Wow.

MATHIS: There's there's a lot of history but if anybody knows Liberty University, it's like the -

VANBEUREN: I think I've heard of it?

MATHIS: Yeah, Jerry Falwell founded it and he's was like a televangelist pastor like huge prominent anyway, a lot of political shit. It's just know that it's a Christian school. And -

VANBEUREN: I think that says enough.

MATHIS: They have boys and girls dorms. I've done a lot of research into it. It's very interesting, but they have like boys and girls dorms. And if you get caught in someone in the opposite genders, dorm, even in just in the lobbies or hallways, you get like, written up and you could after so many infractions, you get suspended.

VANBEUREN: Wow.

MATHIS: Yeah, it's controlling anyway. But he got his master's from there. So my parents were educated. So I knew I was gonna go to college.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: So my mom, Oklahoma has this program called Oklahoma promise where like, if you sign up your freshman, you can sign up 9th, 10th grade and then after that, it's too late. But essentially, they pay for your college if you make under a certain amount of money per year, which my family did. My mom forgot to do that. Like she started the process halfway and then didn't do it for me. But of course she did for my siblings, so that's fine.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: So I was kind of left high and dry. But you know, I applied to like four different colleges. I did all that shit by myself. No help from my parents.

VANBEUREN: Yeah, I mean, my dad went to college, but he was in the Marines so he went to Cochise College in Arizona, which is still a thing today. And my mom graduate, graduated high school, but she never went to college. So again, like growing up, college was always just a "that's a thing you do", it's high school and then you go to college. There isn't like a high school and straight to the workforce.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: Did you have any expectations for what college would be like?

MATHIS: Yeah, I kind of expected it to be sociable, like really sociable, like going out and doing things. I also expected more rigidity and academics and I 00:15:00was a little shell shocked that there was not any hand holding that I really should have gotten in high school but didn't. So yeah, it was not what I expected, but also kind of what I expected. But yet the social aspect back, pre COVID Wells.

VANBEUREN: Yeah, I always hear about, like, pre COVID Wells and what it was like, but I mean, going from high school straight to here, I kind of figured that it was going to be more sheltered, I guess, because of COVID. So that that was something that I guess I didn't really expect. I mean, no, I expected to happen. Um, so when did you first hear about Wells College?

MATHIS: They sent me an email my senior year. And then they were like "Hey applications free", I was like, hell yeah. Submitted my application. And then got the Henry Wells scholarship. And I was like, damn, okay, I guess I'm going here.

VANBEUREN: I think everybody got it.

MATHIS: Everybody? Oh, my year. We, my year, we had like a event called Henry Wells day. So everybody who was accepted, it was in March, our senior year. So everybody who was accepted. And who got the scholarship could come tour and the college would like, you know, house you, you were the "prospi" basically. So they like, someone came and you spent the night with someone, or, or whatever. And then, but you met everybody, and there was only 30 of us.

VANBEUREN: Wow.

MATHIS: And then I guess, after they started, because our class was acceptance rate was 67%. The class after us was 87%.

VANBEUREN: I think ours was like, almost 100%.

MATHIS: Yeah, your class was 99, and the class after you it was 99.

VANBEUREN: Wow.

MATHIS: So it became a community college real quick. And like no offense to your class, but that's kind of when I've noticed the quality of Wells has kind of started dipping.

VANBEUREN: I completely, also see that as well.

MATHIS: Yeah. So but the Henry Wells scholarship kind of did use to mean something. And I, yeah.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.That's honestly, like, one of the things that's keeping me here is because I do have that scholarship. So, um, what made you decide to come to Wells? Like, besides the Henry Wells scholarship that you already mentioned?

MATHIS: Oh, that was literally it

VANBEUREN: That was it?

MATHIS: It was between $20,000 A year and $6,000.

VANBEUREN: Oh okay yeah yeah yeah.

MATHIS: So I'm gonna pick the $6,000. The other one was also in Virginia. And I didn't- No where was it? I got rejected from University of- No, I got rejected from the School of the mines in Colorado, which was kind of was really sad, because if I had-

VANBEUREN: That sounds kind of cool.

MATHIS: It was cool. It was a hard college to get into. Well, I say hard, it had a 40% acceptance rate. If I just waited a little bit and had finished my job at 00:18:00Noble Research Institute. I would have probably gotten it. But I would have sucked ass but ya know, I guess I'm glad I came here.

VANBEUREN: So I guess we already kind of went over the experience you were hoping to have at Wells. What did you plan to study when you started college?

MATHIS: Biochemistry.

VANBEUREN: Okay. So what's your current major and year right now.

MATHIS: Biology. And I'm a senior, I didn't really go that far. I just decided I didn't like chemistry, and was like hmm.

VANBEUREN: Just sticking with bio?

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: I mean, you already mentioned that your mom, I believe, studied some form of biology?

MATHIS: Yeah micro, Microbiology.

VANBEUREN: So why did you decide on that major?

MATHIS: Well, I decided my sophomore year that I really, really liked cannabis. And I was like, you know, I also have a strong background in agricultural because the biotech I- The, the biotech program I went to in high school. Also, there was a research institute. That was like right next door. So they did a lot of internships for the high school students before like in the spring semester, and then in the summer, they would have their college interns come in. So that way, kind of everybody got to intern there and get their little bit of work experience and then Noble kept getting like free lab tech work, workers every spring and summer. So that was really kind of what I was like, you know, I have worked at this agricultural place, I know plants. I've worked in a breeding lab, but plant breeding labs specifically. So I was like, why don't I just take my passion for cannabis and my knowledge of agriculture, and marry the two because literally, it's what it is.

VANBEUREN: It's a plant.

MATHIS: It's a plan. So then that's kind of been my aspirations and my goals since then. So when, especially when I was able to take my upper levels and my science courses, it becomes less of here are the fundamental basics that you're supposed to know more of like, now that you've known these fundamental basics, I want you to go out and find something to apply this to and talk about. So like, in biochem, we can do topics on anything, like as long as it is related to biochemistry and we break down-

VANBEUREN: That's really cool

MATHIS: And talk about a pathway. So I'm doing obviously cannabis pathway for medical chemistry. I talked about THV v, propyl analogue of THC. For my thesis I wrote about improving the THC pathway in cannabis. So it's really been nice to specialize.

VANBEUREN: That's actually really cool. Um, so, I mean, you already started mentioning that, but what do you plan to do after college?

MATHIS: Well, I actually had a job interview last Friday with like Etain Health, which is a cannabis, like a medicinal cannabis company. And there's an alum who works there who also interviewed me, so I'm, like, really, really open to get a job offer. It was a good interview, I have another interview with them scheduled. So that's really looking like what my career path is going to be.

VANBEUREN: That's really nice that you know that because even as a sophomore I, I honestly have no clue what I want to do.

MATHIS: Oh, I hit me like an epiphany. And I've, whenever things that are like, correct in my life feel correct? I get like a feeling in my stomach. Like I felt it when I knew I wanted to play guitar. I felt it when I met Syd, felt like, I don't know. It's just that feeling has always led to good feelings. And I got that feeling sophomore year one time when I was like, you know, having a bowl, and I was like, I could just do this for the rest of my life. And so now I can.

VANBEUREN: So let's turn to the pandemic now. When did you hear about COVID-19 for the first time?

MATHIS: Oh, it was the February of 2020. My mom called me while I was in Ithaca. And she was like, Hey, there's this virus that's going around. It sounds pretty scary. I want you to stay, try and stay out of populated areas. And she was like, "Where are you right now? It sounds like you're in a busy area". And I was like, Yeah, I'm in Ithaca right now. And she's like, "I just heard there were 14 cases there". And I'm like, okay, Mom, whatever, because I litter Okay, so H1-N1, Bird flu, Ebola, like, literally all this shit was memes. And like, we have contingencies. And we were good for and we could fucking laugh and joke about it and not worry. And then like, I don't know, it kept getting worse and kept getting worse. And then like March rolled around. And it was like spring break. And, was I alone? And, I think I was alone because Syd and I was still had to single so it was like Syd actually went home for spring break. So I was just chilling up here. And I was like hell yeah. Spring Break 2. And then I was in Oklahoma for the rest of the time. And I was like, oh, okay, well, this sucks.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. So I guess that's kind of what you thought about COVID for the first time, it was just going to be something that rolled over? We all memed about it. We all joked about it.

MATHIS: Oh, yeah.

VANBEUREN: We all did. So what were people around you saying at the time? Like were there any other opinions?

MATHIS: Yeah, very very initially. Syd and I talked and we were like yeah, "this is gonna blow over. It's no big fucking deal". And then as soon as I got home it 00:24:00was "Okay, we'll be careful. We'll hunker we'll stay down." Yeah, that was kind of the attitude at the very, very beginning. I will say, I can like pinpoint when my parents like opinion flipped though.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. So how did you feel about these initial conversate- conversations that were happening regarding COVID?

MATHIS: I thought it was gonna be like a blow off thing. Like, meh It'll be fine.

VANBEUREN: So speaking of like, when did you know that COVID was turning into something serious? How did you feel about that?

MATHIS: I knew it was something serious when things started like

VANBEUREN: Shutting down?

MATHIS: Like actually shutting down. What was really a weird juxtaposition, I will say is being in Oklahoma where things didn't shut down, like at all. Like I worked over the summer at a restaurant, and I didn't wear a mask I really should have, I really, really should have. But I was, I don't know. At the time, it was two years ago, I was very like, just gonna do what everybody around he's doing and try not to be "sus". I didn't catch COVID very surprisingly, nobody in the kitchen caught COVID.

VANBEUREN: That's surprising.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: Some people are just lucky like that.

MATHIS: Yeah, like the entire restaurant was lucky nobody in the restaurant called COVID. But I also think that was because they had such a high turnover. But just people weren't long enough there, like long enough to catch it.

VANBEUREN: I, I worked at a supermarket. I worked at ShopRite in West Long Branch, New Jersey. And I mean, I wore my mask, but, during like the initial lockdown. But once that kind of rolled over, and then we went into, like, the first mask mandate, lift. I didn't wear my mask at all. Like for the first two years. I didn't get COVID. And then last December, I got it. And now I wear my mask almost everywhere.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: So obviously, you were a student at Wells, when the pandemic began. When did you- What did you think when spring break was extended?

MATHIS: I was like, fuck yeah, spring break 2!

VANBEUREN: Yeah,

MATHIS: Kind of like all there's this meme that I really loved of Darth Maul. And it's like one lightsaber spring break. And then he ignites his other one. It's spring break, too. And I was like, Absolutely.

VANBEUREN: I love that. I think I saw that one. What did you think when classes went online?

MATHIS: I mean, it kind of made the most sense to me, because I was like, well, I'm in Oklahoma. Everybody's everywhere. I mean, yeah, this is how it's gonna 00:27:00have to be for a little bit.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: So it was it was fine. For me. It actually worked out.

VANBEUREN: I mean, you were homeschooled. So I'm sure that wasn't anything new.

MATHIS: No. Well, honestly, Zoom was and like interacting with people while doing school was because my parents were like, Ah, yes, hodgepodge education. Here's a book read it. No, literally, there was no program. They just gave me textbooks. And we're like, "read this, We'll talk about it, do the quizzes and I'll grade them". And I was like, Cool. And then wouldn't do shift for weeks. Cause they weren't asking anyway. So-

VANBEUREN: That sounds kind of fun. But also I- yeah.

MATHIS: It does, in theory until you're like an adult and you're like, wow-

VANBEUREN: I don't know anything.

MATHIS: I don't know anything. I don't have any time management skills. Everything I know about history is incredibly topical. Or I've had to educate myself just through like insane, YouTube.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: Deep dives. And even then I don't know if that information is right.

VANBEUREN: I can definitely call myself a YouTube scholar.

MATHIS: I'm very much so a YouTube scholar. I have a lot of topical knowledge.

VANBEUREN: Just a lot of random knowledge about a bunch of random things, especially since I'm a history major. So yeah. So speaking of lockdown, where were you when the lockdown started?

MATHIS: Well, that's kind of hard to say. Because Oklahoma didn't really lock down.

VANBEUREN: Oh, yeah, you're right.

MATHIS: So I didn't experience any of that any of the like true actual lock downs with people couldn't go anywhere. And like everybody had to wear masks. Or you'd be looked at funny. People in masks were looked at funny.

VANBEUREN: Yikes.

MATHIS: Um yeah, so I didn't experience a lockdown. But Sure. Look like there was a hell of a lockdown up here.

VANBEUREN: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

MATHIS: So it was sad. Not sad. I don't because it was helpful. Obviously, there were a lot less deaths but it was like damn, these these people really aren't-

VANBEUREN: I stayed in my home for like, three months.

MATHIS: Yeah, I mean, that's pretty much what my family did. I think our church did like like I said, one of them were progressive churches in the area and when it did get really bad they did completely shut things down. Like it was just the pastor on the stage. And then like, the camera was literally in the cameraman and the sound booth guy were like, literally far, far apart. And they actually wore masks except for the Pastor-

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: Because he was-

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: On stage-

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: Literally far far away. Um, besides that, and my mom and dad actually being wise and deciding when things did actually get bad and they were looking at the statistics and shit they were like, "Hmm let's actually not go out" So they just go out, make my- My mom can't wear a mask. It's not like a refusal 00:30:00thing. She has claustrophobia and like has panic attacks, so she genuinely can't wear a mask. My dad just chooses not to, but he'll do it if he has to.

VANBEUREN: Sounds like my parents. Yeah.

MATHIS: So they made my sister go out because my- Rebecca is the best at grocery shopping so she could wear a mask and bulk buy and then they just chill at the house for two, three months not go out. Not really do anything except my dad would go to work come back.

VANBEUREN: Um, so I guess that's like, who you spent lockdown with? Like?

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: Your mom, your dad?

MATHIS: Yeah, my family, my siblings. Yeah, pretty much. It was really boring. It was like high school again, it was awful.

VANBEUREN: So this is more of like, a broader question. I know you didn't really have locked down. But how did your life change during lockdown? Like, tell us about your daily life and routine? What challenges did you face? And also, how did you overcome these challenges?

MATHIS: Um, it was just the overwhelming boredom of being home all the time again, and not really talking to people. I mean, just got on the phone with Syd and we'd stay on the phone for hours. But then they were also living with Sam and out in nature all the time. So I think they had a different, different experience. And I was just, you know. I worked halfway through the summer, and then halfway, I was like, this place is really mistreating me. And I need to get schooled on because they had the extra classes available for us. And I was taking them and it was just too much. Because I signed up for a 20 hour job. And then I was working 60 hours and it was like, Oh, I can't do this I need to leave, It was like I said a stupid kid. Life experience has tempered me a little bit. So after that I just kind of existed as, at home like I did in high school. So you know, wake up 1pm. The classes were A synchronous, so it didn't matter. Exist, eat when my parents fed us food. I say that, like it's a weird thing, my family has family dinners. My dad cooks when he gets home. But I'd eat then and then I just lay around and then go to sleep at some point and wait, do it all again. Like High School.

VANBEUREN: That sounds pretty familiar, honestly.

MATHIS: Yeah. So depressing. I didn't have a good time. That's all I did. For months.

VANBEUREN: Was there any way that you tried to sort of break that habit or?

MATHIS: I mean, I've also had like, actual depression at the, at that point. So I was like-

VANBEUREN: Me too

MATHIS: I don't know what to do differently? It's like, A I'm in an environment where this is what I did all the time, for like six years of my life anyway. And 00:33:00I'd only been like a year removed and B there was nothing else for me to do.

VANBEUREN: See. I sort of I almost had the opposite. I, growing up in a city, like I wanted to do what you were doing, like I want it to lay around all day. But since I was really busy with school and like doing a whole bunch of other stuff, extracurriculars. Like I wasn't letting my body do that. And then once the pandemic hit and locked down, I did a complete 180. Like I stayed in my room, I was like a hermit. I completely was just like, again, waking up at 1am, No 1pm, and eating when my parents made dinner, and FaceTiming my friends, and that's about it. And then I found out that I actually had depression and you know, got diagnosed, and then I got diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar and anxiety. And I was like, oh, shoot, I'm, I'm mentally ill. So were there any unexpected benefits that emerged for you during the lockdown?

MATHIS: No. I was sad and depressed, like, oh, yeah, I missed college. I missed people. It was. I feel like for everybody, it was like, Oh, my life has changed so much. But for me, it was like, Oh, we're returning back to the normal.

VANBEUREN: Here we go again.

MATHIS: Here we go again.

MATHIS & VANBEUREN TOGETHER: Ah, shit. Here we go again.

VANBEUREN: All right. So let's go back to being a college student. In what ways did the pandemic impact you as a college student? Were there any challenges you faced, were able to meet these challenges and again, were there any unexpected benefits or opportunities that emerged?

MATHIS: There was unexpected benefits, I will say because I had undiagnosed ADHD. And that pretty much translated into I thought I was like just, I have the ability to get by and get B's in my classes without really applying. I can't do that anymore. Now that I'm in upper levels, because I actually have to pull myself but it used to be that I could just skate by didn't have to worry about, like, anything I could just go-

VANBEUREN: Thats how high school was.

MATHIS: Yeah, just glance over the material. I'd know everything. And then I just, you know, be done with it. Um, the problem was, once I gotten to sophomore year, a lot of that really wasn't working anymore. And then I started putting less and less time and effort into my classes, just because I was starting to feel really bad about the assignments that I wasn't able to get in on time, because I had no time management skills at all and ADHD. On top of that,

VANBEUREN: That's actually a going off script. I had a bit of a mental breakdown 00:36:00today, because I wasn't able to get some assignments turned in and like, time management for me is super hard. Like, I just started using a planner this year. And I'm, it makes me feel even worse when I can't check those boxes off and like, do all that. So I was like, freaking out and I was like, Oh no, I'm not gonna be able to pass and like, shit like that.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: Anyway, continue.

MATHIS: No, that's literally how it was. And then I just feel so bad for not doing the assignments that I just not go to class because I was like, wow, because I also still had to like the kind of-

VANBEUREN: Can I shut the window?

MATHIS: Oh, yeah, go for it.

VANBEUREN: Continue, you can keep talking.

MATHIS: I went for you know, still had the oh shit! Mom, dad's gonna be disappointed in me type mentality, which was stupid. Because they're professors, not your mom. But like, you know, I didn't know I literally didn't have that experience really. So anyway, felt so bad didn't show up to class and that like really tanked my grades. I failed an English class because of that probably shouldn't have. If I had gone and actually talk to the professor instead of waiting for so long, Meh It would have been better but.

VANBEUREN: Yeah, I've definitely been really vocal with my professors. And like, I'm trying to get accommodations. It's just jumping through hoops and ladders.

MATHIS: Yeah, stupid.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. So can you compare what Wells was was like prior to COVID? To what Wells was like, during the pandemic? It's like before? Cuz I mean, you were here a year or two before? COVID?

Mathis: Yeah, it was the spring of my sophomore year, that COVID hit.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. So like, what was like before COVID and now?

MATHIS: So you know, all the events that no one goes to?

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: People went to those. I used to go to those because they were actually like, decent well put together. And then you went to them, because you knew people who were going to them and you wanted to support them. And they were your friends. Or if not friends very friendly. Everybody said hi to you on campus. If you were just walking around, you would constantly get told Hello, because everybody knew who you were. If you hung out at the table. What a very common thing that I've noticed Wells, it doesn't do anymore is it used to be if you thought someone looked nice, like what they were wearing was cute or just whatever you always called out and complimented them and told them "Hey, I like your pants. Hey, I like this that the other".

VANBEUREN: I try to do that.

MATHIS: I tried to still do that, too. I also just don't want to be seen as like, you know, creepy guy.

VANBEUREN: Yeah

MATHIS: It's like, you know, you compliment-

VANBEUREN: Yeah

MATHIS: Clothing. Not looks necessarily or like hair. Um, but I used to like, everybody used to do that all the time. It was really really nice. People used 00:39:00to hang out at the table all the time. Like people just got sit there do their homework. You would always find someone there.

VANBEUREN: The table over by Ryerson?

MATHIS: Yeah, the smokers table. Yeah. The bells went off regularly, which was nice. The clubs weren't dying, normally. So for like Henry's 8th, that are the acapella group. Every semester, we used to get like 10 - 12 people auditioning and then we take like two or three people that stuck out and now we don't get anybody showing up to any auditions or I know it's like super difficult with like, and that's for like a club that you actually have to try to audition to get into the clubs every other club that you don't have to audition to get into still don't have enough members. They used to be fine. There was the death of Emoja which used to be really cool like I A student organization specifically for like black students, and it was like, it was big on campus like everybody knew Moja everybody knew Prodigy. Everybody knew all these-

VANBEUREN: I didn't know what Prodigy was until this year. Yeah. And I'm a sophomore.

MATHIS: Yeah, they were big on campus. Everybody knew them. Um people just did things and attended things and interacted with each other knew each other's names. Weird instant standoffish. I mean, the freshmen always are weird and standoffish for like the first two weeks, but it's weird to have-

VANBEUREN: Thats still my class.

MATHIS: Yeah. But it's weird to have like two classes of people being weird and standoffish. Especially when you like, look at the junior class and the senior class and see that how small we are.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. It's like I I see people all the time on this campus. And then I won't ever see them again. And then I finally interact with them and like, Oh wait, you're in my class like,

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: I I was a Swim Prospect. So I came here for a weekend before COVID Wells. And just the entire atmosphere. I loved it. Everybody was your friend. Everybody did everything. It was amazing. And like there was no judgment either. And then I come here-

MATHIS: There was it's just under under-

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: Like the wells Web.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: That never got passed on to us that stopped the year before us.

VANBEUREN: And then I came here freshman year. I mean, it didn't help that we were all online. But nobody did anything. Like, there were cliques. Which was weird, because I thought that wasn't a thing in college, honestly, especially for a smaller liberal arts school. I mean, like someplace like Syracuse, you 00:42:00know, it's kind of like high school, we get the jocks and, you know, but I wasn't expecting it here.

MATHIS: I will say there was cliques pre COVID. But they were just friendly with each other.

VANBEUREN: Yeah exactly.

MATHIS: It wasn't necessarily cliques. It was just friend groups. Yeah, the people that hung around each other more often than the others.

VANBEUREN: Um, so I don't want to go back on this. But I know You briefly mentioned the traditions and how they were impacted because of the pandemic. What do you think about all those changes? I know you run your club.

MATHIS: Yeah, we've, it's, it's dissolved into nothingness. It's really weird because no one else in my class that's currently on the board of directors is trying to get things up and running, like on our group chat. It'll be like, "Oh, yes, let's do all these things". And I'm like, hell yeah, let's do these things. And then I'll like put together a flyer and like, submit it and then like, I try to do these things and not to call out certain person ResLife but a certain person who doesn't hear it, who doesn't have hair and ResLife is not the most supportive of these groups either. So that like down the toilet there's also bad leadership prior in the club just with training new people that that's always been an issue very Yeah. Sorry, what was the original point I've gone off?

VANBEUREN: Oh, no traditions? Yeah. What do you think of the changes?

MATHIS: All spring odd even changing I'm down with because it's always been kind of up in the air like it's not a set set tradition? Um, it's not necessarily the traditions or changing that I care about it's the traditions that are dying that I care about

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: Like Henry's 8th's was, is the oldest or was the oldest continuous club on campus. We were established. 1948

VANBEUREN: Wow.

MATHIS: I'm hoping someone later down might pick up us up again. But it'll be sad to know that like COVID killed our continuity.

VANBEUREN: COVID killed a lot of things.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. Did you notice differences in perception of the pandemic between the community at Wells and your community back at home? Like how did this, how did these differences impact you?

MATHIS: Oh, stark differences. You had to like a college that actually kind of cared about COVID safety but also really needed their students on campus. So it was like a weird mix of that versus you know,

VANBEUREN: Nothing

MATHIS: Nothing. Yeah, like, wear a mask if you want I guess type shit.

VANBEUREN: But if you do, you're gonna get judged.

MATHIS: Yeah, pretty much.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. Like you were you were talking about that earlier like with the 00:45:00lockdown. There was no lockdown.

MATHIS: No, there was-

VANBEUREN: In Oklahoma

MATHIS: There was nothing. There was signs that went up. People that wore masks, I mean, now you don't get look weird at, but like as soon as it got political you got looked weird at.

VANBEUREN: Oh, yeah, everything's political.

MATHIS: Yeah. As soon as it hit anything with politics. "Oh no! We can't do that! It's Democrat! It's them Liberals!"

VANBEUREN: "Goddamn liberals!"

MATHIS: "God damn liberals!" So that really was the difference. And as far as COVID safety Wells could have done better. But from my perspective, they're doing just fine.

VANBEUREN: I thought they did pretty all right?

MATHIS: Like oh, well, I don't know Syd was very vocal about how much they didn't much care for Wells's COVID things?

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: But that's also understandable, because you know, auto-immune disease, do be hittin different?

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: But yeah, in general, I was alright yeah.

VANBEUREN: They did- I think they did a little more than some colleges.

MATHIS: They did do like some colleges,

VANBEUREN: Like, my sister. I told you, she goes to Syracuse University. And like, right now, mask mandates isn't a thing on the campus.

MATHIS: It's theres-

VANBEUREN: That's a huge campus. And like, it was really weird, because when kids got COVID on campus, they were just sent to a hotel room. There's, there's the, the Sheraton on Syracuse, and they were just sent there. And then they would feel better and come back whenever they wanted to. It was it was really weird. And like, you know, they had masks and they had social distancing. But if you didn't follow them, it's not like, you were going to get written up. Like I almost got written up last year, because I got caught without my mask. And it was in my pocket. Like, I just forgot to put it on. But my sister stopped wearing a mask at college. Like, last year. Like whoa, that's, that's weird.

MATHIS: And then there's like, it's funny, because you see people here try to do that. And but as soon as they get into class, like they get bitched at, so they have to put a mask on.

VANBEUREN: See, and there's even some classes like, Dr. Phill is really good about masks. I mean, like everybody in his class wears it anyway? But if they aren't, he's always quick to remind them like, "Hey, I have a wife and a kid".

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: "Please wear your mask". But there are a couple of my classes where- Not to point anybody out but some of the athletes

MATHIS: Oh, yeah.

VANBEUREN: Just walk around with it either on their chin or like below their nose and like, or not even wearing it at all, especially after the mask mandate 00:48:00lift. And then nobody says anything. So let's, yeah, let's let's move on to that. As scientists learn more about the virus, government officials began to impose mandates. What did you think when the mask mandate began? And what were your thoughts when a vaccine was announced?

MATHIS: I was really excited about the vaccine as far as mask mandates went? It was really confusing at first, because there was the one thing that the government was telling me. And then there was my dad being like, "Well, the government just told us otherwise. So therefore, they're wrong". And I'm like, shit. Now I have two very influential things on my life trying to tell me how I feel about this mask.

VANBEUREN: Yeah, I think you were talking about earlier, like you didn't really know. I mean, you were just kind of going with what other people said.

MATHIS: Yeah. And I was like, I don't know what to do with this so I'm just gonna wear one. And then once I got up here, I was like, Okay, I see. I guess it's also the fact that New York as a state is more densely populated than Oklahoma. But still, but you know, masks work. Turns out, especially as more and more research comes out on actual mask wearing. I mean, it could, should have been pretty, fairly obvious that masks work because literally, Japan and China and that's like, in the culture that if you're sick with an airborne disease, you wear a mask to make sure other people don't get sick.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. And like, especially with some of those, like, really populated Asian countries, and like India, China and Japan, where the air isn't the best, especially in places in California and New York City, where the air isn't the best and like in California with the wildfires, people would wear masks way before that. And, it's like a lot in in those like Asian cities, it's just like a common occurrence like everybody wears them even before COVID.

MATHIS: Yeah. Oh heck Syd and I were even watching like, called the Midwife which is like a British period drama about, you know, midwives.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: There was a whole thing where like the coal factory was spewing out like toxic fumes and a shit ton of people were sick. And then there were these other people that had like, masks on that they tied, and the nurse was like, Are these effective? And the doctor was like, no, but they make people feel better. And you know, this made in 2017.

VANBEUREN: Oh, my.

MATHIS: So it wasn't or even before that. So it wasn't anything political. It was like genuinely probably what happened, but it's like, "Dun dun dun". Just kind of weird thing.

VANBEUREN: Weird coincidence?

MATHIS: Yeah. And then the vaccines rolled out. I was like, excited. I had actually read a lot of the research. So I was fairly confident in them. I didn't believe the 90% thing, because I was like, these are study groups, this isn't 00:51:00going to work. This isn't what it's going to be like in the general population I expected like a 60 to 70% effectiveness, which is what it turned out to be.

VANBEUREN: With the other variants, it was a little trickier because-

MATHIS: Oh, yeah. But that's when you get-

VANBEUREN: Booster shots.

MATHIS: The booster shots, your shots and other variables. But like, I don't know, my dad was trying to tell me like, "well, they told us this vaccine works. And I don't know why they're now telling us that it doesn't work?" And it's like, well, if you were actually scientifically literate, literate, and read the papers I sent you, instead of sending me articles from like,

VANBEUREN: Facebook,

MATHIS: Yeah, 'Freedom dot equal dot net." Which actually, he wasn't, he wasn't that bad. He didn't send me "freedom dot equal dot net". But he was like, "I've been reading a lot of things that make me not sure about the vaccine". And I'm like, well, it was a peer reviewed. And then he's like, "Well, the scientists get it this conspiracy!" And I was like, Father, you have a master's degree. Can we use critical thinking here? Like, do you really think that the pharmaceutical industry? Well, I mean, when I put it like that, it's kind of sounds believable if the pharmaceutical industry would put out a vaccine for you to just get more money to them?

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: Like, the whole Remdesivir versus Hydroxychloroquine thing. Which, that was undeniably stupid. Oh! What really got me and this is just talking about the science. Specifically, so in the spring semester, in the politics, spring semester, for I was taking organic chemistry 2 we- Burwell was like "to make us feel better about COVID. We're gonna look at studies treating COVID. Look at different medications and like determine, pick one and then write about it and determine why you think it would be effective for COVID". Everybody picked like Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine, like the popular whatever the zinc combos, just to see like, there wasn't anything political behind it.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: I chose Ivermectin because there were a few studies on that.

VANBEUREN: I think I've heard of that one.

MATHIS: That's the one that that's the horse. dewormer.

VANBEUREN: Oh, yeah!

MATHIS: That's Ivermectin. And that's literally what I told when I was like researching it initially, Burwell was like, "the horse dewormer? They're using that to treat COVID". And again, this is like, 2020, before anything came out. And I was like, Yeah, they've done a few pet studies on it. And then like, I think I ended up concluding that while this might be a possible treatment, there's a lot more effective use of a lot more other really effective. So it's just really funny to me that it became like a political thing to use Ivermectin and people were like, "Oh, it's very effective!" And I'm like, well, that's not what the study, say?

VANBEUREN: Thats based

MATHIS: That's based. And also there. And then they were also like "Well yeah but the pharmaceutical industries have everything to gain from Remdesivir, and nothing from Ivermectin." And I'm like, Do you not know how therapeutics are processed? Because both of these things are owned by the same companies. So I 00:54:00don't know where you're getting this thought? And also, it's an anti-parasite, that has like limited antiviral properties. Anyway, I was just like, really confused, and rather frustrated that how politicized medicine began, became.

VANBEUREN: So that's, I guess, what you made of the controversy that emerged over the mandates?

MATHIS: Yeah, pretty much he was just. The science was ickey, was Ooey, gooey, because it was super new research that people didn't understand that super new research is going to be Ooey gooey. It's not it's you know, it's not going to be 100% but the way that like people in, I sound like an old Boomer but like, you know, the people in media, like to present science is 100% factual and actually true-

VANBEUREN: Oh yeah propaganda.

MATHIS: Yeah, and they're not considering that it's not 100% And we're continuously studying it and I really wish they presented it as "this is what we know so far. Super likely that it might change. This is where we think it's going. Here's the research as to why" instead of, "Well, here's research to back up why this is true" type shit.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. They're always trying to prove themselves. Yeah. And it's sort of just like, I don't know.

MATHIS: Yeah, no. And I think that goes with like, both, both sides, really, because I don't know, people were like demonizing versus like loving Andrew Fauci or whatever. And I don't know, it was just really weird.

VANBEUREN: Um, so the government provided stimulus checks during this time. What did you think about that decision? And how did the stimulus checks impact you and your family?

MATHIS: I thought it was pretty dope. Because I was not registered as an independent. And my parents were not willing to unregister me. As an independent, they got an extra 1000 bucks for me. And I didn't get anything. Whereas Syd, got the full, all the stimulus checks, he was able to buy the car with it.

VANBEUREN: I actually didn't get anything because of the same reason that you did.

MATHIS: Your parents.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: Which, I don't know, I was really frustrated and thought that was bullshit. Because they didn't financially support me. They didn't really have a lot of money to send me. So I worked like a lot. I used to work 20 hours a week.

VANBEUREN: I worked 40 hours a week. Over, over that summer. Yeah. So let's sort of move on to political activism. Several political protests took place during this period. Many had to do with COVID. But others were associated with Black Lives Matter and other social movements. Did you or others around you participate in those protests? And could you tell us about those experiences?

MATHIS: Syd organized a whole protest in Seneca Falls, which I thought was pretty cool. There was a protest in my town, but I didn't literally didn't know 00:57:00about it until it had already happened. And I was like, well, poo. If I had known about this, I would have gone.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: But otherwise, no, there really wasn't anything in my area.

VANBEUREN: Kind of makes sense.

MATHIS: Yeah. Unless I was willing to drive up to Oklahoma City, but those were getting. The police were being really violent with those rallies. So my parents weren't about to let me go. And it was I don't have I didn't have a car down there. So-

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: And also, I didn't have a friend group to go with or anybody protective that-

VANBEUREN: Yeah, it would have been scary to go alone. I'm sure.

MATHIS: It would've been ,yeah. Just because I don't trust the cops. And I don't trust people who take advantage of, you know, protests situations, and are doing things not out of anger, or just tired of being, but they just I've seen people like white people in Oklahoma go to these protests and start fucking shit up just to blame the protesters. And I didn't want any part of that.

VANBEUREN: I think I saw some articles about that. And like, "Why these protests are bad!" And like, they're just looking at it completely the wrong way.

MATHIS: Yeah. And it's even the things that were done by protesters. I mean, that's years of pent up anger of injustice after injustice. And I'm not going to blame someone for throwing rocks at a window because they're angry. But I am going to try to avoid situations where, Oh, there's all right groups here. And I am here with no friends. Nobody I know.

VANBEUREN: It's dangerous.

MATHIS: It's dangerous. Yeah.

VANBEUREN: So why was it important for you to get involved?

MATHIS: I think any support I can give is better than nothing. I'd like to do something. I feel like protests are productive in their own right. They don't necessarily feel productive to me. And that's frustrating. I know they are.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: But like, if I were to go, I wish there was more I could do personally to affect more change than just being a body somewhere. So but that's kind of why I want to get involved and in the future will most likely be more involved. Because I, there was no opportunities to do anything. And then the one time there was I didn't know what was happening.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. Like, there was a good couple months in my area where there was a bunch of protests, but like, I was either working or I had something going on, so it couldn't and then now that I really do want to participate, it's like nothing's going on.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: That's like where are you guys at? So did the pandemic factor into 01:00:00your decision in any way, like protesting or becoming an activist?

MATHIS: No, it kind of was like, you know, my partner's a person of color. I've kind of felt this way for a while. You know, play my part but you know.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. Were you engaged in these discussions and topics in any other ways outside of protesting?

MATHIS: Online? Mostly, but an Oh, especially with my dad. Oh, we would go at it all the time, because he likes to-

VANBEUREN: I also go at it with my dad, because he's, I think our dads are pretty similar.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: Very firm beliefs. Yeah. Very Boomer. My dad was born in 1964. So he's very Boomer.

MATHIS: Yeah. My dad was born in 68.

VANBEUREN: Oh, and they're also part of the military too. Yeah. Like my dad was a Marine.

MATHIS: Although I think from what it sounds like, there was like, a possible class divide. Because my dad was an officer.

VANBEUREN: I forget what my dad was.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: But oh, my dad worked on boats!

MATHIS: Oh, so mechanic probably unlisted.

VANBEUREN: Yeah, he worked on the planes on the boats.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: So that's where he became an aircraft engineer. Yeah,

MATHIS: That's cool.

VANBEUREN: Works for Boeing, and British Airways.

MATHIS: Oh, that's really cool.

VANBEUREN: It is actually kind of cool. And it was kind of funny. I don't want to go off topic. But there was an aircraft, an airplane, a paper airplane competition. And I showed up unexpectedly, I just walked into summer. And Parker was like "Freddy come make a paper airplane!" And I was like, Okay, I've never made a paper airplane before. But I called upon my dad, his aircraft engineers stuff. And next thing, you know, like, I won

MATHIS: Nice yeah.

VANBEUREN: It's like, I never really made a paper airplane outside of like, elementary school. So I made one and I wanted $20 amazon gift card.

MATHIS: Hell yeah!

VANBEUREN: That was that was fun. So, trigger warning, this will be a bit of a touchy topic. So we're gonna move on to illness and grief.

MATHIS: Great! Sorry.

VANBEUREN: No, you're fine. Um, I'd like to. Now I'd like your personal experience with COVID. These questions will focus on illness and possibly bring up grief and other challenging topics. Remember, we will skip any questions that make you feel uncomfortable. Did illness impact you and your family? And would you mind sharing those experiences with us?

MATHIS: So no, right up until this year.

VANBEUREN: Okay.

MATHIS: In January, I got COVID. When I went down to Oklahoma for my internship, I don't know if I got it in the airport and or in Oklahoma, probably in Oklahoma. And then I didn't bring it home to my family, but they caught COVID also separately, and they were fine. None of them were vaccinated. I was the 01:03:00only one vaccinated. So like, I was literally sick for two days. And then I just kind of felt shitty for a week. And then I've been relatively fine besides just getting over like a buildup of mucus that I probably could have gotten rid of, if I bought the right medication for I just didn't have the time or money. But my mom has pulmonary embolisms now in her lungs. And she refused. Like, I haven't talked to her about this because I literally just put that connection together. But she thought she got it because there's mold in the closet that they were cleaning out. And she's like, "Yeah, I had pneumonia, then I got COVID and now there's this mold." Like she can't even walk the length of the house without like being exhausted.

VANBEUREN: Wow.

MATHIS: Um, oh, yeah. She was like hospitalized for a little bit, not for COVID just because of the embolisms. So there has been that and I want to be like, see, this is what happens when you don't get vaccinated. But also, I don't know if I'm gonna open that can of worms, but I also really want to feel very justified and vindicated. So-

VANBEUREN: I felt almost betrayed when I got COVID in December, like I knew I had. I have asthma. So I knew it was probably going to hit me hard, especially I'm also a preemie baby. So my immune system isn't the best. But I was fully vaccinated. I was I was perfectly healthy going into COVID. I got COVID in December, like literally finals week, of last semester. And I was sick like a dog. I was in the hospital for a night because I literally could not take any fluids and I couldn't breathe. I was having asthma attacks. And like I don't even have an inhaler. That's not like that's how not bad my asthma is it's only when I do sports, but I was really bad. And then my friend who is unfortunately anti-Vax was like, See, he told you so they don't work. And I was like, No? And then like, my mom got COVID. And she has stage three breast cancer. And she was perfectly fine. And like, granted, she only just got her vaccine. But she was perfectly fine. So I mean, it just impacts everybody differently. It just sucks. Like one of my friends got COVID and he still doesn't have his taste or smell back.

MATHIS: Yeah, I've heard some people I think I think it also depends on the variant because I had Omicron because I didn't get any of the common like the classic COVID symptoms like I did, I still had my taste and smell. That's why I thought I'd had pneumonia for a sec until i got tested.

VANBEUREN: I think I got the regular brand of COVID. Yeah, because I lost my 01:06:00taste and smell for like two weeks.

MATHIS: Oh, shit.

VANBEUREN: Yeah, it was kind of weird.

MATHIS: Well Omicron was like huge in Oklahoma at the time, because it just was so easily spread. So it was milder, which was kind of it was nice, nice. It was better, better than it could have been. And then I was alone, because it was during my internship. So I was like up in an Airbnb, like, completely alone.

VANBEUREN: So how did these personal experiences with COVID impact your outlook on the pandemic?

MATHIS: It didn't really, it's just, I, this might be an unpopular view. But I've come to terms with the fact that COVID is not going anywhere. Nobody's gonna do anything about it. And the best that we can do with it is just live and cope the best we can. So I'm like, of the opinion that I don't think we should keep shutting down places. Because there's COVID. And that's not because of a "Oh, the businesses" or "Oh, my freedoms", it's just like it's here. You're not gonna get enough, you don't have the balls to get enough people to mask mandate without having or like to get to a zero COVID policy without having 100% authoritarian government.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: Which sucks either way that authoritarian government goes. So we have treatments, we have boosters, we have vaccines, we have masks for people who choose to use and do all these things. And we're obviously the country has come to the conclusion that we're not going to force people to do these things as much as I would like, but to be done.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: So just, I don't know, let it be.

VANBEUREN: I I'm also somewhat in the minority, like, I, my dad thinks it's just going to be the next flu when like, I honestly just think the same, like, we're just gonna have to keep getting our vaccines. And I mean, I'm always wearing my mask and being cautious. It's like, it's here, it's not going to go away. It's like, when the flu came around. We were kind of doing the same thing. Like, it's going to keep evolving. It just it sucks for places that are like super populated, because it's like 100%, you're probably going to get COVID.

MATHIS: Oh yeah.

VANBEUREN: So I do wish that or at least hope that it would at least calm down a bit. Like it's so angry. COVID is such an angry thing. I wish it would just calm down a bit.

MATHIS: Yeah. And it's I think it's hit the back burners, but, back burners politically, because now everybody only cares about Ukraine.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. I love when things kind of like, come in and out of the political view.

MATHIS: Yeah. And I wish it would stay out politically. At least when it comes to like nationals, like municipals, locals Do your think. Mask mandate, if you 01:09:00want, but nationally, I think we should stop.

VANBEUREN: Looking back on those experiences, I guess that's what you would take away from them.

MATHIS: Yeah, it's just the municipal communities are going to know what's best for their people are going to do what their people want. They're not going to rock the boat. No, keep their, their community safe. The best way that they see fit, governed by the people who live there. Not you know, Congress from Oklahoma who decides that New York is not going to be able to do this because they voted no on a national scale.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. I do think I do wish it was more like, centered around like your spheres because like there are places in different states that where it's not so bad, and like like some places like where they're doing these mandates and stuff. It's is not always going to work for another part of the state. So, yeah, I do see that little like, difference.

MATHIS: That's like, more so here, because it's upstate versus the city.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. So going back to normal. Now that vaccines are available and cases are decreasing life is somewhat closer to how things were prior to the pandemic. How do you think that transition is going? And how do you feel about the transition going back to "normal?" I'm doing air quotes.

MATHIS: Yeah. I don't want to go back to normal, in a sense, because I feel as if, again, speaking more politically, there's a lot more shown about people's empathy levels. Corporate America's willingness to use American people like you know, put them to the grindstone just grind down your workforce until whatever you know, you have like rising inflation, all all these things that were people didn't really care about or didn't know to care about. Were really exposed so I'm hoping that stays the same at least especially you know, now we see a lot more change in unions or unions starting to form now that people actually care well.

VANBEUREN: Go Unions!

MATHIS: Yeah, go unions! But like essential employees do. I think there's going to be huge revelation in health care, we're gonna get like, either they're gonna start paying nurses better, or our health care is gonna go to trash. I don't know, there's just-

VANBEUREN: Healthcare is such a dodgy topic.

MATHIS: It is! I don't think anything is going to go back to pre COVID ways of life.

VANBEUREN: We're just gonna have to find a new norm. Yeah. I like that.

MATHIS: The new normal.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. How will you? How will you make decisions about masks and other 01:12:00mandates when they do lift?

MATHIS: I'm probably in consideration to my partner's autoimmune disorder. But I don't know. If I feel like I'm in an area, and there's not high amounts of cases, and you know, things are caught up on boosters. Everyone's all good. Yeah.

VANBEUREN: I mean, like, I generally wear them and like really dense in like densely populated places, but if, like, and stores and stuff, but like, if I'm outside and like walking around here-

MATHIS: Yeah I'm not gonna-

VANBEUREN: I'm not gonna wear one.

MATHIS: I'm not the point where it's like, if I'm even if I'm in a store in Ithaca. And they don't require masks, I feel safe enough to not wear one. But because it Syd I'm still gonna wear one.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. So let's go talk about the future. What lessons or knowledge- what lessons of knowledge have you gained over the past three years of the pandemic, that you will take with you to the future?

MATHIS: I would say the past. For the pandemic, specifically. People are stupid, and like really stupid. The concept of sheeple is true, but not the way that the word sheeple is always applied.

VANBEUREN: Agreed

MATHIS: Yeah. It's really frustrating to have. I didn't realize that there are so many people in America that were just so uneducated and unwilling to do to read, like actually learn and read and do shit themselves.

VANBEUREN: I didn't know how much ignorance there was.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: And just like that unwillingness to do anything.

MATHIS: That was kind of eye opening. And, you know, if I've taken anything, like really away from the pandemic, it's that I don't want to be in America anymore. Like, at all-

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: I don't want to live here.

VANBEUREN: So I feel like it's like, I was in early pandemic. I was like, Ooh, I want to go to Canada. Like that sounds great. But like it's almost the same there as it is here.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: Yeah. I've noticed that like, I was talking to one of the Canadian kids on this campus and he was like, "honestly, it's either the same if not worse, especially in the rural areas."

MATHIS: Oh, yeah.

VANBEUREN: It's very much like the South.

MATHIS: Yeah. I think it's very funny because I've heard like, you know, Americans talk about going to Canada all the time to get to make it better. And then I hear things about Canadians wanted to come to America to get better. So I don't know?

VANBEUREN: Let's all go to Mexico.

MATHIS: Honestly, though, no. As someone who's lived in El Paso for like a minute and like, has a lot got a family in that area? Oh, the cartels.

VANBEUREN: So I know that was a joke. My, I grew up in a super densely populated like mostly Mexican American and Brazilian place. So, my friend Julio, who practically his entire life grew up in Mexico, like, there was one time he was walking into the store. He looked down an alleyway, Saw a guy gets stabbed and killed, went to the store, got his candy, and then left walked back. And like, he walked back the same exact way. And then when he looked in the alleyway, the guy was just like dead.

MATHIS: Yeah.

VANBEUREN: Just chilling there. And he was like, okay, yeah. Makes sense to me.

MATHIS: Whenever-

VANBEUREN: I love hearing about my friends, stories like that, it's so fascinating.

MATHIS: It's kind of fucked up. But my in El Paso common practices, you hire a maid who lives in Mexico, my family tends to be like, really good to the people that they hire like, you know, they pay well. You know, they became a part of the family basically.

VANBEUREN: Yeah, it's it kind of reminds me of indentured servants.

MATHIS: Yeah. It's not that because you know you can leave.

VANBEUREN: Freedom?

MATHIS: You can leave.

VANBEUREN: Freedoms.

MATHIS: Or go work somewhere else. It's just it's also so they can come over to El Paso.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: You get a lot of money and not have to get a work visa, because you just work under the table.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: Essentially. But I was talking to her, her name is Estella. And she would tell me that whenever she go back, she'd have to get cash. So that way, whenever the police stopped her, she can pay them off. So she wouldn't get a ticket because the police would just stop you even if you're not doing anything bad.

VANBEUREN: Wow.

MATHIS: In Lourdes, they, just, so they can get their bribe and go along their day, because-

VANBEUREN: That's crazy.

MATHIS: It's just so corrupt.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: Apparently gets better if you go to Central, like on the border. It's really bad, because that's really what the cartels are at. But-

VANBEUREN: Yeah,

MATHIS: If you go into Central Mexico. It's better.

VANBEUREN: Yeah.

MATHIS: But my family's from the northern region anyway.

VANBEUREN: So let's close out the interview. As we conclude, are there any topics that you expected or had hoped were covered in this interview, but weren't adressed today?

MATHIS: No, this really covered everything. This was very comprehensive. I think we took up like double the time we were supposed to.

VANBEUREN: Oh, it's it's fine. I'm glad we did.

MATHIS: I talk a lot.

VANBEUREN: I do, too. It's okay. Um, there's also more questions in this one, too. Anyway, we kind of went over this with the practice interview. But are there any topics in our conversation, in our conversation that you would like to revisit?

MATHIS: No, that's fine. I think we we got everything. Oh, shoot. There was one question that I don't think I answered all the way through because we got distracted, but I don't think it matters to too much.

VANBEUREN: What was it? Do you remember?

MATHIS: I would have to look? Just real quick. thingamajig *boop noises* Oh, 01:18:00yeah. What benefits did you get? Um, yeah, I figured I had ADHD in, you know, sophomore year. But luckily, it kind of saved my ass like, COVID kind of saved my ass because now we were given a lot of accommodations because of COVID that I was like, oh, I can actually do these things now? Thats wild.

VANBEUREN: Yeah that that's also unexpected benefit.

MATHIS: Yeah. So that that that's what that was the unexpected benefit.

VANBEUREN: Cool.

MATHIS: And that's it

VANBEUREN: All right. Well, thank you for sharing your experiences with us.

MATHIS: Absolutely.

TRANSCRIPTION: Fredrik VanBeuren 5/5/22