MemeProjectJ.pdf

Media

Part of Covid meme assignment

extracted text

Meme Project
ENGL-3570-001

Covid in a Meme

The meme I choose is separated into 3 different sections vertically. The first section
contains the sentence “There are two kinds of people in the winter:” and has a plain white
background. The next section has a picture in the background and a sentence. The picture is of
princess Elsa from the cartoon Disney movie Frozen. In the picture, you can see she is an ice
castle she created in the movie, her upper body turned partially towards you, and a small smirk
on her face. The sentence in the second section states “The cold never bothered me anyway”.
This sentence is a popular line from the song in the movie Frozen.
The final section of the meme contains another picture and sentence. The picture is of a
black and white spotted dalmatian puppy in cartoon form from the Disney movie One Hundred
and One Dalmatians. The puppy is sitting outside on the ground while it is snowing, looking
tired with sunken eyes and hunched shoulders. The sentence of this section states “My tail’s
froze and my nose is froze and my ears are froze. And my toes are froze.”
I chose this meme because I felt like it truly represented the whole Covid experience for
me. It felt good to laugh at memes while I was looking for the best option. I remember Covid not
being spread worldwide originally and everyone talking about it. My family and friends would
refer to Covid as an isolated experience since it had not yet crossed overseas. The two turning
points for Covid I remember were when cases had reached the U.S. but not Charlotte and then
the announcement of Covid in Charlotte. My club meetings were canceled, and my community
service was canceled, and I cannot remember exactly how my school chose to handle the
situation. I do remember that we left for spring break and never came back, we simply
transitioned to online. I will say that the origin stories for Covid were ridiculous. An example is
monkeys or bat soup.

Of course, the threat of Covid and how it was affecting people was scary but originally I
remember feeling relieved to be at home. In the beginning, I felt like Elsa in my meme. I felt
empowered, happy, and confident. Being in my own space and environment made me feel
comfortable. I have always loved having my own personal time. Transitioning from in-person to
online classes was good originally. Self-quarantining was easy because I had strict parents so I
did not go out often. I did miss going to my Upward Bound program which took us on trips and
where I was able to hang out with the majority of friends. I cannot remember when we started
buying or wearing masks in my family. Mask and social distancing were worn to prevent the
spread of the disease.
Something that was hard for me was how strict my parents were. I felt like being home
got me in more trouble and that they were being overprotective. My parents did not let me go
anywhere because I have asthma which can be bad at times and that was one of the risks listed.
Things like asthma or immunocompromised made people at high risk of being hospitalized
should they have Covid. Being kept in the house and having school online got old after the first
three months. I began to feel like the dalmatian in the third section of my picture. My parents
were fortunate enough to have jobs during Covid and I was unable to work due to my asthma.
My parents did not even let me go to stores, the most I could do was sit in the car.
Another thing Covid made hard for me was my mental and physical well-being. My
mental condition was at its worst and I struggle with serious depression. My mental worsen for a
combination of reasons including past trauma, ongoing situations, feeling trapped, and school.
Before covid, I had made the steps to start losing weight and it was working but being confined
at home stopped that progress. Plus a coping mechanism of mine was snacking while watching a
good movie, which happened often. I did not gain an excessive amount but losing at home felt

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impossible. I tried the home workout and dance videos but with my mindset, I was unable to stay
consistent.
The majority of my friendships ended with Covid. I felt unappreciated and isolated
myself which was not hard. I stopped reaching out and they never did. Communicating with
family was never something I had done besides my grandmother and those who lived in my
house. Covid revealed a lot of things for me and showed me that I need to change and reflect. I
am still changing and working on my mental and physical.

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explanation.