iExamen 2

Jaime Hynes

iExamen 2

Throughout the course of the day on March 17, 2020, also known as Saint Patrick’s Day, I tried to make sure that the messages I communicated were kind, useful, and true. At first, this seemed like a pretty simple task. When reflecting on how I communicate, I felt that the messages I speak or send are usually pretty kind, useful, and truthful. However, after spending six days in quarantine with my family, my words were not always super kind or useful. Considering I have two younger siblings, boy and girl, my patience was constantly being challenged resulting in maybe some not so kind messages being shared.

But on this day, I paid very close attention to the words I used and the messages I shared not only with my family but also with my friends over social media and text messaging. Since the coronavirus has been, of course, a very large discussion between everyone in the world, I tried to make sure every text I sent could be useful to my friends who were struggling in quarantine like I have been. I did this by sending new updates about the virus in our county and in our country but also fact-checking them before pressing send, to ensure my message was truthful. Along with true and factual information, I tried my best to share positivity to my friends who have been very upset with the news of not being able to return to school, vacations being canceled and overall becoming lonely due to social distancing. I did this by reminding them that when this pandemic begins to fade, life will return back to not only be back to normal, but we will be able to appreciate it even more than we did prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Things like traveling to see family and friends or sitting in your favorite restaurant for a meal will mean so much more.

This day, March 17^th, I also found out some extremely saddening news that greatly affected my day and how I communicated with those around me and my friends through social media. I found out that the day before Nick Myers, a boy in my class at Loyola, passed away. I had the pleasure of spending time with Nick a few times and from what I can remember, he was such a caring person with a lot of positive energy and the best smile. Although, my concern this day was not with my own grieving. I have a few friends who were very close to Nick, and this sudden loss was taking a huge toll on them. Specifically, my one very close friend and Nick hung out almost every day of the first semester and she has gone through other tragic deaths like this in her life. Because of this, reaching out to her and expressing my love for her was my main priority. I wanted her to know that she was in my thoughts and prayers and that I would always be there for her to talk to, even though I knew she was strong enough to get through it herself. This communication, while also useful, was my way of expressing a kind message to a friend in a time of need.

Throughout this day, I chose my words thoughtfully when interacting with my family. With the previously mentioned event in mind, I was feeling especially grateful for each person in my life and wanted to express that. I chose to be extra kind to my siblings and parents because life is short. Going forward with this crazy new life we are all living in, filled with hand sanitizer and keeping six feet apart from everyone we see, I think it is important that we stay positive and help each other through it. This iExamen helped me to realize that the words we use and the messages we communicate play a big role in this positivity and helpfulness and I hope to try and implement what I learned in my communicating going forward.