3 Years After Global Pandemic Began, Exploring The Emotional Aftershocks

At the beginning of the year, I, along with 12 graduate students in the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, set out to find how COVID-19 changed everything. The global pandemic shifted the way many of us view our lives, the workplace, and our hometowns. We set out to find out not only how our lives were impacted, but others’ lives too.

As we worked on these stories, the World Health Organization declared an end to COVID-19 as a global health emergency. While some may think of COVID-19 as a thing of the past, many are still dealing with the aftermath of the deadliest pandemic in U.S. history. These 12 stories are a window into how COVID-19 reshaped the way we live our lives.

Rethinking rituals

Shanghai couple Zha and Nora at their virtual wedding inside the game "Final Fantasy 14."

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Yanwen Lin

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One way to measure this change is by looking at how daily life and its milestones shifted. Across the globe, many engaged couples postponed their weddings or opted for virtual ceremonies — like one Shanghai couple, Zha and Nora.

Yanwen Lin, a Chinese journalist, came across a video of Zha and Nora getting married in an online game called Final Fantasy 14, and spoke to them about their experience. Zha and Nora opted for a unique and immersive virtual wedding, filled with avatars, monsters, and dragons.

Zha and Nora are experienced gamers, but many of their guests were not. In order for guests to attend the wedding, they had to create their own profiles and play the game like any experienced gamer would. Many of their guests did not make it to the wedding ceremony because their avatar “died.” Surviving and making it to the final level, meant witnessing the ceremony.

Zha and Nora exchanged vows from the comfort of their living room.

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Yanwen Lin

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In the virtual reality, the bride and groom dressed in traditional wedding attire, but in real life Zha and Nora wore pajamas in the comfort of their home. Zha said the couple was “able to create a special memory that we'll always cherish.”

Adapting to a changing landscape

Machelle Murray (left) and Grace Murray (right) visited Amoeba Records for the first time since the pandemic began in April 2021.

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Grace Murray

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Many of our favorite businesses didn’t survive the pandemic and the ones that did — changed.

In the early days of 2020, Amoeba Music closed its doors at Sunset and Cahuenga boulevards. A year later, in April 2021, Amoeba Music reopened in a new location on Hollywood Boulevard.

Grace Murray, an American journalist, appraised the changes of this iconic L.A. staple. Murray, a lifelong resident of Huntington Beach, regularly made the drive to Amoeba with her mother, Machelle Murray. The famous record store served as a place of learning and connection for both of them. “The aisles of Amoeba have served as our classroom,” Grace says.

Grace’s mother Machelle is a long-time music aficionado. In the ‘80s, she worked as a dancer on the hit TV show American Bandstand hosted by Dick Clark, where she watched musicians like The Eagles, David Bowie and Ray Charles perform.

Grace Murray (left) and Machelle Murray (right) visit Amoeba Music at their new location on Hollywood Boulevard.

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Grace Murray

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Grace revisited these memories as soon as she got her first COVID-19 vaccine by visiting her favorite record store with her mother. The line wrapped around the building as excitement and camaraderie filled the air. Grace and Machelle talked with other customers waiting to go in, sharing what they loved about the original location.

“It actually ended up being almost more fun outside than it was inside,” says Machelle. While the new Amoeba may have changed, Grace says, “As long as Amoeba stays open I’ll still have the records, the connection with my mom and most importantly — the music.”

Finding new ways to make change

Citlalli Chavez (bottom, second-to-the-left) is gathered with janitors from SEIU labor union.

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Citlalli Chavez

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Over the course of the pandemic, union organizing exploded — from Amazon warehouse workers to Starbucks employees. Before studying journalism, Citlalli Chavez worked as a union representative for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — United Service Workers West. She says that her experience organizing janitors changed her worldview: “When I see L.A.’s skylines, I see the workforce who cleanse those office towers while we sleep.”

Chavez wanted to take a close look at another group of people currently organizing who are not usually associated with unions: museum workers. She interviewed Anna Marfleet, a Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) employee, who shares, “the perception that museum work or cultural work is some kind of privilege is something that leadership at museums lean on really, really hard.”

In 2022, after 14 months of negotiating for higher wages and benefits, the union and MOCA ratified their first contract.

A young woman at a protest in Downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 20, 2017.

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Jen Byers

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During quarantine, Jen Byers, an American journalist, began experiencing flashbacks — both of their years covering protests and also of their years surviving domestic abuse. When political uprisings began in 2020 and Byer’s friends took to the streets, they turned to them for advice.

“They wanted to know what to do,” Byers says. “How to get tear gas out of their eyes. How to bail their friends out of jail. What sort of goggles would protect from rubber bullets.”

Empowered by teaching others how to keep physically safe during protests, Byers realized it was time for them to empower themselves against the trauma of the domestic abuse they had suffered.

Beyer embarked on a journey to learn self-defense and share their story. “My knowledge, my flashbacks, the same memories that almost killed me, were able to help others,” Beyer says. “And helping them helped me, too. I got strong enough to realize: I want to fight back.”

Coping with a pandemic that for some isn’t over

Iliya Kure’s niece, Bethel, at her study table at home in Tustin, Orange County.

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Iliya Kure

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While the world continues to shift towards a post-COVID-19 reality, that’s not a shared experience for everyone. Iliya Kure, a Nigerian journalist, spent weeks documenting the experiences of his 41-year-old niece, Bethel, who is immunocompromised.

Bethel was born with sickle cell anemia and since the COVID-19 pandemic, her lifestyle has changed. She works at her aunt’s hair braiding salon, and now she has to work in a small room, separate from the rest of her coworkers. Even though mask mandates were lifted in California in April 2023, Bethel continues to wear a mask because for her, the pandemic is an ongoing crisis.

“As a sickle cell patient, if I get COVID, I have a high risk and a lot of complications,” she says. “And even at home too, I wear the mask inside the house.”

Bethel graduated from medical school and hopes to become a doctor, but has not been able to continue with a residency program because of her illness. “I've also been wanting to volunteer with people like Doctors Without Borders and give back as much as I can,” she says.

Listen to Bethel’s story in Episode 3 of Imperfect Paradise: How COVID Changed Everything.

Listen to these stories as part of a collection of 12 stories made by USC graduate students in the latest season of Imperfect Paradise: How COVID Changed Everything, which explores the personal and societal effects of COVID-19 and how for many of us, there’s no going back.

Subscribe to Imperfect Paradise: How Covid Changed Everything on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.