We are all facing difficult challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, as we are forced to stay at home away from school, work, activities, friends and even family. But there are ways you can use any free time you have while you are at home to make a difference in the lives of others. Focusing on someone else who may be more in need or struggling can help alleviate some of your own stress. Here are a few suggestions from multiple sources (big thank you to my colleague, Michelle Humbach!) of different ways you can get involved to help others as well as yourself:
Medical Professionals
There is a new organization developed by physicians nationwide to help guide the donation of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), whether home-made or factory made, to the places that need them the most.
There is a desperate need for masks for healthcare workers. #MillionMaskMayday instructs on DIY masks for donation. This political PAC is currently accepting donations to order masks and donate them to hospitals in NYC.
Help the people who are helping the rest of us through a Facebook group like Australia’s Adopta Healthcare Worker.
Check out the American Red Cross to learn about ways to support this “do-good” powerhouse.
First Responders
Contribute via an online fundraiser or directly to a not for profit organization that supports the mental wellness of first responders, such as the Gary Sinise Foundation.
Elderly
Organize to help older neighbors by using neighborhood associations, churches, mosques, synagogues, school Honor Society, social media, or by using NextDoor.
Providing social connection with the elderly who are sheltering in place. One existing organization uses volunteers to make "Social Calls" to the elderly.
Youth
Tutor or read-aloud remotely through an organization like Quarantutors. Remote volunteer tutoring (homework, lessons and activities) for younger students using Nextdoor, social media, community organizations and teachers to find opportunities and contact parents who need help.
Offer to teach online classes/tutor for younger neighbor children to help parents and donate the proceeds to one of the groups mentioned previously. Get your friends to help.
If you want new ways to learn yourself, in addition to helping others, many companies, such as Khan Academy offer valuable resources. Other websites list multiple links to educational resource companies offering free access and other educational resources during this crisis.
The Arts
To keep your own musical abilities sharpened, organize virtual concerts or other performances.
Try ballet or learn to play a new instrument or practice your current one online.
The National Theatre is streaming a live play every Thursday Night and PBS offers access to Great Performances including Broadway shows. There are lots of live concerts and shows to stream online and Andrew Lloyd Webber even offers a different one of his shows every week!
Politics
While the coronavirus crisis is ongoing, our 2020 Election political process continues. Students can volunteer to increase voter turnout through organizations such as Rock the Vote , and Postcards to Voters , which can be written at home.
Tech
Students with programming skills can do home-based coding for nonprofits that need help or through organizations such as Code for Social Good , Benetech , or DonateCode.
If you haven’t yet learned to code (a great skill no matter your major or career choice), get started through one of many free sites.
Continual Learning
Take an online course or learn to code through IXL , Udemy , Coursera (which offers Yale’s “Science of Well-Being course I suggested earlier), EdX , Harvard online courses , Stanford online courses, or Great Courses of the World. (Some are for a fee, but many are offered for free.)
Access the free resources of OpenCulture for eBooks and audiobooks or any of the TEDTalks. The Facebook group Amazing Educational Resources has assembled a pretty comprehensive listing of resources that companies are now allowing everyone to use for free during this crisis.
Or do test prep for AP tests at AP Online Classes or Fiveable or visit the ACT website or College Board SAT website for great resources and practice tests.
Catch up or get ahead through tutoring from a local online tutoring service offering their services online, such as Mindfish or Moser Educational Services.
Foreign Language
Brush up on foreign language skills through News in Slow French or News in Slow Spanish. Since you already know current events, these sites give them familiar content spoken more slowly in the languages they’re studying in school so non-native speakers can follow along. Or check out Language Bird to learn start a new language or connect in “chirp rooms.”
Colorado
From Colorado Public Radio, this is a great collection of suggestions and links for how to help on the local level or connect through #DoYourPartCO.
Self-Care
Get your “culture” on with virtually touring these incredible tours of theme parks, museums and zoos.
For some just happy thoughts, check out John Krasinsinski (“Jack Ryan” and “The Office”)who has a wonderful YouTube channel “Some Good News.” His second show has a great surprise for Hamilton fans!
Stay busy, stay connected and stay healthy! “See” you soon!
Kathryn
It has been quite some time since I wrote a blog. There is a great deal of content out there and I am usually able to tweet or post to facebook if I read a relevant article and want to share it.
Every morning I read the newspaper. Yes, the actual paper. Not online. I like to see local news, as well as editorials, and be able, at the very least, to complete the Jumble and the NY Times crossword puzzle, if time allows. And I also like to read the advice column, "Ask Amy." While Amy usual focuses on relationships and domestic disputes, every once in a while she has a column that really resonates in so many ways that I need to share it.
Her column today starts out with, "I am a seventh-grade guy. Lately, I have been stressing out a lot over tests." He asks Amy for her advice and she is absolutely brilliant in her response. Here is the link to the column.
While most students don't really feel stressed about homework or have test anxiety until high school, it can really manifest itself in the curriculum as well as the standardized tests that are required for admissions to most colleges. It is my experience that "test anxiety" is most often rooted in a fear of the unknown, like many other anxieties. Having a plan to become familiar with a test, the format and the timing, can reduce a great deal of that stress. So can some of the ideas that Amy and others suggest about getting yourself organized in your school tasks, by making a list and setting priorities. Some basic calming and positive feedback techniques can also be invaluable.
It is important to know that you are not alone and that you can and should get the help you need to bolster your self-confidence and find what works for you. Starting this early will prepare you for the college application process as well as for being successful once you get to college. I am a big believer in "the gift of struggle," but also in getting help when you need it.
Now, back to the crossword...
- Lessons Learned by Parents about Campus Visits - Some sage advice from parents who have "been there, done that".
- Dual Degrees - 3-2 Engineering Programs - For students not sure that they want to become engineers or those who wish to explore more of the liberal arts, a combined 3-2 program offers students the best of both worlds.
- The Most Generous Colleges - Students who are thoughtful and wisely apply to colleges that really fit their profile, and where they fit the colleges’ interests, may be pleasantly surprised by financial support offers heading their way through ‘Merit-based’ aid.
- Maximizing Your Summer Break - Summer provides the best opportunity for future college applicants to separate themselves from the pack.
- Wallowing on the Waitlist - Nationally, only about 20% of waitlisted students are admitted each year. If you really want to be among those who are, you need to be proactive.
- Athletic Recruiting - Families may dream of "signing day" but what are the realities facing prospective college athletes?
- Majoring in Statistics/Data Science - Data Science was just named the #1 career by Glassdoor and the "sexiest career of the 21st century" by the Harvard Business Review. Could this be a career for you?
- Understanding Net Price - Families often experience sticker shock when contemplating the cost of college, but it’s the net price, rather than the sticker price, that prospective students need to consider.
- Don't Get Caught Up in Senior Slump - Every year some students get a little too relaxed and cling to a false sense of teenage invulnerability. And every year, to the shock of these students, colleges across the country revoke a small but significant number of their acceptances.
Early each summer, after students have made their final college decisions, I meet with each of my students and their parents to discuss transitioning to college. This is an opportunity to cover any topic that may be on their minds, as well as some that may have been simmering under the surface. Parents are concerned that they have done everything right to prevent their students from "going off the rails" once they get to college and students are feeling mixed emotions about the prospect of their newfound independence.
With these meetings in mind, today I listened intently to a NPR FreshAir podcast entitled, "Why Teens Are Impulsive, Addiction-Prone And Should Protect Their Brains." Over the years I have read many articles and books about adolescent brains, focusing on the later development of the prefrontal cortex that not only helps with regulating impulsive behaviors, but it is the key receptor for thought and analysis. Although many teens look like fully-formed adults, their brains may not catch up until their are in their mid-twenties or even later.
What was a new revelation from this podcast is that the elasticity of the adolescent brain that makes it so wonderful for taking in new information and creating memory, is the same trait that can make adolescents more susceptible to addictive behaviors, as these, too, are a form of learning, albeit a negative one. Every teen has heard the warnings about the impact of today's more potent marijuana, as well as the evils of binge-drinking, but it probably would never occur to them that the long-range effects could possibly be permanent.
Just as you wouldn't think of skiing or riding a bike without a helmet (You wouldn't, would you?!), it is time to look at protecting that amazing brain of yours from other outside forces that could keep you from being the successful college student and adult that you have worked so hard to become. Face it - you know you are impulsive, but embrace your impulsivity to sign up for a class in a challenging subject or join a new club, rather than engaging in potentially destructive behaviors. No preaching here. I'm just asking you to selfishly protect that amazing brain of yours for all the wonderful plans you have for your future to leave your unique mark on the world.