00:00:00Jessica Taylor: Hello, today is March 4, 2020. My name is Jessica Taylor. I'm
interviewing Pablo Isaza. for the Voces Oral History Center at the University of
Texas at Austin. Please know that this recorded interview will be placed in the
Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at University of Texas Austin, and
it may be available online via YouTube or a similar platform. If there's
anything you do not wish to answer or talk about, especially given that you're
recording purely online, I will honor your wishes. Also, if there is something
you want to talk about, please bring it up, and we'll talk about it. Because we
are not conducting this interview in person, I need to record you consenting. So
I'll ask you a series of five questions. Please say "yes, I agree" or "no, I do
not agree" after each
00:01:00 one.
There are three questions we need to make sure you agree to before we go on.
Voces' wish is to archive your interview along with any other photographs and
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Number one, do you give Voces consent to archive your interview and your
materials at the Benson library?
Pablo Isaza: Yes, I agree.
JT: Do you grant Voces copyright over the interview and any material you provide?
PI: Yes, I agree.
JT: Do you agree to allow us to post this interview on the internet where it may
be viewed by people around the world?
PI: Yes, I agree.
JT: We have many questions in a pre-interview form that you already filled out.
We use that information from the pre-interview form to help and research. The
entire form is kept in a secure Voces server. Before we send it to the
00:02:00 Benson,
we will have stripped out any contact information for yourself or family
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of your interview in your public file available to researchers at the Benson?
PI: Yes, I agree.
JT: On occasion Voces receives requests from journalists, who wish to contact
our interview subjects. We only deal with legitimate news outlets. Do you give
consent for us to share your phone numbers or your email with journalists?
PI: No.
JT: Okay, so let's actually do this. Tell me a little bit about your experience
with COVID-19.
PI: It's been about a year actually. I think next week is in March, like one
00:03:00 year.
So it has definitely been a really tough time for me and my family, not only
just like financially, but I think mentally as well as like emotionally. I don't
think anyone expected it to be prolonged, like for this amount of time, at least
in the United States. The biggest thing for me, as a student, is how mentally
draining all my classes have been. That's the biggest hit for me. Just talking
about it with a lot of my peers, they would also agree.
JT: How did you first learn about COVID-19?
PI: I heard about it back in late December, early January. At that time, it
sounded like something we had heard about in the past, like Ebola or maybe some
other type of
00:04:00 disease.
It didn't seem super serious. I remember people kind of making jokes about it. I
just read it in like a news outlet.
JT: What was your initial reaction to what was going on in December and January?
PI: My initial reaction, I did not think about it for too long. I just thought
this is just another disease, and then they'll figure it out and we'll get over it.
JT: What was the point at which you realized that it was serious?
PI: I remember the day that my mom, and in my house, and some friends of mine,
kind of started panicking. I remember the moment feeling like, oh, we have to go
to the store and grab supplies for like the next couple of weeks because things
might run
00:05:00 out.
At that moment panic kind of started setting in. It was weird. It was a really
weird feeling and felt like you were kind of in a movie, like, we're going to be
stuck inside for I don't know. How long am I? Like food was going to be
available? What was going to happen? hat the world was going to be like?
Definitely stressful.
JT: Absolutely. You mentioned that COVID had impacted your family. Can you talk
a little bit more about that?
PI: Yeah, it impacted my mom's job, my step-dad's job, they had to start working
from home, like adjusting to that balance. Personally, it also affected me in my
work. I start working from home. I missed out on some job opportunities because
of
00:06:00 it.
Just because of the field that I'm in, that tough work wasn't being handled at
the time, because of COVID, because of the restrictions that people didn't know
how to handle it, like a lack of preparation. That part financially was hard.
Academically, I definitely felt like institutions were not prepared to format
that kind of online learning experience. It was tough. It was hard.
JT: What do you do for work? Where did it impacted you in this?
PI: At the time, I was working with an electrical engineering firm. I was an
electrical designer for them. Of course we had to transition to fully work from
home. Since a lot of the work that we were given was government contracted, we
had to stop a lot of for operations just because a lot of the things that we
were doing were in
00:07:00 person.
We had to do some buildings and construction, so none of that could happen. So
that had to stop.
JT: What about your parents? What did they do where it affected their work?
PI: My mom, she works in the public sector, and it affected some of her
contracts. She's a consultant. Just because of, I guess the lack of people being
able to go into the offices and whatever, contracts were not being handed out as
often as they were before.
JT: In terms of other organizations you're involved in, like church or
fraternities or anything, are there other ways that they were affected by
00:08:00 COVID?
PI: I wasn't super involved with church, but I still got all the emails and
everything. These two started doing online mass. They probably handle it better
than most other organizations that I know, honestly. At the time, I wasn't with
any fraternities or anything like that.
JT: The church component is something that the people involved in the project
are interested in. Can you say a little bit more about how that affected you
moving from real mass to online mass?
PI: At that point, we weren't going to mass super often, but I do remember all
youth group activities were put on hold for that time. Then later on the church
developed a Zoom type of session or mass
00:09:00 holding.
They would send you the link. They would be like, this is how we're gonna do
mass from now on, but that was later on. It took them like a few weeks to set
that up.
JT: Did it affect things like Christmas mass or anything that you may be more
likely to go to?
PI: Yeah, for sure. My parents are Catholic, both of them. Religion is a big
part of their lives. We have not gone to church since the outbreak happened.
JT: Do you remember specific moments where they were affected by not being able
to go?
PI: I wouldn't say it affected them super harshly emotionally. You can still
pray at home and you can still live a fulfilling religious life. No
00:10:00 way.
But it's kind of like a tradition just to go. They didn't enjoy it. It was
something that they did on the weekends, and of course, like Christmas. I'm sure
they missed it.
JT: Yeah, absolutely. Beyond your immediate family did COVID affect any extended
family members in any way that comes to mind?
PI: I don't think any of my family members actually had COVID fortunately. Most
of them live outside of the country anyways, so they were not super affected. My
family always did a good job at staying home and kind of isolating. We were not
super affected by the illness itself and being contagious or anything like
00:11:00 that.
JT: Just in terms of experience, how was your family outside of the country affected?
PI: They live in Colombia. To this day, cities are still pretty under lockdown.
I know my grandparents were terrified of it, not only because of the
repercussions of the illness, of the disease, but also just because since it is
a third world country. You don't know when you might get vaccines. You don't
know how the healthcare system might react to it. In the United States, it's
very very different than in those countries. I lived in Colombia for fourteen
years, so I know about it. I just remember them being pretty scared to even see
my uncles, and my little cousins, from March all the way up to Christmas time.
They barely saw each
00:12:00 other.
JT: How did you stay in contact with folks from Colombia during the pandemic?
PI: Through WhatsApp, mainly, like social media. We would have family Zooms, I
remember that. Even with cousins that we hadn't seen in a long time. For
Christmas, and all that, we have Zoom meetings. Whereas in other years, maybe
we'll go and visit them. So that's how we handled it.
JT: Absolutely. In terms of who you physically interacted with, have you done a
lot of traveling since the pandemic started?
PI: No, I haven't left Virginia since. I think the first time I even left, I was
in Fairfax, at the time. That's where my family lives, like at
00:13:00 Fairfax.
And they're all like Northern Virginia area. I didn't leave until I had to come
back to [Virginia] Tech, so in August. I've just been traveling from Blacksburg
to my parents house, and that's the only real travel I've done.
JT: This is a weird one, but how has your family changed what you take with you,
when you leave your home?
PI: A lot of hand sanitizer for sure. Then cars in the beginning especially was
running out. I think my parents ordered it from some online site or whatever. It
took a few weeks for it to hit us. Fortunately, we had some in the house. One of
the main things was we would disinfect all for food right after we would come
from the grocery store. I don't know if other people have been doing that or
not, but all produce, everything, we had to disinfect
00:14:00 it.
We had areas in the house where we would keep food from the point where it was
from Costco, the grocery store, or wherever and that was like the designated
area and then we would clean it, and then we would store it in the fridge. My
brother, he worked at Whole Foods, the work clothes that he would have or not
allowed him to house, and he would have to change before coming in the house and
immediately wash those clothes. Life, I guess in that sense, changed.
JT: Definitely. So what about wearing masks? How do you and your family feel
about wearing masks?
PI: We never had a problem with wearing masks or following like any of those
mandates. We struggled in the beginning to find the right
00:15:00 mask.
We didn't really know if they were N95 or those regular blue-ish masks that
nurses and staff wear or used to wear. We ordered our own masks and we washed
them. Everyone in my family has a few that they just kind of rotate.
JT: We talked about this a little bit, but COVID has changed the way that you
receive education. Do you want to talk a little bit more about why that's been challenging?
PI: Yeah, colleges are not very very well prepared, especially in the beginning
to give an online format. I know, with myself, and a lot of my friends, it's
such a different learning environment, from going to in person. Even professors
feel that
00:16:00 way.
It's such a weird time in the world. It feels like school is not the most
important thing at times; like, there's so much else going on. I don't really
know if like calculus homework is really the most important thing in my life
right now. That's one part. Then in the second, it's the format: the way tests
are giving. From a stress standpoint, a lot of people don't like lockdown
browsers because they feel like it disturbs their privacy. Having to show your
whole home and like every single little bit and everything, and it just makes
people feel really uncomfortable. I get it that obviously there's honor codes
that you need to follow, but you can't move away or look the other way when
people tell you that their mental health is not okay because of
00:17:00 it.
Just being in Zoom, obviously, you try to make the most of it and waking up and
try to go to class and keep yourself like focus. It's definitely such a big
change from being on campus and actually doing a physical class. Rather than
just like waking up and maybe even having your computer on your bed, and going
through the motions. In my opinion, that's not really learning. At that point,
you're just completing assignments. I think that's not what college should be
about. That's not what universities should be about. You're trying to be in an
environment that helps you learn and guide you to achieve future things in life.
And at that point, you're just going through the motions of schoolwork. That's
what I think.
JT: In terms of what's helped you get through it, do you have resources or tools
that you have employed in order to keep
00:18:00 going?
PI: I've tried to set a pretty busy schedule, at least with like working out and
doing stuff outside of the house. I think that's one of the biggest issues that
I've encountered. Also just people want to have encounter. You're just inside
your house all the time; that can be very draining. We're humans, most of us
need social contact, we need to talk to other people. Having a schedule is
definitely super useful. Going out for a walk or run is also pretty great. This
past year, I learned about like the Pomodoro Technique, so that's been super
great for me personally because it keeps me motivated. In the beginning, I said
okay, I'm just gonna stay in my room, like do like eight hours of work. But when
you do that for months at a time and don't talk to anyone that can affect your
mental
00:19:00 health.
I might put sticky notes around my room or whatever, tell me to complete tasks.
I think that's mainly what I've been doing.
JT: Were there particular classes that proved challenging or like particular
moments in spring or fall that were challenging for you?
PI: Yeah I used to work around thirty hours a week when I was a full time
student. Having to transition from that routine of like, I would go to work from
6:00 a.m., 7:00 a.m. and then I would have my classes and everything, to now.
Everything's like online and work is just weird, and no one really knows how
they're going to manage it. Also, like school is not very clear. The way tests
are doing so I would say spring of 2020 was like super hard: March, April,
00:20:00 May.
JT: As knowledge of COVID came out over the course of 2020, how did your
concerns about your own health and the health of your family change?
PI: Especially in the beginning, we didn't really know who was mainly at risk. I
think we understood that people with preexisting conditions were mainly at risk.
So my parents, I was super scared, to be around them, really to see anyone. We
kept a pretty close circle. It was really just me, my brother, my mom, and my
stepdad for like, a lot of months. I think it's just scary. You didn't want to
be the person that gave your parents something. You also didn't want to get it
because you didn't know what was gonna happen. It was a bit frightening at
00:21:00 first.
JT: You've mentioned mental health a couple of times. Do you want to expand on
that from a personal perspective?
PI: We were all pretty used to a way of living before COVID. It's kind of hard
to understand that, we're most likely not gonna be like that ever again. There's
life pre-COVID and there's life post-COVID. It has changed so much about our
lives, and it will continue to change it because of the precedent that it set
in. That's hard to understand. You would want to be able to go to the movies or
a concert or whatever, but you just don't know how likely it's going to
00:22:00 be.
On top of that you have to stress about, okay, I have to keep on having my
responsibilities, pay my bills, getting schoolwork done, and maybe I don't have
enough money because COVID, financially just set us back. On top of that, the
government is not really helping out right now. It's a lot of stuff kind of tied
down together. It's all connected at some point or another, and it can be hard.
JT: Were there moments where you realized, like, mentally or emotionally "this
is difficult."
PI: Yeah, especially, financially, when you didn't feel super
00:23:00 comfortable.
That's mainly what I felt. It's stressful not having enough money to feel like
you can go to the grocery store. That can be impactful on your mental health. On
top of that, having ten assignments to the week, and then your mom got sick. My
mom got sick at some point during May or June, and obviously, we were super
scared because we didn't know what's going on. Thankfully, it wasn't bad. She
just got sick from the cold or whatever else. She was bad for a couple weeks,
and we didn't know what was going on. Also, in the beginning, testing was super
weird. I don't know if people talk about that, but people paid hundreds of
dollars for tests because they weren't easily accessible. It's a similar
situation to what's happening with the vaccines, that people were only like
political figures and the most important people were getting vaccines, not the
general
00:24:00 population.
JT: That was gonna be one of my next questions-- how did access to healthcare
change for you over the course of last year?
PI: Thankfully, my family and I have a good healthcare provider. We're really
blessed in that way. In that regards, nothing changed. We were super blessed
because we had healthcare. I cannot imagine what it must have been for people
that didn't, like if they got sick. I don't even know how hospitals or Intensive
Care Unit or anything handle that or how much it costs were. Imagine being sick,
and then you go to like an Intensive Care Unit, and on top of that, you can't
pay your bills and like everything's just falling down. It was awful for a lot
of
00:25:00 people.
JT: Yeah, definitely. Speaking of vaccines, how do you feel about the vaccine
rollout at this point?
PI: I'm glad that they're starting to roll it out. Better late than never, but I
don't know the guidelines aren't super clear to when people are gonna start
getting it. I actually received an email about a week ago from my healthcare
providers saying like, we'll put you on a waitlist. I think right now that's how
they're handling it. I would gladly take the vaccine. I would have no problem
with it.
JT: How does your family feel about it?
PI: They feel the same way. They're already on the waitlist.
JT: Another thing that came up briefly is about the government response. How do
you believe politics has affected how COVID has been
00:26:00 handled?
PI: It's political propaganda. They were trying to say some politicians were
lying about it to make it seem like whatever. I don't even want to get like too
much into that. I don't really understand exactly what's happening or what
people were doing for political gain. I just think the United States being the
United States, being the country that it is, it should have handled it a lot
better than it did. Whoever was in charge, whether it was Democrats,
Republicans, or whatever you want to call it, I don't think they handled it
well. They should have done more for society here and its citizens, and
protecting them, not only physically so with vaccines, with testing with mask
mandates, but
00:27:00also understanding that a lot of people were going
through huge amount of stress because they lost their jobs because of
unemployment. There should have been some financial incentives to maybe keep
them healthier, in a way. I think they failed, largely, and compared to a lot of
other countries that managed to keep their citizens safe.
JT: Have you been looking for work again since COVID started?
PI: I've been a full time student so no.
JT: We talked a little bit about finances already. Do you contribute financially
to your family, either your immediate family or your extended
00:28:00 family?
PI: Yeah I pay for my own stuff. I don't pay their mortgage or anything like
that, but I take care of a decent amount of my own costs.
JT: We've talked a little bit about this, but has COVID affected your ability to
continue to do that?
PI: Yeah, for sure. It's the same issue. A lot of my work was given through
contracts, and that stopped because of COVID. The federal government wasn't
running anything at that point.
JT: How has that affected your career aspirations for like post-grad life?
PI: I would have wanted to save up a little bit more money than I had, and save
that for grad studies or
00:29:00 whatever.
I had to use a lot of the savings that I had on this year, just to live. That's
how it affected me.
JT: Are there any concerns in your family at this point about documentation
status that have changed since the last year happened?
PI: Documentation status regarding what exactly?
JT: Like immigration.
PI: No.
JT: There's also a lot of social movements happening at the same time that all
of this is going on. What current social movements have affected your daily life
in the last year?
PI: Obviously, the Black Lives Matter movement has been huge. That's been the
biggest thing along with COVID for the past
00:30:00 year.
The way it's affecting me? I definitely support it. I'm definitely a lot more
socially conscious. I think to what maybe I was ignorant about a few years ago,
just trying to learn more about it. Trying to understand what some people go
through, like African Americans in our country. That's how I've supported and I
didn't go to any rallies or anything like that specifically, but just from my
own personal view that I support it.
JT: Were there particular moments that expanded your thinking that made you pay
attention to it for example?
PI: Yeah, one of the main things was the January sixth, and the capital riots.
00:31:00Seeing all those people inflict so much violence on what is supposed to be like
a sacred--well not sacred, but maybe like a really important place in this
nation, such an important building, and seeing police officers-- We kind of just
let the man in and create that much chaos, and the whole world was watching.
That was super crazy to me. Literally, the whole world was watching, everyone.
That was the only thing people talked about for about a week. No one was
tear-gassed, no one was, to the extent of what happened in Black Lives Matters
protests all over the country, which were still happening, to a certain degree
at that point. It just helped cement the fact that there's, huge racial
inequality in the United States, and that it's very real, and that we're still
living through like, racism, medicine is not a thing of like, the 17- or 18- or
1900s. It
00:32:00exists right now. We're still going through it today. I
think that was a big moment. I was a combination of mad, sad, frustrated.
JT: Has COVID influenced the way you think about these inequalities?
PI: Yeah, for sure. A lot of people that lost their jobs, that were unemployed,
were people of color, who also couldn't even apply for unemployment benefits. Of
course they were hugely influenced by that.
JT: One of the things you had said earlier was that there are more important
things than like this homework assignment. What has been on your mind? What's
been foremost on your mind?
00:33:00The last year when it comes to that shift away from school. What are you
thinking about more than you would?
PI: I realized that as a person, you kind of have a lot more power, and you're a
lot more impactful than you realize. Especially when groups of people come
together and as individuals, we don't really realize that. With all of these
movements, with everything happening, I was like, well, we need not only
reforms, and a lot of the systems that we have in place in the country, but
people that will lead these changes and people that are genuinely wanted better
for society. Not just individual gain, or maybe like, corporate gain, which I
see a lot of, and it's the kind of already doing interfaces, and they don't care.
00:34:00There needs to be maybe better political leaders in the country.
JT: Do you feel differently about the government response in 2021, than you did,
maybe a little less than a year ago in 2020?
PI: Regarding the change from Trump to Biden? Is that what you're referring to?
JT: Yeah, definitely or just the change in strategy overall.
PI: I haven't really seen a change in strategies, like to be completely honest
with you, with Biden. Maybe there's a change in who controls whatever like the
House and the Senate. But I haven't seen huge change. The promises that they
made, they're still out there. Just because the person in charge changes,
doesn't mean that things are actually gonna change.
00:35:00JT: Is there anything else you wanted to share about your experiences with COVID
that we haven't talked about yet?
PI: No. The only thing I would say as professors, at least in my experience,
have been super understanding. A lot of them are going through the same thing
that us students are going through. My experience with the professors
themselves, not the institution's, not the universities, they have been pretty
great to be completely honest. Personally, like my president, super
understanding. They know, and even they have more stuff going on. I know a few
of them who got sick with COVID, so they understand what it's like. I don't know
exactly who's running stuff behind the scenes or what's going on, but from
personal level, when I speak to individuals, I
00:36:00think everyone's
pretty much on the same page. There's a huge disconnect at some point. I just
don't know where it is, that's all.
JT: Well thank you so much.
[End of interview]
00:37:00
