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Hi, I'm Naoko Wowsugi. I am an artist, I teach at American University, I teach studio art. And then I'm also a Humanities Truck Fellow. So as the cohort of 2020, 2019 Humanities Truck fellow, we've been working on different community-engaged projects, but because of the COVID-19, we had to pause the visit to different communities, so we come up collectively, this From Me to You project. So that's, so I'm a starting member of this project. So how has COVID-19 affected me? So it's been really interesting, an intense year for everybody. But actually I experienced this a little bit earlier. So this year, you know, we start semester in late January. And then, after I started teaching two weeks, I got a family emergency in Japan. So I had to leave work, for take care of my family emergency to Japan. Then, so, I left the end of... beginning of February, very early February, for Japan. Then, I think around that time, Wuhan had this outbreak, then we are actually slowly hearing the news while I was in Japan, but that was not that big issue, but it sounds like, you know, we start having few people in Japan at the time. But in February, there's not much reporting in America. So I was worried about if America closed the gate for any foreigner, because as of that moment, we already know, US banned the Chinese traveler to the country. And I was worried if I can come back to America because I wanted to teach.

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Um, then also, I have a lot of other project, and two of them are really important for my life. But also, my family is really important too. So I was in the middle of really hard decision making, and then luckily, I had enough support from my Japanese family and friends. So I decided to come back to US, end of February. Then, I come back March 1st. Then I taught one week, then we got into spring break, then during the spring break, we close the school. And in a few weeks today, the US closed a lot of the country to come, banned other country to come back to, that come to the US. So, you know, I was in the middle of like, my immigration status changing. So if I stayed like one week longer, maybe I couldn't come back to US. And, you know, so everything was really, like, get, even complicated on a personal level. So was a really interesting time, experience I had, like, as an immigrant, as an artist, as a college educator. Then, so that's, I've been, so as an artist, I had to like, you know, I always have multiple projects going, but the Humanities Truck was something I was really excited, that was, like, we had to pause. Then I also had two opportunity to go visit Korea and China to exhibit my work, but it got paused and has now shifted to the online exhibition. Then another exhibition I have in Fall, it got also switched to potentially, maybe cancelled, but potentially try to do online. So it's interesting, like, how everything has to be online now because as an artist and an educator, on a personal level, I always valued, you know, small, sharing small gesture or time in real life with others, but that's something we take for granted. Actually, I never thought that's gonna be, like, impossible to do, I thought it's like this, you know, it's like, everyday thing we have. But now we cannot access to that, and then, I was not really thinking about internet or online

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thing. It's don't... right now it's like lifeline for a lot of people. Now how I can utilize this to empower others or connect others and even sharing, like, in a small gesture. So it's interesting for me because, maybe before this COVID, I was not really putting that much importance on spending time online, because I don't have any Facebook or any other, like, social network too, because I believe in in-person connection more. Um, so that's how COVID-19 impacted me. And then, you know, the daily life, I actually live by myself. I don't have any like, you know, children to take care, or some, like, other people to support in America. So it didn't have any difficult time for me and I recognize maybe that's why I should really put myself to the, you know, Washington, DC community to go help someone really need help. So I actually signed up some volunteers, like medical volunteers. Then I actually never heard from them. Then later, I figure out that so many people applying that volunteer opportunity, so this big line, to, there's so many people willing to help the community. It's really heart... It was really amazing and it was hopeful news for me to figure this out because I also recognize my, you know, daily basic information, it's always coming from internet news or radio. And we have, you know, a lot of like, um, how can I explain, like, you know, a lot of news we hear it's something disappointing. And then, like, very little hope for news like this. A lot of people making line, we don't hear that often. So I find that out. So those are, actually

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we have so many people willing to help others and thinking to, you know, they, the way we can contribute to make this moment going. So that have been, kept me going this moment of crisis. Like, small hope we don't hear that often right now, but actually there's a lot of, you know, people's willingness to do good for others. Just being, stay home is like really great, but you know, there's much more people try to step in, taking their life to risk to save others. Um, so then last question, what do I hope to learn from this crisis? So, um, I always like, I've been working on the community for my art, you know, my motivation, learning about the community. My, being like, really focusing on studying about the effects of gentrification, how gentrification put the, pushing some under-served community to the price, they don't have healthy food access, or just like, basic, like, living, like, how can I say, like the price they can live safely in the healthy way. Gentrification can displace so many under-served community and then, researching that kind of relationship with capitalism. And I saw some Instagram posts, someone did, is draw something on the wall that said, COVID is virus, capitalism is pandemic. Then it just resonates me. Yeah, like, right now because of the COVID-19, we have to stay home and we, like, essential worker goes to work to, you know, hold a, head a service, use a service, that's our essential. So I really, and then also the COVID people stopped going out, so there's less car traffic or you know, even plane, airplanes stop flying, so there's a lot of recovery from nature, and gentrification pushing a lot of, natural habitat and you know, that environmental issues like, actually we are, we are learning how to weigh what really is essential to us. So I'm hoping we can use this time to reevaluate what's really essential and that, things we find what essential should be shared

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equally. Um, and also, about the online, you know, internet have been, I've been really grateful for presence of internet technology. Like, without this, I couldn't connect to anyone, I couldn't, like, learn anything, how, what to do, or where to go. But also, I worry about we become addict. So I hope we find, like, how we can utilize this technology and how we can be aware utilizing these. Um, that's all I want to say for now. Thank you!