Hello all!  We hope you are all safe, healthy, and well wherever you are.   We are continuing to gather insights from UNE Social Work faculty, staff, and students about what they are doing to stay centered through this pandemic.  Today, we hear from MSW student, Amanda Garami MSW ’21:

Amanda:

MSW Student, Amanda Garami @amanderrg  is en route to graduate with her MSW in 2021.  She was particularly drawn to UNE’s School of Social Work for its mission, vision, and values, specifically the strong emphasis on social inclusion. Her field placement this year was at Presumpscot Elementary School and she aspires to continue work with young populations upon graduating.  Here are some things Amanda is doing to say balanced through Covid19: ⁠

What are you personally doing to stay somewhat balanced through all this?

Going for long drives has been keeping me sane! Just seeing the nature and getting inspired with where to take future nature walks helps me get out of my head, as well as out of the house. I like doing this midday to break up the day and have something to look forward to. Lately I have also been binging the show Devs on Hulu. If you like sci-fi I suggest it!

Books/poetry/recipe/craft suggestions?

I have always loved cooking, mostly because I love to eat! This isolation time has been a great practice on how to really use everything in my fridge and freezer. Tonight I am making some fried chicken thighs by pounding them until thin, coating in sour cream (sour cream wash) and then finally covering in bread crumbs. I don’t have any bread crumbs so I will be attempting to make my own with some old bread. Then I fry the chicken on the stove top with a cast iron, and finally bake in the oven (put the cast iron right in) until fully cooked. Yum!

Other suggestions for coping strategies?

Some other things I have been doing have been playing color Sodoku at breakfast, playing some nostalgic online games that I used to play as a kid, and of course reaching out to friends for frequent chats and long FaceTime sessions. I’ve found it hard to find resources about COVID-19 that are consistent, so I have instead been working more so on my own mental health around re-framing what’s happening around me.

Learn more about Amanda by visiting our Blog Post, MSW Student Snapshots.

COVID 19 Resources for Social Workers and Therapists HERE.

Featured image by Manjit Thapp