It’s nearly one week into the mandatory confinement in France. Schools have shut down, many people are working from home, we now have to have a legitimate excuse and permission slip to be outside. People who would usually shoulder check you on the sidewalk now give fellow pedestrians a wide berth. I discovered that the old woman who lives below me has Alzheimers and is fearfully shut into her apartment with her daughter. In a recent interaction with the friendly man who sweeps the street, I found out that the post office has closed and that he desperately needed a stamp to post a letter. I rushed home to give him my last stamp. Human interactions are earnest but transactional, masks and gloves aren’t the only barriers.

Here, with the help of my senior-year English students, I hope to collect and reflect on our human experiences as we navigate this peculiar time in our lives and recent history. This is my and their sincere attempt to cultivate our writing and reflection.