One star, would not recommend this particular thrill ride—but pandemic extremes have been our daily reality for the last two years, which, we’d like to point out, is a huge chunk of your life when you’re a teenager. 

So what have we learned? What have we lost? And what the heck now: Are we safely back at the station, or is it time to brace ourselves for the next loop-de-loop? Buckle up, keep your hands and feet inside the car, and ride along with us as we talk all things COVID-19, now chugging into year three. First, though, you’ll hear some students from Diamond Oaks Career Campus in Cincinnati, sharing their own pandemic ups and downs. 

The podcasters:

• Robert Thikkurissy (host), University of Cincinnati, Transition & Access Program
• AJ Jones, UC graduate
• Nico Luginbill, Walnut Hills H.S.
• Pawan Rai, Aiken H.S.
• Syriene Djakata, Aiken H.S.
• Tasnim Saad, Aiken H.S.
• Antonia R. Willis, Taft IT H.S.
• Bryan Aguilera, Virtual H.S.

Conversation recorded on Zoom March 6, 2022

Episode edited by Sydnie Barrett, Walnut Hills H.S., with D&Z producer Julie Coppens 

Music composed by Noah Hawes, of Elementz

Roller-coaster illustration by vectorcorp/Shutterstock