Twilight COVID-19 Diary FAQs

Only if you want to. Ideally, adding to the diary every day (even jotting a few lines several times a day) would be great. But life can get in the way, we know. You could also write longer entries a few times a week. And if you use the Day One app, you might find yourself addicted to diary-keeping.

We want to know about your daily life during the COVID-19 epidemic. What do you do each day? Where are you? How has the epidemic affected you? What are you thinking about?

Your diary should not be a work of art. Instead, think of it as a historical record. There is no word-count, spelling, or grammar requirement. 

Here are some ideas if you are feeling stuck:

 

1. What did you do today? Where are you? Who did you talk to? 
   
    
2. How has your life changed? Are you working? 
   
    
3. How has the epidemic affected your friends and family?
   
    
4. What is going on in your town or city? In your state? In your country? How do you feel about it?

Your diary will document what life was like during the COVID-19 epidemic, and that’s important! Future Middlebury students and researchers will use these diaries to make sense of this event.

Day One is a free app available for Android and iPhones that allows you to create journal entries on your phone. You can add photos, geo-tag your entries, turn voice memos to text, and more! We will provide you with a 2-month premium account if you select this option. At the end of the project, we will help you export your Day One diary for the Archives.

Great! We will mail you one. (We’re teaming up with The Vermont Bookshop on Main Street.)

Yes, but unfortunately, we can’t send you cash. Special Collections would still be thrilled to accept your donation of a COVID-19 diary either in print (you provide your own journal) or digital (the Day One app is free!) format.



The COVID-19 Archive Project is accepting all kinds of things too, not just diaries. Learn more about that effort here.

We did a little math. Let’s say you spend fifteen minutes a day (maybe more, maybe less) jotting down details of your life for two months. Then, we looked at student and staff pay scales. Ultimately, we landed on $200.

You will receive $200 after Special Collections receives your diary, and after a little paperwork gets filled out.