The Covid-19 Pandemic has affected every individual in quite a personal way. Almost everyone has experienced a loss in some shape or form. It has left many with uncertainty and fear for what’s to come next.

 A common loss that has been relevant for not only myself, but my friends as well, is being out of school and having to shift our way of learning to a virtually remote format.

Northern Essex community college has followed mandatory guidelines such as implementing social distancing, inevitably ending all in-person classes in order to ensure the safety of faculty and students.

 The transition of it all has been a process in which everyone is doing their best to get through the second half of the semester.

The pandemic has pushed everyone to find means of working around the problem and find respectable solutions that can apply to everyone.

The sudden drawback has left us undeniably unprepared and has been challenging for both teachers and students, nevertheless many accommodations are still being put into place.

 Being that this is my last semester at Northern Essex it has left many concerns for me, I had made the decision to fully apply my focus on my academic responsibilities, meaning I didn’t decide to pursue a job for the time being so that I could focus on all 5 of my classes and get the best possible grades.

I also purposely chose to take in-person courses because I’ve realized that’s the best way for me to learn and due to the unfortunate arrival of the pandemic I had to adjust to having all my courses be virtual at such a stressful time. I’m still going to try my best regardless of the circumstance in my last semester before I graduate.

 Graduation is another concern because like many other seniors at Northern Essex, we don’t know what’s to come of that moment. Being privileged to wear that cap and gown to then walk across a stage after hearing your name being called and knowing that you have completed a very significant milestone in your life, unfortunately just might not happen for us.

Will we even be able to walk across a stage to get our well deserved diplomas? Or how long are we going to have to wait until we even get them? Many students have been putting in all their effort to complete their courses and graduation is the reward for all those sleepless nights and determination. Are we ever going to get that reward now?

Editor’s Note: The college recently announced it would hold a virtual graduation ceremony in August.