All posts by Ryan Nacy, Correspondent

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The past two years have been trying in ways few of us would’ve thought possible.

While some might have predicted an event like the Coronavirus Outbreak of 2020, few could have predicted the wide reaching societal impact it had and the conflict and melodrama it helped give rise to in the ensuing months. In many minds this period will be marked by memories of turmoil and panic, with footage of anti-mask protests and violence and confrontation at school board meetings serving as a reminder of the widespread unrest we all felt and witnessed.

While many of us have already forgotten life during the Coronavirus pandemic, some have found their plans permanently derailed in its aftermath.

Particular attention has been paid towards students given how the learning experience changed after restrictions were imposed on public gatherings.

While some students and educators might’ve had a positive experience with remote learning, most are now happy to return to a face to face format.

Not all students have experienced such a seamless transition back in person.

Max Levesque of Newburyport was set to begin college at the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester, but soon found himself unable to keep up with the coursework.

“It wasn’t enough to get me to feel motivated honestly, It’s not the same as having a teacher and going to class. There’s nowhere to go in the morning.”

It didn’t help that Levesque had already been experiencing feelings of depression and anxiety after the first COVID lockdown began, but the pressure of trying to complete a full course load online only helped exacerbate an already tense situation.

Soon he began to notice the weeks go by even as he still found himself unable to focus on his classwork.
By the end of the Fall Semester Levesque had withdrawn from all his classes. Though it was his choice to not return to school, Levesque still has mixed feelings about his decision.

“I felt so guilty that I dropped my classes, I still don’t really know if I wanna go back to school. It feels like I’m behind everyone else now. It’s just not something I think I’m ready to do.”

This situation has become all too common for mental health workers in the fallout of the pandemic.

“I’ve gotten at least 12 referrals over the past few months for college aged kids in these same situations,” says Rebbeca Miller of Haverhill, a licensed psychiatrist who works particularly with adolescents and college aged clients.

“The world might as well have stopped, so it’s easy to understand how frustrating it is to try to restart your education after having already been removed from that environment for so long.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Miller has seen an uptick in college aged clients, many of whom first started experiencing mental health issues while the pandemic was ongoing. “Decisions about education and what career path to take are always going to be difficult. These decisions become even harder once you realize we’ve just come out of a two year period of nationwide reclusion. It really becomes difficult to move forward when you feel like you’ve already missed something.”

Nonetheless, Miller is optimistic, “I think things will get better over time. Once people start to receive the help and support they need to overcome the hardships they’ve been hit with over these last couple years. It’s just another adjustment.”

While Levesque has no plans to return to college in the near future, he still hopes to one day begin taking classes again and complete his degree.

“If I could get the chance to ask questions face to face and talk to my professors, I think I’d be a much more engaged student, I think things would go differently.”

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Pandemic inspires new forms of creative collaboration

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Although creative collaboration has become more difficult as a result of restrictions on gathering ,the additional time that has arisen for many over the past year has created an oppurtunity to explore interests and hobbies there wasn’t time for before.

Though collaboration and in person endeavours have become more difficult, social media has provided an outlet for those wishing tolearn more about different pastimes and connect with people already in these communities and subcultures.

While the situation has been damaging for many, some have found it to be a beneficial experience thats help them both stay entertained and grow as people.

Karina Rivera had had a passing interest in photography but found she never had the time to pursue it before the Covid pandemic and the subsequent lockdown that occurred in 2020.

With this time she found she was able to both practice and connect with other people around her shehadn’t previously met with the same interest.

“I couldn’t really go anywhere too public so I started off just taking pictures in my neighborhood. Lots of birds and trees. Than I brought thepictures to people I met online and they gave me advice on how to edit them digitally. It reall ytaught me alot,” she said.

Once restrictions started loosening up she started going to a wider array oflocations, mainly outdoors.

Recently she was able to meet a friend she’d met on Instagram in a state park and take pictures with her.

“I’m really glad I spent my time the way I did. I met so many new people and learned things I never would’ve been aware of otherwise,” she said. ” I’m gonna start branching out further in the future, they’re a couple other people I wanna meet up with soon.”

A few music scenes have also gone through a rebirth of sorts as a result of the increased attention payed to music production through the pandemic.

Many have taken to learning a new instrument or creating music with the time they have to do so.

Some have even begun to take themselves seriously as musicians and attempt to build a following.

Altough collaboration had to be done digitally, some were able to meet and start projects with other musicians.

Logan Werner, a high school senior, had long dabbled in music and know how to play a few instruments, though he’d never gone to far in collaborating with anyone else before when it came to music production.

At first he bought the equipment needed and attempted to create music on his own but found he wasn’t skilled enough to do everything independently.

This led him to start participating in forums dedicated to finding and collaborating with other musicans online.

“I was pretty hesitant at first because I thought it’d be too hard to collaborate with people long distance, but eventually I realized it was probably a good idea,” he said. “I tried getting together with people I went to school with but my interests were a little too niche.”

He’s since met several musicians with whom he collaborates on a regular basis with.

“Meeting them’s taught me alot about production I wouldn’t have cared about before. I wasn’t experienced enough to do it all on my own,” he said. “Now I’m able to focus on what I want to focus on and not have to worry about the aspects I don’t know anything about. It saves me alot of time and in the long run I think it’ll make th eproject a lot better than it would’ve been otherwise.”

He continues to produce music and plans on eventually releasing his work in some capacity.

The opportunities provided by boredom and isolation over the course of the past year have proven to be not completely negative when it comes to the various interests and hobbies people have decided to immerse themselves in.

With more time that was once occupied by in person classes, many have found pastimes that will occupy and inspire them long after a return to social normalcy.

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COVID-19 continues to have an impact on education

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The manner in which education has changed throughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the learning experience and the manner in which students go about receiving information from teachers and administration, and the method by which this information is relayed to them.
Without much, if any, physical presence on campus, both administration and students have had to adapt and find alternative methods to the traditional methods on information distribution.
Because of this, social media has become an increasingly important method through which the school itself can communicate and pass on information to students and the wider community.
Although Northern Essex Community College had an obvious online presence long before the pandemic, the approach the college took had to change as social media and the school’s website itself became far more important.
Both administrators and students can attest tothe changes that had to be made in order to cope with the conditions the situation necessitated,and the role digital communication played in ensuring information was passed along efficiently.
“‘I really wasn’t able to adjust because I wasn’t used to having class online at all, asking questions and communicating was way hard than I expected it to be,” said Lidiya Ryan.
Ryan had already enrolled for her first semester at NECC but soon found it to be a far more difficult format change than expected. While she expected it to be a routine change for her, she soon realized how radically different the two formats are from each other and the difficulties posed by only being able to communicate with professors in a digital format. \
“I used to like to ask a lot of questions after the class ended, and since now I could only email my professors it really wasn’t possible to do that anymore,” she said. “I don’t understand things as well when they’re explained through email.”
This led to greater difficulties completing the semester and her decision to pause taking classes until in-person learning resumed. “…I know I’ll finish, but right now I don’tthink I’d be able to finish my degree taking classes online,” she said.
Educators have also found difficulties when it comes to the online learning experience and has had to alter their teaching methods in order to better cope with students’ needs and home situations.
Valerie Wood, a fourth-grade teacher in Haverhill found the transition from in-person instruction to online instruction to be deeply disruptive to the learning experience and something  both she and her students had to overcome in order to make it through the year.
When asked how quickly she noticed a shift in the class atmosphere she said she could ‘notice the difference in her students immediately.
Absences became way more frequent and it was becoming harder to hol dtheir attention for any period of time, she said.
“I don’t blame them, they’re so many distractions at hom ethat don’t exist in a classroom,” she said. “I tried to keep lessons a little shorter than I normally would and utilized videos more than I had before.”
Although she was nervous about exposing students to social media she did create a class website with a forum feature so she could “give them an outlet to speak what’s on their mind, even if it’s in a pretty limited format.”
As time goes on and education returns to a normal format, both educators and students will be better able to judge and analyze the merits of online education and the downsides to its utilization.
While the pandemic necessitated the implementation of online education, it’s not the first time it’s been used and society will be better able to refine it and utilize it in a more impactful manner than it had been throughout the course of the pandemic.
While most are grateful for the return to normalcy, this change in education is important and will help experts analyze ways to improve education in the future
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Pandemic forced changes in social lives, interactions

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The conditions created by the Covid-19 pandemic and the isolation it necessitated has had a profound effect on the manner in which interactions take place and how people go about meeting and speaking to each other.
While in theory, social media would be a good supplement to the  lack of social interaction that took place over this period, this hasn’t necessarily been the consensus amongst all people.
Despite being the demographic most likely to use social media, young people especially have found this to not always be the case.
Speaking with them reveal sthe complex feelings they have when it comes to the benefits of social media and the impactsocial isolation has had.
Kaylee Ravell is a 20-year-old student whose experience throughout the pandemic resulted in a general disillusionment with digital communication and an increased appreciation for in-person interaction.
When asked how soon she noticed the change she described it as ‘happening pretty fast. About a month in I started to really feel crazy about the situation. I tried tostay in contact with everyone I knew from work and school but it wasn’t the same at all. My job shut down so I had nowhere to go for a while and started to feel a lot more depressed than I ever have before.”
She described her general feelings toward social media conversations; calling them “stale” and “emotionless.”
“When my work opened back up I was pretty happy to start seeing people on a daily basis again. I don’t think I’m the type of person that can go for long periods oftime without any type of interaction. In a way, it taught me how important physical communication is.”
As things slowly began to reopen she found herself with far more peace of mind and eventually felt as she’d returned to normalcy, despite the limitations still in place.
Others had a different experience, though noted the same issues within onlinec ommunication and the things it lacks and can’t provide.
“I liked it at first because I thought itwasn’t going to be much more than a break before things went back to how they were,” said Jack St-Hilaire.
St-Hilaire is a college student and also works at a grocery store when he can, so the thought of a brief reprieve from the work and in-person classes seemed like an appealing idea at first, considering most were unaware of how the pandemic was going to pan out when it started.
He found this not to be the case; “I didn’t talk to any of my friends because we couldn’t really make plans. I did way worse in my classes than I had before too because I couldn’t motivate myself at all. I like Instagram but talking to someone on it feels weird. It’s really hard to get any kind o fconversation off the ground. After a couple of days, I’d usually get bored and stop trying to kee pin touch with whoever I was talking to,” he said. “With me I have to have some type of physical outlet, i fwe’re not gonna go somewhere in person I’ll lose interest.”
Although many felt increasingly isolated on social media, some took it as an opportunity o connect with people they wouldn’t have met otherwise.
Sara Kaczmarczyk is a photographer and found it much easier to connect with others on Instagram than she had before. 
“It was ometimes lonely but I made some friends I wouldn’t have met if things were different,” she said. “I’m planning on meeting them in person soon. I never realized how many people there were around me I’d never met even though we have the same hobby. It was a good experience.”
While social conditions were different for everyone depending on temperament andsituation, the unique situation created out of necessity over the last year has been a valuable experience for many. Though not everyone viewed it as positive, it can help people reflect on theway communication is currently viewed and how that might change in the future
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Students use social media to speak up, stay informed

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In the wake of the George Floyd protests and the unrest that occurred as a result, social media became an increasingly valuable resource and played a vital role when it came to organizing and coordinating protests.

Though social media being used as a tool for political activism is nothing new this was the largest event in recent history in which it was so widely utilized for both the spread of information, and second by second updates, live from the scenes in Minnesota andother cities across the United States.

Several local march attendees and students can attest to the influence social media had on them when it came to both learning and organizing, and the unique influence social media content related to the protests had on them.

“It was really crazy, especially right after the video came out and started going around,” said student Nicholas Currie- who attended a march in Boston last year. “We were getting updated every minute on what was happening in the city, but by the time the riots started up later that night it was kinda hard to tell if everything they were saying on twitter was actually happening or not. Getting out of the city was hard because people were saying they were shuttingdown the T and people were panicking. It was a really bad situation.”

The inclusion of the chaos that ensued as a result of unclear information raises an interesting point regarding the instant, unverifiable coverage provided on social media and the consequences it can have. What once would have been vetted by a newspaper can now be published instantly.

This becomes especially concerning when turbulent situations that depend on accuratereporting are subject to false information that can lead to intense panic. What starts as a rumor can end up having a major impact on a crowd and the decisions they make in the moment toavoid a perceived threat.

Although many are aware of the downsides of social media and the potentially false information that can be spread as a result, it’s also worth noting the methods in which social media help encourage social change and help people not necessarily in the immediate area to understand current events and the context behind them.

The protests in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder were ignited by the release of the video of the murder itself.

Many people who otherwise wouldn’t have been spurred to action were moved by the spread of the video itself

Although the spread of falsehoods can be seen as a negative due to the misinformation that can be spread, it’s also important to remember the potential it has to make activism more dynamic and less reliant on planning, creating new potential for community action and thespread of otherwise obscure information.

Student Sean Bailey described the experience as “shocking, watching the people there not doing anything made me realize how important it is to be active and protest. I’d never reallybeen to any type of march before, but after that I would’ve felt guilty if I didn’t do anything; I’mreally grateful that I was able to be there in that moment because there’s nothing like it.”

Theworldwide outcry that occurred is an indicative of the power of social media and the impact media can have in the same manner articles and op-eds can.

Even those not necessarily willing or able to take to the streets admit to the influence thesocial media had on them

“I don’t really watch tv or cable news, so social media was reallyimportant when all that was going on,” said Christian Merino. ‘I’m glad I was able to just see the live footage, seeing edited versions on the news wouldn’t have made me feel as much as I did. Looking back it was really wild seeing what was happening minute by minute in the street, especially when the president started commenting on it through twitter.

Although opinions vary greatly on social media and its impact on the news cycle, it’s necessary to weigh the opinions of people actually at the scene relying on social media itself to be informed before official news organizations can provide verification.

 

 

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Pandemic spurs some to embrace economic innovations

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The past year has been greatly turbulent in all sectors, particularly so in the employment sector and the consequences they’ve had for those both looking for a job or who’ve been laid off as a result of the Coronavirus.

Many who normally would’ve performed typical wage labor were forced out of these positions as the economy suffered through the various lockdowns and restrictions put into place and instead had to resort to alternatives and nontraditional methods of work in order to better maintain themselves and their lifestyles.

While social media has traditionally been seen as a potential distraction from labor, many have instead utilized the marketplaces (and marketing opportunities) it provides and have found methods to maintain an income in the face of the devastation unemployment often brings. Some have even found it to bemore enriching than their previous careers and positions.‘

“I was disappointed at first because I thought I’d lost my only source of income, so Is tarted to look into other ways to make some money, even if it wasn’t what I’d been makingbefore,” said Jara Jimenez.

Jimenez had worked at TJ Maxx the past year and found herself at a loss when it came to what direction to go in after the store shut down as a reaction to the outbreak of Coronavirus in March of 2020.

Unable to find a job, she started looking towards the methods she’d used to shop before and began thinking it might be a way to maintain herself until the virus passed over.

“I’d shopped on Etsy for before and knew I could probably alter some of my older clothes and sell them. It took awhile but eventually it picked up,” she said.

While not the same amount as she had been making weekly at a retail store, after two months she was able to partly make up for the income lost over the course of the pandemic.

“I went back to my regular job when they opened back up, but I still sell on Etsy and think one day I might try to put more time into it,” she said. “Posting on my Instagram and facebook was enough to let people know what I was doing an dcreate some interest.”

While not necessarily life changing, the platform provided was able to helpher maintain her lifestyle through a time that otherwise would’ve been difficult.

Others who’d already dabbled in the online marketplace for a number of years found it viable to dedicate more time to their hobby in order to create a new (or larger) income source.

Sean Mccarthy has been active on online sneaker reselling websites since middle school and during the COVID pandemic found himself with more time to dedicate to it as the majorityof institutions were closed.

“Since school went online I was already at my laptop alot, so I ended up looking more into shoe prices and realized I might be able to make something off of it.”

The timing was beneficial, as he found that people were beginning to sell their collections cheaper than what’d normally be the price.

“I was able to buy about fifteen pairs and then started selling them. I didn’t make too much but it wasn’t bad at all. More work than it sounds though,” he said. “I spent alot of times on facebook groups and instagram pages linking myself to try and build up some buzz. It got tedious after awhile.”

After about six months Mccarthy stopped selling, but doesn’ tnecessarily view it as a bad income source considering the amount of work required.

“If I wasdoing it on a bigger scale I’d probably be way more willing to keep doing it. It just wasn’t worth it for the amount of money I was making,” he said.

While some have found themselves able to benefit from the conditions created by thepandemic, others have found it harder to maintain their online businesses over the past year

Greg Pearson is a luthier and guitar restorationist who’s found it increasingly difficult to do business through the economic climate of the past year.

“I’m really not surprised, I work with a lot of touring musicians and since no one’s touring right now there’s no business’,” he said. “Guitar restoration isn’t cheap, and sending a guitar to get refurbished right now isn’t possible for a lot ofpeople.”

As time goes on it’ll become more apparent what long term impact the pandemic has onthe economy and what relation social media promotion and online business fronts have to the marketplace.

 

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NECC is ‘All In” for election participation

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As Election Day etches closer and closer, students and faculty at Northern Essex Community College continue to prepare for Nov. 3, despite the general absence of classes on Campus.

Although classes are almost completely online this semester numerous events have been prepared by student and faculty organizations to in order to increase student participation in the electoral proccess and better inform them on issues that’re important within this election cycle.

NECC’s Coordinator of Civic Engagement, Service-Learning, & Community Resources Janel D’Agata-Lynch, gave some insight into what is being done to help ensure students participate in this election without the aid of on-campus resources.

She explained how exactly the college is going about this she detailed the colleges participation in the ‘ ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge’ and it’s goals.

“ The general purpose of The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is too increase student participation in the election. We work towards this by creating engagement plans and holding group sessions on campus to discuss the election and work on ways to better communicate to students how to register to vote. We also hold events virtually, which is newer this year with the pandemic,” she said.

She also explained the impact the COVID pandemic has had on the election cycle and how many events and plans had to be altered in order to continue through the numerous inconcviences caused as a result of the pandemic.

“In previous years we’ve had tables on campus for voting registration and have held forums on the candidates. We’d sometimes have primary Nacy 2 candidates visit the campus and speak to students and faculty,” she said.

Though most of these events weren’t able to take place this year, D’Agata- Lynch didn’t view the changes as wholy negative.

“In some ways it’s better because it’s easier for people to get access to events and opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise been been able to if they were all taking place in a physical medium,” she said.

D’Agata-Lynch also notes the variety of online resources being offered through the college that can help students better prepare to vote in their area.

A series of videos has also been prepared featuring students and faculty explaining the voting process and why it’s so important to participate in the election. A variety of important dates for both the Massachusetts and New Hampshire elections have also been provided.

Some students have also voiced their concerns in regards to the election cycle and the impact it might have on their local area.

When asked about the current election cycle, Paramedic Technology student Tyler Hamel gave some insight into what the typical student might be feeling right now as the election continues to create more and more tension and anxiety within the population.

“I try to stay informed and watch the news, but I really feel uneasy whenever I see anything about the election. I hated hearing all the commentary after the first debate and all the ‘best moments’ from it. It feels like people are taking this too lightly, so many people’s lives and well being are at stake right now and people are treating this like a joke,” Hamel said.

Hamel also talked about his concern regarding how the election results might impact his future and his career.

“Healthcare is really important right now and it’s really strange to see so many potential changes being talked about right now. I have no idea what my fields going to look like in the next five or ten years. It’s really something I like doing but I feel like a want some stability in my career. It’d be really devastating to go through all this training then find out it was all pointless in a few years,” he said.

This election has undoubtedly been highly emotional and induced greatly different feelings in each person it’s impacted, especially considering how many students lives may be directly effected on issues decided in the next month.

Both students and facualty are preparing the best they can even if their concerns are often so different from eachothers. Regardless of the tension, the Northern Essex Community continues to be cocerned and greatly involved in both the process and it’s outcome.