Observer Department: Features

You are you, not your diagnosis

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Joseph, Joey, Stewart, 17, was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 11, after having his first seizure on Mother’s Day, 2012. Now, he is about to start college a year early to pursue his dream of becoming a history teacher. He overcame many obstacles throughout his high school career…

Profile: Jillian Knox of Northern Essex Community College

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Helping others has always been a cause that Northern Essex Community College Disability Services Specialist, Jillian Knox, has deeply valued from a young age, as well as throughout her career working with special needs students in various situations and settings to help them achieve their goals and overcome obstacles. Knox,…

UMass Lowell students share tips on managing stress from online classes

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As we mark the one year anniversary of the lock down, and the switch from in-person attendance to online, college students are getting used to the process of everyday self management of an (overly) full online work load. Some students I've talked to feel that, after a full year of…

A NECC graduate 16 years later

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It's that time of the year, mid semester, so some NECC students are looking at four-year colleges, meanwhile other NECC students are getting ready to graduate and moving on to work. Stacy Romasco, 38, of Salem, N.H.,  a Respiratory Therapist and a Northern Essex alumnus, recently shared some of her…

Negative body image leads to low self esteem

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Self-esteem has a big impact on your mental health. Body image can also affect your mental health. Body image is how you think and feel about your body. Having a negative body image can cause low self-esteem which can harm your mental health. Society wants everybody in the world to…

A year in a pandemic: How it has affected those with chronic illness.

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It has been year since the World Health Organization declared SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19/The Coronavirus, a global pandemic. Since then, more than 118 million people have been infected worldwide, and 2.7 million have died. One of the groups of people that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, whether because of a COVID-19…

A police department’s role within local government

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When you think of the functions and inner workings of a local government, you may not think of how the police department might be involved within that system. To discuss exactly how the police operate, Deputy Chief of Police in Amesbury Craig Bailey, speaks about how a police department functions…

A taste of maple sugaring

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As we draw into mud season, the dreary stretch between early March and April, the grass finally becomes visible through the melting snow, trees start to bud, and slush and mud rule the Earth, most farmers in Massachusetts have one thing on their mind; Maple syrup. Maple sugaring, also known as…

COVID-19 one year later: An oral history

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In March 2020 the world stood still when a pandemic ended everyday life. It started as a virus with its origins unknown that started in the city of Wuhan in the heart of the People’s Republic of China. After that it went global with the first cases popping out of…

Trying not to burst: Relationships inside the bubble

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Sometimes ‘okay’ is the best we got. And for surviving 2020, ‘okay’ is pretty good. As we come upon the one-year mark of quarantine, Americans couldn’t be more eager to head out and get back our personal space -- especially with the increasing rollout of vaccinations. For better and worse,…