Posted by Mark LaBorde, Writer
Jason Harding, Featured Photo
2020 was chaotic from the very beginning. The Coronavirus was talked about in classrooms all over New Paltz High School. All of us were updated on the virus as it traveled across the world, but it seemed unlikely that the virus would come to America, let alone our little hometown. Musicals and concerts were being prepared all over Ulster County, friends would walk into town after school and grab a bite at Rino’s, families would take shopping trips to the mall and see dozens of people all in the same building as them, because, well, that was normal.
As March progressed, things began to change. Concerts were put on hold, and musicals were talked about being the next victims of the virus. There was talk of schools closing down for a period of time, and of the shutdown of popular attractions around the state.
“I was feeling very overwhelmed by what was going on,” said Emily Eichler, a senior at Marlboro High School. “Everyone in my school was saying how our last day was coming up, and I didn’t want to believe it.”
No one did.
On March 13th, it was announced that all schools in Ulster County were to be closed for 14 days, and that the time window would increase if necessary. It was becoming the “where were you?” moment of our generation. I was in the middle of a haircut, which I didn’t know then would be my last for the next 3 months. I asked students from all over the county how they learned of this information to see if they remembered the moment as well as I had.
“I was at McDonald’s with a friend in Newburgh getting ready to go to drama rehearsal,” Eichler said. “We went to the school because we didn’t know if rehearsal would still happen that night, but we were told to go home by the principal.” It was a very emotional moment for Eichler, in particular, because she was worried about missing out on her senior show.
“It was in the middle of Spanish, they announced it over the loudspeaker, and I had a mental breakdown in the middle of class,” said Sydney Druttman, a junior at Highland High School. “I was way too optimistic about the situation, so when I heard the news, I was devastated.”
Over the next week or so, all of our lives would dramatically change. Malls, stores that were not “essential”, and many other parts of normal life would close indefinitely. Restaurants and essential businesses would only be allowed to perform delivery and curbside pickup. “Social distancing” has become the new norm for New Yorkers.
Normal life may have been put on pause, but schools have transitioned onto an online schooling and grading system that is much different than the regular paradigm. In New Paltz, there are optional Google meetings with teachers for assistance with work, but all mandatory work is assigned through Google Classroom. If a student does a satisfactory amount of the work, they pass the class. If they do not, they fail. It’s been a difficult transition.
“I have had a hard time keeping up with my assignments because I have lost the willpower and motivation to do them,” says an anonymous student at New Paltz High School. “Every time I was getting ready to do one assignment, another one popped up, and before I knew it, it felt like I was a thousand assignments behind!”
Other schools have put similar but different systems up all over Ulster County. Highland also offers optional calls, but has made it so that as long as a student was passing all their classes before quarantine, they passed their grade. In Highland, all other work assigned during quarantine is designed to help a grade improve. Meanwhile, Marlboro is doing classes over Zoom and Google Meets, but is also doing a pass/fail grading system.
“For me, making classes pass-fail takes away the purpose of learning,” says the anonymous New Paltz student. “I feel no reason to go above and beyond or work hard because if I even do the bare minimum, I’ll get the same grade as someone who takes every single opportunity and does everything.”
Mental health is without a doubt going to be one of the hardest issues to tackle post-pandemic. According to a study done by Qualtrics, “57% say they have greater anxiety since the outbreak” and “42% report their overall mental health has declined.” It is very hard to be happy about life when you can’t see your friends and can’t do anything other than staying in your home.
“It is hard to be excited about anything after losing my senior ball, my last school musical, and my graduation,” says Alina Gorney, a senior at New Paltz High School and the female lead in the school’s spring musical, The Secret Garden. “My mental health took a huge hit when things were first being delayed, and then there was a new huge hit every time the stay-at-home order was extended.”
Watching Governor Andrew Cuomo announce the extension of the closing of schools every week was stressful for all students, so it was a bittersweet moment when he announced the school-year long closing.
Students like Alina have all felt this sense of dread and pointlessness, which could be signs of depression. Eichler is also a senior in her school district, and things aren’t going great for her either.
“I literally cry every day about everything I’ve lost due to the coronavirus,” Eichler says. “I was laying in bed when I found out the entire school year was over, and I sobbed into my pillow for hours. I felt pointless.” Many students can relate to this feeling of knowing that their lives have been put on hold due to this virus, especially the seniors who have had their final year of high school cut short.
Depression could not only be caused by the global pandemic and stay-at-home orders, it can also be caused by financial difficulties at home. Unemployment is at an all time high since The Great Depression, and all jobs created after the 2008 Recession have since vanished. During 2008, there was a 62% increased risk of depression in those affected financially by the crisis. With such uncertainty in many families’ financial futures, depression, anxiety, and stress can be expected to skyrocket.
One man, like many others, was too important to be let go. Mark LaBorde Sr., (the writer’s father) is a Semiconductor Equipment Engineering Technician at Global Foundries in Fishkill, and was considered an essential worker. LaBorde continued to perform his job at a slightly altered schedule for his safety. “My company really went above and beyond to protect us,” he said. “They’ve been disinfecting our facilities continuously, checking our temperatures at the front door, have decreased work at the facilities by half, are supplying us with masks, and other precautions that have helped us get through this safely.”
LaBorde says that “I’ve been very anxious about going into public places, and I am always worried about bringing home the virus to my wife and son. It has been a very stressful time for everyone involved.”
Then there are the new “superheroes” of our generation, the doctors and nurses fighting COVID-19 and risking their lives to help people. “When this first started, everyone kept saying ‘the economy the economy the economy!’ Well, the economy will recover, but does it really matter if you or your family dies?” says Lindsay Ricci, a registered nurse at The HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston, New York.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, we were given 1 N-95 Mask that was not specifically fitted for any of us,” she continued, “They jokingly told us that ‘one size fits all!’ when that is of course not the case.”
Although hospitals are doing everything they can, many nurses are falling ill from the virus, some nurses falling into an ill mental state rather than a medical one. “I have cried more during this pandemic than at work ever,” Ricci said about how her mental health has been during this time.
As much as it might sound like a good solution, we can’t just dive into the covers and go into hibernation during this time. We need to find things to do that make us feel happy, things that make us feel like part of a society again. As things begin to reopen, such as outdoor dining at restaurants and hair salons, people can begin to feel cautiously optimistic about the possibility of normalcy once again. There are other things that have been done by people from the very beginning of this pandemic in order to feel alive during these dark times.
I’ve been taking daily strolls around New Paltz, playing video games with friends, and working on my singing. Gorney has been calling friends and catching up on TV shows she never would’ve had time for before. Druttman plays fun video games with friends and spends time with her family she normally wouldn’t have had. Eichler has also been playing video games and calling friends in order to distract her from the problems in her life. Even Ricci can find some spare time to go down to a watering hole and pick up biking with her boyfriend.
But what is the answer? Everyone is saying this is going to be “the new normal”– Social distancing. Masks. Who knows what’s next? It’s going to be a complicated transition into resembling the old normal life for those who have been unemployed, stuck in the house, or just those who have gotten so used to the changes that they won’t know how to go back to normalcy. However, as Ricci, who saw the worst as a registered nurse who treated Covid-19 patients said, “Realistically, people need people, and we are all in this together.”
The Maroon 