VANESSA MENDEZ
reporter
Students working retail have faced unique obstacles this year when trying to ensure that their assignments get turned in on time while also working a full-time job.
Students working in retail during COV new challenges as they work during a pandemic and take online classes.
For NE student Ashlyn Lafleur, being an essential retail worker during COVID-19 has been hectic.
Lafleur has had to help frustrated cus- tomers who are shopping for essential sup- plies while learning how to stay safe at work.
“It is definitely crazy to work during COVID-19,” she said, “especially with items being ripped off shelves and having to deal with frustrated people not having toilet paper.”
Being a student worker was already dif- ficult for Lafleur. The pandemic has made this even harder.
“Working in general while taking classes is hard,” she said, “Now with the pandemic going on, I’ve had to move things around and learn new things such as being more orga- nized and staying safe while at work.”
NE student Brianna Holguin was so af- fected working in retail that she had to take some time off of work for her mental health.
“Working retail during a pandemic is extremely tough,” she said. “It was so bad at one point that I had to leave for about a month because I was getting bad anxiety.”
It got so bad that her job started affecting other aspects of her life.
“Working countless hours, especially at Target, has affected my social life and educa- tion,” she said.
Holguin is more of a hands-on learner and with the stress of work affecting her edu- cation, online classes were a hard transition for her.
“It is hard taking classes online,” she said. “I’m more of a visual and in-person learner. I took online classes solely because it was the only option I had.”
For NE student Austin Williams, work- ing during this time has been extra tiring. The added precautions that COVID-19 brought with it proved to be difficult for him.
“The thing that was the most tough for me was having to deal with wearing face- masks for 7-8 hours a day along with coming home extra tired and having to get used to online classes,” he said.
Being students and retail workers has affected Lafleur, Holguin and Williams, but they are all grateful they could keep their jobs while others had lost theirs.
“I hope things get back to normal, but until then I am very grateful to have a job till especially during COVID,” Holguin said.
