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A Student's Perspective on Life During the Pandemic

By Nitin Manian, Carnegie Vanguard High School, School Buzz Editor | November 16, 2020

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During the time of COVID-19, the world seems strained.

Our country is going through a socioeconomic change due to COVID-19. In a world plagued by a pandemic, students globally struggle with maintaining a work-life balance. Students may find it difficult managing their own jobs and commitments with their education and schoolwork.

Many high school students have a job while in school. Recently, I interviewed one of my fellow classmates (who we'll keep anonymous here) who juggles school and a job. He hinted at the struggles many high schoolers in the United States are having.

He wishes to proceed with his best foot forward into his junior year, but he must also commit nearly 6-7 hours of work each day to help his family's finances. In addition, he emphasized that he does not have much time to himself and that he is frustrated due to the lack of current employment choices. He is currently looking for a job around Houston, but his issue with a school to job balance is an issue encroaching on many American families today.

The aid some families in a situation like this have received is an economic compensation due to the new CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) passed by bipartisan support from Congress and enacted into law by President Trump. This act essentially states that workers, who have been laid-off, usually ineligible for unemployment compensation will receive financial aid and financial benefits. But is this enough even to deter the economic collapse seen in America?

Studies done by the Brookings Institute in New York, state that the coronavirus, due to its severity, suggest in the future we will see greater unemployment, even with the CARES Act, and an inevitable economic recession. This will be a catastrophe and a burden for students trying to attain a certain economic stability.

Regardless, America is built on perseverance, and although this economic downfall seems imminent in the face of COVID-19, students like the classmate I interviewed will go to show that their families, the economy, and our national identity will live to see another day.