We decided to profile some HHS students that are working/had worked during the pandemic to figure out what it has been like! Balancing school and work is already difficult when not in a global health crisis, and so we honor those of you who are currently in the job force amidst COVID-19. If you are working and would like to be profiled, please reach out to us at [email protected] or [email protected] – thanks!

Cayla Ossen-Gutnick — 12th 

What was your job this summer?

I work at Harvest on Hudson and have been working there since May of my sophomore year.

What was the driving motivation to work during the pandemic?

I’d been working at Harvest during the school year before COVID started to affect things, so I basically just went back to work when the restaurant reopened. Aside from that though, I’d say my driving motivation is saving up for a potential gap year trip after high school.

How has the pandemic affected your job?

Harvest closed for a couple months when things were really bad in NY, so I of course, didn’t get scheduled for any shifts during that time. However, Harvest did start doing delivery, so some people stayed to help with that. 

What advice would you give to students trying to work right now?

I don’t really know if I have any important advice for anyone working right now, but one thing I can definitely say is please wear your masks and keep your hands clean! Especially if you work in the food service industry, it puts a lot of minds at ease if customers see you using a lot of hand sanitizer. 

Leib Bendersky — 12th 

What was your job this summer?

I was a lifeguard at Chemka pool. 

What was the driving motivation to work during the pandemic?

I wanted to make some money and capital to help me with my personal business. 

How has the pandemic affected your job?

The main ways it affected it were that we had to wear a mask at all times, except when we were in our chairs. Furthemore, we also had shorter hours, 5.5 hours instead of the usual 8 hours a day.

What advice would you give to students trying to work right now?

I would just say everyone should try and stay as safe as possible. Make sure to wear a mask and keep your distance from people, but keep working if you feel safe.

Atomu Hicks — 12th 

What was your job this summer?

I worked at a social service center in Williamsburg in Brooklyn and we helped bag and distribute groceries and other types of necessities to churches, other food stations, as well as grow our own vegetables and herbs from the building garden, and we would distribute those as well. That was one thing that I did. Another thing that I did was signed for an Overwatch team on console and I started off in the third highest tier and basically what that means is I was signed to a team and our goal was to figure out who we are and try and get better together and we would enter in leagues and and try and participate to be the best in te league so we would have lots of practice and ‘scrimming’ – that’s what they would call it – against other teams, and sometimes pick-up games within our team. There’s a lot of planning involved; we have to plan scrims against other teams; you have to create strategies, you have to figure out how to prevent your team from internally blowing up, controlling all of these personalities. I got promoted to a captain on one of the teams, so with that I had to really take the head of like all this communication and signing my team up for leagues, finding scheduling games, making sure my team is practiced, and trying to keep a good environment and be the leader. Mostly I was a player, but I am normally the most vocal player on the team so I coached for a couple of weeks, but that was more of an interim position. My team can rely on me to adjust our strategy during the game. I can adjust better than most people in the Overwatch community, and my team has to rely on me for that. 

What was the driving motivation to work during the pandemic?

I’m borderline on the higher tiers (where you can make money from playing Overwatch), I’m definitely getting there. I’m having a lot of fun though in my tier because my team has been rolling recently. I just want to ride that out. I just want to be able to compete and take my game to the next level and see what I’m capable of as a player as well as naturally and it’s also just fun to be part of a community that everyone knows each other, they know what everyone’s about and what they’re good at and bad at; there’s a lot of jokes and a lot of drama, it’s just a fun thing. The interesting thing about my internship is that most of the people that work there are adults, and I was interested in seeing what it was like to be a part of a very mature environemnt as well as help out the community and feel that needed. Teamwork skills which also translate to my skills as the captain.

How has the pandemic affected your job?

I think for the jobs I did over the summer they are definitely more of a result of a pandemic instead of a victim of the pandemic, because obviously in the pandemic it’s much more important to get food to people who need it because they might not be able to go outside and are scared of getting infected and whatnot. With my Overwatch career, that was also a result of the pandemic because everyone is at home, so I had time and I thought “I might as well try this out.

What advice would you give to students trying to work right now?

I guess I would say to try your best to know who you are and try your best to know what your strengths are and what your situation is and use your strengths to yours advantage and build up skills that are viable and useful in the long term if things aren’t going well right now.