Text
April 22nd, 2020
Dear Whomever this may concern,
Hi, my name is Christian Ormsby, a freshman here at Springfield College, class of 2023. In the
Spring Semester of my current year, 2020, as we were going on spring break, the COVID-19
crisis started to pick up way heavier than it did before. Current President Mary Beth Cooper
announced to all students Wednesday, March 11th that we would be having an extended spring
break due to the circumstances of the pandemic. In the announcement, if there would be further
action taken on this pandemic (like closing), she would send out an email during spring break to
inform students and faculty as so.
On the last day of campus, March 13th, everyone on campus had a feeling that we were
going to shut down for the semester. Packing to go home was a very sad experience, but also
very concerning and confusing one. As students, we were unaware if we were coming back or
not, so there was an underlying question as to how much stuff to bring back to our house and
what we should leave back in the dorm room.
Eventually leaving, we later found out spring break week that we would be moving
virtually/online permanently for the rest of the spring semester. As teachers started to prepare for
online learning, I was preparing to restart a previous job at the Shoprite of Croton, located in
Croton-On-Hudson, New York. Now, this is Westchester county which is a hotbed for COVID19.
The experience of online schooling, work and caring for my family, specifically mom is
definitely a fascinating one. First, seeing how grocery stores have changed during this time is
crazy. There are lines mostly everyday to enter the store that are long, limiting the amount of
people in and out. Workers direct you as to what register to go to in order to check out your
groceries, as well as coupons, customer service and returns being postponed. Direction flow for
the aisles in the store is located on the floor, directing customers the correct way to go (although
no one listens to it). As classes switched online, only one class requires weekly meetings while
the others either don’t meet online, or meeting online is optional. All work is submitted by a
deadline, however in circumstances teachers will give extensions. This was seen first hand by me
as well, as my mother was being tested for the virus for about a week. She had shortness of
breath one day, went to urgent care and they tested her. As she was being what we call during
this time “quarantined”, I was taking care of her, getting the groceries, going to the bank and
much more. Luckily the test results for COVID-19 came out negative, however still to be safe I
remain taking care of her. School, work, and taking care of my mom gives me a great balance
during this time. Honestly, without work, school and taking care of family, I would be sitting
around doing nothing all day, which pains me to say. This experience is very benefical and has
opened my eyes to alot more of the world around me. Your average workers, such as grocery
store workers or retail workers are now way more appreciated than they have been before.
Dear Whomever this may concern,
Hi, my name is Christian Ormsby, a freshman here at Springfield College, class of 2023. In the
Spring Semester of my current year, 2020, as we were going on spring break, the COVID-19
crisis started to pick up way heavier than it did before. Current President Mary Beth Cooper
announced to all students Wednesday, March 11th that we would be having an extended spring
break due to the circumstances of the pandemic. In the announcement, if there would be further
action taken on this pandemic (like closing), she would send out an email during spring break to
inform students and faculty as so.
On the last day of campus, March 13th, everyone on campus had a feeling that we were
going to shut down for the semester. Packing to go home was a very sad experience, but also
very concerning and confusing one. As students, we were unaware if we were coming back or
not, so there was an underlying question as to how much stuff to bring back to our house and
what we should leave back in the dorm room.
Eventually leaving, we later found out spring break week that we would be moving
virtually/online permanently for the rest of the spring semester. As teachers started to prepare for
online learning, I was preparing to restart a previous job at the Shoprite of Croton, located in
Croton-On-Hudson, New York. Now, this is Westchester county which is a hotbed for COVID19.
The experience of online schooling, work and caring for my family, specifically mom is
definitely a fascinating one. First, seeing how grocery stores have changed during this time is
crazy. There are lines mostly everyday to enter the store that are long, limiting the amount of
people in and out. Workers direct you as to what register to go to in order to check out your
groceries, as well as coupons, customer service and returns being postponed. Direction flow for
the aisles in the store is located on the floor, directing customers the correct way to go (although
no one listens to it). As classes switched online, only one class requires weekly meetings while
the others either don’t meet online, or meeting online is optional. All work is submitted by a
deadline, however in circumstances teachers will give extensions. This was seen first hand by me
as well, as my mother was being tested for the virus for about a week. She had shortness of
breath one day, went to urgent care and they tested her. As she was being what we call during
this time “quarantined”, I was taking care of her, getting the groceries, going to the bank and
much more. Luckily the test results for COVID-19 came out negative, however still to be safe I
remain taking care of her. School, work, and taking care of my mom gives me a great balance
during this time. Honestly, without work, school and taking care of family, I would be sitting
around doing nothing all day, which pains me to say. This experience is very benefical and has
opened my eyes to alot more of the world around me. Your average workers, such as grocery
store workers or retail workers are now way more appreciated than they have been before.