Note: This is part of an ongoing series.

As we continue to move on day by day throughout this pandemic, many have started to wonder, “When will this end?” That couldn’t be more prevalent, than within our seniors. Memories that can never be regained. Prom, field trips, and induction ceremonies, all gone in the blink of an eye, creating immense amounts of free time to spend with family or on new hobbies, or one would think.

Here at The High Post, we contacted five senior workers who have worked during the pandemic with the same 15 questions. Each student will have their own separate article. Questions range from personal life to job life. As always, thank you to all essential workers. We couldn’t do it without you.

Senior: Nikki Fritz

Q: Where is your place of employment?

Nikki: Giant Eagle.

Q: What is your job title, and what does it entail?

N: I’m a personal shopper. I gather and assemble the orders people put in online.

Q: How long have you worked there?

N: I have worked here for a little over a month now.

Q: What do you like and dislike about your job?

N: I really like the atmosphere we work in, my coworkers are all really nice and I even made some new friends. There’s not much that I dislike, but rude people aren’t the greatest.

Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your workplace?

N: COVID-19 really did have a big effect on Giant Eagle. While less people came in to actually shop, curbside went from their regular 10-15 people to about 90 a day in the span of a couple weeks. That’s when I applied and was given the job immediately because they needed a lot of help.

Q: How has the transition to online classes affected you?

N: Online classes have been really tough for me. I definitely do better in a classroom scenario. I just learn and work better that way. It also definitely began to take a mental toll on me as well, just waking up and repeating the days. Not seeing any of my friends or teachers didn’t make it any better, but once I got a job, I began to get happier again and was able to focus more on school.

Q: Do you have more free time than you did before? If so, what are you doing for fun?

N: At first I did have a lot of free time, and I spent most of it doing puzzles, playing animal crossing, and just talking and keeping in touch with my friends.

Q: Did you have to get a different job due to the pandemic?

N: I did get a job only because I needed to get out of the house, and I thought I might as well make some money doing it. I wouldn’t exactly say my job is difficult, but it does get really stressful sometimes.

Q: Are you getting more or less hours?

N: Since I’ve started working, I have been getting 40 hours most weeks. Now with the pandemic slowing down and people starting to come out more, my hours have gone down a bit, but I still get around 30-40 hours a week.

Q: How do you feel that the pandemic has prepared you for the future?

N: In the future, I feel I won’t be as panicked or scared, and that we will be more prepared if it were to hit again. It’s taught me not to take the little things for granted, such as school, our band trip, prom, and all of that. I also will be more prepared for school. If we were to go online for college, I would be ready to get a personal schedule together to keep me in check.

Q: Has COVID-19 affected any of your friendships/relationships?

N: For the most part it hasn’t affected anything too bad. The company my dad works for did close and he is out of a job, but we are getting through it. My mom works at the hospital, so it was stressful at first with her being around people with COVID-19 and not knowing if she was going to catch it or not, but we soon felt a little more at ease when we saw the safety precautions the hospital was taking

Q: Have you been required to get tested for COVID-19 by your employer?

N: No we haven’t been required to take a test, but for a while we did have to get temperature checks just make sure we were good before we started our shift everyday.

Q: Do you know/work with anyone who had COVID-19? If so, did it affect your relationship with them in any way?

N: There were some people I knew who got it and thankfully was okay throughout it, but it didn’t really affect our relationship seeing as I wasn’t that close with them. I’m just glad it wasn’t very severe with them.

Q: What’s one word of advice you have for future seniors?

N: Just enjoy your senior year and high school experience, you never know what’s gonna happen. Don’t take a single day for granted. Just have fun. It’s your senior year and it should be your best year, so remember it by having fun moments and enjoying your time with friends.

Q: Pineapple on pizza?

N: No. Absolutely NOT.