Alexander Epps

“I’ve seen how much I really need human interaction. I definitely learned that focusing on school is way more important than being social at school. [COVID-19] kind of changed if I would like to continue playing football for the rest of my high school career.”

Before COVID-19, freshman Alexander Epps saw high school as a movie: playing at football games, dances and spending time with friends. While Epps is still involved in football, he says his experience during COVID-19 is different than he imagined, and that he considers not continuing to play in the future. He plans on getting a job after sophomore year and focusing more on academics.

Stella Jung

“I want to pursue gender studies … it was really interesting to see how we have a lot less females in power in terms of government and politics. [Quarantine] has given me a lot of time to think about what I want to do and self reflect, especially because we’re able to … see what else is going on in our world. It has fueled that activist part of me.”

This past summer, junior Stella Jung was supposed to attend a women-in-leadership program at Brown University; however, it was cancelled due to safety concerns regarding COVID-19. While she will continue to explore different career options in the future, the quarantine ultimately enabled her to further her passion for gender studies and activism.

Rachel Abalos

“Because of COVID and all the social changes, I found that there is something deeper in medical research and … how different groups of people are affected. I saw a more human aspect.”

With a passion for both humanities and science, senior Rachel Abalos contributed to two impactful projects during quarantine. She founded “A Human Face” podcast, where she talks about topics from racism to climate change. Abalos also co-wrote a research paper on the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 on marginalized groups in society. The virus caused her to change her college route from biochemistry to epidemiology — the study of health-related events in different populations.