By Sharlene Hernandez

We have all seen the hard times and hard choices being made by the government officials and individuals. During this crisis, the state of New Jersey has made some very uneasy decisions, in my eyes.

First off, New Jersey is one of the states with the most cases in the nation, second only to New York, since we are so close to New York which has the highest number of cases. Knowing that, you would expect people to actually stay inside and quarantine themselves to stay safe. Well, that was not the case in the beginning of all of this.

Many people started acting out, raiding all stores of important supplies. I would see people actually get together in very big groups to party. It was just ridiculous what was going on. Soon time passed and passed, and the same things were going on.

Now people are being more cautious, but you know we still have those people who are not following the rules. That is just how the people are reacting from personal observation. Now everyone has seen that this is serious and are taking this more seriously. However, there is more.

A lot of people are dying every day. Kids are being orphaned, parents are losing kids, people are losing friends and loved ones. This is definitely not an easy time for anyone. Elderly people are at risk by being around other people because they are the most affected.

When people cannot go out and cannot do anything the economy gets hurt. So, the economy is hard, not everyone is wealthy some people are still waiting on unemployment to get money to live and pay bills. Others have no source of income at all and many have kids they need to support. You might not see all of this but the tension and the fear is very much there. It feels like it is literally in the air just spreading and spreading because in reality people are scared for themselves and the ones they care about. New Jersey is in panic right now. Whether it’s losing your mind from staying inside so much, or running around like crazy on supplies, or going to work and putting yourself at risk.

Rough times like this are what brings people together to help one another. There are many families that are struggling that are being helped by people in the economy. Seeing this makes everything a little bit better. Things are still not great but lending a hand and helping those in need is a beautiful thing to do. New Jersey has shown an incredible amount of helping each other out and giving away money to help those in need. This is something I hope everyone takes a deep understanding too.

Acts of kindness shouldn’t appear only when you feel like it’s forced. Whenever you get an opportunity to perform an act of kindness, go for it. Tough times bring out the bad in people, but it also brings out the good.

Overall, I believe the state of New Jersey and the economy within it is trying their best to make the best out of this situation in a cautious way. There are many flaws to how people have been responding to this crisis but there is always a bright side. The amount of positivity and help being spread is amazing. I will even try myself to do something to help another person in need. New Jersey is just one state of the United States. I can imagine how other states are doing but New Jersey is special and one of a kind.

I believe this state will overcome this in our own way and make smart choices off of this. I know all the seniors in New Jersey are very bummed out right now because I know I am. I know we deserved what the rest of our senior year had to offer but different things decided to happen. We can’t control anything that is happening in the world right now, but we can try to make the best out of it and reach to become our best possible self during these times. In the future, let everyone know that it was the selfless acts of sacrifice of the Class of 2020 that helped make the most out of this bad situation.