By Tamia McCoy
Freshman, Pre-Engineering, IUPUI
My name is Tamia McCoy. I am a freshman studying Mechanical Engineering Technology at IUPUI. Just like a lot of us, I work to pay for school. I work at the Indianapolis Downtown Marriot at Starbucks as a barista. On March 16, 2020, my boss told me that it was the last day we could come back because of COVID-19. It came to me as a shock that we were not working anymore. I have been working there almost a year and to top it off I was on leave without pay. I ended up filing for unemployment because I was not sure how I was going to find a job with everything going on.
I also decided I was going to find an essential job to work temporarily. I must pay rent still, so I got to the point of having to use my savings to pay rent for April because what else am I supposed to do? I must buy food and take care of my pet; I have a cat which involves me buying cat food, cat litter, and occasionally toys because she is growing up and teething on things. So the same things I always had to do. Money was going down fast.
I live very close to downtown, so when I looked for a job I searched where it was close. I saw job openings for Kroger, Family Dollar, Wholefoods, Allied Universal, CVS, and I applied for all of them. I tried to call some of these places; some places told me they were full, and some did not answer.
One week goes by. I had just read the email from IUPUI Division of Student Affairs announcing that Spring Break was extended for another week. I am starting to feel down and lonely, but there is no one around to even talk to; I live with roommates, but I barely talk to them because we hardly knew each other when I moved in. I have never been used to being by myself so much.
Week two rolls around and I make a call to the downtown Kroger. I got an answer and an interview on the first day of online classes. I was happy; I had found some means of income. I will not have to stress about not having money when the time comes. I look forward to having a job and being able to work.
Having an essential job and going to school even though classes are online was not easy. The constant worry if I am going to catch COVID-19 because I must live was with me every day. Lots of places, including my job, were taking measures like wearing masks during the shifts, wearing gloves, doing a deep clean, and sanitizing every night. There’s also a screen in front of the register and where we give drinks so we can minimize germ spread. Most of the masks and sanitizing did not get enforced until two associates at the Kroger got COVID-19. They have since provided masks and hand sanitizer for us.
That is enough about me.
For the students who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 you can file for unemployment on this site. It is a process; they ask you how and when you lost you job and you must fill out a voucher every Sunday in order to get paid weekly. It starts paying you after the third week though, so you will have to be patient. You are eligible if your job has laid you off due to COVID-19, if you do get COVID-19 and you must leave work to be quarantined, or if your job does not give sick leave. Lastly, even if your hours are reduced and you are still employed you may be eligible for unemployment.
There are lots of places currently hiring like Amazon, Kroger, Meijer CVS, Dollar General, Papa Johns, Walmart, Allied Universal, and Pizza Hut. I found this in the this link.
I asked around on the “IUPUI Class of 2023” Facebook page to see how other college students who lost their jobs are dealing with things, and how and where were they finding jobs. Logan said he was worrying about having no money. He found a job at Securitas, which is a security services company, and he was hearing about jobs by the word of mouth. Mica said he was not able to pay rent for April. He stated that he was having breakdowns sometimes while thinking about money and luckily he found a new job at Kroger. Grace said she was worrying about paying her student loans, even though they have suspended payments for now, it was still something to think about. She is doing surveys for pay to make ends meet.
COVID-19 has changed a lot of things for us in a few short months. Hopefully very soon my life and everyone’s life can feel normal again. Hopefully, we can get our original jobs back and schools will go back to being in person.
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