Page 10 - North Star Magazine 2022

at lower capacity”.It is nice to know that other families relate to my own experience in one way or another. According to theBMJ:
During the first wave of the pandemic, overstretched healthcare systems left health workers in hard hit countries struggling with long working hours, fatigue, and extreme psychological stress. Rapidly vanishing supplies, national lockdowns, and a feeding frenzy on the open market for personal protective equipment (PPE) led to shortages. Healthcare workers often
had to care for patients with suspected or confirmed covid-19 infection without proper training or adequate PPE. This contributed to an increased risk to healthcare workers during the initial phase of the pandemic.
My father risked his life in order to help end the pandemic. It
has cost many things in our family, family dinners being the least concerned. Even though it didn’t seem to affect the rest of my family much, it pained me knowing that while I eat my dinner every night, my dad has to be excluded from us in order to protect us. No matter what circumstances we face, my parents will stop at nothing to protect us and give us a better life.
Staten Island is best described as a blue collar, working force. Staten Island is my subculture and a place where people know how to get things done. It is not filled with lazy people; instead it’s filled with those who will stop at nothing in order to give themselves and their family the life they deserve. The people of Staten Island are traditional; there’s Sunday Sauce at relatives and friends’ houses, church is attended by the majority every Sunday. Staten Island is very politically diverse but mainly leaning right, unlike the rest of New York. What I truly love about my home is that no matter what you believe and stand for, everyone respects you equally. All of this is what makes Staten Island such a supportive community. Staten Island has a mix of many different people, for example, there are areas where wealthier people live and rarely have any crime, and then there’s areas where crime and poverty plays a major role in some lives. Although there are many different types of people, who have very different political opinions, the one thing in common everyone has: No matter what they are all hardworking and willing