As their first semester of college comes to a close, former editors-in-chief discuss life after LHS

Nov. 21, 2020

By Alex Shapiro
Editor-in-Chief

Last year, Class of 2020 graduates Alexa Barreiros and Katrina Hauser served as editors-in-chief of The Lighthouse. This year, they are embarking on new adventures as undergraduates.

Barreiros is a dance education major at Rider University in Lawrenceville. This semester, she is taking classes both remotely and in-person.

“If we didn’t have the pandemic, I would have a lot more dance rehearsals than what I have now. I’m only having studio classes until around 6 [p.m.] due to the pandemic when they would normally last until 9 [p.m.] almost every day,” Barreiros said. “It’s affecting my college experience because I’m not getting the dance training I normally would.”

Barreiros immediately got involved in extracurricular activities after arriving on campus. She plays club volleyball, is a member of the Rider Dance Ensemble and writes for her college news publication, The Rider News. She said she hopes her experiences at Rider will prepare her for her career goals of becoming an ESL teacher or teaching dance at The Next Step School of Dance in Lyndhurst, which is one of the studios where she has studied dance.

“I’ve known I wanted to be a teacher since I was young, but at college, I’ve been given so many options that I can explore with my major,” Barreiros said. “My advisor also gave me an option to add a minor in dance science, so I would be able to explore that field as well.”

Hauser is working towards a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She has not yet declared a major and has chosen not to participate in any extracurricular activities this fall.

“I’ve learned that I am the kind of person who needs structure to thrive. A big part of college, especially while doing classes from home, is accountability.”

“I looked into some extracurricular activities at the beginning of the year, but it was really hard to balance them while I was still adjusting to a college workload,” Hauser said. “I decided to pull out of those for a while until I could regain my footing and stabilize my grades. I feel a bit more on top of things now.”

Hauser is taking all her classes remotely while she continues to live with her family in Lyndhurst. She said even though she is not studying on campus, adjusting to college life has been challenging.

“I’ve learned that I am the kind of person who needs structure to thrive. A big part of college, especially while doing classes from home, is accountability,” Hauser said. “It’s sometimes really hard for me to manage my time or find the motivation to go to classes where attendance isn’t mandatory. Recently, I’ve been making a lot of daily to-do lists and building a schedule for myself that allows me to have a good balance of free time and working time.”

While Hauser is not currently contributing to her university’s newspaper, she said she would consider doing so in the future. She said she misses being on a newspaper staff and wants to start writing again.

“There are so many things I learned from being a part of The Lighthouse that it’s hard to even pinpoint the most influential ones. One of them was definitely cooperation, as Alexa [Barreiros] and I were in constant contact discussing layout and other important things,” Hauser said. “It was such a fulfilling experience to help the newspaper come together last year, even after we moved it online during quarantine.”

Like Hauser, Barreiros said it has been a period of adjustment adapting to college.

“Since I am living away from home, I had to get used to living alone,” Barreiros said. “I didn’t have any help from my parents. I had to figure that out for myself, which was interesting to say the least.”

Barreiros said the aspect of LHS she misses most is the connection she had with her teachers.

“Now I have to learn to make similar relationships with my professors through a computer screen,” Barreiros said.

She said her time at The Lighthouse taught her important lessons that she will use as she moves forward in her life. Barreiros said she is also trying to take away life lessons from her experiences at Rider.

“Don’t be afraid to talk to the people you see on a daily basis because you will learn the most from talking to different people,” Barreiros said. “My best advice would be to remain confident and try to put yourself out there. I’m happy to have made so many friends since being at college, and I know they will last a lifetime.”