“It’s something that I never want to go through ever again.”

Mark Cole, 22, is a student at UW-Milwaukee. His major is business, and he will graduate in spring. When the pandemic started, he was not looking for a job. That decision quickly changed.

Q- Jamous Powell: What is your current job and what is it like working during the pandemic?

A- Mark Cole: I currently work at FedEx as a delivery driver. I would say overall my job isn’t that bad. It’s just hard to try to work and do school at the same time. I’ve been looking for other jobs, but I don’t have a problem staying here for the time being.

Working during the pandemic feels like working any other job for me. I’m always by myself when I’m on the clock. So, I usually don’t run into people.

Q: While working for FedEx, what was the worst thing you experienced so far?

A: I’ve had one encounter that left me shocked. One time, I delivered a package to this house that was in the woods. Once I handed the package to the owner of the house, he told me to never come back again. I had no idea how to react to that, I just ran back to my delivery truck.

Q: What is one thing you can take away from the pandemic and how did it change the way you do things?

A: The pandemic helped me appreciate life more and showed me how unexpected it can be. Just looking back, in March of 2020 everything was going fine. Then, everything gets locked down and people are scrambling all over the place. It was probably the craziest experience of my lifetime. It’s something that I never want to go through ever again.