Damianlee Torres weaves the needle through the skin, pulling his tweezers a little tighter as he slides the first stitch into his patient — a silicon arm.
His dad, a tattoo artist, uses the fake limb to sketch out new designs. Now, Torres uses it to cut open a wound and stitch it back together.
"The Pound of Flesh,” as it’s called in the ink industry, doesn’t bleed silicon, but it serves its purpose.
Torres, a 16-year-old junior at West Orange High School, wants to be a veterinarian. He’s practicing how to suture a wound. It’s nothing like what he was supposed to do this summer, but it’s enough to keep his mind busy between virtual classes.
Like thousands of other high school and college students across the state, Torres is scrambling to reschedule his summer plans as the coronavirus threatens the prestigious study abroad program in Costa Rica he planned to attend.
“It’s very disappointing, and I feel a little lost,” Torres told NJ Advance Media on Monday. “I just didn’t want to wait until senior year to find out if this is truly what I wanted to do. It’s not the way to go at all."
There are thousands of New Jersey high school and college students who rely on summer jobs to further their career prospects, pay for rising tuition or earn money to help support their families.
They’re lifeguards, waiters and camp counselors. They work in movie theaters, ice cream shops and run the rides and games on Jersey Shore boardwalks. And like Torres, they count on internships or study programs geared toward their future professions.
The coronavirus has jeopardized all of those opportunities as the pandemic continues to suffocate the economy.
Nearly 40% of national unemployment claims in April came from hospitality workers, according to data collected by Statistica. That percentage is nearly twice as large as the next highest sector.
In New Jersey, more than a million residents — many from the service industry — have filed for unemployment benefits.
With that sector hit particularly hard, labor experts and economists fear teenagers will be severely impacted as part-time work and summer jobs continue to disappear.
“We cannot marginalize young people who need this employment," said Rutgers professor Yana Rodgers, faculty director for the school’s Center for Women and Work. “There’s this assumption that all teenagers are entitled, they’re all well-supported and can just lounge around if they want to. That’s just not the case."
Torres never wanted to lounge around.
One of the highlights of his study abroad program included a day at a sloth sanctuary. But he was most excited about working in a Costa Rican animal hospital and watching industry leaders operate on a wide array of indigenous animals.
It wasn’t just a summer job. Torres saw it as a way to solidify what his future career might be. He still holds out hope organizers can find a way to make it happen.
As an honor roll student and captain of his school’s wrestling team, Torres has always dreamed of being a vet. It’s a goal he’s kept written on a whiteboard in his room for more than a decade. He thought watching doctors in an operating room would firmly cement his passion for helping animals.
Now, Torres finds himself in “a weird predicament," he said.
While he still has plenty of time to figure out what his future may hold, others may not be so lucky.
A summer job in the sun
Will Perry knows a little bit about wildlife, too.
The 19-year-old man from Little Silver graduated from the Marine Academy of Science and Technology, a high school in the Sandy Hook section of Middletown. Although he’s studying economics as a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, he relies on his marine biology background for summer work.
He’s spent the past two summers working at Sandy Hook Kayaks, which provides rentals for beachgoers in northern Monmouth County.
Originally, Perry wanted to spend his summer working as a bartender. He got his license over the winter, but decided landing a job now would be nearly impossible if and when bars reopen at the Jersey Shore.
Instead, he’ll be back at the kayak stand, working alongside a staff of about 12 other college students. Most of the time, he and his co-workers are hauling the kayaks and paddleboards to the water — a job that Perry says is not as easy as it sounds — but most of the work feels like something out of a movie.
“It’s the perfect summer job," said Perry, who plans on using his earnings to pay for a summer class or traveling when life gets back to normal. "It gives me all of the benefits of being a lifeguard without having to be a really good swimmer.”
Kevin Murray, who owns the kayak business, said he expects to open in early June with extra precautions in place to sanitize the kayaks, paddles and life jackets.
Last week, Gov. Phil Murphy said “optimism is high” that beaches will open with restrictions for Memorial Day weekend. That’s why Murray says kayaking and paddleboarding, two activities perfect for social distancing, should be open, too.
The entrances to Jenkinson's Boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach are blocked off amid concerns the boardwalk was too narrow to safely practice social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Seasonal Jersey Shore businesses like Murray’s are hiring for the summer, but face plenty of uncertainty.
In a normal summer, Jenkinson’s Boardwalk employs 1,200 workers to operate its rides, arcades, restaurants, gift shops, aquarium and other amusements in Point Pleasant Beach and Seaside Heights.
Most would be high school or college students.
Toby Wolf, Jenkinson’s marketing director, said the company is actively searching for new hires and urged jobseekers to fill out an online application. While some roles may be redirected if they can’t open, Wolf said new roles could be created to protect customers, such as adding extra janitorial jobs or security guards to enforce social distancing.
“If we can somehow have all of our attractions be open, we may be looking for more employees than we’ve ever had,” Wolf said. “If certain departments can’t open, that could create fewer jobs, but there are so many uncertainties that we’re just trying to prepare for as many different scenarios as we can foresee."
The most precarious
At this point, nobody knows what the summer will look like in New Jersey.
But there’s no doubt some part-time work and seasonal jobs for students will be lost.
How many? That depends on how quickly the state can reopen without jeopardizing the health of its residents — the biggest challenge Murphy and his administration face in the days ahead.
Still, Rodgers, the Rutgers professor, said she agrees with Murphy’s stance that public health creates economic health, even with the economy struggling.
Students could be eligible for unemployment benefits even if they were working minimal hours as a part-time employee, according to Rodgers. She also urged college students to check their financial aid packages, because schools were required to give half of the aid they received from the CARES Act back to their students — a potential pool of about $14 billion nationally.
Rodgers said she’s fearful about job loss across the state, but especially in pockets of New Jersey crippled by poverty.
These are the part-time workers who need income the most. They are the ones who find themselves in “precarious situations” — young workers and students who come from low-income homes, find themselves in abusive situations or are taking care of sick family members, Rodgers said.
“I would urge policymakers to think very closely about social security and social support policies for students in these types of situations,” she said.
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Patrick Lanni may be reached at planni@njadvancemedia.com.