In those first pandemic months of 2020, when just about everyone was wandering around in a state of discombobulation, Ehren Schwarz was hitting his stride.

“I was averaging 70 some hours a week at work and taking 12 credit hours at school along with five or six days a week at the gym,” Schwarz says. “And I was able to come out with a 4.0 GPA, and l lost 40 pounds the healthy way.”

Later in the year, he rented his first apartment and celebrated his 26th birthday. “Oh, and I just upgraded vehicles recently,” he says, “and I got a truck I’ve been wanting since I was like freaking five years old.”