One of the most challenging things about this semester has been the social isolation. As a junior, I know that many first years are having an even more difficult time meeting new people and making friends in college. Those of us who are farther into college and are being cautious with COVID-19 are also unfortunately having to get creative about starting new friendships and maintaining existing ones.
Now that I live alone instead of with roommates, it’s a little too easy for me to get sucked into watching TikToks for hours, or binging Property Brothers, or generally not interacting with other people. One of my favorite ways I’ve found to keep in contact with friends and family is to watch TV and movies together. My family (at home in Wisconsin) and I have been watching new episodes of Rupaul’s Drag Race every week, and I watch a few other shows and movies on Netflix party with my friends. This has been a nice, relaxed way to have some social interaction with the people in my life.
Social media has been another way that I’ve stayed connected with friends near and far. I don’t personally enjoy treating social media as a replacement for talking in-person or on the phone, but it’s nice to share funny posts or videos with friends. I’ve also been able to spend more time in contact with friends from high school, who I didn’t get to chat with much the past year or so. It feels like everyone is looking for connection, so sometimes all it takes is a quick message to make someone’s day!
Although this is a difficult time to meet new people and start new friendships, I’ve been taking advantage of the sunny weather lately, and having a dog, to chat with people at the dog park. It’s fun to connect with people who come regularly and have dogs that my dog gets along with! I hope there will be more opportunities for this kind of casual socializing, or even meeting up with friends (masked and distanced) outside. As the COVID vaccine becomes available to more people, I also hope it will be easier to spend time with friends! But for the time being, I’m sticking with masked, socially-distanced interactions.