Maintaining Relationships while being Socially Distanced!

What is “Conquering COVID-19”? This is a small series designed to help incoming and current college students navigate university life in the era of COVID-19. This series consists of advice, freebies, tips, and tricks to use for the upcoming year from the GPSNeeded Blog, run by a rising sophomore student at Rice University, taking the same journey!

I think one of the best things about college is all the experiences and friendships you get to have. Socially, this semester looks very different. In all walks of life, having a support system is very crucial. I know my college support system proved very useful to me in my first year. This time around, relationships are going to require a lot more effort to sustain and even cultivate with a socially distant and online semester. However, do not fear, there are still plenty of ways to form and maintain firm, long-lasting connections.

For the incoming college student, I understand that cultivating relationships is something that can be concerning right now. I really encourage you to really make efforts to join Facebook groups and other group chats for your incoming class! These are very efficient ways to connect with people with similar interests and majors. I also encourage you to really make the most of your orientation days. Rice, in particular, has an orientation week where freshmen are put in groups and get to bond while building connections with other students. In whatever way orientations are planning to be given, those are still times to try to build connections! You can even try to give someone a chat in a Zoom lecture!

Y’all, it is completely possible! Storytime: I spent part of this summer doing a completely virtual medical program with a group of other pre-medical students! At first, I was really nervous that I wouldn’t build any connections and that when I did these connections would be completely superficial. I definitely learned that a private Zoom chat can go a long way! Finding people with similar interests or even an interesting Zoom background and reaching out to them with a chat can spark a friendship! I really do consider everyone in the program a true friend even though I haven’t met all of them! It is possible to build thriving relationships online! Do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, these are different situations so step outside the box!

Never underestimate the power of virtual activities and social media. Make time to schedule activities to do with friends and peers. You can plan virtual movie nights, game nights, or do yoga over a Facetime call! If you are able, you can even try to plan some in-person (socially distanced) activities like walks or picnics. These are perfect activities to use to get to know some of your peers or simply just to keep in contact with those that you won't be able to see as often.

I would also recommend trying to form study groups or group chats within your courses. Taking classes completely online or with limited in-person time, can seriously lead to a lack of motivation to get things done. Sometimes, I just NEED people to hold me accountable or just to know I am not alone in what I am doing! Building these groups can help to establish connections with people in your class and help you academically too!

It is important to remember that we are in difficult situations and the last thing to do is give up. At the end of the day, we always have each other. Let's push on!

Love Always,

Karen <3

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