Keeping in Touch

Sydney Tappan, Assistant Editor-in-Chief / Campus Life Editor

When we cannot all be in the physical presence of one another, it is important to keep in touch with those that are important to us by any means possible. We went from seeing one another every day to not at all for months at a time. College students especially took this hard as we all went from living with our best friends and roommates to being back home alone in our childhood bedrooms. Simultaneously we all became disconnected from one another and had to learn an entirely new way of living at home and completing school without the comfort of campus and our friends.

School became home and home became school and there has been no way to differentiate between the two. With no escape from school, it can be both taxing and draining as our bedrooms became our classrooms. Usually students can take a break to hang out with friends or go out to a restaurant or bar. Currently, these getaways are not entirely feasible depending on where you are. While every circumstance has been unpredictable normally we can escape our current reality with other activities but without this, we must consider alternatives to keep hold of ourselves and who we are to avoid letting the negativity and the pessimism of the world affect us.

As we are all going through the same it-feels-like-the-end-of-the-world scenario, it is important to recognize that we all feel similar and the way that someone is reacting and coping may be different from your own. Now, more than ever, is the time to be empathetic and understanding. This has been a hard time for everyone and the uncertainty of tomorrow, next week, or next month is enough to separate us but also have the power to bring us together. We are all in the dark with the current events and to be able to recognize that is to be able to relate to one another.

Therefore something that is also crucial to keeping your sanity is to attempt at keeping up with the same hobbies, activities, and tendencies that you had pre-pandemic. Talking with the same friends, drinking the same cup of coffee, watching the same movies, all help to keep some sense of normalcy as we are give or take nine months in. FaceTiming one of your friends from school or calling an aunt that you visit on holidays has the potential to remind you and them of a hopeful time that will come again.

While it is important to appreciate old habits and hobbies it is also necessary to keep in touch with reality. Not to say life will never go back to normal, but we have all experienced situations and circumstances that have changed us and our outlooks on life. We have seen the pandemic affect us and others in ways that will leave us with a lasting impression of 2020. While that sounds negative, I have to believe society will make positive changes for the future. Whether that be the way we treat one another or how we remain hopeful even in situations of negativity.

A simple and quick phone call or FaceTime to a friend or family member, could mean the world to them, or change yours.