It’s safe to say that a normal college social life is almost impossible under COVID—the core pillars of meeting new people in large numbers are no longer available. However, we have adapted and improvised to figure out ways to still meet new people and keep old friendships strong. Below, I have listed some of my favorite social activities during this semester!
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Board game hours- A group that I am part of on campus, Wharton Council, has a bi-weekly board games night that I really enjoy. It’s great to see my friends in a “group“ setting, and we have had a lot of fun finding new games to play. Some of our favorites are Among Us, Skribbl.io, and Code Names.
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Standing zoom calls- I have standing zoom calls with a few friends, and those are really reliable and convenient ways to keep in touch. We have a calendar invite and recurring zoom link, and do our best every week to stay available at that time so we can catch up. This is especially helpful for friends who live in a different time zone, which can make it hard to have spontaneous calls.
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Career Collectives” chats- Junior and senior year can often be dominated by stress related to finding an internship or job, so the Wharton Undergraduate Student Life Division created opt-in support groups for students. They are a group of students who commit to keeping in touch during recruiting season, with the goal being to help each other through it. My group and I started off with great job hunting tips for each other, but as we get to know each other better and spend more time together at our weekly calls, we start chatting more about other things. We genuinely have become friends over the course of the semester, and it’s great to know that there is still hope of meeting people and forming friendships in a purely virtual environment!
All in all, while college is by no means normal, there are still plenty of ways to meet people and maintain friendships.