Bad Times Bring the Light

Zoom has become the new classroom as professors and students both adjust to the new norm. Although this time has become more stressful in many ways, there are ways to bring light and humor to the situation. Zoom allows filters to be applied and my dad took part as he enters his work meetings appearing as a potato. “I have to find some fun things to do while I’m stuck at home and my coworkers loved it” said Glenn Akerly. Relationships also took a turn as couples are forced to be apart for an unknown amount of time. Many couples are getting creative with romantic dates over facetime and using the screen sharing mode on zoom to have movie marathons together. My close friend Eliza Johnson was quoted saying, “It’s refreshing getting to see his face and hear his voice despite him not being next to me. It brings me a sense of calmness when everything in the world seems to be falling apart.”

Family game nights have also had to become more creative and unique. Coming from a big family that is spread out all across the east coast we take the opportunity to laugh and enjoy each other’s company as board games are a staple in our family. Smartphone games have become very popular and we optimize the group facetime to laugh at each other’s horrible and hilarious answers. Although these times may seem dark and uncertain there are small things we can all do to connect to our loved ones and find the light and humor in all of this. These times will pass but do not miss the opportunity to take advantage of the time you have to spend with your family. Get outside, breath in the fresh air and look at the stars. Life hasn’t stopped, learn a new skill, read every book in your library and make the most of all this newly found free time. In these past few months our lives have turned down a path none of us expected to go down. Students were robbed of the rest of their school year, unable to make those memories they so looked forward to and were excited to cherish. Lives have been lost and yes, many of us are scared for the future as we no longer know what it holds. Families are spending more time together than they ever thought they would as we are forced inside to prevent further spread of the virus. However, within this time of uncertainty comes refreshing change. I have never felt more connected to my friends and family before. Despite the fact that I have never missed my girl gang more than in these times, we have all worked harder to stay connected and share our experiences. We even set aside a time every week to do a group facetime call and share all our gossip and drink wine like we would always do before quarantine. This is just one example of families and friends using ulterior methods to spend time together. Zoom has become the new classroom as professors and students both adjust to the new norm. Although this time has become more stressful in many ways, there are ways to bring light and humor to the situation. Zoom allows filters to be applied and my dad took part as he enters his work meetings appearing as a potato. “I have to find some fun things to do while I’m stuck at home and my coworkers loved it” said Glenn Akerly. “It’s refreshing getting to see his face and hear his voice despite him not being next to me. It brings me a sense of calmness when everything in the world seems to be falling apart.”