Image Credit: Photo by Carlynn Alarid for Unsplash
The year 2020 was heralded to be a year full of promise and everlasting opportunities. Those assertions came to a screeching halt when the pandemic changed how we complete simple tasks, such as attending college courses, to making new friends while at the University of Maryland.
Students were subjected to trying to build friendships with classmates in virtual Zoom breakout rooms. The experience was untraditional and presented challenges for students seeking to engage with their fellow Terps.
For freshman Camille Dickerson, it’s been extremely difficult to make friends in her first full year in College Park.
“It’s really just kind of depressing because it's hard to make friends on campus. It's intimidating to so many people, and it could just be challenging to navigate like who has good intentions? Who doesn't love temporary relationships?” Dickerson asked jokingly.
However, her fellow freshman and public health major Marcella Flores has attended on-campus events and participated in class discussions that have increased her ability to make friends.
“I think last Friday there was an event in Stamp [Adele H. Stamp Student Union] that this guy invited me to for networking, and I feel like that experience made us feel more comfortable,” Flores said.
The unpredictability of making friends is not designated solely to underclassmen, as upperclassmen have endured their share of troubles when making connections with other students.
For adjunct professor and lecturer Carole Lee, encouraging interaction amongst students is one of the key principles of her teaching.
“One thing that I do is I have one of my larger classes work in a group assignment. They all work together to put out a magazine, one of their assessments. So they have to work together and get to know each other,” Lee said.
Lee believes that students are ecstatic to participate in courses on campus, and she has marveled at the interactions students have engaged in.
“I think that I have seen a lot of encouraging times that they're just glad to be back together,” Lee said. “It’s been sort of fun to watch them get to know each other and bring each other around.”
For senior journalism major Emma Shuster, who transferred to UMD in 2020 after receiving her associate’s degree from nearby Montgomery College, it was a difficult transition.
“I think it's definitely been a challenge, at least for people in the breakout rooms, to talk to one another. Some people just turn their cameras off or are not willing to participate,” Shuster said.
Senior journalism and sociology major Hannah Davidson has also found trying to make friends since the university returned to in-person instruction challenging, to say the least.
“I think it's almost a little bit harder to make friends and talk to people. It’s also kind of a new barrier that's been put up to read people's faces with the masks being worn,” Davidson said.
The community of students, faculty and staff is seeking to make the learning environment an experience that resembles the pre-pandemic classroom setting.
By adhering to the university’s protocols and attempting to engage in a conversation with classmates, making friends can be a safe and enjoyable moment.