Hua-nestly Speaking: Connecting Over Zoom

SOPHIA HUA (Editor in Chief)

Over the course of the past three years, I have met incredible people in many of my classes. Brought together by seating charts, coincidence and stress over upcoming tests, we have formed friendships that have endured even during distance learning. 

However, making these same connections over Zoom seems to be impossible. Breakout rooms are always horribly awkward, if not completely silent, and it is way too easy to avoid talking to people who I do not know. 

The chat box offers a viable alternative, but it also feels odd to message the whole class or to start a private conversation with someone you are unfamiliar with. 

With much less time being spent in school, there is also less time to make new friends. We cannot let this stop us from meeting new people, however. 

We should all start to make an effort to reach out to each other, whether it means breaking the silence in breakout rooms, joining new clubs or emailing a classmate out of the blue. Once the initial awkwardness is gone, we might even find that making friends virtually is not really that difficult.