virtual activities

Juliana Gonzalez | Staff Writer

Students were welcomed back to Florida Tech’s campus two weeks into the spring semester, but many students are attending remotely. For some, it has become more difficult to make social connections.

“COVID is the life sucker of everything,” Cat Nanney, the director of student activities and Greek life at Florida Tech, said. “It’s really changed the human experience and the college experience.”

Nanney said she believes that students are exhausted from constantly seeing screens and feel the same way about virtual events.

“We’re sitting in front of a camera and it’s more exhausting than being in a classroom. It comes easier when you are around people,” Nanney explained.

Now that the COVID-19 response team at Florida Tech has given the go for in person events again, Nanney and her team have been working on getting students as involved as possible.

Nanney explained that Student Involvement looks to the students to voice what they are comfortable doing as far as activities.

She explained that her team takes student response seriously, whether the feedback is positive or negative. They encourage students to reach out to them for activities or event ideas.

Natalia Velásquez, outreach coordinator for the Student Counseling Center, explained that students may be choosing to stay remote since there is a lot to consider about safety.

“People are really concerned about their safety and figuring out what they feel the most safe with and what other people feel the most safe with,” Velásquez said. “While we are trying to socialize, we also have to keep in mind the community and ourselves.”

She explains that there has been a notable increase around the country in students seeking services from counseling centers.

“A lot of counseling centers have increased in the amount of students who are coming in with different things,” Velásquez said. “Whether it’s depression or anxiety, relationship difficulties or socialization difficulties.”

Aaliyah Thomas, the Greek life coordinator at Florida Tech, explained that it is simply harder to have that “in-person” connection in the current situation.

“Some people aren’t able to connect as well through a computer screen,” Thomas said.

Yet, Thomas explained that the Greek life at Florida Tech had successful recruitment among remote interaction. She said that Greek life members can communicate their most authentic selves over a screen.

Velásquez provides ways to socialize while maintaining distance, such as multiplayer games, Zoom yoga, and taking “walks” together over the phone, in a previous Crimson article.

Natalia Velásquez, M.S., Outreach Coordinator || Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS)

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the technical definition of social, or physical, distancing is “keeping a safe space (e.g., six feet) between yourself and other people who are not from your household in both indoor and outdoor spaces.” However, what does “social distancing” mean to social beings like us, especially when social support has been repeatedly proven to be such a critical resource for our psychological health? What can social distancing even look like so that we can balance not only the physical health and safety of ourselves and others, but also for our psychological health and well-being?

Many college students have likely moved from their childhood homes to a university where they may have expected to create relationships with faculty, friends, peers, colleagues, partners, etc. Whether these social connections were anticipated to be created during classroom learning, walks through the botanical gardens; soccer games; lunch breaks at PDH; fraternity/sorority gatherings; or other academic, social, or service organizations, all of us desire, and likely need, meaningful doses of social connection and support in our lives.

So how do we create meaningful relationships at a “social distance,” so that we can prioritize safety and health while also providing space for insightful conversations, entertainment, joy, laughter, and love?

During times like these, creativity is your best friend, so have fun with it! Maybe plan a weekend game night with friends, when classes have paused and self-care is needed. Organize a Zoom yoga session with classmates and screenshare a YouTube video that the group can follow along. Call your close family member or friend once a week while taking a walk “together” (you can walk through the botanical gardens and they can choose their favorite spot). Have a spaced-out beach date where everyone brings a snack and you decompress by the waves. There are also multitudes of multiplayer games (e.g., Jackbox, Animal Crossing, COD) that can be played online via Zoom, as well as socially distanced activities that can be enjoyed outside such as park walks, beach hangouts, and fitness challenges.

Please consider these questions as you organize socially distanced activities:

Are you and your family/friends comfortable being physically together while at a distance? If not, consider virtual activities!
What activities do you typically like? Try and make it distance friendly or virtual!
How can you make this activity socially distanced friendly? Be creative!

If you find yourself having significant difficulties during your time at Florida Tech, please remember your student counseling center as we are here for you! CAPS provides a variety of mental health and wellness services to assist you and other students in successfully reaching personal, academic, and career goals. Please take a moment to visit our website: https://www.fit.edu/counseling-and-psychological-services/, which includes information on how to request services, as well as many other resources for emotional health and well-being. Our services are highly utilized and encouraged, so that you can be the healthiest Florida Tech Panther you can be!