Since the pandemic, NSU has transitioned to the BlendFlex model. BlendFlex gives students the option to take classes on campus or online. Some students have gone to campus because conversations and making friends with others is considerably simpler than making them online.
“I prefer face-to-face because I like seeing people’s reactions when you’re talking with them and you get to know the person better,” said Lauren Do Nascimento, sophomore communications major at NSU.
Face-to-face is preferable, but online is the one of the best options right now for college students, according to Brandon Bieltz’s article published by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When you’re at college, you are starting to create an identity and it is the start of networking. Mineleese Dorelus, freshman communications major at NSU, prefers face-to face because she gets to engage more with people than online.
“Making friends online isn’t very hard because you can literally bond with someone over something so simple as a TV show. I found it particularly difficult to make friends with students during or after my online classes in the beginning, but after I started joining GroupMe group chats and joining in on the conversations on Zoom, I started creating friendships with my classmates. In the GroupMe chats, we all help each other with assignments, make jokes and have each other’s backs. The other day, I could not find my math test on Canvas and I started freaking out, but I messaged people on our GroupMe. They could not help me look, but they wished me well and left me positive words,” said Nascimento.
There are a lot of other ways for students to connect with others online. Students can follow their classmates on Instagram or Tiktok. Sharing and liking each other’s post is a way of connecting with them. Creating study groups via Zoom helps both with their grades and their social life. I had joined one study group with friends I made before and after the pandemic. It helped me with my midterm and I got to know my friends a little more.
Making friends online can still be uncomfortable since it’s technically a new way of navigating college, but we have to try. We can’t just stay sitting down in our bedrooms alone; we need to communicate with others. Taking classes and making friends online has made me more sociable with people,while staying safe inside due to COVID-19. We need to learn how to make friends online so that we can thrive during these hard times.
