Laura Haushalter (’21) and Julia Patronite (’21) celebrate Bianca Arteaga’s (’22) birthday with a socially distanced picnic in Upland at Greenbelt Park. A part of San Bernadino County, CDC guidelines state that gatherings with individuals from three or fewer households with masks and six feet of separation are acceptable.
Connect with others
Although connecting with friends in-person is more difficult than ever, it is not impossible to find fun activities to stay in touch. Setting aside time for yourself to catch up with your friends and peers is vital to help you destress and lower anxiety about schoolwork and other activities. Being with your friends also allows you to be happy and have healthy, supportive, and reliable relationships.
Online activities you and your friends can consider is hosting a PowerPoint night, setting up a Zoom call to chill and catch up, organizing a game night, helping each other study, or even social distancing events. Online classes are taking a toll on students’ mental health due to the increased amount of homework, screen time, and expectations to continue to succeed while living in a stressful time. Since we cannot see and talk with our friends in-person every day, it is important to find ways to maintain social connections which can be relaxing and enjoyable.
“I connect with my friends mainly through Zoom or FaceTime since we aren’t comfortable meeting in person and this kind of helps us maintain some semblance of how it normally is to be at Webb,” said Sneha Jindal (‘21).
“Admittedly, sometimes I need help with being a good friend to myself,” said Daniel Rios, Guidance Counselor. “That’s when I reach out to physical friend, someone I can trust and talk to, someone I know will listen to me without judgment. Talking out loud to a friend often helps me clears my chest and mind from all the heavy thoughts I’ve been carrying and allows me to see what I need to see to help myself.”