Coming into college, everyone worries about not knowing anyone and not finding “their people.” Making new friends in a new environment can be extremely intimidating. So, what can we do in order to find new friend circles with similar interests as us? Find clubs! Clubs have been one of the biggest aspects of college life that allow us to be introduced to new people, lifetime friends, and great networks. Unfortunately, this year a lot of clubs have had to go online. How are college students supposed to make new friends? How are they supposed to have weekly meetings without even knowing each other? One of the clubs I’m involved with faced all these struggles. As a club with over 30 people, it was hard to connect with everyone and make new members feel included. To overcome these obstacles, we organized a virtual team bonding day. I can say that it was extremely successful in bringing our club closer together and every club should definitely consider dedicating time to bonding with their members during quarantine. Here are a few tips and tricks I picked up along the way while planning my own virtual club bonding day:
1. Keep it short.
As college students, we already spend hours on our laptop watching Zoom lectures. You don’t want your club members to get Zoom fatigue and feel like connecting with club members is a burden.
2. Leave the chat open.
In real life, club members would be able to have side conversations and have small talk during meetings. Unfortunately, online meetings let us only have one person speak at a time which not only is awkward but also keeps us from interacting with other people on the call. Keeping the chat open allows people to converse on the side, send encouraging messages, or just crack some jokes to break the awkwardness of the call.
3. Foster collaboration.
It is very easy to feel like every activity during a club event needs to be done individually, as people are all in their own space when they are on a Zoom call. However, having activities planned that encourage collaboration will push club members to work together and make them feel like they are not alone even if they are physically isolated.
4. Have everyone do an embarrassing activity.
One of the best ways to get comfortable with one another is by embarrassing yourself! I know, it’s very cliché and cheesy. But being able to step out of your comfort zone and openly be vulnerable with your club creates a more trusting environment.
5. Have fun!
Make sure that everyone is enjoying the activities! You want members to feel like they are getting to meet new friends and build real relationships as a part of their college experience. It may not be like meeting people in person, but this bonding day should be close to it. In quarantine, we don’t get the luxury of interacting with people in person, but the next best thing is to make sure that everyone feels included and welcomed!
