For many of us, Reading Week brings the promises of home-cooked meals, high school friends, and the family pet. Although we will still get a break from school, most of us won’t have the same Reading Week experience as usual, and will likely spend our time in the exact same place we spent the first half of the term. In order to give you something to do and keep you sane, here are four ways you can connect with your hometown this Reading Week.
- Connect with high schoolers
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Reach out to some of your favourite high school teachers and ask if they are teaching any junior- or senior-level classes right now. If they are, offer to speak to their classes (virtually, of course). These students can benefit from listening to your university experience. You can tell them about applications, O-Week, classes, and how you made friends. Give yourself a shameless plug and share your LinkedIn or Instagram!
- Do a recipe exchange
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Instead of home-cooked meals from Mom or Dad, reach out to a family member and offer to do a recipe exchange. You can send each other a new recipe to try, then hop on a video call to try out the recipes together. The best part? If you mess up, no one will be there to taste your mistake!
- Start a food bank drive
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Food banks everywhere are struggling to get donations, so help out your hometown and start a Reading Week Food Bank Drive. Email your family members, post on social media, and text your friends. Ask everyone to donate funds to your local food bank and set a “team goal” to motivate everyone. Not only are you giving back to those in need, but you are also bringing people together and forming a community.
- Support local businesses
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Small businesses were hit hard by COVID and lockdowns, so show them some love by placing an online order for some of their products. Whether it be clothes, candles, or candies, a little retail therapy is good for everyone. You can even get the items delivered to a friend or family member in your hometown as a little Reading Week surprise.