Two months off from school to recuperate from the condensed semester seemed like a wonderful idea, until I realized that I would have to spend most of those two months at home with my family. Don’t get me wrong: I love my family, but I just spent five months quarantining with them. Eventually, even with the holiday season around the corner, the ideas for exciting things you can do at home run out, and the house feels just a little too small. When talking to my roommates, I found that they were also at a loss when it came to what they were going to do for two months at home. Knowing we wanted to stay connected during break, the three of us — all of us incredibly indecisive — decided we needed to think of a fun way to stay in contact. A way to stay in touch that would not just be sending TikToks to each other, that is.
As there is with anything, there were a few hurdles that we needed to overcome. One of them being that this would have to be something we could do virtually, as we all live nowhere near each other. Surprise, only one of us is from the northern Virginia area. Another challenge was that we all have very different tastes when it comes to just about everything — well, except sandwiches. Things like movie nights take us a while to get going, as our movie tastes are not the same, at all. Thus, the hunt for something we could do together, something we could do virtually, and something that we’d all enjoy began.
“Thus, the hunt for something we could do together, something we could do virtually, and something that we’d all enjoy began.”
We eventually decided that we wanted to do a book club together. This idea was actually fairly easy for us to settle on, as we all enjoy reading and talk about books that we want to read all the time. And now that traveling is definitely not happening, there’s nothing better I can think of. I think this idea is one that is easy enough to keep up with as well as plan out, which is part of what makes it so nice. I also think it’ll be a good way for us all to keep in touch, as I personally cannot think of anything better than curling up with a good book and a chai latte during winter break.
I am excited that I not only already found people that I share so many interests with during the short time that I have been at college, but also that we have found a fun way to keep in touch while we are at home. I think the idea of doing something like a book club, or even something else like a movie club, could be a fun way for students to keep in touch with each other while they are stuck at home. At the very least, it is a way for them to not go crazy while they’re cooped up for the next two months. Now, my roommates and I are onto the hard part: having to decide which books we want to read.
Email Erica Smedley at eesmedley@email.wm.edu.
