During a time of isolation and chaos, college student Averi Caldwell found a unique way of connecting with her community.
“I was on the internet a lot more,” Caldwell said. “I made online friends with people that watched the same shows I watched.”
On March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic and the world stood still. Businesses, restaurants, sports venues and schools shut down forcing people all over the world to quarantine. Caldwell was halfway through her first year when she heard that she had to evacuate campus and return to her hometown of Griffin, Georgia. Alongside 6,000 of her peers, Caldwell missed out on numerous opportunities and experiences her freshman year due to COVID.
“Those are two years of network building and community that I missed out on,” she said.
Students, teachers and parents across the globe had to adapt to school on a screen. This led to many complications such as internet crashes, absences in class, and a lack of learning. For Caldwell, online school didn’t present a major challenge as she managed to maintain good grades and motivation to keep learning, but certain subjects like Spanish presented obvious challenges.
“In my Spanish class, virtually, I don’t think I got the most out of that just because it’s hard to learn a language you don’t know on a computer,” Caldwell said.
Although it was prohibited to see others outside of one’s immediate circle, people found creative new ways to connect with friends. Caldwell discovered that her love for movies and TV was a good way to interact with people online, and formed friendships through their shared interests. These interactions helped Caldwell break out of her shell during the pandemic, which was important for her future as a journalist as she’s required to interact with people for interviews.
“When meeting someone, I’m a little shy,” Caldwell said. “But then, I just got to cook.”
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