Living in a pandemic is hard enough. Going through a 15-week semester in a pandemic is a whole different ball game. The stress, anxiety and other problems can cause strain during this unconventional semester. The Office of Student Life at M.C. Rockville is constantly hosting activities to ease stress and pressure for the students.

Raptor Week

Raptor Week is one of the sequence of events of this nature that lasts a week. The 1st week of every semester is filled with events to keep the students and faculty engaged and networking, even while still home safe.

Earlier this semester I got a chance to virtually go to the Club Quarantine event as part of Raptor week 2020 and it was amazing!

I received an email with the meeting ID and pass-code accompanied by two simple rules: dress appropriately, and keep your microphone off when you aren’t talking. The meeting started on time, but the DJ, DJ B-side was late due to a time-zone difference. This was actually not a downside, people got to chat and network during the short wait.

After hanging out and meeting everyone, DJ B-Side arrived and the party was on!  There was a number of people who came, some even brought company like family members and friends. The DJ was playing all the hits, and everyone seemed in good spirits. It was a 2-hour long event filled with jokes, laughter, music and dancing. At one point, some attendees had phone torches out in a concert mood and some provided lighting effects by flickering their home lights. Its was so lively and seemed to fit its description of alleviating stress and at-home pressure.

It was a great event and experience mainly due to the sense of community it embodied. Most people were familiar with each other but even for those who were not, felt welcome and happy.

Scream Week

Hearing of scream week, and having enjoyed Club Quarantine so much, I knew it was going to be an eventful week. With an event schedule from Monday through Saturday the 31st, the week was set to spice up social-distanced Halloween.

There was an event for everyone: a writing contest on Monday, Wednesday was game night, Thursday was a make up tutorial day with custom kits sent out earlier, Friday was movie night, an event I was particularly interested in, and finishing on Saturday was costume night.

I was drawn to the movie night by the flyer: “Love watching Horror movies?” was the introduction of the invite and that was all I needed: the registration was quick, and if you were lucky enough to do it before the 25th of Oct, they were sending some candy, chocolates and popcorn. All you had to do next is download “Teleparty” an extension for you browser that enables a shared watch on Netflix and on the 29/30th of October a link would be sent that enabled the shared watch.  At the end it was another successful event.

The office of Student Life is really making an effort to keep people connected and socializing during this hard period. These events are cheery and are a sure way to lift your spirits, so watch out for the next one which might not be that far off.

For information on more upcoming events, clubs, and more, visit the Office of Student Life’s website and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

I would encourage everyone to attend if they are able to, you never know, you might find ‘your people’.