Students are finding creative ways to stay social and are even developing new habits along the way.

When Southeast made the announcement to switch to online learning March 30, everyone wondered how they were going to cope without being with their friends, fraternity brothers, sorority sisters, family members and significant others. While many students feared the worst socially, technology helps them stay connected.

Senior music education major Doug Evans said the quarantine has made him closer to his family.

“I share an apartment with my girlfriend, so I don’t visit my family much," Evans said. "I didn't check in with them very often but now I call my mom like once a week just to check in on her and see how everything is going up there with my family.”

“Because my grandma has just recently passed away, I go visit my grandpa here in Cape to sit across the room from him and keep him company,” Evans said.

Junior music major Alicia Stull said she group-calls her friends more often.

“My closest friends and I all live in our own apartments, so now we have nightly Zoom calls with each other,” Stull said. “We use Zoom for everything now. We’ve gotten into the habit of scheduling games of Jackbox with each other where one person shares their screen so we can all play.”

Freshman corporate communications major Jeff Hannick said while his relationship is thriving, it’s tough getting by with calls and apps.

“We didn’t text or call much before the quarantine but now, we call or FaceTime each other at least once a day,” Hannick said. “It feels like more effort is put into each text we send.”

Alongside FaceTime and Zoom, there are a number of apps and services that seem to assist in connecting Southeast students to their friends and loved ones.

Evans said he is using social media much more than he used to, specifically, Snapchat and Facebook.

“My friends have a couple [of] different Discord channels, so we can all chat and call at once on our computers,” Evans said. “I have the app Houseparty for the same reasons. Besides that, I’m using a lot of FaceTime, Snapchat and Facebook Messenger for more one-on-one conversations.”

Stull said her time spent video calling has increased dramatically.

“My use of Zoom and FaceTime calls has increased probably like 1,000%,” said Stull. “I would just go visit my best friends if I wanted to talk to them, so now this is brand new to us. This is the first time I’ve video called any of my best friends, let alone in groups."

This is a tough time for students to be away from Southeast but no matter where they are or what they're doing, Redhawks stay connected.