Endure Series 1/5: Healthy, Updated, and Quality Relationships

As we move through life during this global pandemic, it is difficult for a lot of people to believe in not only themselves but for the future of the world as well. As students, it has become increasingly challenging to stay motivated. With online courses, no social interaction, and being confined to our homes, it feels as if the world has nothing to offer us. We question what we should do now, what our futures will look like, and what the state of the world will end up being. It’s pretty hard to learn, be, and do with all of that clouding our heads. To combat this, here are 5 things we do as students at UCLA to endure during this time.

---

1.) Keep in Contact!

Perhaps one of the most important things we do during this time is keeping in contact with our family and friends. Whether it be through zoom, FaceTime, text, call, games, etc. finding ways to socially interact online is a great alternative to in-person hangouts. Catching up with family, playing games or watching movies with friends, or just having a conversation with the people in your home are great ways to check up on those around you. When the ones you care about are doing well, it gives you a sense of hope, makes you feel better about the situation, and gives you more faith in the future of the planet. Jamil Zaki, a professor of Psychology at Stanford University, started a hashtag trend on twitter called #COVIDKindness. In lieu of the entire situation, Zaki saw an upward trend in negativity on social media, and wanted to utilize his voice to show that humans are still interacting and being kind to one another. For us, knowing that not only the ones we love but that others around the world are trying their best to pull through this rough situation motivates us to do the same.

Here is how our team-member Kris keeps in contact with his family and friends:

"A lot of my family lives outside of California (Minnesota or Canada) or is a decent distance away from me, so I usually keep in contact with them through FaceTime or video games. My cousins and I will be on a Discord (chat software) call and we will either play a video game, invite the family to play JackBox.TV party games, or just hangout. Technically, a solid majority of the people I am talking to on these calls are not my blood-relatives... but to know that we both consider each other family is an incredible feeling that is only being further reinforced by keeping in contact with them during this time.

When it comes to friends, a few of my close friends I went to the gym with and I used to do meal prep every Sunday back when I was at Community College, so now we cook over FaceTime. It's a mess, but it's hilarious to hear my friend Tyler screaming the chorus of Misery Business by Paramore as he grills chicken or my friend Jason doing Tik-Tok dances without recording them for Tik-Tok as he waits for his fish to get out of the oven. One small thing that has actually been very nice are snapchat memories. 3 years ago on May 5th, my teammates and I had won our first league championship after 3 years of being the laughing stock in the league. The photo above is our dog-pile after winning the league title. It's a story for another day, but seeing that come up in the memories and having all of us reminisce of that incredible season was amazing. Felt old thinking that I graduated high school 3 years ago...

Lastly, for the people in my household, I try to have a meal with them everyday. Although I am busy with school, I use dinner as a way for me to interact with them in a way I haven't been able to in a while since I was at UCLA. The people in my house versus myself have very different tastes. Whether it be food, games, television, etc. but we all get along very well despite our interests being very different. We complain about our days, go outside in the backyard to just say "hey look, I went outside," and play around with our dog Sheldon (see photo to the left and uhh... don't ask it was the name he had when we got him Lol). Overall, I may not see people often, but I still feel very close, if not closer to the people that surrounded me prior to quarantine. We are all getting through this together. I'm glad that there are many ways to keep in contact with them, and I would encourage everybody to check-in on those around you!"