Birthdays at Barnard
Moving to a new environment where you don’t know anyone can seem scary at first. Before starting my first year at Barnard, I remember one of my seemingly trivial yet genuine concerns was whether I would have anyone to celebrate my birthday with. As a twin, I was used to always having a built-in buddy to celebrate with, which was a sense of security I left behind when we decided to attend different colleges. Being born early in the semester only heightened this particular worry. Little did I know, birthdays at Barnard would become some of my most treasured memories that capture the tight-knit community and incredible relationships I have developed at Barnard. I hope my experience will help provide you with a snapshot of one of my favorite things about Barnard: the community.
For my birthday during my first year at Barnard, my mom sent me a red velvet cake that I thought would be nice to share with everyone. I remember the friends I made during orientation and I knocking on everyone’s doors in our hallway and inviting people in for cake. When we realized we didn’t have any plates, it became a “Bring Your Own Fork” kind of celebration as we all dug into the delicious cake (something I could not imagine doing now that we are in the midst of a global pandemic). I was excited to see how open people were to meeting one another as the room filled with vibrant conversations and new friendships. This was truly one of my favorite memories in college because I realized how quickly my initial worries could melt away with the simple action of inviting others over for a slice of cake.
Despite being spread across the world and unable to have large in-person gatherings, my friends and I have kept the birthday celebrations alive in the virtual setting. With a little creativity, here are some of the things we have done to make sure everyone feels special on their birthday:
Presentation Parties: Making presentations for your friends can be a lot of fun. We’ve had to use a little inventiveness to come up with themes, which include 21 things we love about someone for their 21st birthday, slides of photo collages and thoughtful messages, and photographic walks down memory lane. If you can, get your group of friends together over Zoom and present it - you will begin to feel like you are all together in person.
Birthday-themed Kahoot: The online platform Kahoot allows you to create your own personalized multiple-choice quizzes. Try making a customized quiz about your friend for their birthday to play at a virtual birthday party!
Birthday-themed Jeopardy: A customized Jeopardy, the game where players must figure out the questions based on the given answers, about your friend for their birthday can be loads of fun.
Celebrating birthdays is one of the ways my friends at Barnard and I have stayed connected during these unpredictable times. I feel so lucky to be part of a community that celebrates one another and continues to foster community even when we are spread across the world. Hopefully, we will be able to celebrate with one another in-person in the near future, but in the meantime, I hope you can draw inspiration from some of these ideas and try them out at your next virtual birthday party!