Ellie’s Fall 2020 Extracurricular Experience

One semester of Zoom University is officially down, and despite the connotation of complete isolation that a virtual semester brings, I have found an abundance of connection and community in my extracurricular activities. I participated in two theatre productions during the fall, as the production treasurer for NOMADS and co-writer of X-MAS!15. 

I completely understand why some people may feel uneasy about joining virtual extracurriculars. For one, after an entire day of staring at Zoom for classes, it can be exhausting to return in the evening to meet friends. Also, nothing about Zoom interaction is casual--everything is deliberate. From scheduling the meeting, to unmuting yourself, to having your face appear on-screen, I am starting to desperately miss the days where I could nonchalantly wave to a friend in the hallway and have an unplanned catch-up. 

While joining new extracurriculars appeared scary over Zoom at first, I soon realized that these new communities were actually fun. I found myself looking forward to the Sunday night NOMADS meetings and the Tuesday/Thursday X-MAS!15 rehearsals. They were times to let loose and relate to others about the absurdity of the world, all while working towards an end product that we could all be proud of. I didn’t think it would be possible to meet new people during an online semester, but after 15 weeks of hanging out with new folks over Zoom, we all made a pact to grab coffee together when campus reopens. I imagine us chuckling over the sentiment “remember when we staged an original play over Zoom during a pandemic?” What an accomplishment, albeit one that I never want to do again. Let’s stick to live theatre after this is over.

For now, we’ll have to settle with playing Scribbl.io from different corners of the world, but I feel the strength of the connections I’ve built in these groups despite their virtual nature. Seeing everyone in-person will feel like an exciting combination of familiarity and the novel. I can’t wait for the moment I can say “Jack, I can’t believe I’ve known you for an entire year and not known you were 6 feet tall.” It took the Fall semester to get my digital-bearings straight, and now I’m excited to hit the ground running for Spring and experience how much more these online-communities have to offer.