Six feet apart: Sticking together virtuality

Students and teachers reconnect with others

By Branden Sandoval

Reporter

Students are advised to stay socially distanced from friends and family, but some have found compromises and ways to still have fun, catch up and make up for lost time. Whether it’s through video games, phone calls or group messages students have made it possible to spend time together and connect with each other.

“I just text, or call my friends. I use discord and Instagram to talk with friends as well.” said Vikki Bustamante, a senior at Sanger High.

Using these methods to substitute physical contact have proven successful for some, even being natural to others.

“I’ve always kept up with many of my friends and family through Facebook or text, so that hasn’t changed much,” said Alan Moffett, a band teacher. “The biggest change is just that the group text with my sister and parents has gotten a lot more use than usual.”

Even with these substitutes, there are still some difficulties. With school being in session, students are faced with not having the time to be able to connect with friends.

“Now that school has started it’s been harder to play games with them. They are always busy with homework as well as I am busy with homework,” said Angelina Amaya a junior.

With distance learning in place, the two apps, Zoom and Google Meet, have been extremely helpful in assisting teachers and students connect with each other. Though the apps are extremely similar, they both have very defining features as well.

“I’m a much bigger fan of Zoom than Meet, but either way, I think it’s turned into a fantastic tool. In addition to using it as a teacher, I’ve been a part of weekly meetings dating back to July for a virtual band where we record our parts for each song separately and someone puts it together into a virtual performance. I’ve also been able to be a part of a virtual college band reunion for the first time in over a decade, thanks to Zoom,” said Moffett.

Although these past few months haven’t been the easiest to adjust to for some, family and friends have still been able to bring a sense of familiarity.

“Aside from my parents bringing me an extra piece of furniture, I haven’t gathered with family in person since before the pandemic. I’ll see them for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it’ll be very low key,” said Moffett.