A few days ago, I had a thought: Am I going to recognize any of my new friends when they finally take off their masks?

Seriously, are the friendships I’m making real if I’ve only ever seen half of their faces?

As a freshman at Chapman University, every experience is new to me. Despite this year’s unprecedented circumstances, I’m not entirely sure what I’m missing out on. I’ve never attended a class on campus or lived in a dorm room. I finished my first-ever college class sitting in my private bedroom at the Chapman Grand apartments, a complex usually reserved for continuing students.

A year ago, I had no idea what campus I’d be at when attending my first-ever college course, but I never would have imagined it would be alone in a new apartment.

This year’s freshmen who are living in Chapman housing not only need to adapt to online collegiate learning environments for the first time, but they also must navigate the complex social dynamic that comes with first-year residence life. But this year, we need to face this task without any physical interaction.

My first few days living at Chapman Grand were unlike anything I’ve experienced. When my parents left, I suddenly was faced with the stark reality of my freshman experience – I had no idea how I was going to meet people. Without parties, classes, clubs or the opportunity to mingle with people when walking around campus, I thought, ‘How are we supposed to find our people?’

While orientation leaders and Resident Advisors (RAs) try to encourage online socialization, Zoom mingling unfortunately just doesn’t work.

My third day at Chapman Grand, the RA on duty was called to stop a barbecue at one of the courtyards where approximately 30 freshmen had gathered. Although we had masks on, we were not adhering to correct social distancing guidelines, and were told to split up. I had been there for approximately 30 minutes in a desperate attempt to meet people. 

However, I was slightly relieved the barbecue was broken up. I hadn’t really talked to anyone the whole time.

Finding friends freshman year is difficult enough without a pandemic, but add shyness, masks and social distancing, and the task can almost prove impossible.

Much to my surprise, I somehow stumbled across a small group of friends within my first week. After wandering aimlessly around Chapman Grand with my roommate, we found a group in one of the courtyards. Playing socially distant card games has never been so fun. We laughed so hard and stayed out so late that we had an RA called on us for a second time in less than a week – this time due to a noise complaint. Don’t they know that we have to yell to hear anything through a mask?

Although neither times I had gotten into any real trouble (and I respect the RAs and Chapman’s policies tremendously), both times I had attempted socialization were met with a warning, and this was before class had even started.

Despite it all, I’m slowly beginning to navigate the social challenge that comes with “Freshman Year: Pandemic Edition.” I’m in approximately five group chats between Snapchat and GroupMe, but most of these people I’ve either never met or I haven’t seen their entire face for longer than the time it takes to sip water. When we move back to campus, the 2020 freshman class will have to adjust yet again to an entirely different campus dynamic, leaving everything we learn this fall mostly behind us. It will feel like our first semester all over again.

Eventually, Zoom will become a thing of the past, this semester will become a fun story to tell and we’ll be able to brag about how we lived at Chapman Grand as freshmen. But for now, we will continue planning our socially distanced, less-than-13-person gatherings in masks, yelling so everyone within earshot can hear our jokes about this crazy, historic school year.