The COVID after effect: social interaction on a new scale

For better or worse, as Jonathan Williams and Joshua Daniels adapted to the circumstances of the pandemic, their social lives changed. Williams, a sophomore, found success in creating and keeping bonds with his companions despite the challenges, and Daniels, a junior, lost a great deal of friendships, but was left with the people who truly were there for him. 

Swiss researchers found that signs of depression, anxiety, stress and loneliness in students increased during the months before April 2020. Students countrywide have suffered these symptoms, including those who attend Cedar Shoals.

Daniels says his interactions with his peers have drastically changed. 

“I will say, there’s probably quite a few like four or five that I really keep around me a lot,” Daniels said. “I discovered that I knew who I’m really friends with, who I’m really not and who was just around because of school and homework purposes. I figured out who was truly there just for me.” 

Daniels lost quite a bit of who he deemed “friends,” but he has learned from the mistakes he made in welcoming them into his circle, and it molded him into the person he is now. 

“They were here for a lot of reasons like drama, but they made me into who I am today and made me a better person and helped me figure out who was really there for me,” Daniels said.

Williams participates in a number of extracurricular activities year-round, including cross country, marching band, wrestling and track. 

“Now that we’re back in school, I’d say that I’ve actually made more friends since I’ve been able to interact with them,” Williams said.

His extracurricular activities were ways for him to meet new people and keep some of the friendships he had already. 

“During the summer, I was a little crestfallen. Being in my house for so long I lost a lot of motivation,” Williams said. “But now that I’m at school, or once I started back up on sports and everything started back up, I started to remember how much fun it was socializing, and how much I enjoyed being with my friends. Because of that, I started being more outgoing, and I began to socialize a lot more.”