[산진 1] <Study With Me>’s poster

Making friends during the pandemic that has blighted the world for the past three years has been difficult for university students. Rules and regulations restricting our movement have limited our ability to meet new people. Those restrictions have also curtailed our academic lives. Unable to move around campus and get to know the different buildings, most of us studying on campus have never even been into the classrooms. Where there were once vibrant academics with exciting debates and questions, there is now isolation, cameras, and microphones off. 

Losing motivation in your studies and growing stress about examinations are some of the effects of our world closing down. Study groups are hard to come by as we are rarely able to meet other students. One RA saw this situation and decided to try to propose a solution. As midterms drew closer, she gathered Zellers who needed help, motivation, or just company and placed them in a zoom meeting to encourage and help each other. They were sent into breakout rooms where the RA would monitor them as they worked hard on their assignments for the Common Curriculum. For two hours, they studied together, motivated each other, and provided any help they could. The program seemed to really help as students reported feeling more productive with others working alongside them and watching their progress. The RA even got her own work done, solidifying how helpful it is to gather with others when motivation is low and work needs to be done. 

School is not what it used to be, and we might struggle to find the motivation to work on our studies as we are closed off in our rooms, but there will always be a solution enabling us to get everything done. Despite us not being able to work and do things the way we used to, this does not mean that work can be left undone. Programs like "Study With Me" provide solutions to help our Zellers have the best first year at UIC possible.

Download Image