Residential assistants in animal onesies, 25 breakout rooms, more than 70 students and 2 radio hosts. Wait, what is going on? Let us rewind the tape a bit and explore how Appenzeller House ended up in this situation. It is September 25th; the Fall semester of the 2021 academic year is in full force as it is finishing up its 4th week of studies. Two Appenzeller RAs, who will later make an appearance as radio hosts, have organized the first main RC event of the semester – Zellers’ Pillowtalk. As dozens of students started pouring in into the Zoom meeting, the RAs – dressed in panda, dinosaur, chicken, cat, bat, giraffe onesies to make the tone of the event more casual and chattier – welcomed them and guided them into the 25 breakout rooms that were named after different themes and activities. Some of these themes included movies, books, conspiracy theories, deep conversations, writing, gaming, Tiktok, K-Pop, Marvel vs DC, and memes. There was a conversation topic for everyone. Students were instructed to join a breakout room of their choice for 10 minutes, talk to their peers, and then switch the breakout room so they could meet more people. 

[Zellers’ Pillowtalk Image 1]

Around an hour and a half into the event, all breakout rooms closed and students, exhausted from so much interaction over their favorite topics, returned to the main room to relax and listen to the radio hosts. Songs submitted by the students before the event were blasting in the background while the RAs in charge introduced the theme of the second half of the event. For the next hour and a half the radio hosts would be reading anonymous submissions by the students about dormitory life goals, friendships, family, and career. Each submission was followed by advice from the RAs. Meanwhile, students were expressing their own opinion and advice on the conversation topic through the chat function of the Zoom meeting. The event finished before anyone could notice that it was already midnight. It was time to say goodnight to everyone who attended this giant sleepover party. And although the students were all in their own rooms, for many of them this was their first attempt at making real friends in college. 

[Zellers’ Pillowtalk Image 2]

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