Some students at Lafayette have found it difficult to see the good that is also going on in the world despite all the negative effects the outbreak of COVID-19 has had on the country.

Nonetheless, many students have found creative ways to stay in touch with their friends and family. Students have created presentations to share with their friends and even hosted virtual competitions that families can have against each other. Senior Rachel Paese created a “Corona Diary” to keep her friend group in the loop of each other’s activities.

“I created it on March 25. I saw a video of a group of people that did something similar, and I figured it’d be a great way for my friends and me to not only document stuff that we’re doing during this quarantine but also to stay more connected with a larger group of people,” Paese said.

The “Quarantine Diaries” consists of a google slides presentation and everyone that is linked to it. The concept is that each person makes one slide for every day of quarantine for the others to see, enjoy and interact with.

“Sometimes they’re kind of serious or simple updates, but a lot of times they’re full of goofy pictures, screenshots of conversations, and funny stories. I didn’t expect my friends to jump in as much as they did. I shared it with them mostly as a joke, not really expecting much, but everyone has grown to love it,” Paese said.

Paese reports that the diary entries have helped her friend group to remain positive despite their situation as seniors and not being able to experience their last semester in high school as they had expected.

“It’s a good way to remind each other that we’re all going through something weird and difficult, but we can still be connected. It’s kind of a nice reminder that there’s still a lot of positive things going on as well,” Paese said. 

Sophomore Peter Schaper, along with his family, coordinated a “Super Schaper Sing-Off” so families had an opportunity to do something fun together if they were bored.

The Schaper family started off the competition with their own video called “Shelter in your places,” a parody of the song “Mr. Roboto” by Styx.

“My family and a group of family friends all made music videos about being quarantined and then showed them to each other and decided upon a winner, it just seemed pretty fun so we pitched it to our friends,” Schaper said.

The competition consisted of five categories including best dancing, best singing, best parody, funniest and best overall and each category had individual winners. A few of the winners included the Schaper family, the Halfman family and Chiara Schaper.

Whether it’s through FaceTime, texting, a “quarantine diary” or even a little family competition, students are finding all sorts of creative ways to stay connected and entertained through this trying time.