With new cases of COVID-19 spreading every day, many have been staying at home in hopes of avoiding any possible transmission of the virus. But, we all know, staying at home all day can get super boring. And fighting boredom is no easy task. 

Connecting with friends and family is a great way to spend what can sometimes feel like endless hours of quarantine. Chatting with my friends always seems to put me in a good mood and allows me to clear my mind. Here are four ways members of the PDS community are staying connected during quarantine (and how you can do it too)!  

1. 1. Use Group FaceTime: Junior Hayden Masia shared, “I’m FaceTiming friends as much as I can…. My friends and I have started watching the same TV shows so we have new things to talk about!” Senior Krithika Vasireddy added, “Thank goodness for group FaceTime because I don’t think I would be handling quarantine half as well as I am without it.”
   2. Connect with friends through social media: Members of the PDS community have also turned to popular social media platforms, such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter, to spend their time in quarantine. Junior Sophia Difazio noted that she has been using Instagram as well as texting her friends throughout quarantine. 
   3. Use Netflix Party: Sophomore Mehak Dhaliwal said that she has been texting, Face-timing, and using social media as usual, but something else cool that she just started using this quarantine is Netflix Party. Netflix Party is a platform in which a group of people can simultaneously text each other while streaming their favorite shows and movies. What a great idea for a virtual movie night with friends!

• Give your friend a call: Freshman Jai Kasera notes, “With easy access to calling and social media, I’m able to keep connected with my friends even in quarantine.”