In the past year, there has been a number of changes to SSU students’ daily lives. Classes have moved fully online, while students were forced to move off campus, as well as a number of other factors that make daily life just a little more difficult.

COVID-19 has forced us to adjust to a new way of daily life, where masks are mandatory and in-person communication has turned into video chatting. Everyone has been abruptly pushed out of their normal routine; forced to find new hobbies, new ways to keep busy, and new ways to keep in touch with friends and family. Students at Sonoma State have had to leave our gorgeous campus and adapt to using Zoom for virtual learning and discussion with classmates. We have left behind our classrooms, peers, professors, and friends to help stop the increase in cases. Although it was an unanticipated change in our ordinary lives, we have persevered and evolved into a new way of life.

While people have been stuck at home, a lot of different trends have popped up to keep people busy and sane. Some have picked up the hobby of bread-making and used their old bananas to make freshly baked banana bread, for example some have filled their homes with new foliage and taken on the new role as a “plant parent.” Others have decided to tie dye their wardrobe to spice up their loungewear and fill the time. There was even a time where almost everyone was talking about the crazy, new show they just watched about a man, his tigers, and his shady background. The infamous Tiger King, was one of the “hot topics” during the course of the pandemic.

We reached out to the student body and asked them what they have been doing to keep busy and if they have picked up any new hobbies since the pandemic started, and here’s what they have to say.