The annual Pumpkin Spice Latte has made an appearance at Starbucks which means spooky season has magically arrived. People of all ages have embraced Halloween for its thrills and chills over countless years. From pumpkin patches to corn mazes, the “spooky spirit” has cast itself into virtually everything with special made drinks, haunted houses and social media trends.

In a normal setting, students would have been able to walk through Seawolf Plaza and see countless clubs tabling on any given day, with club members flagging down students with flyers, trying to get them to sign up to join. Unfortunately with everything virtual this school year, students are forced to not only do classes online but find ways to get involved.

Sonoma State University alumni gathered with students to discuss life after college and how their time at the university has helped them find a career path at the SeawolvesLead discussion. The topics covered included identity, social justice, and intersectional leadership.

Quarantine has kept friends from seeing one another, families feeling isolated and, oftentimes, left some feeling lonely. A group that has been hit especially hard by this are the elderly in assisted living. With the inability to talk to and visit with those living outside of their communities, a Sonoma State University alumni has created a pen pal program to help local senior citizens reach out beyond their small bubble.

Students logged onto their computers Thursday morning with either a cup of tea or coffee in hopes of getting answers to the questions they had sent in through an event form. Associated Student Productions (ASP) held a Zoom call that invited Seawolves to join them in an event called “Spillin’ the Tea with Sakaki” where students were encouraged to ask Sonoma State University’s President, Judy Sakaki questions about herself and the university. This event was held on Sept. 10 on Zoom from 11 a.m to noon.

Students were preparing to attack, dodge, and dash in an attempt to be crowned winner at the virtual gaming tournament however, Seawolves were disappointed to find out the event had been canceled.

The ability to walk through campus and see a familiar face has helped many students feel welcome at Sonoma State. With classes moving online this type of exposure to new and continuing students hasn’t been able to happen. Seawolf Plaza has helped numerous students find a group that has the same interests, whether it be Disney Club or Greek life. Through the transition students and staff have been working together to try to navigate this new way of interacting and building the SSU community that many know and love.

The energy was high in the final round of the Sonoma State University “game show”. Team W and Team ? were neck and neck. The suspense of waiting for the last question had everyone hovering over their buzzer. Finally the question was shown and the first to buzz in was Team ? ultimately leading them to take the win at Associated Student Production’s (ASP’s) Sonoma Feud. The event was held Aug. 20 and had two teams facing off in a virtual game show, live from Zoom.