With a pandemic requiring social distancing and safety precautions, University Prep students have to go the extra mile and find unique ways to socialize with friends.

For many, COVID-19 has been the cause of lost friendships and canceled sports.

For others, however, the pandemic is not as big of a deal.
Senior Max Lagunoff is the captain of the varsity track and cross country teams and is finding creative ways to socialize and exercise with his friends.
“I wouldn’t say [my social life] changed too much,” Lagunoff said.
Lagunoff continued to hang out and create a social bubble with his small friend group throughout the quarantine.
“Six or seven of us have been hanging out throughout most of the summer. We know that if one of us has, it we all have it, and that’s that. So it doesn’t matter too much,” Lagunoff said.

While Lagunoff seems to find little trouble with socializing, new freshman Maleha Moradian faces more of a challenge. Moradian is one of a handful of new students who are rising to the challenges of virtual icebreakers and socializing online.
“It’s a little bit awkward to try and meet people, but I think that the people I have started talking to have been really nice and welcoming,” Moradian said.
Moradian spent her summer skateboarding, mountain biking, going to the beach, and finding other ways to socialize with her bubble of three close friends.
Moradian has found making friends in her new UPrep community, however, to be more challenging despite attempts made by administrators to help new students get to know each other and the UPrep community

“I don’t really know what else [the administration] could be doing because you can’t really meet in person,”

Moradian said. “I think that they’ve done a good job of putting us together in breakout rooms, which is sometimes kind of awkward, but if you get someone that’s nice to talk to then that’s helpful.”
While some lament over their broken social bonds, junior Tessa Peterson looks at the quarantine through a lens of positivity.

“I definitely got closer with people, but I also definitely, I wouldn’t say lost friends, but I didn’t keep up connections because I wasn’t regularly seeing people,” Peterson said.

“[Quarantine] changed my social life, but not necessarily in a negative way.”