Hello, we are Isaac, Samantha, and Ophelia and we are the AUR ResGrads. Our job is to help make students feel at home here in Rome. Under normal conditions, we plan events for students to get to know their new city and peers better, but when the pandemic hit, we knew we would have to change the way we connected with other students.
This has led to a series of fun Zoom and in-person events in which we can assure that proper social distancing procedures are maintained. We started this semester off with virtual and in-person tours of the school neighborhood and of Rome. We took the tram to center and marveled at the Altare Della Patria and the Colosseum all while streaming the sights live through Zoom so that students still in quarantine could join along. We also organized a picnic to Villa Borghese where we were able to introduce the new students to existing students and one recent alumnus.
After school started, we talked with our colleagues in Student Life and decided to keep the virtual events going. We began with easy to follow baking lessons in which we made peanut butter cookies and Oreo balls. Then we had a live viewing party of the first presidential debate, and hosted a game of Jeopardy. During this time, we also checked in on students in self-quarantine every two days to assist with any troubles and to ensure that they were complying with the rules. As for the future, we are planning on another Jeopardy night this coming Friday and similar online and in-person events throughout the semester.
