The new semester starts tomorrow so I thought I'd share some useful advice on how I made friends during remote learning from scratch - I just finished my first semester at a new university taught entirely online so I haven't met anybody in person nor have I set foot on campus

1) Send emails introducing yourself to ppl in your cohort. I emailed the other two PhD students starting with me after we attended our virtual induction and started a group chat. I also emailed another student whose work I knew of already and started a friendly chat using that

2) If your class doesn't involve breakout rooms, ask your lecturer to perhaps introduce them. I am taking German and 50% of the class takes place in breakout rooms. It's a place to vent, laugh, and make the small talk that normally happens before/after class

3) For classes that can't have breakout rooms: I asked a lecturer if they could put my email in the zoom chat during class if anyone is interested in starting a group chat. It worked, I hadn't spoken to anyone during class but we were all in the same boat and now the chat is lit

4) Ask your supervisor/lecturer to put you in touch with others in your department - particularly those who have similar research interests. Trust me when I say I get so excited if someone new emails me asking if they want to chat, and others probably feel the same

5) Don't be afraid to zoom private chat. I was at a London-wide student workshop and messaged a guy I had seen at a previous workshop because we had similar research interests. We added each other on social media and had a video chat and it was lovely

6) Ask your department if they can set up buddy groups. My uni did this over the holidays I was partnered with 2 other students (one of whom I was mutual with here already lol). We have an active group chat and it's a place for advice and general friendly chat

7) Finally, speaking of mutuals. Use Twitter to meet other students!! I've made several friends over the last few months because of a simple 'Hey I'm a student at x and saw you're interested in y, want to have a chat?' message. Chances are, other ppl are also looking to network

@threadreaderapp unroll pls