In the age of social media, social distancing is more of a physical distance. Socially, everyone is still connected. At RWU, Dean of the Law School Michael Yelnosky has taken to Gen Z’s favorite app, TikTok. 

On his Twitter account, Yelnosky shared his 15-second video, where he goes from downing a martini, to looking at a PowerPoint, to watching “The Bachelor” and finally, falling asleep. Fittingly, the caption read, “Common Mistakes Online Learners Can Avoid. 1. Drinking While Learning. 2. Watching The Bachelor While Learning. 3. Sleeping While Learning.” 

Although most students would probably roll their eyes watching one of their professors’ TikToks, it is a modern way of getting the point across. RWU has switched to online learning, which gives the opportunity for more distractions and less drive to do work. Professor Yelnosky’s 15-second clip is a good reminder to stay focused over the next two months.

Professors aren’t the only ones using TikTok to communicate with students. @rwuathletics on TikTok has several videos introducing the athletes while they are away from campus.

The Softball Team introduced themselves using the Full House sound that is popular on TikTok. Players introduced themselves in a short video doing different activities before looking at the camera and waving. The team also has another video using the Rocky theme song with the caption “RWU Softball at-home workouts.” The players were shown using objects lying around their house to workout. These objects consisted of apple juice, a case of water, a puppy and even some siblings.

The Women’s Lacrosse Team has been sending Roger the Hawk, a stuffed hawk, to different players. The first TikTok featured Roger in Bradford, Mass. cooking risotto, watching a movie and going on Zoom with lacrosse teammates.

The Women’s Basketball Team introduced the players by having each athlete catch a ball or cleaning supply and throw it to the next teammate through the video. The Women’s Soccer Team used a similar idea and passed a soccer ball to each other after doing a quick trick. 

The Women’s Volleyball Team also introduced themselves by showing what the team members were doing while in quarantine. Some were putting on masks, holding cats and knitting.

The Track and Field Team has a video showing how they are getting ready for the “Corona Meet.” To the tune of a SpongeBob melody, athletes pulled random objects out of their refrigerators as their own way of getting ready. 

Even without practicing on campus and while practicing social distancing, RWU athletes found a hilarious way to still connect with each other and with the student body through TikTok.

As uncertainty looms over the world about what to do next and when this will all be over, people cannot forget to find humor in tough situations. Whether that’s falling asleep while watching “The Bachelor” or mailing a stuffed hawk to your teammates, don’t forget to laugh. Twitter and TikTok are full of memes and videos depicting the situation everyone is going through right now, so take the time to laugh a little while browsing through social media.