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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Manhattan chapter.

As a college student, I realized that while walking around campus, especially one that is small enough to see many people I recognize, people have stopped making eye contact with each other or stopped to say hello. I understand that COVID-19 has created a separation between people and their interactions, however, it is sad to see the lack of communication it has also constructed. Especially when wearing masks, where eyes are the only things that you can see. 

People are so quick to avoid eye contact and pick up their phones.  Phones can act as a sense of security, something that is always there for a distraction or excuse. Usually, people are already on their phone, but sometimes they just try to make it look like they are busy doing something instead of taking the extra second to say something. 

Honestly, it goes even just when hanging out with friends. There is definitely a healthy balance of comfortable silence, but in the last couple of years, that has just become sitting around and being on each other’s phones together. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it just goes to show how much time we spend on our phones, instead of being social in person.

Especially when getting used to returning to in-person classes, having to look other students or teachers in the eyes is now strangely unfamiliar.

“Because of the trend toward home-based and other remote work, people have become accustomed to talking without making eye contact, says Dana Brownlee, founder of Professionalism Matters, a corporate-training company in Atlanta. She cites a manager at a South Carolina financial-services company who started offering prizes to get employees to meet face to face. “People were dialing into meetings from offices that were literally just a few cubicles down the hall,” Ms. Brownlee says.,” (Wall Street Journal,  Just Look Me in the Eye Already, Sue Shellenbarger, 2013).

However, it’s important to remember that there are so many benefits to making eye contact. It bonds people together emotionally and intellectually when having a conversation. I hope that with more time in-person and less online and remote, eye contact becomes natural again and people take time to stop and make it with each other.

 

Angelica is so excited to be the leader of this chapter as Campus Correspondent at Her Campus at Manhattan! Originally from the Jersey Shore, Angelica is a senior at Manhattan College studying communication with a concentration in journalism and a minor in French. Angelica is also Features Editor of the campus newspaper The Quadrangle, Fashion and Beauty Editor of Lotus Magazine, and Secretary of Alpha Pi Phi Sorority. She currently interns at The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in the Brand and Customer Partnerships Department. You can hear Angelica hosting Soundtrack Sunshine, as she DJ’s for Manhattan College’s radio station WRCM. When she finds the time to breathe she likes to go for walks in Van Cortland Park, hang out at An Beal with friends, and watch her roomates dance at the basketball games. Angelica loves to write about anything from her deepest darkest feelings, trendiest clothes on sale, and hot button topics. She loves to share her experiences with all of you and hopes readers can take something from her insight. She encourages anyone with a story to tell to join Her Campus and take a chance on the best girl group in college! Happy reading :)