You’ve probably heard it a thousand times by now, but things are pretty rough right now during this virus and everyone is a bit on edge. Morals are pretty low from being stuck inside all day and a lot of us have lost the will to do pretty much everything that isn’t necessary for school or surviving.
For a lot of us, this means ignoring our responsibilities for our organizations. I’m definitely guilty about putting off my responsibilities during these stressful times and I know a bunch of my fellow Her Campus girls in my chapter feel the same way. Why should we put the extra stress on ourselves when, sadly, it won’t affect the majority of us in the end?
This org is a lot more than women writing or women empowering women. It’s about making friends and having fun and coming together to build a better life for ourselves and each other. The friends I’ve made through this org, I cherish more than anything. Meeting like minded women who want nothing other than to help each other in figuring out how college and the rest of life works, that’s what this org is about.
If we lose that, we lose a lot more than a chapter of an org and we need to remind our ladies that, above all, we are here for them through all the messed up things happening right now.
I wanted to share a few things I’ve been doing to try and keep people active, motivated, and most importantly sane. I hope some of these things help you or at least spark some ideas of your own to help keep your chapter and girls afloat during this tough season
1. Stay Empathetic
I know it’s hard watching your weekly article count go down and your social media getting less and less posts, but there is nothing more important in this org than the people who help run it. Make sure you check in with them and make sure they know that you value them beyond what they provide for your org. Be understanding, extend deadlines if possible, and don’t be hard on them when they start to struggle with keeping up with everything. Be there, you never know who may need a listening ear.
2. Cathartic Screaming
Alright, bare with me here, if you’ve been conducting online video meetings encourage your chapter to take the time to rant about something that has been bothering them. The key? Tell them to mute their mics and scream it. A lot of people don’t have people to turn to when things get tough and may be too shy to talk to you directly, but giving them a chance to be in a group setting and be able to let out their feelings (even if no one can hear them) is quite the stress reliever. Plus its pretty fun to watch people yell at their computer screens with no audio, even if it doesn’t help you destress. I did this with my girls and got a lot of positive feedback
3. Collabs
Encourage your chapter members to collaborate with each other. This is something my chapter has implemented from the beginning to help encourage shy writers to get their stories out there, but it can also be helpful when there’s a lack of time to produce stuff. Put multiple heads together and you might just find that, not only are people allowing themselves to socialize with friends to brainstorm, they can divide up tasks between each other and produce work where one person may not have had the time.
4. Online Socials
I cannot emphasize enough how important socials are during this time. We can’t go outside and we can’t see our friends, and this can be really hard on people who rely on their social circles to help them when they’re feeling down. Something as simple as watching a movie together on Netflix party, having a themed dinner over zoom, or playing card games together through the computer can help people get that socialization that they
5. Keep Things as Normal as Possible
Don’t panic, don’t force activity upon those who can’t handle it during this time, and be patient. You are the leader of your org and the face your members look upon when things go a bit haywire. I know it’s hard to be the strong one in a situation that flips your world upside down as much as theirs, but it’s worth it when you can make a difference in your member’s lives by staying positive and helping keep a sense of normalcy in their lives.
And to those who are members reading this and not leaders, remember that your leaders are trying their hardest. They are going to be stressed. Be easy on them, help them when things get difficult. You can encourage your fellow members just as much and, hey, leaders need people to be there for them too.
Maybe you don’t usually write, but you have the free time so why not use this time to learn something new? Have an idea for a social or a post on instagram? Don’t be afraid to pitch it and help out in areas you may not be a part of. I promise you, it’ll help a lot. Be there for your fellow members as well, we all can do our part in helping spread positivity and helping the org stay afloat.
We love you and we are so happy to have you with us during these tough times. Be safe, good luck, and go out there and empower your chapter to do great things.