When college and university classrooms shut down in March 2020, never did students imagine it would be two years before they returned to campus. In that two-year period, students have pursued their studies but lost many social benefits of human connection that can only be made face to face.
That's why a group of Centennial College public relations students are partnering with The GenWell Project, the human connection movement, to lead this year's Face-to-Face February campaign, a 28-day social media challenge that encourages people to take action to get socially connected. Twenty-eight daily prompts, designed in consultation with social health experts, will help students warm up their social muscles and ease back into in-person situations. The daily challenges (Wordle but for human connection!) will be posted each morning on the GenWell Project's Instagram, Facebook and Twitter platforms.
Participants are encouraged to post photos or videos of themselves performing the daily challenges using the hashtag #FaceToFaceFeb and tagging @GenWellProject. Weekly prizes will be drawn for participants!
Return to campus means Face-to-Face
This year's campaign could not be more timely. "With Omicron wave restrictions beginning to lift in Ontario, many post-secondary students are preparing for a return to campus," says Pete Bombaci, The GenWell Project's founder and executive director. "But the need for human connection isn't limited to our province. The GenWell Project wants to inspire students across Canada to take daily steps to strengthen their social connections while demonstrating the link between social health and wellbeing."
"As a class, we've been able to make new friends using technology, but it just isn't the same," Kathy Yang, a student who is part of the campaign, explains. "We all want to get back, but we're feeling anxious about being around other humans face-to-face while staying safe. We're just out of practice."
Indeed, Leger's 2021 North American tracker, a web survey based on a representative sample of 1,624 Canadians, suggests 62 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 34 feel anxious about resuming a post-pandemic normal – and that includes returning to campus, or for some, starting a new job without ever meeting new colleagues in person.
"We know connecting with others face-to-face improves our happiness and health, a message that people are paying more attention to now, at the end of the global pandemic," says Bombaci. "Even though getting back face-to-face is important for students, it will be a challenge for many due to continuing fears of Covid-19 or the anxiety that may come as a result of not being socially active for such a long period of time. Now more than ever, we can all be part of helping each other as we get back to campus and get reconnected."
A team of Centennial College public relations students launched the award-winning Face-to-Face February campaign in 2020 to facilitate human interaction through technology. Shortly after the campaign wrapped up, COVID-19 changed everything, making it harder to connect in person.
About The GenWell Project
The GenWell Project is a human connection movement whose mission is to make the world a happier and healthier place by reminding people about the importance of face-to-face social connection and inspiring them to take action and create healthy ongoing connection habits. Join the movement, bring your community together, become a generator of great conversations and connections in your life and in the lives of others. The GenWell Project.