by Sarah Kim
During my first two years of college, I’d have different “rituals” with a handful of my closest friends. For example, Ilana and I would catch up on life during our weekly Wednesday night dining hall dinners, Paola and I would de-stress on Saturday nights by staying in to watch old 90s movies while eating Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, and Kira and I would try new restaurants off-campus once a month. I appreciated how those rituals made each of my friendships unique in its own way.
But when we became upperclassmen, my friends and I were swamped with work for our majors, and started to juggle school, jobs, and internships, leaving less and less time for our “rituals.” It eventually came to the point where we were barely seeing each other, and we all felt bad that we had no time to hang out anymore. Sure, I completely understood that we all had good intentions and wished that we could afford time to see each other more. But I have to admit that I felt lonely, and that loneliness triggered the onset of my depression.
During my junior year, I reached the peak of my depression, and I felt like I couldn’t reach out to my friends because we weren’t as close as we used to be. This story is not just unique just to me: No matter what stage you are in your life -- middle school, high school, college, work life -- it’s easy to get caught up in our busy schedules and forget to check in with our friends. But it just takes a little effort to show that we love our friends for what makes them and our relationships unique.
You can join a movement of young people who are doing just that in a fun, easy way. Instead of "treat yo self," it's the Treat Yo Friends campaign from DoSomething.org and Takis. They are asking young people, just like you, to make IOU (“I owe you”) activity books for their friends to decrease social isolation. These IOU books will foster new connections between you and your old friends. You can use pre-designed templates or bring out your creativity and design your own! You’ll be tackling social isolation by doing and celebrating the things that make your friends bold and different.
Need creative inspiration? Check out these amazing IOU books DoSomething members have already created!
Julia, 22
Ashley, 20
Carl, 18
Jessica, 19
Ibrahim, 21
My friends and I recently graduated from college, and we are now embarking different journeys in our lives. I plan on giving IOU books to my friends, in the hopes to stay connected with them during our transitions into adulthood. Although we cannot maintain the same rituals we had in college, these IOU books will mark the start of new rituals.
Ilana moved back home to Maryland, so I will go spend Shabbat with her there for a couple of weekends throughout the year. Luckily Paola hasn’t moved too far from me -- she’s in Queens and I’m in Manhattan. So I will invite her to my new apartment and we can resume our Skinny Cow ice cream and movie nights. And Kira moved all the way to Texas to teach elementary school, so I look forward to flying out to her during school breaks and trying out restaurants in her new home!
Join the Treat Yo Friends campaign to reconnect with friends and decrease social isolation. Plus, when you upload a pic of yourself and your friends with your IOU book, you’ll be entered to win one of FIVE $5,000 scholarships! Let’s Do This!
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Sarah Kim is a writer at DoSomething.org. She is a recent graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University, and she will pursue a master’s degree at Columbia Journalism School this fall.