Last week, Belmont Today, an Instagram account dedicated to student life at and around Belmont University, came up with the idea to create a TikTok challenge on Instagram for students to participate in during online learning. Sophomore public health major Jaylen Palmer led a simple choreographed dance to the upbeat song “Sunday Best” by Surfaces and encouraged fellow students to post themselves performing the dance.
Palmer began the post with an introduction then selected the song and dance, challenging five of her friends to do it themselves. Before the day was over, people from all over Belmont’s community were rising to the challenge, spreading joy and togetherness all across social media.
“I didn’t expect so many people to participate,” said Palmer. “It was so cool to see everyone having so much fun with it. From people teaching it to their parents to people dressing up in costumes, they really made this TikTok dance their own.”
Sophomore design communications major Carrie Neville posted herself performing the dance and has particularly appreciated this community during this time. This semester, she was supposed to be studying abroad in Florence, Italy, but her time abroad was cut short due to the pandemic. “I have such a huge fire in my heart for Belmont after having gone through what I did in Italy,” Neville shared. “Social media is one of the main ways I’ve been tethered to the Belmont community throughout all of the chaos. I am glad to be safely home, but I miss the Belmont community dearly.”
With social media allowing the Belmont community to stay connected, junior creative and entertainment industries major Domenica Coka has been reminded of how blessed she is to go to a university like Belmont.
“I definitely think this time has proven that even though class work can be stressful, we take for granted how truly blessed we are,” she said. “I am so appreciative of the Belmont faculty and staff who’ve made this transition the best possible. We are very fortunate.”
