How many times have you asked the question, “What is there to do on campus?”
And how many times have you complained how there is “nothing to do on campus,”? Well my question to you is… have you looked?
As anyone who knows me can tell you, I am very involved on campus. In my various activities, I work hard to put on programs, promote them and make them fun for students.
My first question to students who complain about how there is supposedly nothing to do on campus is “What do you want to see happen here?”, a question that is usually followed by a blank stare and maybe some awkward mumbling about food. Here is the problem. Complaining about a problem without ever bothering to offer a solution really doesn’t help solve it.If you are not interested in what you see happening on campus, go to someone who is involved, write a letter, form your own club, do whatever to make campus more fun for you.
The next question I ask is “Well, did you hear about… whatever event is coming up?”, which is also often followed with a blank stare. How can you say there is nothing to do on campus when you obviously haven’t been looking for something? There are posters, Facebook events, chalking etc. all over campus, with every organization from APB to the Spanish Club to International Club promoting their new events, and yet somehow quite a few students seem to miss these advertisements. It can be pretty frustrating when you put time, effort and a lot of your budget into a program and no one even bothered showing up (students are far too busy sitting in their rooms complaining about how bored they are), and when you mention it to them you get, yet again, blank stares. And to be fair, some of the blame is on the organizations, especially when it comes to promotion. Some students really are looking for things to do, but have trouble knowing where to look for information.
A big issue here seems to be miscommunication between students and student organizations. Organizations have trouble figuring out how to advertize, and students have trouble finding the advertising that does get put out. That being said, there are still way too many students here who just tend towards apathy and complaining. Students laugh at students who are trying to make a difference on campus and complain about how “lame” everything is and “what college student wants to do that?” without ever offering an opinion on what they would actually be interested in. So here is my advice to students who think there is nothing to do on campus. Look around! Join campus organization’s Facebook groups and don’t ignore event invites.
Heck, join organizations. Then you will always know what they`re doing, because you are the one planning it. Read bulletin boards, read the list of campus events on the website, stay active and stay informed. Just last week, we had sports games, movies, lectures, cooking classes, craft programs, a magician, fundraisers, art shows and a play – all on campus, and almost entirely free.
What were you doing last week?