2008 Woodie Awards
Students: stick around, you may have some fun
Ian Parker '10
Issue date: 12/1/06 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Every weekend, an amazing thing happens here at St. Joe's. All of the people disappear, turning the campus into a sort of ghost town. Often, the only people seen are those who live too far away to go home on weekends. If you live close to campus, though, you probably haven't seen this effect because you've been too busy spending time at home.
The sad result of this is that it turns our college into a sort of suitcase school - busy during the week and especially during classes, but lifeless during the most important times, when everyone should be out and about, playing sports, hanging out around campus, or just lounging around a friendly game of pool in the Hawk Rock. The fact that we don't have these things going on deprives this campus of some of the life and spirit that other schools have in abundance. Additionally, it negatively impacts those students who leave, by denying them the opportunity to make more friends and develop more contacts at this school.
The ghost town that this school becomes during weekends may even have a negative impact on next year's crop of students. Any high school student who comes here on the weekend will see a landscape of trees, buildings, walkways - anything other than students. It is the students who make a college what it is, and when a college is deficient in them it broadcasts itself negatively. Who knows what caliber of student may decide to go to some other college, all because they couldn't find the students and the experience they were expecting?
The reason most students came to college was probably to get the education necessary for a good job. The reason we were all looking forward to it, though, was very different. We were anticipating making new friends and participating in some of the opportunities that a dynamic and interesting college experience could offer us. What happens when the school empties out during the weekends is definitely not that experience.
It is not too late to participate in this vision, though. There are many things to do during weekends. SJU 'til 2, for instance, comes up with original activities every Friday and Saturday night until two in the morning. Every weekend there are several sports going on, ranging from Ultimate Frisbee to soccer to basketball. Most of these games are just for fun, and all anyone need do is ask to join. If getting out and doing something physical is not a person's style, then he or she can walk down to the Hawk Rock and watch a movie, TV show, or the Eagles destroying whoever they happen to be playing that day.
If more people were around during the weekend, this range of choices would certainly increase. We would all meet more people and have more fun while doing it. Go ahead and give it a try. Leave those suitcases in your closet this weekend and see what happens if everyone tries to make that college dream a reality.
The sad result of this is that it turns our college into a sort of suitcase school - busy during the week and especially during classes, but lifeless during the most important times, when everyone should be out and about, playing sports, hanging out around campus, or just lounging around a friendly game of pool in the Hawk Rock. The fact that we don't have these things going on deprives this campus of some of the life and spirit that other schools have in abundance. Additionally, it negatively impacts those students who leave, by denying them the opportunity to make more friends and develop more contacts at this school.
The ghost town that this school becomes during weekends may even have a negative impact on next year's crop of students. Any high school student who comes here on the weekend will see a landscape of trees, buildings, walkways - anything other than students. It is the students who make a college what it is, and when a college is deficient in them it broadcasts itself negatively. Who knows what caliber of student may decide to go to some other college, all because they couldn't find the students and the experience they were expecting?
The reason most students came to college was probably to get the education necessary for a good job. The reason we were all looking forward to it, though, was very different. We were anticipating making new friends and participating in some of the opportunities that a dynamic and interesting college experience could offer us. What happens when the school empties out during the weekends is definitely not that experience.
It is not too late to participate in this vision, though. There are many things to do during weekends. SJU 'til 2, for instance, comes up with original activities every Friday and Saturday night until two in the morning. Every weekend there are several sports going on, ranging from Ultimate Frisbee to soccer to basketball. Most of these games are just for fun, and all anyone need do is ask to join. If getting out and doing something physical is not a person's style, then he or she can walk down to the Hawk Rock and watch a movie, TV show, or the Eagles destroying whoever they happen to be playing that day.
If more people were around during the weekend, this range of choices would certainly increase. We would all meet more people and have more fun while doing it. Go ahead and give it a try. Leave those suitcases in your closet this weekend and see what happens if everyone tries to make that college dream a reality.
Be the first to comment on this story