Aaron Berkowitz – General Assignment Writer
Last weekend, here on campus, there was a carnival set up in the quad behind Farnham Hall for students to enjoy. With entertainment such as bouncy houses, graphic t-shirts, and trampolines, there was also staff preparing food from the allotted time of 2-6 p.m.
Cloudy skies and a chance of rain didn’t stop students from attending the festivities and enjoying the assortment of free things that were given away at the carnival. There were games for students to play such as ring toss, popping balloons with darts, and even Down ‘A’ Clown. All of the games that were set up gave students the opportunity to win free SCSU gear and a bunch of other small prizes.
“This was the best turnout we’ve had in a few years and a great way start to this year,” said Cameron Ostafin, 22, a senior at SCSU who was a part of the staff on duty at the carnival, “It’s getting students to interact with each other and hopefully start staying [on campus] for the weekends.”
Some of the staff and upperclassmen that attended the carnival voiced similar opinions about how important they feel it is for new residents to try and spend weekends on campus. “You should really try and give the campus life a chance because if you just keep going back and forth every weekend between home and school you won’t get the full college experience,” said Isaiah Langston, 20, a junior at SCSU who has been a resident since he was a freshman.
Derek Stephenson II, 18, a sophomore at SCSU said, “I hear students say that the campus is dead, but it’s because they go home every weekend. It doesn’t make sense to me. We need to have more big social activities like this so we can create more ways for people to get to know each other.”
The freshmen that attended sounded equally as enthused for the upcoming years as the upperclassmen. Bailey Smith, 18, a freshman at SCSU this year said that although she’s going home this weekend she plans to remain on campus in the future, “The carnival is a lot of fun. I think that we should definitely have more parties and social events [in the future.]”
“Students should definitely take advantage of all the free things that this university has to offer,” said Gene Walker, 21, who is a junior at Southern, “The people who leave on the weekends don’t know what they’re missing. I suggest everyone open up and have positive attitudes so that everyone can have a good time.”
Students should always check their school emails for updates on the latest events that will be held on campus and also how to sign up for organized events off campus as well. Even the events that aren’t free are a lot of fun and are affordable for students to attend and enjoy themselves.
On Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. Drew Carey, who you may recognize from the sitcom, “The Drew Carey Show” or as the host of the popular T.V. show, “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”, is scheduled to do standup comedy appearance at the Lyman Center. The cake boss, Buddy Valastro from TLC’s show “Cake Boss,” is also set to come to campus on Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. to perform some live cake demonstrations and also answer questions from the audience.
It seems like there’s always something going on here at Southern but it’s up to each student to make an effort to find the things they will enjoy doing themselves.
