College is supposed to be some of the best years of our
lives right? So then why is that the
majority of students at Framingham State University go home on the
weekends? I mean we should be indulging in these
years. There will never be another time
like this. But still-- we, as students,
consistently pack our bags and head home on the weekends. So I ask why?
Well, to answer my own question: it can be boring as hell around here over the weekend.
It baffles me.
Framingham is such a rich area with so many opportunities, yet we still
go home. There are a few events through
school that keep people on campus, but apparently there aren’t enough. If there were, I would assume it would not be
so boring thus it would not be so dead come the weekend. I know events are not easily organized, but I
think this school needs a new outlook for them to keep more students
around. I recently went on a bus trip to
New York that the school offered. It was
great. I believe it happens twice a year
and each time the tickets sell like crazy.
I have noticed more events like this being offered, so maybe action is
being taken to change the way things are.
If so, hopefully these new adventures being offered through school can
help to encourage students to stay on campus over the weekends.
Granted everything is only what we make of it, but it can be
hard to create things to do: especially when you’re one of only a few friends,
if any, left on campus. With more events
and more promoting for events, students
will be encouraged to stay on campus over the weekends. As I said, I do notice that there seems to be
a bigger effort for events to be offered to students. With these new events, there should also be
new tactics in promoting these events.
It is not always easy to find out about these events. It can partly be because students are not
always attentive to the posters around campus, but if that is the case, maybe
we need to find a new way to publicize what is being offered.
I would like to point out that if students are not staying
on campus over the weekends, there is clearly a problem. With new events should come more publicity
for these events. When implemented, the
direct result will hopefully be that students have a greater desire to stay on
campus over the weekends. After all, we
are paying to live here anyways.
I could not agree more. When I came to Framingham my freshman year in the Fall of 09, I has absolutely no idea FSU was a "suitcase school". My first few weeks were rough, so I went home cause I did not know what else to do. I soon found friend that felt the same way as me, and not I stay pretty much every weekend.
ReplyDeleteSince 2009, I will say that more and more activities and events have been offered on the weekends, causing more students to stay on the weekends. Also, with the addition of North Hall, and more students on campus this year I have noticed more students here on the weekends than ever.
I totally agree. I remember going on a tour before I decided to come here and someone asked specifically if a lot of people stayed on campus on the weekends, and our guides answer was yes. So of course when I came here in the fall of '08, I was shocked to find out that was NOT the case. It's really sad (in my opinion) especially if you are a freshman, going home every weekend is only going to make the separation harder. I didn't go home much at all my first year at college because of that fact: I was worried that if I did I would never get used to the idea of being on my own and I wouldn't feel comfortable here. Meeting awesome friends that year (that I still have 4 years later) made it even easier to get used to college life too, so I would definitely say staying on the weekend is beneficial in the long run. I completely agree that the lack of activities was practically a push out the door, however it's encouraging that they're coming up with more activities and events for students to participate in.
ReplyDeleteI don't currently, nor have I ever lived on campus while attending college. But I have a younger sister who just started her year at Bridgewater State and she came home EVERY weekend... I think for the most part new students have a very large mis-conception about College. T.V. & Movies over glorify and give a false portrayal of what college is actually like. Everyone thinks they are "being set free" from their parents who they have been taking for granted and just don't know it yet, and feel on top of the world. While everyone reacts differently to separation, the bottom line is when most people go off to college they are 18 maybe 19 years old. They have NO REAL WORLD life experience and think they can handle anything.... SURPRISE not true.
ReplyDeleteI think the emptying of campus is because of a developed habit by students. Freshmen are SO excited to leave home, and the SOUND of going off to college is amazing in theory, then Mom's not cooking dinner everynight & your "BFF's" aren't around, you spend your life living and growing up in your home. Taking off to college scares people to death sometimes, & there is nothing wrong with that. Some people have never been away from home, so being able to leave on the weekend is a way for them to get a home cooked meal, see their friends back home, just fall back into the same routine they had before school even if only for 2days. With this habit being so common for all class levels, the Freshmen pick up on it & it simply becomes a habit.... Going home on the weekends becomes part of your college experience.
I think it is a bit of a waste that so many people are weekend ghosts & there is certainly more the school could do to reach out to students. Putting up posters or sending out e-mails just isn't effective enough, it only reaches a very VERY small number of students. Perhaps Professors making announcements at the end of class during which they passed out flyers to students interested in participating in whatever the event/activity. Posters are too easy to walk by & e-mails.... Those get deleted in a heart beat. If my professor took 5 mins at the end of any of my classes to talk about an event/trip/activity WHATEVER, I would be MUCH more likely to look further into it. A few minute explaination & "Here's a flyer for those of you that are interested" is all it takes. I think that would be ONE or what could be dozens of methods to get students attention.
Why would you be more likely to look further into a weekend event if a professor took time to talk about it?
DeleteBecause no one stops to look at posters that are up, nor do people read the e-mails that are sent out. I just personally feel that if a professor was to discuss with the class weekend events that are taking place on campus more students would actually know about the events taking place. I don't live on campus, and I honestly have NO CLUE where to look to even find out what events are taking place over the weekends. Perhaps if it was mentioned by professors more people would hear about it. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteUm... Maybe http://calendar.framingham.edu ?
ReplyDelete