Spin off: college life/activities?

[NHdisneylover]

So the discussion on the going home thread got me wondering what sorts of things do posters' recent or current college students do to be a part of the college community of the larger community of the town they are in for school?

 

[NHdisneylover]

DD lives on campus (along with about a third of the student body--including near all freshmen, it is required).

She is the Residence Hall rep for her dorms, on the Student Council for Exceptional Children, part of the Queer social and advocacy group (who also tend to all go to dinner together after weekly meetings) a member of the local SCA (weekly meetings on campus and once a month in the larger community) and I couple of other things I think, but I cant recall what.

Off campus, she works at the Civic theatre, attends church most Sundays and is about to start leading a Girl Scout troop.

So far as i know the only parties she goes to are of the "build a blanket fort and watch movies" type or school sponsored events like Homecoming or Trunk and Treat and I do not think she has been going to any sporting events (but she did got to a play)

seems she has found a lot of ways to be involved, even on a campus where a lot of kids go home on the weekends

 

[scrapquitler]

So the discussion on the going home thread got me wondering what sorts of things do posters' recent or current college students do to be a part of the college community of the larger community of the town they are in for school?

My daughter participates in the activities of the student drama group (she's a sophomore and one of the officers). She ran the light board during the recent musical, and she is doing it during the next play in December. She works an on campus job in the Theater for the non-student run productions. She actively participates in dorm based activities like movie nights, weekend trips to local activities, and hall council. She also volunteers at things like Open House and accepted students day. She hates football, but she usually goes to the games and sits with the pep club to help cheer for the team. I think she also participated in some kind of outreach thing they do with children in the nearby elementary school, it might have been just something like collecting children's books or something.

She almost always stays on campus on the weekend. The school has done a big push lately of having tons of activities on the weekend to keep kids on campus, since most do tend to go home every weekend (mostly because they live nearby and have jobs).

She does come home one night a week because she continues to take a dance class at the same studio she has danced at since she was a toddler. It's fun for her and she likes having a reason to come home and get some home cooked food and do her laundry.

 

[NHdisneylover]

How neat that she has gotten to dance at the same studio for so long!

 

[scrapquitler]

How neat that she has gotten to dance at the same studio for so long!

It's her 17th year. One of her theater classes this semester is intro to dance. It's just killing her. LOL

 

[Christine]

My son is a volunteer with a campus free-ride service. On some weekends he works with them to pick up and drive students who feel they've had too much to drink or don't want to walk around at night because they feel uneasy. You have to be interviewed and go through a selection process to be in this group and they have their own social activities. I guess it's sort of like a frat/sorority but not quite.

Up until this year, he was an engineering major so he spent a lot of time after class and on weekends working with his engineering group. Now that he got out of that major, he's finding a lot more free time in his new major. I think he just socializes with several friends he's had since freshman year. He was in a smaller dorm and they had a more family atmosphere so he made a lot of good friends there.

 

[Debbie19]

Sports have been a big part of my freshman son's experience. He's been to all the home football games, most of the away game's watch parties, the majority of the volleyball games and plans on going to basketball games. He's also joined a running group that he runs with 2-5 times a week. He is on his dorm stucco. He was on a homecoming committee also. ( which ended up being a lot more work than he expected) He attended a Chinese acrobat show at the school theater but I think it was extra credit for a class. He stays at school most weekends but came in to run a race with his running group. He also came home a couple times to attend our cities professional sporting events. This has really annoyed his younger brother who thought he was going to use the extra ticket to bring a friend. I've went up once to take him to lunch and drop of some printer cartridges and the whole family went to family weekend. He isn't crazy about his roommate so I think that has helped get him out more than he might have if they were more compatible.

 

[jen73]

our daughter is in her last semester at her university...She graduates in Dec, woohooo! But she has made the most of the her time there. She's super involved in their theatre dept. She has been the sound engineer for just about every show and she took a small teaching position with the ISD in the same town teaching Chinese at the elementary school. She is also involved in the Student Government and is a big gamer so plays D&D on some of the weekends. Like another poster mentioned, her university really plans fun activities on the weekends to encourage the students to stay local. I already know she will miss her time there

 

[maxaroni]

My daughter participates in the activities of the student drama group (she's a sophomore and one of the officers). She ran the light board during the recent musical, and she is doing it during the next play in December. She works an on campus job in the Theater for the non-student run productions. She actively participates in dorm based activities like movie nights, weekend trips to local activities, and hall council. She also volunteers at things like Open House and accepted students day. She hates football, but she usually goes to the games and sits with the pep club to help cheer for the team. I think she also participated in some kind of outreach thing they do with children in the nearby elementary school, it might have been just something like collecting children's books or something.

She almost always stays on campus on the weekend. The school has done a big push lately of having tons of activities on the weekend to keep kids on campus, since most do tend to go home every weekend (mostly because they live nearby and have jobs).

She does come home one night a week because she continues to take a dance class at the same studio she has danced at since she was a toddler. It's fun for her and she likes having a reason to come home and get some home cooked food and do her laundry.

You are in New Jersey?? Does you DD go to a state school? When my DS was at a NJ state school they were making a huge effort to keep kids on campus over weekends. Epic fail when he was there.

 

[LisaR]

My DD is a junior. This is her first year living in a house off campus. She is an Honors Mentor, Service Learning Student Ambassador, Communications Director for Student Government, and Communications Director for the student run public relations club. Through that club, she has had the opportunity to travel to multiple conventions and really learn the art of networking. She goes with a group on a regular basis to the Humane Society to play with the dogs. When she lived on campus she did a few intramural sports (she's the least athletic person in the world) and she did a few other things that eventually fell by the wayside. She goes to a few sporting events on campus and does a lot of typical college activities with friends (concerts, parties, game nights, group dinners, etc). She has a paid internship with a major PR firm lined up for the spring semester and it requires quite a few hours a week. I've told her she is going to have to give up some of the other things, but she is ignoring me! lol She said before she went away that she was going to make the most of the experience and she really has.

 

[acebatonfan]

I'm a sophomore nursing student who commutes to school. In all honesty, I don't have enough time to be super involved because of class obligations (simulation labs, field experiences, major out-of-class projects, eventually clinicals). I'm happy if I can squeeze in time for my university's commuter program meetings or the student nurses' organization's meetings.

My university has huge alcohol problems, and they're trying to host more weekend events instead of students going to off-campus parties or bars. They're not worth the half-hour drive up there.

 

[cabanafrau]

OP, sounds like your DD is settling in nicely for a freshman. Good sign for a very successful college experience.

My DD was in hall government when she lived in the dorms. Up until this year she has had season football tickets. She's volunteered at the community gardens and even helped them fix up the greenhouse. She's been involved with various engineering clubs, including working on building a solar vehicle. She works on campus with a research group for a national lab and also assists other teams and manages the facility library and maintains their websites.

Most of her other activities center around her personal social group and they might have a wine tasting night, fierce backgammon tournament or binge on movies or a series on Netflix. They are having a Halloween party this weekend and have already begun planning their Thanksgiving feast for the weekend before the actual holiday (last year's bird was "carved" with samurai and broadswords. Apparently the rumor is this year Edward Scissorhands and a machete wielding computer science major are waiting to take a crack at it.)

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Our college student (sophomore, lives "off campus" across the street from the football practice field) is in the marching band and pep band (for basketball) which takes up a lot of free time. She's also in one club that's related to her major.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I'm a sophomore nursing student who commutes to school. In all honesty, I don't have enough time to be super involved because of class obligations (simulation labs, field experiences, major out-of-class projects, eventually clinicals). I'm happy if I can squeeze in time for my university's commuter program meetings or the student nurses' organization's meetings.

My university has huge alcohol problems, and they're trying to host more weekend events instead of students going to off-campus parties or bars. They're not worth the half-hour drive up there.

Wow, what a demanding program--that even a sophomore has no time to socialize! I hope you are enjoying the work.

Funny, to me, you just inadvertently made a good argument for living on campus: both because losing an hour a day to commuting is likely adding to your lack of time, and because you say the weekend activities are not worth the drive up which (to me) indicates that if you lived right there you would be more likely to get involved.

(not that I think everyone needs to live on campus--but I think it probably benefits more people than not).

 

[MIGrandma]

It's been 15+ years since DD was in college, she went to one about 45-minutes from home. It was a bit difficult for her at first as her best friend from high school was to be her roommate (two girls to a room with a living room between rooms so four in a suite) but she decided not to go to college so at first DD didn't have a roommate at all. Her suitemates knew each other and had boyfriends that lived off campus so she didn't bond with them at all. Eventually she did get a roommate and they got along fine but didn't become good friends.

DD was a journalism major so she worked for the college newspaper. She also participated in our local theater group.

She did come home almost every weekend, as she had a part-time waitressing job here at home to make a little "spending money." After Christmas her freshman year she moved back home, as she detested dorm life, and commuted the rest of the time.

 

[mamacatnv]

My DS is just about done with graduate school, seems like he has been in college for forever. (7.75 years) Even though we lived 8 miles from his university, he lived on or near campus all 5 years of his undergrad. His freshman year he was in a dorm. Many of our friends thought we were nuts to pay that kind of money for him to live "down the road" but we felt the immersion into college life was a worthwhile expense. No regrets.

He was active with dorm activities, the different floors had theme days and events etc. He played a ton of intramural sports, went to a lot of football, basketball and some baseball games. He had an on campus gym membership, worked part time at a sporting goods store, was active in the Republican club and I am sure attended his fair share of campus parties. He met kids with like interests (hunting and paintball) and found time throughout his college career to do both. He successfully petitioned the intramural league to sanction and financially contribute to the Univ. paintball team. He had a great time in college.
Over the years his visits home were less and less, especially when he lived in a house with a washer and dryer!

He attends Grad school in Texas where we moved just before he finished his undergrad. He technically lives with us but between classmates couches and a girlfriend we rarely see him. His interest have changed and his school is all about his studies, its not about parties and football games but he is still heavily involved as the student President and is a T.A. for the Anatomy lab. He is now almost 26 years of age and his social life is very different from that of a college freshman but I think his experiences have contributed to a well rounded, well grounded young man who is ready and prepared to enter "adult life"

My DD's best childhood friend is currently a Freshman in college. She went about 600 miles from home and is not living on campus, she is living in a cottage on Grandpa's property. She is so lonely, I feel bad for her. Because she is not on campus and is in a strange town, she does nothing but go to class and return to her cottage. My DD and I are both working on her to move so that she is on campus but whether it comes about remains to be seen. For her sake, I hope she makes it happen. So far her college experience has been a lonely one and that makes me sad for her. I have known her since she was born and this is not what she envisioned when she want away to school. I realize she should make more effort to become involved but for some kids the forced immersion of campus life makes it easier to become involved and when left to their own devices they often struggle.

IMO College is more than just what kids learn in a classroom, there are friendships and experiences to add to their lives. They learn so much about navigating the world, learning to amuse themselves and learning to be independent.

 

[rszdtrvl]

My son lives at home (gasp!) and is in his first year of community college.
He is aiming to transfer in a couple years to transfer and get his degree in Sports Management, focusing in basketball.

He is taking a full course load at college, and is the student manager for the basketball team.

 

[scrapquitler]

You are in New Jersey?? Does you DD go to a state school? When my DS was at a NJ state school they were making a huge effort to keep kids on campus over weekends. Epic fail when he was there.

No, she's at a state school in CT (Not UConn). Only about 1/3 of the students live on campus, the rest are commuters, and at Orientation last year, they said that like 80% of the kids go home on the weekends. They are trying hard to plan more activities to keep kids on campus, I don't know if it's working or not. Last year the main dining area closed after dinner on Friday and didn't re-open until Sunday morning (there was a smaller food court in the student center that was open then), but part of the effort to keep students on campus meant that they changed it this year, and the main dining area is open all weekend now, so that might help.

 

[LisaR]

No, she's at a state school in CT (Not UConn). Only about 1/3 of the students live on campus, the rest are commuters, and at Orientation last year, they said that like 80% of the kids go home on the weekends. They are trying hard to plan more activities to keep kids on campus, I don't know if it's working or not. Last year the main dining area closed after dinner on Friday and didn't re-open until Sunday morning (there was a smaller food court in the student center that was open then), but part of the effort to keep students on campus meant that they changed it this year, and the main dining area is open all weekend now, so that might help.

When we toured schools, I was VERY surprised that most seemed to fall into the suitcase college description. When we toured the school DD ended up attending, we went to an open house on a Saturday and the campus was dead with the exception of the people there for the open house. It was a beautiful day and I expected to see people on the lawn playing catch, kids in the dorm hallways, groups of kids in the main cafeteria, but instead it was frighteningly empty. That was a real turnoff for me because DD was too far away to come home every weekend. Thankfully, she was able to make friends quickly, but the one thing I noticed is that 98% of her friends are from out of state because so many in-state students went home so she had to get to know all the out of state kids.

 

[barkley]

dd's a junior-she's in the gamer's club (video, d&d , board games and cards), a computer science majors club and an improv performance group. she attends quite a few of the college activities that the entertainment division of the university offers and has participated in a few. she's pretty busy w/school and work these days but she tries each year to be available to serve on the evaluation panels for her former high school's annual senior project presentations. she also likes to go to the student karaoke and trivia nights at the local pub.