Like many of us, on Wednesday, Feb. 4 I heard fire trucks. As I left the library I saw that P6 was full of fire trucks, police cars and that smoke was coming from the facilities garage. While there, I saw my friends and we were all talking about what was happening and also catching up, all while watching the firefighters hacked their way into the garage. We were one of many groups of students watching this, everchanging with the cold and other commitments. But, as I was watching I saw one group disperse and heard the phrase “Nice to meet you.” It got me thinking of my past four years on campus and how much I have seen the campus shift. This event was a surprisingly good way to meet people.
A fire on campus is not normal, contrary to the campus safety emails we got last semester. Like many of my peers, I am on the e-board for some sort of club on campus. We are all struggling to get new members to join or even attend our events. I have received emails from clubs I am a part of about having to disband unless someone steps up to the leadership, but it all seems futile. So many of us are putting in so much effort. While there are people showing up, the expected number is not the same as it used to be. I am not saying everyone has to go to every event, but it is not uncommon to hear from my friends that our clubs have a low turnout. I think the biggest turnouts I have seen are at the various bingo events (which makes sense, bingo is a lot of fun).
I think all of us are guilty in some form or another of being nervous in a new situation. I know I just signed up for a MySNC event that I was putting off because there were only a few other people, but then I sat back and realized: I really want to do this event. We are only in college for about four years and we get unique experiences in that time. I know that I am graduating, so I want to make the most of it because events are also where we meet people. Our possible future friends and rivals are at these events. They build a sense of communio, the word we all remember from orientation. From the events I have gone to, communio is why I smile when I see someone I vaguely remember.
Our campus is our community, and I think we need to realize that to build our community, to have other people to rely on and even just get to know, we need to put ourselves out there more. We cannot just wait for another fire for us to meet people. Go to an event you want to go to and keep our campus alive. I know I am already planning what events I want to go to because this is the time to try things out. Low risk, high reward.