Opinion
Students overlook interesting places on campus without thought
November 5, 2009
Late one night sophomore year, I looked and said, “So, do you think you have to be a broadcast communications major to host a radio show here on campus?”
After a few e-mails and conversations with people around campus, I realized that indeed, any student can apply for and host their own radio show.
Score! Thanks to a little research back then, I’m currently running a show this semester with a fine modern gentleman, Mr. Kevin Duzynski. Selfish plug, I know.
The point is that there are so many awesome things on this campus that students have available to them, but many have no idea that these opportunities even exist. Let me fill you in on but a few little gems around campus that I’ve come to enjoy over my past years at UWRF.
Let me begin with a place that I tend to hang around at least once or twice a week. The music department here on campus is located in the basement of KFA, and has many great programs for the music major/minors to use. One thing that I think is fantastic is the availability of the practice rooms to use.
Most of the rooms have one, sometimes two, pianos for people to practice on. Now if you, as I do, have any personal interest in music, or learning something like piano, this is obviously a fantastic perk. There are time slots on each door of the practice rooms for people to reserve. If there is no one signed up on the list, and the room is vacant, you have a beautiful instrument at your fingertips to toy around on. From other music majors that I’ve talked to on different campuses, it seems that the music area is on sort of a lockdown with only access to people who are majors or minors. Personally, I think we’re pretty lucky to have something like that.
Now, playing the hypothetical game of course, if you’re a freshman on campus right now, what are the chances that you’ve looked into “Global Connections?” My guess is probably pretty slim. The Global Connections office is located in Hagestad Hall, and you’ve probably walked right on by it without even thinking twice on your way to grab textbooks. The Global Connections here on campus is absolutely amazing, and I can say that from experience. I’ve been so lucky as to do a semester at California State University-Monterey Bay all because my curiosity led me to go in and ask some questions. The staff is incredibly helpful, upbeat and willing to answer anything you can think of to ask. For the most part, people like to travel, and I
imagine most everyone’s interest is sparked when it comes to talking about getting a chance to spend a semester in a totally different environment.
Perhaps Scotland or maybe even New Zealand would be the place you’d want to go. I’m going to go ahead and vouch for Global Connections, staff and programs wise, because I believe that every student should at least look into the opportunities to travel.
Lastly, out of all the other countless things I could be telling you about, I’ll discuss Career Services. I came into college “knowing” exactly what I wanted to do with ßmy life, but when the day came that I realized I needed a change, I had no idea how to go about looking for my “right fit.” Luckily, I turned to Career Services.
It’s a very unsettling feeling not having any idea what you want to do, potentially, for the rest of your life. After discussing the issues I needed to discuss, as well as attend a few events sponsored by CS (for example, mock interviews and “portfolio building”), I felt like I had actually landed my feet on the ground. Not to mention, unless you take a few different professional and/or business writing classes, you may have no idea how to properly build a resume, get references, or write a proper cover letter. Well, Career Services will help with all of that stuff too.
There are clearly so, so many things for students to figure out and discover in and around campus. I didn’t even scratch the surface with my three examples, but believe me when I say that UWRF has so many things that will fit almost anyone’s personality, desires and goals.
Until next time, I’ll be down in the piano rooms chilling with Mozart and Billy Joel.