WYD? I’m Bored

As the fall semester is coming to a close, many students have complained that this semester has been “boring.” Why is that, and why do I feel differently? Personally, I can understand why this statement is being repeated, but there are other factors that I do not think students are considering. Considering the fact that this year has been the first year without most COVID-19 restrictions, activities have not been the same according to upperclassmen. Freshman seem to be a bit dissatisfied with their first semester as well. As a community, we must ask ourselves what changes can be made, or what we can do to make the spring semester more promising than the fall.
Students are complaining that this semester has been a bit less eventful compared to previous semesters despite the fact that the Student Government Association has had a plethora of events dating back to move in. Events include Jag Nik (Welcome Back Week), Magic on the Bluff, Pretty Wednesday’s, Union Madness, pep rallies, LSU vs. SU week, and, of course, we can not exclude homecoming. During each event on this list, there were tons of well put together events that were planned for the students. There were also events that were planned by other organizations.
We did have events held on campus for students to attend, but as the student body, we must show up for our organizations and campus leaders in order for these events to be enjoyable.As the student body, we must also take responsibility for participating in events that are held on campus. I have noticed that our student body tends to be present for the events that are more party-style, greek-influenced, and non-educational. For example, the Men’s Federation held a ‘Dress for Success’ event to teach our students how to enhance their appearance for interviews and future job opportunities. Although there was a decent turn out, it was nothing compared to the turnout of the “Union Madness” Event.” Union Madness was a carnival-style event that had artist Rob 49 as a special guest. Understandably, more students attended Union Madness, but we also need to understand the importance of attending events that will assist us with moving on to the next level.
We cannot blame the SGA or any organization of that sort if we do not acknowledge outside issues that have affected student life this semester. As mentioned before, students should try their best to attend on campus events. I could imagine how discouraging it could be for our student leaders to put in the hard work to plan and execute events just for an unreasonable amount of students to not show up. We also must revisit the behavior aspect of our students. Without going into much detail, the freshmen, without argument, have made their presence known on this campus.
The SGA President, Carlos Brister, has made statements encouraging our students to act with decorum on our campus multiple times. Social media has taken a heavy toll on our student body, and it has caused division amongst students. Lastly, we have had unfortunate occurrences with gun violence on campus, which has made our student leaders a bit more conscious about the events held on campus as well.
Overall, we must consider outside factors like the rebuild after the effects of COVID-19, lack of attendance from the student body, gun violence, and the decorum of our students as to why this semester could be considered “boring.”