You've got to get out more often
      by Jay

        Firstday, September 15, 2002 - 4:44 MM

  For my inaugural rant I'm going to discuss something that has bothered me over  my last two years at Henderson.   Why does everyone complain about how bored they are with this city/college and then refuse to do anything to remedy the situation?    I've been talking to quite a few freshmen lately and each one has replied in a similar fashion.  "I wish I could meet more people", "I'm so bored here, there is nothing to do", and "Oh, I wasn't here, I went home over the weekend"  were all common answers among the freshmen I talked with.  I'm a firm believer of "life is what you make of it" so I pushed the freshmen for answers on how they have tried to overcome this boredom, and you know what I found?  They did nothing. 

"Did you go to the street dance last night?" I would ask.
"No, I didn't know anybody there so I stayed in my room and watched TV"  was the the reply. 

  While I don't have problem with people staying in their rooms for some private time (heck, most of this site was created in just one day because I refused to go anywhere or do anything social) I do have  problem with people using it as an excuse for not fixing a problem they are complaining about.  How are you suppose to meet new people if you choose to isolate yourself from everyone each day?  No one is going to go door to door in the dorms to meet each person who locks themselves in their room (then again, I wouldn't mind going door to door in Smith, now if only I could get past those pesky desk workers).  If you are going to complain about being lonely at college at least try to meet new people as you come across them.   This is the South, we have stereotypes to meet!  The next time you are walking to class and you pass someone on the sidewalk don't look at the ground and shy away as they pass, look at them in the eyes and give them a hearty hello.  Don't worry, they won't bite (well I might, but that's a whole 'nother story), and you might even brighten up their day.  Also, SAB does plan some great events on campus so why not attend them?  It sure beats being lonely in the room, even if you don't know anyone.  If someone attends each event held on campus  then I doubt they will be lonely and bored for very long.  You are bound to meet someone to talk with and hang out sooner or later, so try to leave your room and don't wait for others to come find you.  
   As for the weekends, yes I agree this place does get pretty boring, but do you know why that happens?  Because everyone assumes it's going to be boring and goes home for the weekend.  One freshmen mentioned this the other day: "If everyone actually decided to stay on campus during a weekend then it wouldn't be so boring".  Seriously people, is it so boring here that going home is the most interesting thing you can do?   I don't know about you but when I am at home I am seriously bored because all of my cool toys are at Henderson and all of my hometown friends are at their respective colleges.  Sure it is nice to see the family again, and it's good to mooch supplies/money from the parents, but do you need to do it every weekend?  Make a plan to stay here for one weekend with a few of your friends and then go try one of the many entertaining activities you can do in this town:  go to the Rock, chat with people at Thrios, watch movies in your rooms, flirt with people of the opposite sex, play some games (video, board, or athletic), sit and chat at the gazebos, or go hang out at the lake.  Some of the best weekends I've had at Henderson involved my friends and I doing many of the activities described above.   When was the last time you played capture the flag across the campus?  or played a 5-person  game of cutthroat pool?  or swung 20 feet in the air and fell into a lake.  Each of these are things I have done recently, why haven't you? 
    Finally, if you can't make the important decision of what to do yourself then get me to do it.  If you are really bored then E-mail  me and I'll try to reply to you as quick as I can (unfortunately, since I don't have very much free time this year, it might take a little longer than usual).  Currently I am in the process of creating a new HSU group call Reddies All Night for those of you who do decide to stay around during the weekend.  Each Friday night I usually stay up watching movies or participating in some activity with the friends who stick around during the weekend.  In Reddies All Night we will be doing the same thing but everyone is invited.  Each Friday we will plan an activity such as a campus-wide Capture the Flag game, or an all night movie marathon (we have the equipment, why not use it?). Some Fridays we might take over a computer lab (with proper permission of course) and play some LAN games (Warcraft 3 anyone?), or maybe connect a Playstation 2 to the widescreen projector and play some multiplayer games on a wall.  Quite frankly it doesn't matter what we do, just as long as it removes your boredom.  Since I do this each weekend anyways I doesn't matter to me if 3 people or 100 people show up, I'm going to do have fun either way. And at least it gives you an option to do something on a Friday night other than sitting alone in the room.  If you think this is a good idea then E-mail  me and tell me some ideas about what you want to do. 
    So the next time I hear you complaining about being bored in Henderson, you better have a good reason to back it up because you now have the tools to remove that boredom at your disposal.  And if everything else fails, just call me up and bug me. At least you will be somewhat social.