Campus Activities

If you remember at your orientation, you were told how important it is to get involved on campus and the benefits you can receive by doing so. If you went through orientation this summer, you might remember Grace telling you about the awesome experiences she’s had, and the conferences she’s gotten to attend, through the Anthropology Club. At the beginning of the month, I got to attend a conference for one of the clubs that I’m in, the Campus Activities Board (CAB).

CAB is the programming board here on campus and we bring students, staff, faculty, and the community free events, like movie nights, game shows, novelty items, and more. One of the conferences that we attend each year is the NACA Mid-America Regional Conference. NACA is the National Association for Campus Activities and they host regional conferences throughout the nation for programming boards to attend and find acts.

This year, NACA MAM was held in Grand Rapids and our E-Board spent five days together looking for new performers and activities to bring to campus. Agencies and performers from all over the country come together and present their talent during different showcases and “camps” throughout the day. Here we get to see how the performers perform live versus watching DVDs and it’s an opportunity to interact with the performer in-person and get a feel for them before bringing them to campus. This was my second time attending NACA MAM and it was a great experience for me, especially now that I want to go in to Student Affairs, and maybe into some aspect of Student Life.

We had a blast during this trip, checking out a lot of up-and-coming talent, and we even booked three acts for next semester. To our privileged readers, you get to see the line-up before the rest of the student body. 🙂

– Samuel J. Comroe – February 5
Sam’s a hilarious comedian from Los Angeles who I’ve actually seen on NBC before, so it was great to get to see him
perform life and meet him during camp. (PS. He was on Conan a few weeks ago!)
– Xclusive – February 19
Xclusive, aka Kenneth Paryo, is a comedian/dancer who you may have seen on America’s Got Talent or So You Think You Can Dance. He’s amazing!
– The Asia Project – March 19
These two blew all of our minds during showcase at the conference.  They’re a spoken word group and they’ve got a great message.

Morals of the story: Take advantage of all of the clubs or organizations we have to offer on campus. Whether you join a club related to your major or a club just because you love Harry Potter, it’s a great way to get to know people and further explore your interests, and maybe even travel. Also, be sure to check out some of the great events that are hosted for students on campus. There’s always some event going on here, and you definitely don’t want to miss out!