photo courtesy of Stanley Morales on pexels.com
By Kate Lindsey-Hunter, Patrick Eiland, Shaniece McGhee and Anna Messick,
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — As Auburn University at Montgomery students return from winter break, whether they live on campus or not, last Tuesday in Taylor Center, the overall opinion was that outdoor activities for mental health were the way to go.
Some commuting students and residents shared opinions on how to spice up college life when asked, “What events and campus activities would you like to see AUM bring to life?”
“I think a concert would be fun, some concert on campus where it’s like family-friendly,” said Lucas Huckabee, senior information systems major.
Students in the Global Education Center (GEC) and the bookstore shared a multitude of ideas that could encourage campus activity. Ideas included waterslides, water-gun or Nerf-gun flights, concerts, carnival events, a biking club, a petting zoo, tutoring groups, and even some community service events.
Chanelle Williams, a sophomore human resource management (HR) major, seemed to lean more into events that incorporate childlike activity, like bounce houses. ”We focus on everyone else’s energy, rather than tapping into our childlike energy.” She suggested that these less serious events could help students’ mental health.
As published on phys.org, the Pennsylvania State University Student Affairs Center for Collegiate Mental Health, in 2024 reported that students were 51% less likely to withdraw from school while using campus mental health services “if they experienced improvement in academic distress and were simultaneously involved in extracurricular activity.” This study shows the importance of having fun on campus.
Among the more playful activity suggestions from students, junior kinesiology major Joe White suggested “AUM slides.” White said, “I want them to put slides on the roof and we can hop on and slide on the slides on the quad. I don’t care what the slide is, I just want to go down a slide.”
While many students see events as driven by “free food,” freshman communication major Kaylee Carter highlighted an opportunity to offer students help in other ways.
“Mental health is a big thing,” Carter said. “We have different clubs for different interests, like creative writing clubs, but we don’t have things for people who are struggling.”
Many students mutually agreed on putting community engagement at the forefront when planning these events. Ethan Johnston, junior marketing major, noted the idea of incorporating “something that just gets people on campus.”
AUM students are looking beyond typical gatherings in hopes of more events centered around finding connection and bringing together the campus community.
Whether it be an outlet for mental health or good old-fashioned fun, the Student Affairs office offers a variety of activities on campus, including the upcoming Homecoming Week festivities starting Monday, Feb. 2, at 8 a.m. with the Homecoming Court Campaign and Chancellor’s Cup.
