Stress relief in the form of fun, SMU Spring Fest 2018

The rain, clouds and wind showed up right in time to blow the party inside. Students strapped with fanny packs filled the rec ready to conquer the inflatable obstacle course, embrace their inner child in the human hamster wheels, fight to prove their strength in the inflatable basketball tug of war, and laugh until they are out of breath on the giant slide. Spring fest is an afternoon of stress relieving, adolescent activities, to ease students before dead week and finals shows up on the calendar.

This year spring fest was catered by Puget Sound Entertainment, Bon Appetite and campus life. Upon arrival, students’ hands were marked with a looming “x” in sharpie to signify they received their freebies. The hot item this year was a standard red fanny pack with the logo “we wear red, Saint Martin’s University” written in white font across the front. Inside your new hip accessory were tickets for shaved ice, a spring fest decal sticker and some candy. Students had enough activities to fill two hours of fun before the bands started their concert. The last two spring fest celebrations have hosted bands. This year, the two bands X Lovers and Saro.

The Charneski Recreation Center began to resemble an elementary school playground as students tumbled inside a human hamster ball to get to the finish line. Winners emerged with victory in their words, and nausea showing on their face.

Springfest was once a large celebration, and it has been a goal to bring it back to life, grow excitement, and make it a staple for students to look forward to annually. The engagement is not just through friendly competition in the inflatable toys or by eating with your peers, but in the club booths. Elizabeth Rumball, Assistant Director of Campus Life oversees the student PRO’s and explained, “In terms of this year it was strategically planned as a celebration for the start of good weather and an opportunity for the student body to celebrate the past year as well as the end of the school year. We showcased that celebration of the school year by inviting the clubs to have booths with games and showcasing their success and accomplishments within the last year.” The REC’s indoor track was transformed from a workout area to an involvement fair with many of SMU’s student run clubs holding booths and handing out little freebies. Some of the clubs included, cheerleading squad, the Belltower student run newspaper, Pre-Health club, and the archery club. Freshman Kaycee Selga, part of the Belltower, explained “I really do enjoy having all the clubs there and advocating for their passions.”

Who needs the Washington State Fair when on campus catering provides all the fair food favorites? Students stuffed themselves with carnival goodies including popcorn, cotton candy and shaved ice. Regretfully, of course, after a turn in the hamster ball.

Due to Washington weather being notoriously wet and windy in the spring, it was nearly impossible to hold the celebration outdoors. On the day of the event, the entire programming team came together to reconfigure it to be indoors. However, they were not alone in coordinating the change. Student volunteers helped manage the move and events inside. Selga volunteered and was set to oversee the inflatable obstacle course. “I enjoyed being able to volunteer as a freshman and be able to participate in so many fun events” Selga said.

Everything at Spring Fest was planned by students to create an engaging event. The bands were chosen after hearing about them through an agency that SMU Campus Life worked with earlier in the semester. Campus Life also attends an annual talent conference with the student programmers called NACA West, where they get to work with other student programmers and exchange event ideas. Rumball lead the student programmers through the programming, logistics, creative thoughts and making big ideas a reality. Student programmer, sophomore Andrew Garcia gave an inside perspective on what it’s like to plan such a large program. “For springfest we were all assigned to the project. It was a chance to put all our creativity into one event and work together. As a commuter and student programmer, involvement on campus has soared and it’s super easy to get into the involvement culture!” With the collaborative efforts of five student PRO’s, they came together to execute a plan for the entire event. By having students plan an event for their peers, with the guidance of professionals, the hope is the create a hype big enough that more students will attend each year. “It’s fun doing the planning but stressful when students don’t turn out… it’s actually a really hard job to program and execute these ideas. Springfest was one of the biggest events this year” Garcia said.

Social justice was not pushed aside for the Spring Fest. With sexual assault awareness and support t-shirts strung along the outer track, the Women of Color club presented portraits to display their own beauty.

The ultimate goal behind campus life events are to create spaces where students have the opportunity to create lasting relationships and connect with their greater campus community. “While we work to create events that also tie in the holistic experience of classroom learning to experiences outside of the class” Rumball explained, “Springfest is a large scale event that showcases that goal of creating relationships and connecting to the campus perfectly.” While Spring Fest isn’t necessarily hosted on campus to keep students from engaging in frowned upon activities off campus, it is intended to create community and just be an overall fun event for the student body.

Picture retrieved from Saint Martin's University's Sigma Tau Delta, English Club and Honors Society Facebook. Student Holly Reed used her knowledge of famous authors to stump her husband in a game of "whose line is it anyway?" with a bucket full of quotes from authors studied in English classes at the 2017 Springfest.

Students from all over the country and even globally, attend SMU. It’s easy to feel alone in an unfamiliar city, new home, and like the community is lacking. Springfest is a great event that allows students to recognize that their community does care about them both academically and socially by having fun and enjoying their college life. “We are really intentional in planning these events around the times that students could use a little pick me up to get through the rest of the year” Rumball said. If you’re looking for a way to feel boosted in spirit at the end of the year, check out next year's Spring Fest! If all of the events and club interaction do not make you excited enough, the entire campus life budget is comprised of student activity fees as part of tuition. Students have already paid for all the events being offered throughout the year, so attend as many as you can.