While most of us spend our winter breaks in the comfort of our homes, UMBC’s Student Events Board continues to host activities over the winter semester. One may think that because a majority of students are not on campus during the winter semester, these events would not have much participation. As it turns out, this is not the case. In order to learn more about SEB’s winter session and about the future of activities hosted by SEB for the spring semester, the Retriever got into contact with Andrea Davis, an event programmer for SEB.
According to Davis, “Student participation was pretty standard compared to most winter semesters with around 40 to 65 students coming out.” While SEB hosted a variety of activities over the winter semester to keep students entertained, Davis explained that “the events that were the most popular during this semester were the crafts, which included hot chocolate mason jars, sharpie mugs and snow globes.”
Davis elaborated on the significance of SEB hosted craft events, stating that “craft events are almost always SEB’s most popular events because students are able to create something that’s personalized and be able to take it home with them. We just give them the supplies and they are able to create whatever they would like.”
The student turnout for these events appears rather large, especially for a winter semester, but Davis appears to believe that student participation can be even greater, “I want people to know that the Student Events Board is still active during the winter. Most people think we just put on events during the spring and fall semesters but we are here, basically year round, excited to interact with fellow students and to just have fun in between classes.”
Even though student presence may have dwindled at times, Davis also exclaimed that there are some events that may seem small but are still substantial. “Just being able to provide a cup of hot chocolate to a student who has been traveling to classes in the cold is something that’s very important to us.”
Davis was particularly excited about the spring semester and the events to come. “We’re definitely trying to make our events bigger and better than ever so look out for that,” said Davis. For the upcoming semester, SEB has over 120 events planned, including some old standards such as “Open Mic Night,” bus trips and game tournaments. Additionally, SEB is planning some new events including International Film Night and “I <3 the 90s.” Davis also expressed enthusiasm for QuadMania, the biggest event of the semester for SEB.
SEB may have an established group of students who run the organization, but that does not mean students outside of SEB are out of the loop in terms of how SEB gets involved in student life. “One of our biggest goals is to have more students informed about what goes on in SEB and know all the information about all of our events so be sure to check us out on Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram as well as myUMBC,” said Davis. Students are also welcome to provide SEB with feedback on any of their social media outlets.
