To the Editor:
If you’ve ever spent a summer on campus, chances are that you found the campus culture to be a bit … absent. Clubs go into recess; buildings shut down earlier; graduate students spend an even greater proportion of their time in their labs. There are all kinds of interesting summer programs, but many of these are aimed at recruiting new students or getting kids to consider engineering. What about a program specifically for us, the people who continue to live here over the summer?
The funny thing is, stick any 10 people from this school together into one room and get them talking and you’ll find incredibly varied hobbies, interests, and passions among them. Ballroom dancing. Homebrewing. World of Warcraft. Cheesemaking. Personal finance. Wouldn’t it be awesome to pick up some weird new hobby this summer?
Starting this summer, there’s a venue to do just that. We’re calling it “Rensselaer Community Activities,” and it gives you a chance to both start a session on practically anything you want while also giving you the chance to pick up new hobbies from others. The session you run can be on any topic you choose for however long you want. It could be a game of pick-up football, a discussion group on what anime can teach us about modern culture, advice on how to select good wine, a workshop on how to make chocolate truffles, or a video game tournament. You can do as much or as little as you choose. You’re in charge.
But we’ll help you get started, find the resources you need to keep things rolling, and even help you advertise. This a joint initiative between the Graduate Student Council and Summer@Rensselaer, brand-new this year. We’re hoping to change what it means to be on campus over the summer. There are already a lot of great programs being planned for this summer: a trip to Six Flags, games nights, a walking tour of Troy, and much more. Please help us change this place by adding one of your hobbies to the mix.
Spending an hour sometime during the summer doing something you love anyway but sharing it with others could make a very real difference on campus. Get a group of friends to do the same, and just imagine how different this summer could become.
This would especially be a great opportunity for clubs to recruit new members who might not have a chance to take part in the club during the busiest parts of the school year. Summer’s a great time to try something new!
You guys are incredibly interesting. There is no excuse for the campus to become dormant when it has so many fascinating, passionate people still around. So pick one of your more eccentric hobbies, and take it to http://summer.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=90/. Check out all the interesting stuff already being planned. Add your favorite hobby to the mix, and help us change this place.
Christina Laskowski
GRAD
