Student Life’s Student Activities Team held Tropical Tacos, a beach-inspired social event, Feb. 23, in Java Jazz, COM 153. Students had a chance to engage one-on-one with Student Life Ambassadors and mingle with their peers through activities including bingo, life-sized Jenga, and board games.
Fatima Gonzalez, student life ambassador, stressed the need for students to find each other in spaces like this.
“I know during this time, it’s very hard, we’re all stressed with classes,” Gonzalez said.
The tropical theme was inspired to help students unwind a bit.
“It’s [been] super cold out, [and] we [were] just kind of wanting to bring a little bit of the beach over to us, so we can all feel like we’re hanging out at the beach [and] having a good time, ” Gonzalez added.
As anticipated, students like Hannah Winter, freshman dental hygiene student, came and spent the afternoon at Tropical Tacos. She came with some of her friends she met in her Honors class.
Winter emphasized how making friends at JCCC has impacted her, saying it helps to bring balance to her school and social life. Winter and her friends did not know each other before this semester, but they became fast friends despite their different backgrounds.
Winter said that having social activities and making friends on campus is a way of developing a strong support system.
“It strengthens the idea that JCCC is a community,” Winter said.
Tropical Tacos’ organizers wanted to create an environment where making friends is easy. Tables were lined with conversation starters and games that helped strangers get to know each other.
The organizers also provided coloring tables for those who chose a more reserved way of socializing.
Anyone who participated in an activity or spoke with someone new that they met earned a ticket for free tacos. Before long, everyone was involved.
Student Life Ambassadors also wanted to promote greater engagement between the student body and Student Life.
“We’ve heard a lot about students not hearing about events very often, or not knowing how to get involved,” Gonzalez said. “We tried to make the [opportunity] as open as we could.”
Student Life hopes that today’s event will encourage students to seek out campus activities more often. To find more events and activities, visit Get Involved @ JCCC.
Yoshi Stout, student reporter