This past week Sonoma State University’s Campus Recreational Center put on an event known as RecFest. The event took place Thursday, Aug. 22nd from 5-7pm.
RecFest invited students to take a trip through the Campus Rec and participate in different games and activities. Seawolf Living stepped in to the event to participate in the festivities.
“The first stop is a paddle board photoshoot which is located at the pool and if you go over there and take a picture on the paddleboard you get ten points. There is bubble soccer, there’s a photobooth, dodgeball, karaoke spin, you can sign up for bike rentals, you can slackline, and participate in challenge course games” said employee Harlee Sullivan. This in part encourages students to visit the Campus Rec as well as get to know their fellow students.
When entering the Campus Rec, students were given a RecFest passport. Each stop on the passport had a different number of raffle tickets a student could earn by doing each activity. This encourages students to try every game for a higher chance of winning a raffle prize at the end of the night.
Right before entering the Campus Rec, students were greeted with tables offering bike sign ups and popcorn. On the other side of the entrance, was a life-size bowling lane. Students were given the opportunity to climb inside a large plastic bowling ball and be rolled into human-sized bowling pins.
“I got to roll my roommate into the pins and it was honestly a lot of fun. My roommate was terrified to get inside the bowling ball but she overcame her fear with a little bit of encouragement from us and the people in charge of the activity and ended up having a blast” said Sonoma State student Carmen Lucena.
Students were encouraged to try each activity. Rec employee Samantha Unwin. explained that her section, the challenge course games, is held to motivate people to get out of their comfort zone and get to know the people around them.
“I have been working here for over a year now and I just think it is a really good space to bond with the people you care about or people you would not normally talk to and it gives room for improvement and room to work with other people that maybe are not necessarily the same type of person as you” said Unwin.
The activity done in this section is called the human knot. Students were asked to stand in a circle and grab the hands of two other individuals in the circle at random. From there, the students are asked to detangle the knot they have formed. “I attended the RecFest for the first time my senior year and I truly wish I learned about this campus resource sooner. One of the activities I liked the most was the human knot activity that promoted the low ropes course. This was a good bonding experience with my co workers. I would definitely recommend the low ropes course to other organizations and small groups on campus” said Seawolf Living employee Cameron Monroy after participated in the human knot.
Bubble soccer was another highlight of the evening events. Blue and red large inflatable balls were scattered across the indoor soccer court. Students were asked to climb into the plastic ball and strap it on like a backpack. Students then became human bumper cars and ran around the court knocking into each other. The experience of RecFest was welcoming and exciting. It encouraged students to come together and get to know each other.
“I loved how the rec got to showcase all of its options and allow students to get involved on the first week back to school,” said Sonoma State senior McKenna Hurd.
