If there is one common unifier that brings people together, it’s music. Knowing that, Friday Night Live: Song Burst is a perfect opportunity to engage with one’s fellow Seawolves. Located in Weyden and Brewster in the Student Center, Seawolves had an hour from 8-9 p.m. to excavate their memories as a team for songs to name. Students pulled from old childhood memories of music as well as TikTok audios they had only briefly heard to compete. Teams took turns naming one song at a time until only one was left.

Hosted by SSU resident advisors (RA) Grace King and Johnny Hershman, at Song Burst students formed teams for a rapid-fire tournament of song association. Over 8 rounds, hosts would give a specific word and the teams had to take turns naming as many songs with that word in the lyrics as possible. In the end, goodie bag prizes were distributed to the winning team. RA and fourth-year psychology major Johnny Hershman spoke on what they hope students get out of the event: “We just wanted to give students a chance to have fun on a Friday night if they want to win prizes and stuff; it was just a fun time.”

Hershman explained how organizing the event was a collaboration between the RAs and Student Involvement “We had a lot of help from Mo Phillips and her people. They helped set up a lot of the event we’re just here more to facilitate it.”

“It’s interesting because everyone has their own different taste in music so you get to hear answers from different genres being bounced around,” said Hershman. Throughout the night students came up with a huge range of songs, including pop, hip-hop, country, rock and roll, and other genres. King shared: “My favorite songs that people named at the program were songs from the Disney Channel Original Movie “Let It Shine”. It showed such a diverse music taste that I really enjoyed.”

Speaking on the community-building aspect of events like Friday Night Live, Hershman said that as a RA in a building for first-years, these events are supposed to be fun and loose so students can feel more comfortable on campus and meet new people, as well as spreading their wings a bit since many first-years have just left their parents’ or guardians’ homes for the first time.

An event like Song Burst is a perfect occasion for community-building because you can learn a fair amount about your teammates and the opposing team’s taste from the type of music they name. You might be surprised at who shares a lot of the same music taste as you and the eclectic type of music some students can pull out.

Even if you are on an opposing team, if someone names a song that is a favorite of yours it can be hard to not sing along and finish the lyrics, so the night felt more like a small community of students playing a game together instead of a competition where they are pitted against one another. For more events, you can check the Seawolf Living website at seawolfliving.com.