Our Voice

GCSU hosted its annual Spring Fest this past Saturday. It was a chance for Registered Student Organizations around campus to showcase their best amenities to potential students and try to gain a little interest from them at the same time.
The Colonnade took to the event ready to dish about all the great reasons to get involved with the school paper. Not only did we come ready to inform, we had flying discs, water bottles, a giant bowl of candy and six balloons thanks to a brand new helium tank we bought just for the occasion; all to attract hopeful reporters willing to give The Colonnade a shot.
What we were not expecting was the interest these potential student’s parents had in their little pride and joy working for the paper. The parents did all the talking as their high schooler stood by trying not to look embarrassed that they had parents.
There were the token few students that probably looked forward to Spring Fest. They were definitely in attendance and were easy to pick out of the bunch. These were the students that lead their parents; they did not sulk behind them avoiding eye contact with everyone. They did not tug at the sleeves of their parents and say “let’s go” through gritted teeth. They were happy to be there, but they were in the minority.
Spring Fest is an opportunity for the parents as well as the high schooler. The parents do it to get a decent look at what is in their child’s best interest as they embark upon their college career. The child does it, well, more often than not, because the parent thinks it is in their best interest.
Ultimately, Spring Fest is for the student, but when the student is solely doing it for the parent, it becomes an event catered to the adult. Of the hundreds of people in attendance this past Saturday, about 30 stopped by The Colonnade table. Some tables got more, some got less. We were pleased with the turnout.
We were not so pleased with the amount of interest students had. The parents were super excited but it was hard to look past the fearful eyes of the high schoolers, thinking at any moment their excitable predecessors would hand over embarrassing photos or dish their deepest secret.
We talked business with some parents. We handed out some information. We got a few e-mail addresses. Basically, the major highlights of this year’s Spring Fest: We now have a giant bowl of leftover candy and a sweet helium tank in the office.

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Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 9 2007. Filed under Opinion, Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry