Surviving Splash

There comes a special time at the end of every Boston University freshman’s first weekend on campus when they tackle the privilege of acquainting themselves with every activity BU has to offer – all at once. You’ve kissed your parents goodbye, you’ve adapted to your first big college lecture and now the logical next step of your collegiate career is to be thrust into a chaotic street of random people and have free things thrown at you from all angles. Freshmen, welcome to Splash.

Don’t be intimidated, freshmen. The cornucopia of potential niches Splash offers you is a wonderful thing. After all, Mother always told you the best way to make friends in college was to get involved, and your current friend count of zero must be directly proportional to the lack of clubs you’re affiliated with. Right? So take a deep breath and dive in.

Upon entering, one will find oneself in a sea of women wearing various sets of matching t-shirts emblazoned with letters in another language. Freshmen, these are sororities and those letters are Greek. If you identify as a male Splash-goer, this portion of the crawl will probably mean nothing to you, but female attendees are invited to take a look at what Panhellenic life has to offer. Fear not males. Push a little further into the mob and you’ll be sure to find the fraternities hanging around their tables as well.

Continue meandering down Cummington Mall as people you don’t know shout at you and hand you promotional items. Coming from a university that touts a College of Communication, BU students have a knack for making some eye-catching flyers and intriguing giveaways. Take this time at Splash to stock up on your pen supply for the semester, as free pens are often an overarching theme at the Splash festivities. After all, you never know when a Knitting Club ballpoint will come in handy. Other handy giveaways have included frisbees, magnets and anything neon. Take anything and everything.

Despite the fun freebies, be sure not to base your activity interest entirely on the stuff they throw at you as you pass by. Take a closer look at what each booth is actually offering you. It may be wise to scan the Student Activities Office website before you arrive and piece together some kind of game plan before you step into the mob. The site lists every single club and organization on campus, so make a plan of attack and hit all the groups you want to visit.

Practice your signature before you arrive at Splash because you will be signing up for a thousand activities during your time on Cummington Mall. Tip – do not just sign up for something because of peer pressure. Obviously, those promoting their groups are going to be passionate about their causes, but if you aren’t, don’t give them false hope by signing your name only to never respond to their emails or show up to their meetings. In the end, these activities are looking for interested members, not signatures. Don’t be a tease!

The key to surviving Splash is to avoid thinking of it as the end-all be-all of activity-joining for the first semester. Splash is basically a three-dimensional, live-action version of the SAO website, so if you miss the booth you came for, fear not – there will be information online. There will be plenty of time to sign up for activities throughout the semester. Splash is simply a preview of what they are and a good excuse to leave your dorm room on Saturday morning. And, if you head on over to the GSU Link every day (which is surprisingly located in the George Sherman Union), you’ll see a mini-version of Splash take place every day, as various groups advertise their events to all passersby..

It’s impossible to spend four years at BU and not get involved with anything, so keep your mind open to anything you might find interesting at Splash. And if you can’t find an activity that sparks your interest, you can always go to The Daily Free Press booth, which is obviously where you should have gone in the first place.