Students passing the lawn outside the Student Life Center on Tuesday, April 28, found an unexpected break from end-of-semester stress as members of The Innovation Network hosted an outdoor meeting featuring games and free food.
The student-led organization known as TIN moved its regularly scheduled meeting from SLC room 112 outdoors adjacent to the Wellness Center as part of an anti-stress initiative ahead of finals week. Instead of a formal agenda, the gathering offered a casual, open setting where students could relax, socialize and participate in activities.
Mini golf, badminton, frisbee, tic-tac toss and jump ropes were spread across the lawn, alongside sidewalk chalk and bubble wands. A small round table held free pizza and water, available to any student willing to sign in by writing their name and join in on activities if they wanted to stick around.
Two students who initially stopped for pizza stayed to jump rope and blow bubbles between classes. One laughed and declared, “This is the best day ever,” joking that she might skip her next class. “I’m not going, you can find me here!” she said, spinning through the bubbles. “This is my dream,” after being pulled into sudden unexpected fun.
TIN president Atiqa Amjad said the outdoor event was designed to give students a chance to unwind while still engaging with the organization’s mission of building community and collaboration.
TIN focuses on project-based learning tied to real-world issues, encouraging students to think globally while acting locally. Members earn service-learning credits while developing communication, leadership, teamwork and interpersonal skills through events and initiatives.
“Usually our typical meetings, we all talk in Student Life 112 office, and we try to come up with and brainstorm ideas that we think might become good events,” Amjad said. “Problems that we have around campus, stuff we might want to try, clubs we want to collaboarte with.”
TIN’s programming this semester included its Discover Series, held from March through April, which featured events such as “Game On,” centered on video games, and “Pod Talks,” focused on finding and sharing new music, podcasts, books, movies/TV shows and all kinds of media. The series aimed to help students learn new things about themselves while connecting and meeting other likeminded individuals. Free pizza was offered at these events as well.
Amjad said her involvement with TIN began after discovering the club at an involvement fair.
“I mostly did it for volunteering opportunities because I always enjoyed doing that in high school; I did a lot of beach cleanups and (other) cleanups,” she said. “I kind of wanted to do the same thing, and then I found TIN to be more than just volunteering. We have the garden cleanups, but we also have events around school that we think might solve a problem; that’s mainly why I joined and why I was interested.”
“For me the most rewarding part is obviously the events, enjoying ourselves at the event, and having a fun time there!”Amjad said. “Planning (events) can take a long time… so afterward, we enjoy talking about the stuff we found that was great and the stuff that we can improve on.”
Looking ahead, TIN plans to focus on restoring/ rebuilding the buttery garden and Monarch Waystation on the Student Life Center’s lower patio. The garden is intended to provide a space where students can decompress and enjoy the outdoors while learning about the environment. Students interested in participating assisting to repair the garden are encouraged to contact club adviser Professor Mura dmura@brookdalecc.
TIN meets weekly on Tuesdays at 12:15 p.m. and continues to welcome new members seeking a mix of service, collaboration and community engagement.
