“Come one, come all, and see the amazing planetarium show—FREE! This show will explain how awesome black holes are and other amazingly cool stuff in our universe.” OK, so that’s not exactly what the posters read, but I think you see my point. We have a lot of cool events going on, and we should take advantage of them. How many other colleges have a planetarium for their astronomy students to learn about the universe? I’ll tell you: None around here. Bellevue College is the only community college in the state with a planetarium like ours. We are also the only one with a Digistar 3, which is basically the machine that can show pictures and movies of our universe in 3-D.
*Whistle*Personally, I am impressed that BC has such remarkable equipment and resources to offer its students. What impresses me even more is the fact that the college offers it for free. We don’t have to pay for the show, we don’t have to be astronomy students—we just sign up if we’re interested. It’s that simple—and it just goes to show how cool our college is.
Think about it. I don’t know what other colleges do, but I know that the legislature has been cutting funding right and left. Our college could easily start charging money for the planetarium shows—and all the other amazing events it puts on. But it doesn’t.
Look at another example. This month, February, is Black History Month. I’ve gone to two free events celebrating black history (I think there were more, though). Each one had speakers, singing, entertainment, and free food. One even had break dancing afterwards. And these events weren’t small, either. They filled up the cafeteria. These events probably cost the college some money, right? Probably. But did the students have to pay extra for anything? Nope. Not a dime.
That’s my point. Probably one of the best things about BC is the fact that it’s starting to host tons of free events for its students. How many of us attended The Buried Life a few weeks ago? Even tonight, I’m going with some friends to see the new movie “Red Tails,” which is about African American fighter pilots in World War II. The Student Programs bought 100 tickets and gave them out for free to students on a first-come, first-serve basis. Personally, as someone who has really wanted to see that movie, the fact that the college gave me tickets for free is a very pleasant surprise.
I think we should be grateful for all the events Bellevue College has been putting on recently. Even with rising college costs, us students are still given opportunities to have fun and enjoy ourselves. And even though work and school may take up most of our time, I think we should seize our chances and enjoy them. If my friends and I hadn’t gone to the cafeteria during the MLK celebration, we would have never enjoyed the amazing food they served for free, or seen some of our fellow students break dance. Heck, I wouldn’t have been able to catch up with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while.
So let’s thank our college for all the time and effort put in to events like these. BC wants its students to enjoy their time at college, so let’s do it! We shouldn’t take for granted all the amazing things that are available to us here, like free movies and opportunities to celebrate various cultures and heritages. And if anyone has an idea of what other fun things we can do, then talk to someone at Student Programs. For my part, I’m going to participate in as much as I can. See you at the planetarium!