XOXO Leah: Weekends on campus can be a drag
5 Ways to survive a boring weekend
As the school week comes to an end and the weekend begins, St. Kate’s campus starts to look like a bit of a ghost town. The commuter population goes back to their houses or apartments, some people choose to go home, and the rest of us are stuck on this quiet campus. Although it might seem like we’re destined for a boring couple of days, there are definitely a few ways to spice up the weekends. As someone who stayed on campus during J-term, I learned a few tips for surviving a dead campus. Here are some of my favorite tips!
Tips for surviving a quiet campus on the weekends:
Explore the Twin Cities
Before spending J-term on-campus, I rarely ever tried exploring the cities. When I started to go off campus more, I learned just how much you can do in the cities. I found my new favorite coffee shop, Nina’s Coffee Cafe, where both the coffee and decor is themed after F. Scott Fitzgerald. The place looks like it could be right out of The Great Gatsby! I also started to explore the antique shops in the city, and my favorite is definitely Center for Lost Objects. Whether you enjoy getting a cup of coffee while antiquing or going on a long walk to a museum, the twin cities have it all. The cities also has a great public transit system that you can take advantage of if you don’t have access to a car.
A Center For Lost Objects is a great place to scope out new favorite pieces of jewelry, furniture, or clothing!
2. Plan outings with friends
Whether you decide to have a quiet game night or want to go out into the city, it’s always fun to plan and prepare for an event with your friends. During J-term, my friends and I got obsessed with King’s Corner, a simple card game, and I’m pretty sure we played it almost every day of January. If card games aren’t your thing, you could always plan a movie night or a watch party of your favorite show. For example, I loved getting together with my friends to watch Euphoria over the last couple of months. If you prefer going out, you could grab some dinner and walk down to Highland’s movie theater or take the bus down to a restaurant in the city. The world is your oyster!
3. Find unique places to study on or off campus
I know that suggesting you do homework on the weekends sounds boring, but sometimes you need to study for a big test or write an important essay. To spice up this activity, I suggest you find a new place to study! Whether you find a cool place in Fontbonne or a cute nearby coffee shop, giving yourself new scenery might help to enhance your time studying.
As mentioned above, Nina’s Coffee Shop is a great place to study.
4. Look for events on-campus
St. Kate’s is always hosting different events on campus, so make sure you keep an eye out for those different events! For example, St. Kate’s hosted a dance over the winter, and they also host themed bingo events, like Drag Bingo. I absolutely love bingo, so having a Drag Queen host made the experience even better. These bingo events often have great prizes, and they occasionally have big raffle prizes that you enter at the door. Therefore, you might win a prize even if you don’t win bingo. For Drag Bingo, I won an air fryer from the raffle ticket! I would definitely recommend going to these types of events in the future.
Drag Bingo was a blast over the weekend!
5. Come up with other fun ways to celebrate the weekend
Everyone is different, so make sure you spend the weekends doing something you enjoy. Make a list of fun activities to do on the weekend and start making plans!
I hope my advice helps all of you make the most out of your weekends. Remember, college is stressful and busy, so make sure you give yourself a break every now and then!
As always, sending you all my love.
xoxo Leah
