With the new addition of the Residence Halls and a large wave of new students, the University of Massachusetts Boston has been working to provide many forms of entertainment for the campus and its exponentially growing student body. 
Due to UMass Boston having been a commuter school before Fall 2018, there wasn’t much “buzz” happening on campus. However, over the last two semesters, we have been given events filled with fun activities. These include events ranging from a skating night, a pop-up movie night, and even a pool party in Clark. 
For the next school year, I would really like to see Student Activities put on more events to hopefully get more students from different years and backgrounds together. I do think the attendees at these past events have consisted of primarily freshmen—especially residential—students. This did allow residents to bond more in their free time.
However it would be nice to diversify this pool of people and reach more students on UMass Boston, including commuter students who are looking for a sense of college spirit or unity. Moreover, I think with the new wave of interactive residential students, the school should try to encourage more activities relating to, or surrounding, UMass Boston’s sports. With the residents being a new demographic, this gives the school an opportunity to boost the college spirit surrounding Beacon sports and make the campus feel more unified in many different ways.
As a freshman resident in the dorms this past school year, I would say that I greatly appreciated the activities put on around the campus and in the halls. I do think the interaction between new students, especially students who reside in the dorms, is extremely important for providing a foundation on which to socialize and make new friendships, which is not the easiest task to do as you are in a whole new environment. I do think these activities provided students a time and a medium to socialize and get to know the people around them better, which gave them the right motivation and comfortability to further meet new people. In the end, these friendships and relationships truly do help one to adjust when moving into the dorms and living away from home for the first time. 
Resident Assistants can also work towards this goal by providing even more activities in the halls, maybe not only with residents of their floor, but also residents of other floors as well. I remember back in the fall semester, my RA put together a kayaking event with our floor which was a lot of fun. It introduced me to my neighbors and allowed me to get to know them better, which did make me feel more comfortable. It’s important to not feel like you’re surrounded by strangers and to feel like you’re a part of a community.
All in all, I have seriously enjoyed the activities provided on campus and in the dorms these past two semesters. I would like to see even more activities next semester and a motivation expressed by everyone to bring more college spirit and unify this campus even further.