Glenn Wagstaff
Shivani Shirolkar
It’s the first week of the new year, and many of us are excited and motivated to engage in self-improving habits. Sticking to a new year’s resolution can be difficult as we roll further and further into the year, but an easy one for college students is to make the most of campus facilities while they have them.
Living on or close to a college campus certainly gives you a decided edge when it comes to access to facilities. Services like University Recreation and a gym membership, Student Health Services and campus libraries are included in our tuition and fees at NC State. Other activities like, say, watching movies at Witherspoon Student Center or even taking part in clubs or on-campus events are included in the NC State way of life and are easily accessible. It’s important that we understand the value of these resources and make the best use of them while at college.
The average cost of a private gym membership is about $58 per month, while your student fee for Carmichael Gymnasium and recreational activities for 2017-2018 totaled $167.35. Carmichael Gymnasium has excellent fitness and sports facilities which are open to students every day; not using them at all would be opportunities wasted.
Because of my Indian background, I generally play badminton a lot more than tennis. I couldn’t find any badminton courts around my neighborhood at home, but I was able to find badminton equipment at Carmichael Gymnasium, a convenient five-minute walk from my dorm. This way, I have the option of not having to miss out on things I am interested in — without any additional payments or a long commute.
Student Health Services and the Counseling Center give students a chance to talk to professionals about their mental state. Counseling is also an expensive affair, costing about $75-$150 per session. 30-80 percent of people who have mental health concerns are never treated for them. With access to mental health services on campus, there’s no reason to delay getting the counseling you may need.
Another resource that’s undervalued are the two libraries on campus. Though the price of renting books from a public library is often included in taxes, there may be a smaller number of books or topics available. Here, at NC State, both Main Campus and Centennial Campus house enormous libraries to cater to students. D.H. Hill Library provides space for around a million and a half volumes in eleven stories of book stacks.
Hunt Library on Centennial Campus is continuously evolving in technology with 1.5 million items in its bookBot, a robotic book delivery system, and over 35,000 volumes on science and engineering. Both libraries offer other services like group study rooms, study halls and technical items for students to rent and use. I’ve found textbooks and reference books that have proven to be very useful, and more importantly, relevant during exams.
It doesn’t stop at cost-saving facilities; a less tangible, but very important aspect of university life is the power to form social circles. Getting involved in campus activities is one of the best experiences college life can give you. These are opportunities to meet new people and find students with similar interests. Join an intramural club — another opportunity included in your student fees — write for your student newspaper, or find your voice with one of NC State’s a cappella groups. There probably will never be a chance again to actively participate and intelligently contribute to clubs’ meetings and events like we do in college now.
We tend to take these simple amenities for granted, not realizing that we have only a limited time to reap their benefits. After we graduate, we may lack the money and time to work out, receive counseling, visit the library or socialize. Your new year’s resolutions can be made possible this year, courtesy of NC State.