<p>D's bored on weekends... She says there is nothing to do on campus. I've looked up a bunch of events calendars and it seems to me this is true. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>No suggestions... except that I wanted to add that other than partying/watching the weekly movie there is not much to do on weekends.</p>
<p>Just because there aren't planned activities doesn't mean there aren't things to do. And wait. What are you talking about? There are sports events planned throughout the weekend - if all else fails go with Carolina Fever. Our girl's soccer team is a BIG DEAL. There was a midnight movie two nights ago. People are playing volleyball and frisbee outside.</p>
<p>Now that we're three weeks in people have made friends and are hanging out with them. I've hung out with my new friends (gone out to eat, gone walking through the arboretum, just chilled, really) this weekend. I'm going to get mean here, but what does that even mean, nothing to do on the weekends? There are 4,000 people in our class - if you can't find SOMETHING to do on the weekend it is not this campus' fault.</p>
<p>What did you do at home, go hang gliding every Saturday? Sheesh. I feel like all anyone does on this forum is complain about the lack of things to do here and I've just about had it. Fun isn't supposed to come to you.</p>
<p>What did you used to do on weekends when you lived at home? Are any of those activities available in the Chapel Hill area? What are your friends on other campuses doing on the weekends? Do you think people just come into college with expectations that are too high that everything is just going to be non-stop excitement all of the time? This is an honest question (not judgemental in any way) that I have wondered about myself. Maybe it is us parents who are partly at fault by saying things like, "These are the best years of your life." It may be true for some people, but not for others. I enjoyed my college years for the most part, but I have definitely enjoyed subsequent years more. I always thought that there might be more to do at colleges in large cities, but I was surprised to hear from the guide at Northwestern when my son toured there that a large number of students there really don't go into Chicago that much because they just tend to hang around campus more than they expected. When I was a student at UNC many years ago, I remember being bored sometimes during my senior year after many of my older friends had already graduated.</p>
<p>I definitely think you should follow advice given on other threads about going outside your comfort zone to make friends and joining organizations which might interest you and keep you busy. As you make more friends, there will perhaps not be more to do, but you might just enjoy the hanging out part more when there are other kindred spirits to do it with. Some of my best memories in college are just lounging around with 4-5 others in my suitemate's room watching TV and talking! Wish I had a magic answer or great list of activities for you, but I would just say don't put too much pressure on yourself to fee like you have to have the time of your life every second in order to have a sucessful college experience...Continue to make an effort to stay active, meet people, have patience, and hopefully some opportunities wil open up for you. Good luck!</p>
<p>Carolina Fever is a great suggestion - my daughter has joined this group and loves it. She said it is so much fun. You go to different sporting events and sit as a group to cheer that team on. My daughter went to her first field hockey event last weekend and really enjoyed it. I believe your daughter would enjoy being a part of this group if she joined. They have more members this year than they have ever had. Your daughter needs to step out of her comfort zone and she might be surprised at how much fun she will have. There are always sporting events going on and she does not need to be a sport fanatic.</p>
<p>i was bored all weekend as well. i went over to some dorm with my roommate where they were sitting around doing things i wont mention. since i'm not interested in associating with people like that, i spent the rest of the time in my dorm. i went to a movie friday and ate out all weekend. other than that, my parking lot at granville was empty as everyone went home. so, i dont know what to do on the weekends.</p>
<p>Everybody didn't go home at Granville - my daughter was there all weekend and done something everyday. Students have to get involved and there are plenty of different things to get involved it. Life can pass you by if you just sit around waiting for something to happen. I am not sure what kind of fun some people are looking for. I told my daughter she needed to get involved at college because she would end up with too much time on her hands. She was very involved in high school and done very well in high school. Students do better in school if they are involved with something instead of having too much time on their hands.</p>
<p>I was going to avoid responding to this thread, but am compelled to post. I have to agree with all points made by cloying, sdg13, and alcook4u. </p>
<p>I can't believe that 18 year olds, off to college for the first time-- at a world class university, situated in what is arguably one of the best college towns in the country-- can't find anything to do on the weekends. There are innumerable on-campus activites, off-campus activities, and if you still can't find anything to do, your University actually offers free bus service that will pick you up on campus, and (in less than 20 minutes) drop you off at yet another world-class university down the road, where you will also find innumerable events going on.</p>
<p>As alcook4u said, "Life can pass you by if you just sit around waiting for something to happen." Of course, you have to have interests to begin with, I guess; if you don't have any, now might be a good time to start developing some.</p>
<p>ahduke: If you're that bored, why in the world would you put off joining a fraternity in which you seem interested, and that seems eager to have you as a member??</p>
<p>ahduke</p>
<p>Do you live in Granville? If so, why did you not heed all the warnings about it being mostly in-state and mostly people who have chosen to remain with groups of friends from HS? This could be a VERY strong contributor to not making many new friends and is the MAIN reason we all tell anyone considering Granville to understand what they are getting into.</p>
<p>Okay, I agree it can be a challenge if you are from a big city getting used to a slower lifestyle especially if you have no car BUT, here are some suggestions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Check out slice.unc.edu for a week by week blow of athletic events, cultural events, clubs etc.</p></li>
<li><p>I believe the student Union hosts movies every weekend. Free for students.</p></li>
<li><p>Rumor has it there is a bowling alley under the union somewhere?</p></li>
<li><p>Friday afternoons on Carolina Inn lawn--music (students perform sometimes I hear.)</p></li>
<li><p>Seasonal sporting activities: Soccer, mens and women, Field Hockey, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>PIckup games: I have seen almost every night pickup soccer on the field next to the gym.</p></li>
<li><p>Art Shows, Lectures, Seminars</p></li>
<li><p>The Planetarium has LOTS of events from sky watching to Planetarium shows.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>9.Host your own alchy free party, send out an invite on Facebook. YOu pick the place you pick the time.....Late night party on North campus Quad....hide and seek, capture the flag, kick the can. OR just plan an event in a dorm t.v. room to watch your favorite show or movie (LOTR, Xmen, Will Farrell movies, SNL, HOUSE, 24 or whatever.) </p>
<ol>
<li> Better yet, start your own group: STUDENTS WHO DON"T PARTY BUT LIKE TO HAVE FUN, invite everyone and maybe you will have your own group to plan things and get together.</li>
</ol>
<p>I never heard any of that mentioned above about Granville Towers so that is news to me. Kind of late for that kind of advice, but I guess--DON"T LIVE IN GRANVILLE if you are from OS is good advice now.</p>
<p>The main problem now is finding people to do things with....so if you can get a big group, every one can make suggestions and then you are sure to keep busy....</p>
<p>I think I remember reading somewhere that Granville houses about 1200 students during the academic year, but I've never seen a breakdown of how many are from in-state and how many are from out-of-state. Do you have statistics on that? </p>
<p>I guess students like it, in part, because they can bring a car and easily have some place to park it. And then there's that maid service . . . and the pool . . . just like home. ;)</p>
<p>P.S. Another possibility is getting to South Point Mall for some fun on weekends. The big question is how late does the Bus from South point to UNC/chapel HIll run....I am guessing 10? TTA.org might can tell you that. It is not a far cab ride either if you can share a cab. If you have access to a car, ahem, We can broaden this list alot. You are not alone in your question RIOMOM, I have already fielded this issue a couple of times. People FROM chapel Hill don't notice it as much as those not from there.....Even I had to look hard when I visited two weeks ago...and went with the soccer, the minor league baseball in Durham, eating out, etc.</p>
<p>"ahduke</p>
<p>Do you live in Granville? If so, why did you not heed all the warnings about it being mostly in-state and mostly people who have chosen to remain with groups of friends from HS? This could be a VERY strong contributor to not making many new friends and is the MAIN reason we all tell anyone considering Granville to understand what they are getting into."</p>
<p>well i was never given these warnings. my parents wanted me in granville because they were told by friends that live in CH and was a former professor that it was close to my classes and in better condition than the freshman dorms in south campus. my roommate is also OOS so we are both in trouble, and our suit mates are best friends from a small HS in a small town. yeah, it would've been nice to have gotten those warnings. i did go out looking for something to do. friday i went to a movie at the varsity, and then saturday my roommate and i were out till 3am looking for something to do. i ventures to south campus and the freshman there were engaging in things that i dont want to get involved with, and we were kicked out of the frat parties because we werent a girl or in the fraternity. the guys at DU had the formal dinner, so they were busy. we finally gave up and went back to granville after riding the bus a few times. it's not that i havent tried--as many of you assume. i have. i've been out, i've spoken to people, been overly friendly.... hell more friendlier than i've ever been. it's not t hat i'm not trying ... it's just most people here are too settled and comfy with each other and i dont blame them. if i went to clemson or south carolina, i'd be the same way. i wish i had gotten warnings, though, before i came. my college counsellor didnt tell me any of these things and she even worked in the admissions department at UNC for years. I wish i had been warned, but now it's too late. my roommate and i both are in this for the long haul ... but i will not forgo by principles to fit in with the crowd he found down in south campus .. that's for damn sure. it does seem like my only choice at a social life will be pledging delta upsilon in the spring. between now and then, life will be very lonely and slow. </p>
<p>jack: i put it off because my #1 goal is academics. i dont know how involved DU is. they gave me an open invitation to go to their house between now and then, but saturday was their formal bid night to which i didnt go to because a. i didnt have a coat and tie and b. they told me i didnt need to till spring. a social life is great to have, but i want to get my grades first before i take on something that major. if i do transfer, i need the grades to be high.</p>
<p>alcook: i live in south and our parking lot was essentially empty. they may not have gone home, but their cars were gone. and i did go out looking for something .. as i said in the post above. i'm not just sitting around waiting for something to happen. if i did that, i'd never find anything. looking for something is hard enough.</p>
<p>Atlmom: it seems like if you live in granville, partying is your only choice. but i couldn't even get into those! and the parties in south campus were pathetic, if you can even call them parties--it was more like sitting around while watching people do stupid things. dont get me wrong, i'm sure this is a great school if you're coming here with all your high school friends, but i have already told my sister not to look at UNC unless she wants to work 50x harder than anyone else to make friends.</p>
<p>While I can imagine that Rio (if that's where "RioGirl" has been living) would be a tough act to follow, I really have to wonder what a high school student from Atlanta would be doing on the weekends that Chapel Hill couldn't also offer. (I even get Charleston-- you're right there at the water's edge . . . still, the student from Charleston has a car. Chapel Hill is less than 3 hours from the beaches here-- a little longer to get to the Outer Banks, arguably one of the most beautiful coastal areas in the country-- certainly, on the East Coast-- and less than 3 hours from the mountains. You have a car; go explore them.)</p>
<p>But Atlanta? I went to Atlanta a couple of years ago, and aside from sitting in traffic for most of the weekend, I couldn't see that it offered much of anything that I couldn't get in this area-- minus the traffic jams. I visited a couple of great galleries and museums, but we have that, too. Went to a couple of great restaurants, but no better than what I've been to in Chapel Hill or Durham. Other than that, the place seemed to be all about urban sprawl and oversized malls with valet parking. What did I miss when I visited there? I was even there the weekend some guy killed a judge and parking lot guard in the county court house and was running around loose for a day. Still . . . what is there to do in Atlanta that the Chapel Hill area doesn't also offer-- and more of it, since it's a college town-- to an underage college student?</p>
<p>Cloying... you misunderstood, it was no complaint.... I was being a helicopter mom and asking for suggestions I could pass on to my D after she mentioned that she couldn't find anything to do. I know for a fact people at UNC are probably the friendliest I have ever met... I thought that would be the case on this forum. </p>
<p>Anyway, thanks Atlmom for supplying the list of suggestions. I've passed them on to D. </p>
<p>And, cloying... as a matter of fact, my D did go hang-gliding at home... funny you used that as an example.</p>
<p>There have been numerous posts on CC over the last three years about Granville, and how it is in-state local HS continued for most who live there....... I know that most current UNC students who post on CC try hard to discourage OOS students from living there because of it.....really sorry you missed the threads/posts. Is there any way to break the Granville contract and get on campus next semester?</p>
<p>WOW....this thread is the first I've seen in four years on UNC posts about people having trouble making friends and finding things to do....I honestly don't know what more to say....</p>
<p>I just had another thought....Get involved at the Campus Y...a great social setting that is definitely alcohol free....</p>
<p>If Carolina Fever still works the way it used to, you accrue points for attending sporting events like soccer, field hockey etc that goes to a point system for basketball tickets. This may have changed since the B-ball policy changed but I know my son is still attending lacrosse and women's soccer games (among others) and says they are a blast to attend.</p>
<p>I am afraid that some of you have gotten yourselves into situations that are now becoming self-fulfilling propositions....if you continually lament about how hard it is to find things to do it will remain that way....and develop a life of its own.....</p>
<p>RioMom: Well, here's an example of something she might find of interest. Check out the UNC sports clubs site, if she's athletic and interested in participating in sports- all student-run. In part it says:</p>
<p>
[quote]
There are over 50 clubs at Carolina which provides for a wide variety of activities and recreational pursuits. Some clubs are only competitive, recreational, or instructional while other clubs have a combination of these elements. For example, our Downhill Ski Club competes intercollegiately against other colleges and universities but also plans a recreational ski trip during the winter break.
[/quote]
<a href="http://www.unc.edu/sportclubs/%5B/url%5D">http://www.unc.edu/sportclubs/</a> Looks like they do sailing, scuba, snowboarding, skiiing, soccer, swimming, tennis, raquetball, golf, water-skiing, and more . . . According to the site, they're currently accepting applications for Exec Council members, though the deadline looks to be 8/27, so a little over a week old. Still, write and ask if they'll take one more application for that, if she's interested. If they won't, just get involved as a participating student. Maybe they even go hang-gliding! ;)</p>
<p>And I'm not even near the campus, much less on it. Just picked this up from 5 minutes of "Googling."</p>
<p>*Just read eadad's post, and I agree--most especially about the "self-fulfilling propositions." Also, great suggestion about the Campus Y.</p>
<p>this student from charleston does NOT have a car. if i did, i imagine i wouldn't be here on the weekends. i'd probably drive to clemson. i hate i missed the threads on granville .. but apparently my lease isnt up till may 2008 and it'll cost me a lot to break it without a wonderful reason, and having a hard time making friends isn't a great one. i could put that money towards another school before i waste it to leave. like i said, i never was told it was hard to make friends either, and i usually dont have that hard a time .. but i swear it's difficult to break through the bonds everyone here already has. people say oh it'll get better, it'll get better .... but it's now week 4, i've continued to try, and it's still failing miserably. so far i've made 0 friends outside of my roommate and suit mates. the only other friend i have is a guy from charleston who lives at north campus--who, like all of us, has been pretty bored and just works all the time to pass the time by. maybe it's just this year, but most OOS i've met have been pretty miserable unless they came to UNC knowing people .. anbd the ones that havent went greek to make friends... as it looks like i probably will this spring.</p>