<p>We just returned from our visit to UA and had a great intro to the honors college, dorms etc. On the way home, we realized we never really talked about what kids do on the weekends, what kinds of activities, clubs they are involved with etc. There was not a lot of visible evidence of things going on as we have seen on other campuses. Can some of you comment on this? I wonder how many kids head home on the weekends. D is a NMF senior and struggling with the free ride vs. the full pay. UA has a lot to offer, we can see.</p>
<p>Kids are as involved as much (or as little) as they want to be. There are numerous clubs, groups, service organizations, greeks, etc. Also, some kids work on weekends at many of the off-campus places. When we’ve been on campus on weekends, The Strip always seems to be crawling with students (that’s the area that is west of the stadium). The library was very busy the Saturday that I was there on Dec 5th.</p>
<p>On weekends…my kids tend to…sleep in, study, go out with friends, do things with their organizations, etc. My kids aren’t big partiers and their part-time jobs are mid-week. . </p>
<p>There are weekend community service projects that the service clubs do…like go to poorer areas and build Habitat homes and such. </p>
<p>The fall semester can be more crazy because of the home game atmosphere on 7 weekends. Some say that the spring can seem more quiet because of that. I think once the basketball team improves (once Coach Grant has his players ) then Bama will be able to add Basketball excitement to the campus, too. </p>
<p>Even if your kid doesn’t like sports (my older son didn’t care for football before going to UA), it can become very addicting. The excitement is hard to resist. My son now loves football…and that is very surprising for his personality (shy, quiet, studious).</p>
<p>A lot of students do go home on weekends (it’s a good way to get someone else to do your laundry). What a lot of people seem to forget is that college students have a different schedule, especially on weekends. If one decides to go out on Friday and/or Saturday, you’ll be gone from 9PM to 2AM and then sleeping until noon or later. Sundays are often considered weekdays due to homework, religious activities, and club. Many Sunday evenings, people can be found watching a movie in the ferg or studying in Gorgas Library. Of course, weekends are a good time to clean or just relax. My week can get hectic at times and it’s nice to be able to sleep in and watch movies.</p>
<p>As for clubs, we have major-related clubs, political clubs, general interest clubs, religious (or non-religious) clubs, and of course social organizations like fraternities, sororities, and their non-Greek counterparts. On a given day, there seems to always be at least one speaker and there’s often a community service activity. Of course, you can always hang out with friends.</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed your visit and feel free to post any additional questions you may have.</p>
<p>*As for clubs, we have major-related clubs, political clubs, general interest clubs, religious (or non-religious) clubs, and of course social organizations like fraternities, sororities, and their non-Greek counterparts. </p>
<p>On a given day, there seems to always be at least one speaker and there’s often a community service activity. Of course, you can always hang out with friends.*</p>
<p>Very true… </p>
<p>However, the word “lots” can be misleading. I doubt that many kids who live further than B’ham go home on weekends…perhaps “some” weekends, but certainly not every weekend. My kids (we live 2 1/2 hours away) only come home for official breaks or for a rare reason. Many kids who live in the state don’t want to come home because their friends, parties, clubs, jobs, activities are in Tuscaloosa, and they don’t want to spend 6+ hours of their weekend on the road.</p>
<p>thanks, both of you. I have learned much from all of your posts!</p>