All of us that are in college know a thing or two about our own college's traditions. Some of them are formal and advertised as university traditions, and some of them are known only among students. But what about starting new college traditions? Well, it isn't an easy feat and it usually requires help from others -- a university-affiliated organization at the very least. I am here to tell you about one of the traditions that we have at University of Texas at El Paso.
1. Miner Soakdown
As you can see from the image, this will be our fifth year doing this Miner Soakdown. It's an event where students can get together right before finals to de-stress, get together with friends, and have some fun. Now the event has hundreds of students signing up and getting a chance to throw water balloons at each other, if you are in the "zone." It is an amazing event, where over 10,000 water balloons are thrown within minutes.
The water balloons are biodegradable and are immediately cleaned up after the event. This is an event that students look forward to each year -- to have fun with their friends and "beat the heat" with some water. Some people would argue that it takes decades for an event to become a tradition, but I disagree. Especially if the students love it, look forward to it and actively show up to participate, then after just a few years, it can become a tradition.
2. How to get it started
Well, you don't just come up with an idea and think, You know what? Having 10,000 water balloons sounds like a great idea for me to take on by myself. You start small and work your way until the event gets bigger and bigger. That's kind of how this event started on campus. A school organization, the Student Alumni Association, came up with the idea to get students together and have something fun for change.
It definitely didn't start with 10,000 water balloons five years ago. It started small and, over the course of a few years, gained momentum. It began with about 30 students or so, and as more people heard about the event and got interested, it spread pretty quickly throughout the student body.
3. Teamwork
As mentioned above, it requires lots of teamwork. A school organization started this and there were several members of that team that were instrumental in planning the event then and now. The size of the organization has grown, as the planning team. This event usually requires a few months of planning and organizing along with the help of lots and lots of volunteers. Sure, there will be disagreements with the specifics, but a good team will listen to everyone and put their differences aside to find the right solution to the right disagreement.
4. Planning
For an event of this magnitude, you have to plan ... a lot. That includes confirming your venue, getting everything approved through the proper channels, planning meetings for the plan -- well, you get the rest. For this specific plan, we had to plan out how, where, and when we were going to fill up the 10,000-plus water balloons leading up to the event and keep them from popping and making a mess.
We also had to plan the advertising campaign -- where we want things advertised and marketed, and the response we want from the target audience. This involves several moving parts that students may not be able to do themselves. That's why we asked university staff/faculty for assistance and learned a lot during the process.
5. Execute the plan and assess the results
Yup, now is the time to ensure that mostly everything goes according to plan and all of that hard work finally pays off! Having several hundred students at the event will require lots of staff and volunteers who know exactly what to do and when to do it along with a contingency plan. After that, you assess the results. What went well? What areas could we improve on? Also you want to see if you hit your metrics, as to how many people you expected to have at the event and if those metrics were fulfilled or not. After all, you want to ensure that this event still happens the next year and it gets bigger and better the following year.
This is just a snapshot of one event that a university holds annually. There are hundreds of colleges out there that those their own version of this "soakdown" and similar fun events that the students enjoy. Each and every one of those events takes lots of patience, planning and man/woman power. However you do it at your university, whether you may have different methods of doing things or different ways of executing as long as you host an event that the students like and it's successful by your metrics then you are a leg up.
Because there are areas and universities out there where an event like this is almost never happens. All I am saying is that you are a student in your university, you pay college tuition just like everyone else, so what's wrong with hosting a fun event if it benefits students such as yourselves? Just remember these events do not happen overnight or in a week for that matter. It will require lots of teamwork, dedication and persistence to get it started and keep on going until the event is a success. That being said, leave a legacy in your school before you graduate!
