Students chill at Throwback Thursday

By Brandon Nicolas STAFF WRITER

San Jose State students caught a break from the rain and enjoyed the weather as they gathered at Tower Lawn, relaxing on hammocks and inflatable sofas, eating snacks and participating in arts and crafts, on Thursday.

Throwback Thursday was the final event in the 3rd annual commuter appreciation week coordinated by SJSU Student Involvement.

Hammocks surrounded Tower Lawn as students signed into the event with their SAMMY app near tents that provided snacks and drinks.

Business administration freshman Andrea Reyes said she was on the way to the library with a friend to study when she heard music and saw students relaxing on Tower Lawn.

“We saw [the event] and was, like, ‘Wait, we should stop there for a little bit,’ ” Reyes said. “So now we are relaxing and not thinking about studying.”

Before settling into a hammock, Reyes said she grabbed Goldfish crackers and made flower origami at the art station.

“I didn’t think I could do it,” Reyes said. “It’s not that hard but it seemed hard in the beginning – it was fun.”

Kinesiology senior Alan Morett was playing Connect Four in the center of Tower Lawn lawn, where students were playing other games including Giant Jenga and Frisbee.

“We just walked out of class and saw little bean bags over here,” Morett said.

Yellow and blue inflatable sofas were scattered across Tower Lawn, where students got comfortable waiting for their next class.

“I think it’s good because you have a break from classes,” Morett said. “It clears your mind honestly, and you get to relax and chat with your friends.”

Morett said more centers on campus should plan events to help students decompress and relax.

“A lot of students’ mental health, especially during midterms, are really important,” Morett said. “We all have different things going on.”

Japanese language and literature junior Kevin Huynh said he heard about the event from his friends who were playing frisbee.

He said with the rise of mental health issues over the last decade, campus centers should help students now before the problem gets worse.

“[Centers] should cater toward students,” Huynh said. “Do any events, as long as it takes their mind off of work or class work for a bit.”

Biochemistry freshman Anh

Pham said she saw the event flier on Instagram weeks prior.

Pham said she felt her friends have more of a social life than she does because they live on campus while she commutes.

“I feel like this event supports commuters and tells them, ‘You are involved – we care about you,’ ” Pham said.

Public health freshman Frances Pasion said she was very interested in the event being a commuter herself.

“Especially after midterms, I feel like everyone needed this relaxation,” Pasion said.

After grabbing snacks, drinks and free stickers from the stations, Pham and Pasion enjoyed the cool breeze by running across the grass to inflate a blue sofa to relax.

“I had two exams this week . . . it was really bad,” Pham said. “Just now I sat down and was like, ‘This is so nice – I needed this.’ ”

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