Students reconnect after first week of class at FAB’s WinterBlast

January 21, 2024

Students peruse the Taste of Winter market at WinterBlast 2024, put on by the Flash Activities Board on Jan. 20, 2024.

After returning from a month-long break from classes, students were able to get a strong start into the semester with Flash Activities Board’s (FAB) WinterBlast.

Ariyanna Robb, the president of FAB, said the event takes place each year during the winter months to bring students together to start the semester off.

“WinterBlast is an annual event that happens in the winter seasons for our students,” Robb said. “So, it’s kind of like our big kickoff bash.”

Bryasha Vaughn, a sophomore zoology student, takes a ride on the snowboard inflatable at WinterBlast on Jan. 20, 2024. (Cadie Pierce)

This year, WinterBlast looked different in comparison to previous years. In the past, the event has been held in the Ice Arena. However, due to construction on the building, the event took place in the Student Center.

“What’s different about this year is in the past, it’s been in the Ice Arena and kind of always has been there,” Robb said. “But we have the event happening at the Student Center.”

Last year, WinterBlast had its largest turnout with approximately 1,200 students. This year, FAB expected to have around 1,000 students attend.

Robb said FAB has been connecting with different departments on campus, such as the athletics department, with the goal of bringing as many people into the FAB community as possible.

Aleia LaPresta, a freshman biology major, said seeing students come together is what she finds most enjoyable about FAB events, and that they help individuals feel incorporated.

“It’s just seeing the people come together, like seeing a community,” LaPresta said. “It’s so easy to feel like you’re separated and everything, but to see everybody come together and how nice they can be, it just really makes you feel included,”

LaPresta said what separates events like WinterBlast from other campus events is the amount of effort that is applied and the various activities they have.

Students line up on the second floor of the Student Center rotunda as they wait for the 2024 WinterBlast to kick off on Jan. 20, 2024. (Cadie Pierce)

“The care that’s all put in,” LaPresta said, “there’s just so much to do. I can just go do a bunch of stuff and spend hours.”

Just before WinterBlast 2024 began on Jan. 20, 2024, Adrianna Quinlan, a junior journalism major (right), and Clara Hubbard, a senior fashion design major and Flash Activities Board’s director of entertainment, set out the t-shirts for distribution. Students that stopped by WinterBlast early received a ticket to guarantee a sweatshirt in their size. (Cadie Pierce)

Students also find the way WinterBlast is targeted helps set apart FAB events from other campus activities.

Alyson James, a freshman mechanical engineering technology major, said she thinks events such as WinterBlast are different from others she has attended because of the audience that the event is geared toward.

“This is more tailored to us as a community,” James said. “Including people rather than just having an event whose people [are] there.”

MinJee Yoo is a general assignment reporter. Contact her at [email protected].