Does fun exist at Stevens?

Stevens has a lot going for it when you look at the numbers. If you take a minute to look into how it stacks up, you’ll probably see the terms “high return on investment” and “starting salary” being thrown around left and right across different college ranking websites. As the “School of Innovation”, it should come as no surprise that Stevens is a very rigorous and academically strong school that equips students with the necessary skills to work in the real world.

While going over my study plan with my advisor earlier this month, I came across a number of fill-in-the-blanks for classes I would like to take during my next couple of years at Stevens. It was essentially like doing a college level Mad Lib. With all this search for electives and course requirements, I became somewhat well acquainted with the Academic Catalog, a 672 page PDF with all of Stevens’ course offerings with no “back to the top of page” button. 

Back in high school, I was able to take a handful of fun classes including hip hop my freshman year. When it came to electives at Stevens, I was caught off guard by the college version of electives, which, as I’ve come to understand it, isn’t necessarily a fun class where you meet new people but a class you take to fulfill other requirements such as credits going towards a minor or a concentration. Basically, more school to top off the baseline amount of school. To be fair, I’m sure taking an extra physics class would be considered as fun to some people although I personally do not fall within that category.

Realistically, I probably should have seen it coming that classes like the study of Frank Ocean’s discography or the art of tree climbing wouldn’t be offered, but it really left me wondering, does fun exist at Stevens? On the base academic level it’s evident that, for people who find sciences and mathematics to be their fun, Stevens is better than Disneyland. But what about everyone else? Fortunately, there are a number of clubs and organizations available to undergraduates that cover a variety of interests. Still, no tree climbing, but there is a rock climbing club which is pretty close. 

From what I’ve heard from upperclassmen, in a typical year, a good portion of the “Stevens experience” is not only on-campus events but off-campus events, including events in Hoboken and in NYC. Of course, it isn’t exactly the same this year but from what I can discern, fun does exist at Stevens. Even more so if you’re a huge fan of math and science, but if you’re looking for a group of like-minded people, you’re sure to find them in clubs and organizations across campus.

Mind of a Freshman is an Opinion column written by a current first-year Stevens student to discuss life experiences during their time at Stevens, and other related subject matter.