You can make SLCC a better place for you

While Salt Lake Community College may be one of the least expensive colleges in Utah, it is by no means cheap. As students, we spend a ton of money on our education every year at this school, and we aren’t taking advantage of the most important parts of the experience.

The classes, while they are important for a degree and for a grade, are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting a full education in real life at SLCC. Very little of the outside world is about academia and the skills needed to survive therein. Instead, the world is about relationships and how to talk with people who may not be interested in your favorite activities.

Starting with the Grand Theatre, students get a free ticket to every play that is put on both at the Grand and at the Black Box Theatre. There is no reason why those shows shouldn’t be sold out every weekend. The plays are well done and they are free. It blows my mind that students wouldn’t want to take advantage of this opportunity. Even people who don’t like plays could benefit from going to see these productions, as doing so will make for a more well-rounded knowledge that will be great to use as ice breakers in conversation.

If plays don’t excite you, maybe the guest speakers and performing artists will. This year, we have seen Raj from “The Big Bang Theory,” the Dating Doctor and several speakers who were involved with the civil rights movement. Rhythmic Circus and the Good Lovelies were among the performers that Student Life and Leadership brought to the school.

Looking for more school spirit, SLCC sports teams are big time players. The basketball team won a national championship in 2009 and Justin Braun of the Montreal Impact of Major League Soccer played on the SLCC soccer team.

There is always something to do on campus. Whether it is movie night, an Oreo celebration or a job fair, as students, we should be doing our best to get our money’s worth.

That includes going to class and actively participating. The professors at SLCC generally know the subject that they instruct. The only way that any student can expect to learn from any instructor is to be in class and ask questions.

There are things that SLCC could do to make things better: a pyrotechnic introduction for faculty lectures, getting speakers to lose the jargon and speak in terms that students can understand and keeping people informed about events and changes well before they happen.

However, ultimately, it is your responsibility to take advantage of all of the wonderful things that SLCC has to offer. Stay informed by joining OrgSync, liking Student Life and Leadership’s Facebook page and looking at “The Globe’s” calendar. Then, put down the game controller, get off the couch and get involved in life at SLCC.