MU Welcomes Future Spartans to Campus
Mackenzie Kopplin
The annual Walk into My Future event was hosted by Manchester University on Friday, Sept. 27. Seas of children, grades K-3, poured onto the mall and spent several hours exploring the activities provided by clubs, departments and teams.
Approximately 1,400 students, teachers and parents made the trip to campus to experience a fun-filled event put on by Manchester University and Wabash County schools.
Walk into My Future has been hosted by Manchester since 2013. It promotes children’s interest in attending college in the future, as well as allowing them an adventure outside of the classroom to participate in learning activities. Many Manchester University students volunteer for this event for all four of their undergraduate years.
“My favorite part of the day was seeing the kids’ smiles,” said Lewis Dilts, a MU baseball player. Hunter Seegers, also a baseball player, mirrored Dilts’ thoughts on the day. The baseball team ran a station that got kids involved in catching fly balls, fielding ground balls and simply playing catch. Several elementary students commented that the baseball station was their favorite.
Smiling faces were a very common sight when walking through the mall. Teachers, professors, students (both elementary and college ages), parents and countless other staff members were scattered about the mall participating in the events. The MU volunteer guides for the day were paired with a class and got the pleasure of leading them around the mall to spend 15 to 20 minutes at the different activities.
“Getting involved with the kids at each activity was really fun,” said Destina Easley, who served as a guide for the day. “The kids seemed to really enjoy their time spent on campus, and I’m happy that I got to be a part of that.”
The activities that were offered for the kids varied from educational to physical activity, but they all offered fun. Many different campus groups offered a station for kids. Some of these groups include the baseball, football, soccer, and track teams, the English, music, and science departments, the College of Pharmacy, the College of Business Club, We Are Board, and several more.
The football team provided an obstacle course for students to partake in. Many students expressed their excitement for this station. Varick, second grade, and Kinley, first grade, both said the football station was their “number one favorite.” Groups begged to get to visit this station and once there, they sprinted through it time and time again gaining excitement with each journey.
The club We Are Board, which enjoys a good board game, played a game with the kids called Wizard, Goblin, Giant, which is similar to rock, paper, scissors but with a tag element added in. Members Trey Hicks and Mason Cross both enjoyed how excited and “raring to go” the students were when they arrived at their table.
An educational table was offered by the English department. Here the students all wrote down their favorite word, and then it was discussed for several minutes. Of course, there was fun involved with duck, duck, goose being played for the remaining time. However, this table was really interesting for many kids. A first grader from Southwood Elementary said: “‘Imagination’ is my favorite word because when I close my eyes I see pretty things.”