Columbia’s Black Student Union opened the spring semester on the night of Thursday, Jan. 28, at The Hive at 618 S. Michigan Ave., with an event focusing on personal reflection and organizational planning.
BSU president Raymia Jones Fowler, a junior film and television major, opened “Vision Board Night” by welcoming back BSU members and plotting events for the new semester.
Fowler said this event served as an outlet for people to set their goals and visions for the semester in a tangible way.
“It’s always nice to have fun events where we play games and stuff,” said Fowler, “but it’s also impactful to have events like this where we’re sitting down working on ourselves and our goals.”
Posterboards, photos, glue, markers and scissors were supplied for people to create their boards.
Fowler and BSU secretary Cornell Franklin-Smith, a junior film and television major, shared some of their goals for BSU for the semester
Smith expressed wanting more consistency within BSU both from the E-board that is transitioning in, and through events.
“I have big hopes for BSU,” Smith said. “I think consistency is what we’re striving for.”
Fowler said she hopes that BSU continues to grow, not only in size but also as a community, by improving their outreach and being an impactful organization at Columbia.
Participants were encouraged to use prompts ranging from places to travel, college goals, business goals and priorities as inspiration for their vision boards.
Some members shared the goals that they were planning on incorporating in their vision boards.
“I want to start creating my own films and entering them in competitions,” said junior film and television major Delmaya Brown.
Sophomore fine arts major Payton Finley said she wanted to focus on her performance in school and staying consistent with working out.
“I fell off during last semester because of changes in school, so I would like to get back in the gym,” said Finley.
Junior film and television major Natan Mekonnen said he wanted to grow in his creative practice.
“I want to make something I really resonate with and that will show my improvement,” Mekonnen said.
First-year film and television major Aspen Stenson said she wants to continue journaling in the new year.
“It’s something that I started late last year and it felt like a task rather than something I wanted to do,” Stenson said. “I want it to be something that I feel drawn to do.”
Copy edited by Samantha Mosquera
