Editorial: Seek out the fun in, around Charleston

Staff Editorial

At The Daily Eastern News, we always try to encourage students to get involved on campus, whether it is through volunteering, joining a registered student organization or taking all the opportunities that are offered through various academic departments.

While getting to know the school you live in for four (or more) years of your life, it is equally important to get to know the town, city or village you are living in as well.

For students without a car, they can take advantage of the Panther Shuttle. (It does not just go to Wal-Mart.)

The shuttle has a stop in the Downtown Square, so students can patronize and explore local businesses and historic landmarks around the area.

New students especially should take advantage of these opportunities. While students can feel homesick or a bit shell shocked when they come to Charleston after they may have lived in larger towns or bigger cities, getting to know where they live can lessen these negative feelings.

It is understandable that students may be a little scared the first time they venture out into an unfamiliar place for the first time. The buildings are new and the people may be different than the ones students know from home.

However, around Charleston and surrounding areas, there are many planned events students can go to with friends that may give them a good introduction to the city.

In Tuesday’s edition of The Daily Eastern News, we wrote about an air show performance at the Coles County Memorial Airport that is coming back after not being put on for two years.

The air show is set for noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, with gates opening at 11 a.m.

At this air show, people can see aircraft from World War II streak the sky and even have the chance to ride a helicopter or monster truck.

This air show is going to be fairly populated, according to Andrew Fearn, the Airport manager, who said he expects about 1200 people to attend.

The fact that there will be a good number of people will hopefully make it less awkward for students to go.

The Charleston Alley Theatre, also seen in Tuesday’s edition of The News, is having auditions Thursday and Friday for “The Rocky Horror Show,” and in Thursday’s edition, we wrote about auditions for The Charleston Community Theater auditions for “The Queen of Bingo.”

Of course, students interested in theatre should get involved in all the productions around Eastern. But these community theatre groups also welcome students to participate in their plays and musicals, too.

These are not the only ways people can show off their talents around Eastern, either. As written in Tuesday’s edition, Bob’s Bookstore holds Open Mic Nights every Wednesday, letting members of the community “of all walks of life come to watch, perform and hang out with one another at Open Mic Nights.”

These give students and community members a chance to express themselves in a smaller, more intimate environment students may be more comfortable with.

As owner Joe Judd said in the article “Open Mic offers diverse performances,” “We are open to anything here.”

Performance at these Open Mic nights have involved everything from guitarists to singers to story-tellers.

In the article, Judd said people even played instruments together right after they had just met at the Open Mic, making it a way for individuals with similar passions to hang out with each other.

Many of these events and auditions mentioned in the article happen just a few miles away from Eastern’s campus. All students have to do is go out and find them.