Photo and story by Emily Blalock / Contributing Writer
The annual “Back to Business Courtyard Bash” took place in the MTSU Business and Aerospace Building courtyard on Thursday.
Kelly Prince, the event coordinator for the Jones College of Business, has coordinated the event for the last four years as a way to welcome students back to campus.
“It’s just a way that we at the Jones College have found that we can really reach out and tell the students, ‘Welcome back to campus, have a really great year, start it off on the right foot,’” she explained.
The Jones Business College partnered with the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership (CSIL), officially making the event a Connection Point opportunity as of this year. The goal of the CSIL is to provide students with learning opportunities outside of the classroom and create a more inclusive campus community.
“We really wanted to just create an outlet for our students and faculty to meet and mingle with each other and get to know each other outside the classroom,” Prince said.
In addition to providing music, Connection Point buttons and networking opportunities, free Jim N’ Nick’s barbecue was served to students from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., when the event came to an end. First Tennessee Bank, who has sponsored the event for the past four years, provided free T-shirts for students as well.
Rebecca Spoon, a junior and business management major, decided to come to the event for the first time this year. She encouraged students of all majors to come to more events such as this one.
“It builds better connections, makes you have better self-confidence and opens up your opportunity window,” Spoon said. “I’ve actually met some different professors too. So, it’s kind of cool that I’m making small connections with other people.”
The next “Back to Business Courtyard Bash” will take place at the beginning of the fall semester of 2019. Prince looks forward to it every year.
“We really just look forward to this event each year because it’s a casual and fun way for us to interact with our students and let them meet our faculty and staff,” Prince said. “I’ve seen people from all majors and minors across campus come to this event every year, and we welcome them all. We’re so excited they want to come.”
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