The First Year and Non-Traditional Student Engagement organization hosted Non-Trad Networking on Nov. 5 in the Student Union building to recognize Non-Traditional Student Week.

Non-Traditional Student Week, usually hosted in the first week of November, is a week for colleges and universities to celebrate students who don’t fit the typical college profile.

“This is a way for students to get to know each other, just kind of hang out, and talk since it is Non-Traditional Student Week,” Maigan Wipfli, the director for First-Year and Non-Traditional Student Engagement, said. “We have our secretary and people from the Ascend Federal Credit Union here just to hang out and have a conversation. It’s really kind of like building a community aspect on our campus.”

Events like this help build a community for nontraditional students, Wipfli said.

“All of the non-traditional students are all from different areas,” Wipfli said. “The whole thing is not just about their classes. It’s also about being people and creating a community as people. So, not everyone has anything to do with their classes.”

Many non-traditional students are pursuing different career paths, Wipfli said. But although they may differ in their programs, they can always find shared values.

Jeff Sims, a finance major and attendee of the event, said that being a non-traditional student can be very lonely, and he often feels like he doesn’t fit in with his peers.

“It can be really lonely being a non-traditional student here at the campus just because you don’t fit in with all of the other classmates,” Sims said. “I love the classmates that I have, but they may not have the same references that I have, which can make it a big disconnection between each other.”

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