By Aiden Lynam
On Thursday, April 4, the Grand Rapids Community College Student Government held the grand opening of their Student Game Room, which is located on level G2 of Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall.
Student Government Vice President Michael Zazzo explained that while he is gathering feedback from students, it’s going to take more time and money to implement their suggestions.
“We’ve focused primarily on getting started, but there’s already been talks at the town halls about a pool table or a foosball table, or getting a game console installed,” Zazzo said.“It’s all stuff that’s gonna take a bit more time, and we wanted to be relatively conservative with the spending.”
Currently, the area includes lounge furniture, a pingpong table, a flat-screen TV and multiple board games such as “Sorry! Trouble” and others. The board games were outsourced by Student Life and obtained from the GRCC Board Games Club, which was led by students and made for students.
When asked if they would use the space often, students stated that it will be a nice addition to the college, especially for those who are at the college all day.
“Oh yeah, for sure,” said Leslie Nyhdro, 19, of Grand Rapids. “I’m always here late, until like eight o’clock. So I get brain fatigue, like I’m tired. It’s nice to just smack a ping pong ball and energize, you know…and the chairs and stuff as well, you can just talk and meet new people.”
When asked what brings him out to the event, Eduardo Balderas, 20, of Grand Rapids responded, “ Definitely the ping pong table, cause like Leslie said, you know, we just study here all day. I’m here from like 8 a.m. to 8 p.m…it’s just nice to get your body moving, and you know, like it really changes your mind from looking at a book all day or a computer.”
Zazzo states that the room is intended to foster a sense of community and positive student relationships and is open to all students during college hours.
