On Friday, Sept. 26, several Junior Advisors (JAs) and Community Advisors (CAs) from Rand and Parker Halls hosted a cookout in the Gillespie Hall courtyard. The event, sponsored by Bates Residence Life, focused on building community and camaraderie between upper- and lower-classmen living in the two dorms. 

Between hamburgers, soft drinks and baked goods, community building abounded at all levels. Vicente Taijeron, area coordinator for Parker and Rand Halls said, “It’s nice to see the Bates community come together.”

Cora Zuwallack ‘27, the CA for Rand, stated that the turnout this year was the most they’d seen. They said, “Last year we got around 15 people to show up so we were expecting similar numbers this year.” 

“Events like these are crucial to creating the kind of community that supports and connects students with each other,” Zuwallack continued. “Meeting people at events like these can lead to lifelong friendships, and I think that’s pretty cool.”

Events like the cookout are intended to provide students with relief from stress. Toby White ‘28, JA for Rand Hall, said, “We want to provide opportunities to connect in a relaxing environment, a little bit of a de-stress from this semester that’s been picking up.”

“We had posters around the building, we had good marketing,” White added. Even still, White was surprised with the turnout: “I was pleased with the turnout. I was glad that people enjoyed it.”

Henry Cea ’29 who attended the event appreciated the program. Cea said, “It was nice gathering all these kids here, getting the community together… I really like it.” 

Taijeron added that “There’s lots of intensity around the year, and we wanted to bring everyone together for a moment of rest.”

Another JA in attendance, Ethan Vulcain-Sowkey ‘28, alluded to exciting upcoming Res-life events, saying  “We’ve got a couple of plans we are in the process of. We’ve got a couple of plans for Halloween coming up. Hopefully we’ll get the same turnout, but who knows?”