Photo by Elisha Nunez

As the start of the fall semester approaches, Miner Welcome Week has presented a number of events in order to familiarize miners with each other and their campus once more. The Miner Playfair  offers miners the opportunity to socialize with one another and engage in peer activities. This past weekend, the Miner Playfair was held at Centennial Plaza on UTEP’s campus and featured excited new students, team building exercises and amazing displays of school spirit.  

 Although Miners haven’t been able to interact with the UTEP campus or other students for over a year, we are quickly being reassimilated into campus life with the amount of effort the university is putting into welcoming new and returning students.  

 “I’m super excited! While COVID was happening, I mean, online classes were alright, but while COVID was happening, I kinda lost the social aspect,” said Noami, a 21-year-old psychology major at UTEP.  “Now I’m just super excited to be back here and  make friends, make good connections with my teachers; that’ll probably help out a lot.” 

 While some students relished the opportunity to be surrounded by so many others, others are not as comfortable going back to large events. 

 Karla Canales, a 21-year-old biology major at UTEP, expressed her approval of the University’s efforts to encourage healthy habits and safety upon returning to campus. “I do think they are [doing enough], I feel like on the emails that they send us,  ‘make sure you’re vaccinated, go to the wellness center’. It’s a lot more than what they did in past semesters and I’m glad to see that there’s a big transition to help protect students as well.” Canales also shared her thoughts on the effect of events like Playfair on the student population. “I feel like we’re able to get real college experience compared to other campuses. Like, seeing what other schools do. It’s a nice way to put UTEP out there and make sure that the students are having a good time,” Canales said. 

 The Miner Playfair is only the beginning to what UTEP is capable of doing for its students, so make sure to be on the lookout for more UTEP events like this in the near-future. 

Elisha Nunez may be reached at [email protected]