Bakersfield College rolled out all the festivities to welcome in returning & new students for the new fall semester. The week-long event known as ‘Welcome Week’ hosts all kinds of different events starting the first day of classes, exclusively for the week of Aug. 26 – Sep. 5. There was a lot of excitement from students since Welcome Week offers a variety of free games, food & drinks, and especially free stuff.

BC student Taylor Paige said, “I just passed by because I had a gap period but this was a lot of fun, and I got a lot of free things.”

Many students see this as an opportunity to expand their knowledge of what’s expected here at BC and to connect with other BC students in a friendly and welcoming environment. There is always something for everybody at BC, which is what makes this campus the friendly and welcoming place it is.

Some of the festivities Welcome Week offers are the Renegade rollout, The Epic Proportions Band tour, a BCSGA power lunch with local congressman TJ Cox in Levenson Center, where a lot of similar events are held throughout the school year. “The Mind Surfin’: A Mentalist Show,” here at The Huddle where students were hypnotized and mentally tricked. Welcome Week ended with indoor gaming & board games for all the Bakersfield College community.

Students were welcomed back on the first day of classes on Aug. 26 with the Renegade Rollout, School Supply’s Game, and Chill Factor. All of which gave students the opportunity to earn prizes, much-needed school supplies and even Bakersfield College merchandise.

On Aug. 27 many got together in The Huddle to watch the Epic Proportions Tour band perform live! The band is known for traveling across the country teaching students and fans the importance of music and education. Epic Proportions performs at major music festivals all throughout the year, such as SXSW, CMJ, Reeperbahn, Eurosonic, Summerfest, NAMM, MIDEM, and the Vans Warped Tour, which is why students won’t expect the band to perform in the Bakersfield area any time soon.

On Aug. 28 BC student government hosted a lunch with Congressman TJ Cox of CA-21st district. Many things were discussed in the power lunch, which also hosted many local leaders and the student body. Key topics discussed were student involvement in the community also including other concerns and opinions that were brought to the table.

That same day, students took a break from the intense luncheon with the Congressman to watch “The Mind Surfin’: A Mentalist Show,” where students are put into hypnosis, shown magic tricks and even mentally tricked using hypnotism and psychic abilities, a nice break from syllabi and homework. This is not the first time Mind Surfin’ has performed at BC and it definitely won’t be the last.

The last day of Welcome Week was fun indoor gaming and all the classic board games to bring an end to Welcome Week and ease the tension of the first school week. These events are just the start of the many things that BC will be hosting for the 2019-2020 year.