The only thing more exciting than free food is the chance to meet an Internet celebrity. With this new-age axiom in mind, more than 1,500 students arrived en masse to Freshfusion-the high-energy culmination of Welcome Week, the most active time for student involvement.
But free food, and the chance to see Judson Laipply, famous for his “Evolution of Dance” performance on “The Today Show,” (better known to some from YouTube), was not the only reason students came in droves to Freshfusion Aug 29.
“I was there because of an assignment, but I also thought it would be a good opportunity to meet some people, since I didn’t know very many people yet,” said freshman English major Matt Adams.
Framed by the gold and black paint of Regent’s Hall and accented with the bobble-headed Hulk-Hogan-esque visage of NKU’s mascot, Freshfusion featured a number of speeches and presentations including ones given by President James Vortruba and Student Government Association President Alyse Bender. NKU’s dance team also performed for the occasion.
By the time the cheerleading squad was done compelling the crowd to “Fight Norse Fight!” students were well enervated for the final performance by Judson Laipply, even if they had no idea who exactly they were supposed to fight.
With hurried whispers of “Is that the guy from YouTube?” students listened to a comedy routine with its share of life lessons, including his metaphor of a ‘struggle bus’ that we ride when nothing seems to be going right.
Finally, Laipply perfomed the dance many students knew him for. “When I saw (my friend) I said ‘You would not believe what I just saw at this freshman thing,'” said Colleen Gettys, a junior in psychology, upon watching Laipply’s live dance performance.
After the presentation, students were led to Loch Norse, where more than 60 student organizations awaited with information.
Freshman English major Zach Grady had joined one club and took home information about four more by the end of Freshfusion, he said.
“It was very convenient for me to have all the information I was looking for about each club in one general area,” Grady said.
Besides the information given at each of the organizations’ tables, there was also music and events ranging from a dunking booth to the videogames Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution. And let’s not forget the free pizza.
Many students didn’t know what Freshfushion had in store, but were still pleased with what they ended up with.
“I actually wasn’t at all sure what to expect in the first place, so there wasn’t a whole lot of room for disappointment. I call that smart planning on their part,” said Adams.
Grady also had a positive Freshfusion experience.
“My favorite part of Freshfusion was the talk we had about the ‘struggle bus.’ I think we all have days where we feel like we’re ‘driving the struggle bus’ so it was certainly a talk I, as wells everyone else there, could relate to,” he said. “Not only that, but his talk was funny and it made me think as well as rethink why I’m in college. But above all, his dance was entertaining.”
