My name is Rio Nakajima,
international student from Japan currently studying marketing and advertising
in University Certificate Program. I used to study English reading and writing
in IEP 600 level 2 quarters ago. I like cruising with skateboard, bouldering,
and swimming. It’s been 8 months since I came here in Riverside, even though it
feels like only a couple months passed, and when I look back my life in UCR, concerts
and events hosted by Associated Students Program Board are definitely
highlights.
Basically except the summer
quarter, ASPB is holding one big concert in UCR main campus each quarter. Block
Party in fall, Heat Music Festival in winter, and Spring Splash for this
quarter. I’ve been in all of those concerts and those are pretty cool stuff
that you can never experience anywhere else. For the Spring Splash, which was
held on May 4th, ASPB invited 2chainz and Rick Ross, two hottest
rappers in the game to hold their performance. All the tickets were gone within
less than a week and for me I had to wait in a long line for more than 2 hours
just to get a ticket. I was able to purchase the ticket after all but most of
my friends waiting behind me had to give up. Trust me, it was that competitive.
Let’s get back to the Spring
Splash. After another an hour of waiting for an entrance, finally I could see
whole attractions in Spring Splash. Well, I have to say this event was more
than just a concert like Heat or Block Party in a sense of its variety of attractions.
There was a Ferris Wheel, food tracks, and even a small-sized zoo too. I
couldn’t try all of those unfortunately but enjoyed some of them. Especially
that Ferris Wheel, Who’d ever imagined the carnival would be suddenly show up
right in the middle of schoolyard.
Another thing that impressed
me was the effort ASPB made for the environment. All those student staffs were
trying not to make any waste and trash within this concert by offering free
water refill and putting recycle box for plastic bottles and cans. This makes
this event different from those other two concerts. There is a clear objection
of ASPB to commit to the eco-friendly activity. At this point, Spring Splash is
not just another concert but a theme park filled with youth energy and
motivation to get things better. I’m so glad that I was there and I strongly
recommend all the international students to get involved these kinds of events
and activities. I bet none of them will waste your time and for sure they will
bring more fun to your life in UCR.
