By Amari Henderson

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University recently welcomed new and returning students back to campus for the new academic year with a wide array of booths, carousel rides, zip lining, free grilled food, a DJ and other activities at the Back to School Bonanza held on the Student Union Commons and hosted by MT Unions.

Many students have traveled far and wide to pursue their academic goals on the Blue Raider campus where they choose from over 300 academic programs ranging from aviation to agriculture and commercial songwriting to entrepreneurship.

Freshmen Cecil Lewis III, 19, of Jackson, Tennessee, said he is studying computer engineering and, like many other students, chose MTSU because of how close it is to home and its many opportunities that fit his chosen major.

“MTSU seems cool, I mean it’s fun and everyone seems chill here…,” he said.

MTSU’s new academic year kicked off just more than a week ago, with multiple welcome back activities held throughout the week to help students settle in with some fun activities to make new friends or reconnect with familiar faces and groups.

Meanwhile, at the bonanza held on the first day of classes, sophomores Vaughn Sarten and Jackson Swafford enjoyed the trampolines with some attempts at backflips, with the 27-year-old Sarten, by his own admission, making the mistake of attempting to backflip on a full stomach. 

Lying in the grass by the trampolines, Sarten quoted a scene from the end of “The Avengers: Infinity War” movie, when the Spiderman character lay dying in the arms of tech billionaire industrialist and inventor Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, after a fateful battle with the supervillain character Thanos.

“Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good…,” Sarten quipped.

Vaughn said he came to Middle Tennessee all the way from Alaska and is currently an audio production major, but plans to change. He and his parents chose MTSU because it was the university that stuck out between his choices in Texas and California, he said.

Murfreesboro native Swafford, also 27, is a songwriting major who plans to be a Christian songwriter. Both students said they’d like to see MTSU to update its app to better incorporate school news, sports and other school events.

With the bonanza occurring during the recent heat wave, students like junior psychology major Naobi Kennedy tried to enjoy activities inside the Student Union to escape the sweltering heat.

Kennedy came from Memphis to become a Blue Raider because she felt that it was more affordable, closer to home, and many of her friends are enrolled here. She said she hopes to become a lawyer and enjoys the calm environment of MTSU.

“I’m a psychology major, but I’m really interested in being a lawyer… I think it’s important to understand the mindset of people to better help them in a legal setting,” she said. “I like MTSU because it’s not like one of those party colleges…It’s just chill, everyone’s chill.”

Like Kennedy, a considerable number of students are Memphis natives, but others making up the diverse True Blue community are international students who arrived from thousands of miles away from places such as Egypt, Jamaica, Sudan and other places around the world.

Despite coming from so many different walks of life, a common trend for most students is that they are seeking a good paying jobs, a fulfilling career, and enjoy the calm, positive environment of MTSU.

Amari Henderson is a senior journalism major from Murfreesboro. He can be reached at arh9y@mtmail.mtsu.edu.