Opinion: Just Do The Fun Thing!
As I approach my graduation from Reed at an uncomfortably fast pace, I've been realizing just how many things around Portland I haven't done, and so I’m trying to do more of them. This has resulted in a super fun year, and I'm here to encourage the rest of you to get on this hype train before your thesis buries you! Especially if you live on campus, it can be really easy to get set in your routine and never get out of the Reed bubble, but college is a great time to expand your horizons! There are a huge variety of fun (and cheap) excursions you can do around Portland, and you should do them.
For example, there is an upcoming trip to Oaks Park Roller Rink sponsored by Gray Fund, and even if you don't win that lottery, Oaks Park is a pretty short bike ride south of Reed along a nice paved trail, and you should check it out! It costs $13 for admission and skates, and roller skating with your friends is fun. There are also food truck pods all over Portland, which are great places to go for a special occasion when the gang can't decide what they want to eat. Everyone can have something totally different, and you can all eat together! Or just go to a park! There are a ton of nice parks around Portland; just go for a walk or a picnic with your friends and the change of scenery will be great for you. I recommend consulting the "Touch Grass" column for more specific ideas.
Also, if you come from areas with questionable to no public transit, like many suburbs, or if you have limited experience with public transportation, please don't let that stop you from taking advantage of Portland's reasonably good bus and light rail systems! The bus costs $2.50 and takes tap pay, and you can use Google Maps or the Transit app to figure out when buses are coming to plan your routes. The bus costs even less if you get an Honored Citizen pass, and you can get half of a monthly pass subsidized by getting it from Reed's Business Office. If you qualify for an Honored Citizen pass AND go through the Business Office, you can get a free monthly pass! Bikes and buses are great ways to get around Portland (and your bike can go on the bus), so I highly encourage you to use them!
If you are more of an outdoorsy or fitness-oriented person, consider hiking or biking! The bike trail along the riverfront is fun. If you want to hike in the beautiful Columbia Gorge, but don't have a car, there is actually a shuttle called the Columbia Gorge Express! You have to get to the Gateway Transit Center at NE 99th Avenue & Pacific, but if you're down for devoting around half a day over a weekend to the excursion, it's totally doable and you don't have to drive all that way. Remember to go with a buddy if you're going to be out and about in nature; it's safer and more fun!
There are also a lot of places to volunteer around Portland. It is easy to feel hopeless at the state of the world, but, while things are pretty bad, hopelessness is an enemy of progress. One way to start feeling like you can do something is to do real, tangible volunteer work. I recommend checking out the "Social Justice Spotlight" column for more specific recommendations. This is also a great way to get out of the Reed bubble and make connections in the Portland community! Also, if you're a leftist philosopher, it will make you way less annoying and way more likely to be able to build community and power if you interact with people outside a private liberal arts college occasionally. Please. Just an hour at a community pantry or something. Then you can go back to writing your goddamn manifesto about the goddamn Revolution™.
If you don't want to leave campus, plan something with your friends! As the year comes to a close, it's easy to forget to reach out to your friends in all the hustle and bustle. Even if it's just meeting up at Paradox for coffee and studying, it can be really refreshing to get out of your routine and do things with your friends. Also, Reed will just give you money for events! If you or your friends are signator trained, you can just go to the weekly finance committee and ask for 50 bucks to run a karaoke night. They'll probably give it to you, and the Office of Student Engagement (OSE) has a karaoke machine you can use if you remember to ask them in advance. You're probably paying a lot to be here, so take advantage of every pool of money you've got access to! Plan a silly little event! Bond with your fellow students! It can be hard to get people to learn about events, which makes it hard to get people to show up, so make sure to spread the word to your friends so that you have a decent-sized group, even if you don't manage much advertising.
