UW-Eau Claire held their biannual Blu’s Organization Bash, also known as BOB, on Feb. 7. The event had a variety of organizations, from sports clubs, student clubs, greek life and various organizations that lean into student interests and services. 

The part-time job fair is also held biannually. The goal of that event is to help employers come to campus, provide job hiring information and get their names out in the community. This year, the Activities, Involvement and Leadership Office (AIL) and Career Services decided to combine the events. 

Sara Thommesen, senior coordinator of student organization engagement, said the reason for the event merger is to increase interest. 

“To garner more student interest in the spring because it is harder to gain interest. Though the all-majors career fair is still coming up, we found a lot of overlap. It made sense to have them come to one place,” Thommesen said. 

Melody Mententel, Advising, Retention and Career Service outreach counselor, agreed that giving students a better opportunity to engage and have better chances with employers was the event’s goal. 

“Overall, students being involved on campus benefits them differently. It gives them skills for future work and helps them feel more connected. I think it was accomplished,” Mententel said. 

Maggie Skwierczynski, program director of the Department of Nursing at Mayo Clinic Health System, said the event is helpful in raising awareness about job opportunities through the nursing department and Mayo Health. 

“The goal was to have students learn more about our programs and supply job opportunities. Part of coming was making sure that people were aware of the opportunities out there because there are a lot of openings. Not just nursing,” Skwierczynski said.

Fourth-year English linguistics student Joe Brandt and fourth-year political science student Coling Flom both felt that the event was vital for their organization, Eauzone. The organization is a 7v7 noncontact organization that focuses on playing ultimate frisbee.

Outside of the organization there is an emphasis on team engagement. The organization doesn’t require you to be a frisbee expert, as they have two teams that work towards learning as their season progresses. Brandt said the spring event is more challenging, though helpful because of the weather.

“It’s more helpful in the fall because we can throw the frisbee and play a game,” Flam said. “One of the reasons I joined was because of the no-team dues. I was trying to find something to do, and before that, I had never played. I just joined in the fall and I love it.”

Another organization that benefited from the event was the Pre-Law Club. Third-year criminal justice student, Mckenna O’Brien was at the event alongside fourth-year political science student Addie Schultz.

They spoke about how the BOB event was the “main way of recruiting” the club does. The organization was founded to help better prepare students for the legal field.

“We help prepare students to learn more about the legal field. We get them connected with professionals. We talk about the LSAT, which is very social and helps people get more insight,” O’Brien said. 

O’Brien and Schultz said the organization only requires you to have an interest, rather than experience, in law. 

“With law school, if you are applying, you don’t necessarily have to have a political science or criminal justice major,” Schultz said. “Having another type of degree can look beneficial because it helps you stand out.”

The organization often hosts events with the Menards Center for Constitutional Studies and meetings biweekly.

The event saw a spike in student organization participation, with 100 student organizations participating this year according to Sara Thommesen, who tracked the numbers throughout the whole event alongside the AIL team. That compares to last year when 85 organizations participated. 

Though it is tough to track all those who came in and out, approximately 450 students checked into the event this year. This was a large increase in comparison to the 172 students who attended just the part-time job fair.

Gaitan can be reached at [email protected].