The Student Union

The Student Union is a very important location on campus for all students, faculty, and visitors that tour campus. As a quick overview, the Student Union is located near the South-East edge of the campus and is a large building of 650,000+ sq. ft. according to the Oklahoma State University’s campus website. It is currently the largest student union in the nation and was originally constructed with $4.3 million dollars funded through a self-imposed tax from the students at the university, and a $68 million dollar renovation that was completed in 2012 that was also funded through the student body. It is by far the center for celebrations and events that happen here at Oklahoma State University, with some examples being Poketober, the Spirit walk that happens before every football game, and many, many other celebrations and events that happen throughout the school year. It harbors many different restaurants that are staffed through the university dining services, of which a large portion are students. It has a large theater room, a ball room, an expansive dining area, many study sections, computers available for student use, a hotel, parking garage, and many other services and offices available for student use.

To be able to give this full encompassing profile of the Student Union, I interviewed two people, one of which is Luke Ivey, a close friend of mine and a frequent user of the Union. According to Luke, “I end up doing my homework there every day because I like it more than the library. Something about the noise makes the homework better, I guess. It’s easy to drown out all the different voices and just focus on your homework. At least for me it is. The library seems too quiet unless you have your headphones in.” Not only is this true for Luke, but it is also true for me, and the many other people that I see in the union on a daily basis working on homework or simply hanging out with friends. Luke also added this towards the end of my interview, “The Student Union is a really nice way to meet new people and get out of the dorms. It keeps the “Freshman 15” off, or at least reduces it to the “Freshman 5.” As a new student, it’s a great place to see what Oklahoma State University has to offer and again, meet new people. The dining options have been nice because there is a good variety of stuff. The pizza at Mambo Italiano is top tier and the Chick-fil-A is just a classic. There is a nice spread of cuisines that keeps you from eating the same thing every day, unless you choose to do so. And if you aren’t super hungry, or none of the restaurants sound good that day, the small convenience store is perfect for a bag of chips, or if you have a sweet tooth, a candy bar.” I could not agree any more with this quote, I have yet to gain any weight since moving to Stillwater and eating at many of the places across the Student Union, if anything, I have lost a couple pounds. And like he said, the Student Union is a wonderful place to go out and meet new people, in fact, all of the new people I’ve met and became friends with I have met in the Union.

The second person that I interviewed was Hunter Kepple, who stated, “The student store provides any necessary textbooks, both new and used along with many other necessary School supplies. On top of that all of the Oklahoma State University merchandise you could possibly imagine.” I completely agree with Hunter’s assessment of the student store, it offers a plethora of items that you may need, from textbooks, to pencils, to binders, to laptops, to iPads, and it even has 3D printers that are available for student use. I personally haven’t used the 3D printers yet, but I have used many other facets of the student store. I have bought a couple articles of clothing, a blue book to use for tests during class, notecards, and a TI-84 graphing calculator for my math class. Another quote by Hunter, that follows closely behind what Luke Ivey said over states, “The Student Union for me mostly serves as a place to hang out with friends and find food for myself, and I enjoy the diversity of the dining options, you can eat something different every day of the week.” I wholeheartedly agree with both Hunter and Luke on this one, the dining hall is personally a complete marvel, which there being 9 different dining options throughout the ground floor of the facility.

In my own personal experience, the Student Union is where I always go to hang out with friends, grab a quick bite to eat, do homework, and sometimes a combination of all three options. The Student Union is a wonderful place to study in my opinion, there are several spots speckled around the Union that I can slip into and study, read a book, or just have some quiet time all to myself, while still avoiding the loneliness that I get when I get cooped up in my room. My favorite spot to hang out in the Student Union is this little sitting area right outside of the theater on the second floor of the Union. It’s quiet, not many people go to study there, it has outlets, and you can even take naps there if you didn’t get enough sleep, which I am guilty of doing on many occasions, and I am even sitting down there typing away at my laptop at the moment to write this essay. The Student Union also holds residence to my favorite dining spot on campus, Mambo Italiano and Johnny Rockets. Mambo Italiano has by far the best meat lover’s pizza that I have had in my entire life, and one slice of it is only three bucks, and as for Johnny Rockets, it is by far the best burger joint on and off campus, the burgers are big, juicy, and delicious, though at the moment you can only order through Grub Hub and they’ve been closed for a couple of weeks due to staff shortages, but nevertheless is a phenomenal burger joint.  They also have amazing calzones for only 6 or 7 bucks depending on which you get. Overall, the Student Union is a phenomenal place for just about anything to do on campus, whether its to find somewhere to eat, hang out with friends in one of the booths downstairs, drop off payments at the Bursar, or to find yourself at the Career Service Center to get jumpstarted on your future after college.

To sum it all up, the Student Union is an extremely versatile place on campus, that would benefit someone who is just getting started like me, all the way to doctorate level graduates who are in their final year. No matter who you are or what you’re doing, the Student Union is the place for all your needs, whether they be physical, mental, or financial.