San Francisco State University’s Back to School Beach Bonfire was highly anticipated by students looking forward to celebrating the incoming fall semester last Friday evening at Ocean Beach.
According to GatorXperience, a website for SFSU events, the bonfire would be a chance to embrace new friendships and decompress after the first week of school. The site also set a meeting place for students to take Muni at 6:30 p.m. to the beach, with the event starting an hour later.
Although successful, the event took off with a rocky start as communication issues led students on a chase to find the exact spot on the beach.
Zoe Ioannou, an international student from London, and her friends spent time roaming the shore to find SFSU’s bonfire or any sign of purple and gold. The event’s purpose was to inspire connections but Ioannou said not knowing where to go can make someone feel alone.
“We were just wandering,” said Ioannou. “If someone came on their own it would have been a bit rubbish because it’s a bit isolating if you don’t know where to go.”
At 7:50 p.m. students spotted one of SFSU’s organizers for the event accompanied with a paper bag of s’mores supplies and a small stack of wood for the growing flames.
However, due to the lack of school representation and promotion, the event remained lackluster until about 8:20 p.m.
Eva Thomas, a studio art student, took the bus to Ocean Beach with her roommates. Despite having trouble finding the event she said she was more surprised about the poor communication.
“I’m not that upset [about the event], but I think it’s kind of weird how there are so many people who come to SFSU and I’m sure there’s a lot of people who are coming tonight,” said Thomas. “They could have dropped a pin or have given a very specific sign.”
Even with Instagram posts and updates, mathematics student Cody Regester struggled to find his way to the exact spot. Not only did he mention that the time of the event changed but there was no guidance of how to travel on Muni.
“It wasn’t communicated well at all,” said Regester. “Previously it said to meet at 6:30, then earlier today they made an Instagram post, it had a new time and Muni was so packed, we were in there like sardines. It didn’t seem like there was someone on the bus to guide us, we were just wandering around together.”
The exact location of the bonfire began to spread as friends sent last-minute texts, social media messages and FaceTime calls to one another. Within minutes, the initial crowd of 10 students eventually grew to about 100.
Clusters of hotdog and marshmallow-wielding sticks prodded the fire as the frustration over communication melted away. Despite the initial struggle, the night sparked as those who sat in the warmth of the flames shared food, created new friendships and made s’mores in the name of community.
Students like Amy Fisher, an international student from Germany, embraced her first time at Ocean Beach.
“I came to experience this famous bonfire on the beach, to see Ocean Beach — it’s beautiful,” said Fisher.
The beachfront event’s turnaround from its underlying communication issues also acted as a reliever from stress.
Students like Luke Dittes, a psychology student, said he looked forward to the event after a stressful return to academics.
“We’re here with friends and [might] encounter new people,” said Dittes. “We had a pretty good first week of school, a little overwhelming in some sense but we’re also excited and eager, pretty hopeful. The vibes are good here.”
