Every Thursday from 2:30-4 p.m. in room 236 of the Alumni Memorial Union, students can find ways to decompress from their busy lives with Campus Ministry at Take Time Thursdays.
Pablo Cardenal, retreat and social media coordinator for campus ministry, and Andrew Mountin, assistant director of liturgical music for campus ministry collaborated to start the event last semester.
Cardenal said it is an informal meeting where students can get together, play games, make crafts and get to know one another, regardless of their involvement with campus ministry.
Mountin said that he was inspired to pitch Take Time Thursdays to Marquette’s Campus Ministry after working at Fairfield University where they had “Fun Fridays.”
Mountin said that a principle of campus ministry is creating an open dialogue between students.
“It’s not the same as them feeling like they’re coming to a counseling appointment or something that maybe feels too formal or intimidating,” Mountin said.
Although the event is held through campus ministry, Mountin said he wants people to know that students of any spiritual background are welcome. He said he hopes this event will bring more students inside the campus ministry office.
“The students come in the door just to have fun with us and hang out. And if that’s all that happens, that’s great. But also, if they say ‘Hey, campus ministry is a cool place and I want to learn more,’ then it becomes an engagement,” Mountin said.
Cardenal said that the notion of Campus Ministry may be intimidating to students because it seems official, but Take Time Thursdays is an approach to meeting students wherever they are.
“Take Time Thursdays, at its simplest form, is just a time and space where students let go of distractions, let go of their busy schedules and just be students with one another,” Cardenal said.
Cardenal said that the activities at Take Time Thursdays look different every week. Cardenal said the highlight of last semester was when they had a Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart tournament.
“The room was packed with students, all the staff kind of jumped in and played, so you’ve got Jesuits playing with the students. The whole dynamic in the office was just the best I’ve ever seen,” Mountin said.
Cardenal said that another successful activity they had was when they did puzzles.
“A lot of students would come in at different hours that weren’t Take Time Thursdays to finish the puzzle,” Cardenal said.
Lucas Boynton, a first-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, said he has been going to Take Time Thursdays since it first started earlier this semester. He said attending the event has been foundational to his college experience.
“Everyone in the Campus Ministry office is fantastic. I started off with one Take Time Thursday and now I spend ten hours a week in there. Not even getting paid for it. I just love it here,” Boyton said.
Cardenal said that he wants Take Time Thursdays to extend beyond Campus Ministry. He said that last semester people only knew about it from word of mouth, but he wants that to change going forward.
“We’re hoping to ask other people from other offices that might be a better resource for other students, and hopefully through them, they can bring their students from their space,” Cardenal said.
This story was written by Ellie Golko. She can be reached at [email protected].
