The Commuter Activities Board (CAB) is a major student organization on campus and provides social opportunities for commuter students. OSILD chatted with CAB officers to learn more about the organization, their programs and initiatives, and how to get involved with the group!
Club Name: Commuter Activities BoardMission: To put on events that are catered to commuters, but are not commuter exclusive, and keep commuters involved on campus so they know they are a part of this group and this community.Club Meeting Time: Tuesdays at 4-5pm via ZoomContact information/Social Media: IG @cab_wsu | Twitter @cab_wsu | Email cab@worcester.edu
Why should students get involved with your organization?Julia Fitzpatrick (Vice President): It’s a good way to make friends especially in a time where a lot of people are not on campus because of covid. It’s a good way to improve your leadership skills and learn about event planning.
Eric Nguyen (Secretary): It’s a good chance to experience different things. CAB does different things than other clubs and a lot of people don’t know what it takes to plan events unless they try it out.
Kim Lang(Treasurer): Short and simple, because it’s fun!
Emily Hastings (President): We are also small, we are not a huge committee where no one really gets heard. Being so small makes it easy to hear out other people.
Kim: As someone who’s been in meetings with a lot of people where no one gets heard, you don’t get your opinion out there as easily as other people. In this club your voice gets heard. It’s a small community and that’s really helpful at times.
What types of events and/or programs do you do throughout the year?Emily: We have our monthly CAB Breakfast, we have duck hunt which is always a huge success, we have commuter appreciation week we do every semester.
Eric: We do a lot of giveaways, we have given out kits during finals and midterm in the past.
Julie: We’ve done bingo! That was a pretty big event
Emily: We have gone to Boston and snow tubing. We try to do 2 trips a year.
How are your events changing with covid?Emily: Many of our events are the same but they just went virtual. We will be running bingo virtually this year.
Eric: We still do quite a bit of in person events.
What has been one of the biggest successes of this organization?Eric: I think it’s the vibe of the club. The Vibe doesn’t change and stays steady.
Emily: There are no problems, we don’t yell at each other. We throw out ideas and see what sticks.
What do you think your organization brings to the students at Worcester State?Emily: Going back to our mission, a sense of community. I hope people feel like It’s their place even though they don’t live here (on campus).
Eric: Coffee? People look forward to our breakfasts when they skip their morning coffee. We also bring a relaxed chill environment to our meetings. There’s not really any pressure if you miss something or need to catch up.
Emily: Our office is in the (student center) living room and it’s a relaxed space. We are usually around, sometimes all of us are in the area chilling and talking.
What is something you all love about being on CAB’s Eboard?Emily: I enjoy being the person that people can bring their ideas and concerns to. I like knowing if people say “can you make this thing happen here?” I can say “yeah I can” and come to CAB to try and make it happen.
Kim: I think for me I enjoy it because its something different. As someone in a major who’s submerged in the same thing every day, it’s something different in my day, I get to come to eboard and CAB meetings and plan fun things. I got to meet more people, without CAB I would not have met you guys (cab eboard) I mean there might be a chance but not likely. Honestly our vibe is dope, our last meeting was so fun and duck hunt was great.
Julia: One of the biggest takeaways for me being on this eboard was before I was very quiet, now I’m more comfortable giving my opinion on matters. I’ve also improved my organization skills and learned a lot about event planning which I didn’t have much experience in. Overall I love being a part of this group. It’s so welcoming.
Eric: I like that it gives me something to do outside of class. I usually go home, do homework, and go to bed and CAB has given me something more to do outside of school work. I like the fact that CAB is a presence on campus and we can plan events and change a person’s day.
How can interested students join CAB?Email cab@worcester.edu reach out to join
How can students learn more about your programs and events?Emily: We put posters on campus, on our Instagram @cab_wsu and we have an active Twitter @cab_wsu.
You can also read the stories from past CAB member Faye Rhault on our blog.
