Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) hosted Late Night Roller Disco on Friday, which included free rental skates and Woodstock’s pizza, in the Julian A. McPhee University Union (UU) Plaza.
Flashing lights, disco music and good conversations rolled across the puzzle-piece rink as skaters glided along, dressed in everything from jeans and a T-shirt to sparkly sequined dresses.
Some skaters held tightly onto their friends as they took modest steps in skates, while others blazed by effortlessly.
One of the more experienced skaters, electrical engineering freshman Vahe Gyuloglyan, said, “I like roller skating. I have my own pair, but our campus is pretty much a hill, so I’ll take any excuse I can to skate.”
Others had previously roller skated and wanted to reconnect with the hobby.
“I hadn’t done it since I was a kid, so it’s nice to be a kid again,” said landscape architecture junior Shannon Saliba, who came dressed in what she called a “psychedelic groovy dress.”
While Gyuloglyan and Saliba came to relive their childhood experiences, some students came to try it for the first time.
“I’ve done in-line skating in Germany,” as opposed to two wheels in the front and two wheels in the back, biomedical engineering junior and study abroad student from Germany Janina Scholz said.
“It was not difficult, just very different,” Scholz said. “You just need a minute to get used to it.”
However, some students found skating more challenging. Even with railings set up along the perimeter, the rink did not allow for easy maneuvers.
“The railings were super wobbly (so) when you’re falling it doesn’t help much, especially for the inexperienced like us,” biomedical engineering freshman Kio Myers said.
In addition to the unstable railings, some students suggested that a larger rink, perhaps even two, would make it easier to move around.
“There could be a bigger rink so you’re not constantly turning and can pick up more speed,” Gyuloglyan said.
Even more important than picking up speed, though, was the issue of colliding with other skaters.
“A bigger area would be good so people don’t run into each other,” computer science freshman Caroline Olesh said.
Despite the strong turnout for the disco night, students said that there could have been more advertising for the event.
“I saw them setting up in the UU at 5 p.m. and I didn’t hear about it,” recreation parks and tourism junior Irene Ouyang said. “I didn’t see any signs.”
Some students suggested that the event could be advertised online.
“Maybe through Facebook. A lot of people go there for events,” Myers said.
Advertising aside, most students did enjoy the roller disco night. According to Ouyang, students were happy to be in the “good-vibe atmosphere.”
“It’s so fun because it’s a big crowd riding with you and you get to meet new people,” Scholz said.
The people who came out to this event were those who wanted something else to do on a Friday night besides go out.
“Personally, I think parties are boring and all the same,” Ouyang said. “It’s more fun to do something active that won’t make you feel like shit the next morning.”
Disregarding the energy of the disco environment, Saliba, a fan of disco music, said the music could be changed next time.
“It’s ’70s radio, not like ’70s disco; they haven’t even played an ABBA song,” Saliba said.
Another aspect that threw students off was the change in the music.
“There could have been better music choice,” electrical engineering freshman Katie Coleman said. “It sounded like they were switching channels and there were people talking.”
While the music didn’t fully satisfy students, they enjoyed that the event included free skates and pizza.
“I like that you can rent skates because they’re here in front, you don’t have to go to the Rec Center and it’s comfortable for us,” Scholz said.
Overall, the convenience of this event was what made it enjoyable for Cal Poly students.
“Bringing it to our school instead of going somewhere else off campus was really nice,” Myers said.
As the event wrapped up, students unlaced their skates and said they would definitely return to the rink again.
“It was the best ASI event I’ve been to all year out of the ice skating and Halloween ones,” Olesch said.