With the new semester beginning, one activity that many of us dread are the ice breakers professors come up with. While ice breakers may seem boring and dull, I’ve noticed that they do in fact tend to “break the ice.” I say this because in the classes where my professors made us get to know each other, all of us were more likely to participate in class throughout the semester than in classes where there were no ice breakers. Now, huge lecture classes probably can’t have this experience but, in classes where we do have to participate in these dreadful ice breakers, we should give them consideration and actually understand their importance. The activity most common in my classes has been to think of an “interesting fact” about ourselves. At first thought, this task seems almost impossible, but if you open your mind and dig deeper than the typical “my favorite food is pizza,” I’m sure that you’ll find many interesting things about yourself. Here are some ideas. Can you cook a special dish? Do you have several siblings? Are you a twin? Are you a part of an interesting club? Can you speak another language? Are you a part of one of your school’s sports teams? Are you an artist? How about your first-generation status? This list goes on and on, and trust me, I know you can find an interesting fact about yourself that will get your class saying, “Wow.” If you take the time to actively participate, you could find a new friend or create a connection with your professor. These activities are meant to create a friendly environment for everyone, and while it may not seem fun at first, the payoff can definitely be worth it. Would you rather have a class that you dread going to all semester or one that you feel welcomed in because the professor made everyone breakout of their shell and be a little more social?
