Campfire Karaoke fires up students for the fall semester 🔥

By Grace Bonamico

Five Towns College’s 2024-2025 school year officially kicked off this week, so what better way to celebrate the fall semester than campfire karaoke? Students gathered in the residential courtyard on the evening of September 5th for a cool night filled with music, s’mores, seeing old friends, and meeting some new ones.

The night of singing started with Fantasy by Mariah Carey sung by Joseph Valentine. Other hit song renditions included Good Luck, Babe! by Chappell Roan, Don’t Stop Believing by Journey, My Way by Frank Sinatra, and Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley.

Music Performance major Kaleeb Barrett beautifully sang How Deep Is Your Love by The Bee Gees. “I’m not gonna lie. I was a little bit nervous because this is my first time performing this semester and I haven’t really been performing since last semester. So, it’s been a while.”

Soon after the singing was underway, the campfires were lit. Students roasted marshmallows to create delectable s’mores as they started to dance and sing along to the various performances, turning the event into a truly exciting evening.

With campfire karaoke being the first evening event of the year, it’s also the first Five Towns event for many first-year and transfer students. “This is my first time, and definitely it’s a lot of fun. I’m enjoying myself, and I’m definitely seeing myself coming to other events,” said Morgan Belcher, an Interactive Media Arts major.

The evening was put together by Assistant Dean for Campus Life, Michael Cavalli. “So, we go really big with the Weeks of Welcome events and activities and want to establish a sense of community among our students. So, Natalie [Allouche] and I, when we’re working and putting together events and activities, we consider what are the ways we can bring the community together, have a shared experience, and enjoy some of the things that our students love.”

The Weeks of Welcome events (WOW) help kick off the academic school year and bring together the FTC community as the school leads up to the all-important Convocation ceremony on Thursday, September 12th.

Campfire Karaoke was a way for students to relax, settle into classes, and prepare for more events as the school year gets underway. Just like in the immortal words of Rick Astley in his infamous song Never Gonna Give You Up, the events here at FTC will “Never let you down.”