As the sun went down, students strolled toward the grove. They did so alone, in pairs or in groups of friends. The students were sitting on blankets grass, bleachers or standing.

The display began with a big bang followed by an explosion of various colors across the night sky. The evening burst with many sounds and colors. As the evening progressed, the explosions became faster and louder, the time between them growing even shorter. The vibrant colors lit up the night sky.

The buzz of the evening heightened as the display reached a crescendo. The students could be felt getting increasingly excited. At this point, people already had their phones and cameras out to record the end of this spectacular evening. After the last round of fireworks exploded, the crowd burst into a round of applause in amazement.

Destenae Mosby, a psychology graduate student, said, “The event was short but it was worth it. I think the Campus Activities Board is doing a pretty good job with the Week of Welcome events.”

Rayni Amato, Cindy Mai and Kaitlyn Morris, from the Kappa Beta Gamma sorority said they thought this event would be a great tradition for the Campus Activities Board to adapt for the Week of Welcome every fall semester.

They also thought it would have been better if the movie night was scheduled to hold right after the fireworks display because it would strengthen the whole experience. They suggested other outdoorsy events that CAB could adopt like bonfires.

“The virtual and outdoor events are also great ideas considering the ongoing pandemic, it gives us enough opportunities to socially distance ourselves,” Mosby said.

Miranda Lafitte, a junior sociology major who goes to college at Louisiana State University Shreveport, also attended the event with her friends who go to ULM.

“The time they chose is ideal because more students can afford to attend the event since they will not be having classes.” Lafitte commended.

She said  this was such a unique opportunity for the school to encourage people, especially the freshmen, to make new friends and build their campus community.