With live music, beach sports, free food and student vendors, more than 200 Point Loma Nazarene University students gathered at Young Hall to dive into community while enjoying the views of the Pacific Ocean.
On Jan. 24, Loma Outside leaders partnered with Young Hall to host the event “Young Outside” for the first time in two years.
Betsy Sonneland, a fourth-year visual arts major and Loma After Dark marketing coordinator, said the purpose of the event was to bring people together in a light-hearted environment, welcoming students back to campus after Christmas break.
“I feel like it’s just a super fun place for students to get involved, have vendors, have bands play — just facilitating a fun hangout space for students,” Sonneland said. “We were just wanting to revitalize the event.”
Bailey Abel, a fourth-year education major and operations coordinator for Loma Outside, said they hoped the event would help promote and gather support for future events. To market Loma Outside, they set up a booth beside the basketball court where students could write their name and contact information.
“[It’s] a way to get people involved with Loma Outside [who] might not have really known too much before,” Abel said.
From 2-5 p.m., three student bands performed, hot dogs, chips and drinks were served and friends tried out slacklining, played volleyball and competed in a spikeball tournament organized by Otto Rogers, a third-year psychology major and spikeball club leader.
“I thought it would just be fun to start something like that and find people who would want to do it because I haven’t done a tournament yet,” Rogers said.
The tournament featured 15 pairs, with each team playing a single round and advancing by being the first to score 11 points. The championship match was played in three rounds, resulting in the winning pair each receiving a $25 gift card of their choice and a Hydro Flask water bottle.
Kyler Ayres, a second-year finance major and Christian Kuiper, a third-year business management major, were the tournament winners, sweeping their opponents in the final matchup.
“We have spikeball outside every Friday with our halls … practicing against our [hallmates], and that’s what warmed us up,” Ayres said.
“Kyler and I play together a lot, so it’s always fun,” Kuiper said.
Both Ayres and Kuiper said the event was exciting and energetic, and that it was nice interacting with new people and watching their friends perform live.
“I think it’s really good for people to get out of the rooms and just get together,” Ayres said. “I think we should normalize all hanging out on the weekends.”
Organization of the event required collaboration and support from many fronts. Loma Outside coordinators reached out to popular student vendors and bands who were quick to accept the invitation.
“A huge part of how this event happens is the ARC staff,” Sonneland said. “We all got here at like 12:30 [p.m.] to help set up, and it went pretty smoothly because everyone was all hands on deck.”
Emma Gilmore, a third-year psychology major and manager of the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC), said that, despite people’s willingness to help, challenges still arose. Setting up equipment, organizing performers and advertising the event proved difficult.
“I think getting the bands together was probably the part that took [the most work],” Gilmore said. “I was most nervous that people wouldn’t show up because of the weather and maybe because we didn’t advertise as well as we should have.”
While preparation had its challenges, the event itself found success as hundreds of students came and went from Young Hall, sitting in the grass, dancing to the music and enjoying the unparalleled view of the Pacific Ocean.
“I felt like I kept saying today, ‘This is so core Loma,’” Sonneland said. “People come out and show up and want to be at events and want to hang out with people and be social.”
Ayres shared Sonneland’s perspective, saying that people just want to have a good time with one another.
“It encapsulates Loma in one event,” Ayres said. “That’s why we came here in the first place.”
While college students can easily become caught up in academics, future careers and other unknowns, Loma Outside events are intended to encourage students to enjoy the present by spending time with friends and engaging in social opportunities.
“[It’s] just fun memories with friends,” Sonneland said. “Especially if you’re a senior, looking back [and] just soaking up the best Loma has to offer.”
Kailyn Collette 
Ava Bailey-Klugh