When I saw weberstudents’ post on Instagram on Wednesday, the colorful ball pit caught my eye. “Ever wanted to talk about life’s big questions with a random citizen in a pool full of colorful balls?”

Why, yes, weberstudents. Yes I have.

The post went on to say the ball pit and Make a Friend program would be hosted in front of the Bell Tower from 10 a.m. till 1 p.m. Instantly, I rearranged my schedule to make time to jump in with two feet.

So when my class ended at 11:45, I knew exactly where I was headed: into the pit. A sign above it said “Take a seat, make a friend.” And sit I did.

I was instantly greeted with smiling faces, all unfamiliar, who wanted to know more about me. What’s your name? What’s your major? How far along are you? All simple questions that anyone would ask upon meeting a new friend.

But the ball pit had another element for ice breaking. Inside, along with all the small colored balls, were larger beach balls with some Big Questions:

Who has been the most influential person in your life?

What is your impression of this semester so far?

What are your plans when you graduate? What do you want to do with your degree?

So we talked about our futures. Some of us were in communications, some undecided freshmen that just wanted to make friends. We talked about what we wanted to do when we graduated, if we ever did finally get around to that pivotal moment.

More intriguing to me than these ice breaking questions were the ways I got to know my fellow pitters in their own ways. Right off the bat, I enjoyed the company of two of the attendees because they ordered Jimmy Johns to be delivered right to them. And yes, they ate those sandwiches right there in the pit and sucked down their sodas.

After an hour in the ball pit, I can say that I truly had fun with these people. Jill, Will, Teddy, Taylor, Nate, along with appearances from a few different faces. These are all people I look forward to seeing on campus.

I’m glad WSUSA took the time to make this experience happen for us. And if I can speak for my new friends I made in the pit, we all are pulling for it to come back again.