Many freshmen ended their final day of Freshman Weekend eating picnic food and sitting out in the summer sun on Old Campus with their newfound friends.

This includes freshman Kaden Nieves and Kersten Davis, who attended the noon picnic Sunday along with other Freshman Weekend events.

“We attended a moderate amount,” Davis said. “Mostly the things with free stuff.”

The picnic catered a variety of food served on brand new Frisbees. While the students ate, they got to listen to music and watch people interact on stage in front of University Hall.

Davis and Nieves are roommates in Centennial Hall and are happy to be students at the University.

“It’s very relaxed and people are very friendly,” Davis said. “It is nice because everyone is in the same spot.”

Along with the picnic, the two girls went to events like Midnight Madness at Meijer, the Freshman Welcome and the Doyt Stadium, Nieves said.

“Our most favorite of them all has to be the picnic,” she said. “It’s amazing how many [of us] there are.”

To guide the freshmen through their first weekend, Opening Weekend Group Leaders [OWGL] came to many of the events as well to encourage interactions between new freshmen.

OWGL Davey Brown really enjoyed both the picnic and the whole weekend.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s the most immensely rewarding experience I have ever done working with the freshmen. Especially because I’m a senior this year, I have three years of experience under my belt that I can use to help them.”

However, this wasn’t his first time leading new students through experiences, for he has also been an orientation leader, resident advisor and other leadership positions.

“I like doing those kinds of things and giving guidance,” he said.

He helped guide students from Centennial Hall this weekend and said he was extremely proud of his group.

“I encouraged them to attend a lot of events, which they did,” he said. “They are excited to be BG students.”

For the picnic, Brown thinks the event gets better every year.

“There are more things to do this year than last, like corn hole and Frisbee,” he said. “I also see people reaching out and talking to others that weren’t in their groups. The University did a great job encouraging them to meet new people.” Another student who got to watch over and interact with the freshmen was Cheerleader Krista Aurelius.

This year is her third time in Freshman Weekend and she enjoyed it.

“I think everyone was a lot more excited this year more than other years,” she said.

Her favorite part of the whole weekend was helping freshmen move into their residence halls.

“To be about to interact with students and parents and get to know them on a personal level is what I like to do,” she said.