11th Annual MUD Week Concludes

By Blake Pittman, Student Activities Coordinator • Central Baptist College

Twenty-nine Student Orientation Staff (SOS) members welcomed new students to the CBC campus beginning on Saturday, Aug. 13. MUD Week, which is an acronym for Mustangs Under Development, officially kicked off with dinner that night. Following dinner, the new freshmen and transfer students were placed on one of four teams (Green Team, Orange Team, Red Team and Yellow Team), and they met their SOS leaders and other teammates.

MUD Week activities included events such as Bunco Night, Hunger Games, Karaoke Night, Minute to Win It, Capture the Flag, Water Games and finally concluded with the MUD Run on Thursday, Aug. 18, which was also the first day of classes for the Fall 2022 semester. The MUD run consisted of several relay games leading to a giant mud slide. The tradition is that once students have slid down the MUD slide, they are officially Mustangs! Afterward, all students were invited to attend the Blue Party, where they were given a blue MUD Week t-shirt!

SOS Dinner and Awards

Student Orientation Staff (SOS) is a group of returning CBC students whose primary role is to help new students feel welcome and at home at CBC. SOS team members are selected based on maturity, work ethic, friendliness and value-driven servant leadership. (See the June 15, 2022 issue for a list of students selected for the SOS.)

New students entering CBC are faced with numerous questions related to registration, housing, financial concerns and academic survival. Each SOS member plays a vital role in helping new students with these and other questions and issues, as well as building true relationships with them. SOS members are tasked to plan and implement activities to help new students develop lasting and meaningful relationships to help them feel connected to CBC.

SOS has been a highlight of CBC’s new student orientation program for well over a decade. The 2022 Student Orientation Staff was directed by Student Activities Coordinator Blake Pittman.

To celebrate SOS for their hard work and service during MUD Week, a dinner was held in their honor on the evening of Aug. 19. Team Leaders presented the SOS Spark Plug Awards (one per team) and the SOS Reflector Awards (one per team). The MUD Week 2022 Leader Award and the Team Spirit Award were also presented.

The SOS Spark Plug Award is given to the team member that is the heart of the team. This team member is energetic, encouraging and tireless in their efforts to motivate their team. Spark Plugs were awarded to Sierra Burrow, Rebecca Hanry, Landon Hitchcock and Abby Wilson.

The SOS Reflector Award is given to the team member that best reflects the core values of SOS which include respect for others, friendship, integrity, fun, service and servant leadership. Reflector Awards were awarded to Dillon Hall, Kane Harrell, Sheridan Rogers and Grace Vandergriff.

The MUD Week 2022 Leader Award is presented to the team member who excelled in their role on SOS. The award recipient is given an automatic spot as a Team Leader for the 2023 Student Orientation Staff without having to go through the application and interview process. The Leader Award was presented to Abby Wilson.

The Team Spirit Award is presented to the team that goes above and beyond throughout the week. The team does an exceptional job planning their assigned events, is on time, is encouraging and helpful to the other teams and is actively engaging new students. The 2022 Team Spirit Award was presented to the Red Team led by Ben Stevens.

Though MUD week can be a crazy time for both new students and members of the SOS, Senior Team Leader Autumn Herring said “After praying and preparing for a long time for MUD Week and the new students we would be welcoming, it was so rewarding to see how God blessed our efforts. By the end of the week, the new CBC students were already becoming part of the Mustang family, and that’s what it is all about.”