By Jamie Iglesias
Published: October 06, 2009

By Jamie Iglesias

Daily Titan Staff Writer

“TuffyWood” gave students who are undeclared or undecided about their major the opportunity to learn about each of the colleges.

The event was held on Tuesday in the Titan Student Union Pavilions B and C.

Laura Chiu, 19, an undeclared major nearing the end of completing her general education requirements, came to the event in hopes of finding the right path for her education.

“This is my last semester of general education, and I need to declare a major. I wanted more information about what the colleges have to offer, and I am hoping that an epiphany will come and I will pick a major,” she said.

Students were first introduced to those who helped put the event together and were then asked to do an activity to help them determine their interests.

The activities were geared to help students gain an outward and inward perspective of their interests, said Quinn Royston, 19, a business administration major and collaborator for the event.

After finishing the activity, students sat down again and were introduced to the Academic Advisement, Career Center, and Freshman Programs.

Then the assistant dean from each college gave a brief introduction of their college using the Web site to provide an overview.

“I like the fact that the assistant deans came. Instead of someone telling you information, you got information specifically from each of the assistant deans,” said Jessica Plascencia, 18, an undeclared major.

When the presentation finished, the students were asked to move to cocktail tables set around the room. The activity was named “Speed Majoring” because each time the bell dinged, students had to move to the next assistant dean.

It gets students moving, said Maruth Figueroa, coordinator of Freshman Programs. “I’ve sat in presentations, and it can be boring if you are just being told information. It gives (students) the opportunity to talk to someone one-on-one.”

The event got people out of their seats, said Lea Beth Lewis, the assistant dean for Student Affairs in the College of Health and Human Development. “I think it was the hallmark of the event.”

Students were walking around and networking with the assistant deans. “Students came, and they were engaged with the presentation,” said Krystal Santiago, 20, president of the Health and Human Services Inter-Club Council and sponsor of the event.

Many of the students found that the information given to them was beneficial in finding the right major.

“This event helped me because I am trying to find out exactly what I want to do. It’s good that they have such a small environment so we can gather and talk to everyone,” said Justin Rodriguez, 18, a radio-TV-film major.

“I was so confused, and I am now being pushed in the right direction,” Plascencia said.

Santiago was pleased with the turnout, and she hopes that the event will run next year.

On the other hand, Lewis was not as impressed with the turnout and thought that TuffyWood did not achieve the number of people that they had hoped for.

Approximately 40 students attended the event. Those who did attend were engaged and met the goals of the event.

Lewis said that most of the comments they received from the people who collaborated in the event were positive: “Everyone that was here was attentive and involved. They were asking good questions, and they were moving around the room.”

“(Students) were doing exactly what we wanted them to do for this event,” Lewis said.

Students who attended TuffyWood will not necessarily walk out knowing what major they are going to choose, but if they are considering a major, they will know who they will go to for help, Figueroa said.

There are resources at CSUF to help them, Lewis said. “Now they can attach a name and a face to those resources.”