Pointlife
Stevens Point: A place to rest your head
The Pointer
bhaig870@uwsp.edu
Stevens Point may represent entirely different things to you and your fellow students. For instance, some think of University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point as their personal “boarding school” if you will, returning home every summer and a great majority of weekends. However, where is the divide? Do some students feel at home in Stevens Point, or is it merely the location of their higher education?
First, let’s take a basic look at Stevens Point. Relocate-America.com ranks Stevens Point, Wis., as the sixth best place to live in the nation. The site comments, “Conveniently located in the center of the state, the Stevens Point area has something for everyone!” Indeed it does. Surrounded by green space, such as the Portage County Park System and Schmeeckle Reserve, not to mention the prestigious Sentry World golf course, Stevens Point does not disappoint the outdoor enthusiast.
Besides its outdoor attributes, Stevens Point also offers major employers, including Sentry Insurance, AIG Travel Guard, Lands’ End and many others. Families are happy to find a wide variety of public, parochial and private schools as well.
But what things make Stevens Point a comfortable place for students?
“People feel at home...not too big, not to small, plenty of places to go out and play pool, darts, shuffleboard or volleyball and softball leagues,” said UW-SP Senior Hayden Schoone.
Indeed, Stevens Point has a number of activities that appeal to students, and it’s quite clear that the ones that prefer a bigger campus, or bigger city, move on at their own will. Some prefer a larger mix of culture, or size of student body, disliking the almost “high school feel” of the Stevens Point campus.
Larger cities in Wisconsin, such as Madison, also draw a lot of students away from Stevens Point.
Mid-State Area Technical College student Ben Wurl-Koth how larger campuses can attract students.
“When moving from the northwoods looking for the right city to live in, Madison [has] more to offer than any others in the state, in terms of school and activities,” said Wurl-Koth.
Significant areas of interest that make Madison more attractive are sporting and music venues, as well as Division I athletics.
“There are so many great shows in Madison that are hard to find anywhere else in Wisconsin.,” said Wurl-Koth.
Aside from being a great place to go to school, do students feel that Stevens Point is a good place to settle down? Senior Adam Mazzara sums it up best in his opinion.
“I would settle down here because Point is a growing metropolis with a wide variety of opportunities here and near by, it has a small town feel, in not such a small town,” said Mazzara.
