Classes at The University of Illinois are back in session and that means our residents have been making their way back to Urbana, IL for another great semester here at The Retreat Illinois. While we hope everyone had an amazing holiday break, we were excited to help kick off UIUC Spring 2022 the right way with a variety of residence life events!
On January 24th, we started off our Welcome Back Week with a Grab-N-Go Breakfast in our clubhouse. Residents were able to choose from a variety of options including, Pop-Tarts, donuts, fresh fruit, and juice. We had so many residents stop by that all the food was gone within 30 minutes!
Day two of Welcome Back Week, we held a Taco Tuesday Bar in our clubhouse. The Retreat was able to host a Taco Bar with the help of Maize! The residents were able to get chicken tacos and chips and salsa from Maize. Our residents love tacos so much they were gone within 15 minutes of being put out!
On Wednesday, we held a Hot Chocolate Bar in our clubhouse. This was to help our residents warm up and get to hang out with their peers in the community. We made hot chocolate and set out crushed peppermints, mints, sprinkles, and whip cream to top off their hot chocolate. We had about 20 residents come in and take advantage of the hot chocolate bar.
For day four, we held a smores bar in our clubhouse! Residents were able to roast their marshmallows, create their smores, and enjoy them with their friends. We had about 20 residents show up before the event even started because they were so excited to make their smores. All the smores were made and eaten within the hour of starting the event!
Our very last event of Welcome Back Week, we held a bake-n-take pizza bar in the clubhouse! We had deep dish pizza crusts set out and residents were able to add their toppings. We had toppings like pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, black olives, etc.! Residents could come in and top their pizza off with whatever they wanted and bake their pizza in the comfort of their cottage! We set out 50 pizzas and all 50 were gone within the hour!
It was an awesome week getting our residents geared up for a successful semester at The University of Illinois! We love having the opportunity to provide a best-in-class, UIUC off-campus housing experience to our residents, and hosting a variety of engaging events is just one of the many ways we strive to accomplish that. From the whole team here at The Retreat at Illinois, we wish everyone an amazing Spring semester!
