The UW Tacoma Y student center is packed with resources for all students

From exercise machines to a game room, the UWT Y Student Center has a little bit of anything for everyone.

Whether students want to get some exercise, take a shower, use a meditation room, go rock climbing, use the computer labs or printers, and more, the UW Tacoma Y Student Center is a colony of resources for students engaging in an array of activities. 

“If you’re a student here, you automatically have a YMCA membership in pretty much all YMCAs in the country,” said Staff Member Maria Joseph, “You can come here to work out. There’s showers, a meditation room, and a rock-climbing station.”

Inside, there is another room with more features called the Center for Student Involvement. An area filled with an array of opportunities for fun and socialization. 

“We have a game room, and it’s open to all students,” Joseph said, “We have a pool, ping pong, air hockey, game systems, arcadey type games, and more.” 

It can also be used as a study space with free wifi. Students can study together and print papers. It can be a place where students can find solace in a calm environment and destress from school by playing games.

Another staff member named Mario Cavazos said the space could also be used to reserve study rooms for people in groups or people flying solo if the other study rooms on campus are occupied. 

“We can reserve rooms for meeting up with classmates to study. Also, if you have a remote class but don’t have time to make it back home and listen in private, I can reserve one of the rooms, and you can take the class here instead of a public space,” he said.

If one wants to reserve a space, they can just walk in, talk to the front desk, and they’ll receive an available room. Students just need to have their ID numbers memorized to use a computer. 

The center can be a place without distractions and a place where students aren’t alone. 

“I feel like a lot of students come in here to be able to meet up with others and collaborate in a workspace and not worry about distractions if they were out of the center,” Cavazos said. “I feel like this space is open mostly to a lot of people, and they just tend to enjoy the company of others.”

Joseph highly recommended that students try it out since it’s a part of their tuition.

 “Since any UWT student is automatically a paying member of the Y, we should try to take advantage of it; there’s a lot of students who are paying for it and enjoy it. It’s important that we all use it,” he said.

Although the center is welcome to all, they hope to have more students come and have the Y Center packed but pandemic proof. For example, those who work out must wear a mask. If they drink something, they can have a sip but must put it back right away.

Cavazos has seen that students seem to enjoy using the center judging from the number of students who come back after their first time. 

“I feel like students that have used this space before will come back and use this space more overall. We try our best to spread the word that we are here to serve and provide anything we can do.”

Joseph explained that they understand the center is an integral part of the campus due to the resources they have. As student-workers, they’re understanding and will try their best to make attendees comfortable. 

“We always have a lot of resources; we even have jobs available. We’re students too so that we can relate to you. We’re not scary; you can talk with us about anything,” she said. 

The center is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It’s also open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, and closed on Sundays.