So it's a bye weekend - no pep rally to go to, no tailgating, no game, not even Notre Dame football to follow on TV. Here are some ideas to make the best of the one weekend this semester that isn't eaten up by football:
Check out South Bend: It's actually got fun stuff to do! If you've already been to the South Bend Chocolate factory, the College Football Hall of Fame, University Park Mall and all the downtown restaurants and clubs, this weekend there's also the FlipsidePotawatomi Zoo Trip on Sunday, leaving at noon from library circle and Community Energy Day concludes Energy Week with trolley, car and bike tours to the greenest places in South Bend from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Go see a show: Whether it's music, theater or comedy, there are professional and student performances on campus for you. Comedian Aaron Kominos-Smith is at Legends on Friday and contemporary Christian musician Matt Maher is there on Saturday, with both performances at 10 p.m. ND Theater NOW will be at DPAC for an entire week, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. For more music, Third Coast Percussion is performing at DPAC on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Cheer on another ND team: Did you know we have teams besides football? Really good ones? Cross Country's last home meet is Friday at 2 p.m. at Burke Memorial Golf Course, and women's volleyball plays Marquette on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Syracuse on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Purcell Pavilion.
See a movie: Both SUB and DPAC have movies almost every week. This weekend's film include "The Hunger Games" on Friday at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. and Saturday at 9:30 p.m. and "Beasts of the Southern Wild" at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at DPAC. The performing arts center is also playing "Star Wars: Uncut" as its midnight movie Saturday night and continuing the films of HayaoMiyazaki with "My Neighbor Tortoro" Saturday at 3 p.m. and "Castle in the Sky" Sunday at 3 p.m.
Help a Worthy Cause: Sign up to local cancer education and awareness with the Domer Run, a fun run that can either be a 6-mile run, 3-mile run or 2-mile family walk, starting at Legends at 9 a.m. Saturday. Keep on walking into Sunday with the Project Hope Suicide Prevention Walk, which raises money for mental health facilities in South Bend, starting at 12:30 p.m. at the Rockne Memorial Center
Do something that is "So ND": Crazy-themed events like a pirate- or Kentucky Derby-themed dance that only happen at Notre Dame are going down with no football game to stop them. Signature, alliterative dances include the Fisher Funk and the Howard Hoedown, plus events like Mr. ND and the Keough Chariot Race. And what's more Notre Dame than Legends Nightclub? Friday is Total Request Latino and Saturday is Retro Nightclub, both starting at midnight.
Go outside: It's supposed to be sunny and in the 70s all week: enjoy it while you can before the permacloud moves in (if you don't know what that is yet, you will). Wear all your warm weather clothes now before they get packed away for months in the darkness of storage. Throw around a football or baseball, be really collegiate and toss around the Frisbee or be really Fisher and play spikeball.
Be chill: Who says you have to leave your dorm to have a good time? Take the chance to actually watch some college football. Gameday is normally so consuming you never watch any other team; size up the competition for the rest of the year. Or sleep all day because you can, and because you might not get any sleep for days once midterms start, so it's totally justified.
Get ahead on studying for midterms/catch up on your homework: Nah, just kidding. Let's don't and say we did.
