During his first year at Penn State, Mason Myers got lost at the Involvement Fair but found refuge at the Project Blue table.

He approached a friendly face, listened to the pitch, and decided to give Project Blue a shot. Fast forward two years later, and Myers now serves as the vice president of the club.

Project Blue is a club devoted to helping Penn State students who struggle socially at such a large university. Through bonding activities such as hikes, study nights, dinner outings, and other ventures, members have the ability to engage in events with other students who are encountering similar social hindrances.

“Our goal isn’t to be a resume booster. We’re really here to help people who aren’t as social or outgoing get the chance to have the same experiences around campus as everyone else,” Myers said.

Project Blue was created as the COVID-19 pandemic began. Students weren’t able to create relationships with their classmates and were mostly confined to their rooms. Classes on Zoom limited interactions among students on campus and made it difficult for first-year students, at the time, to enjoy all that Penn State had to offer. 

“Project Blue is, in a nutshell, a group for any year — first, second, third, or even fourth — to engage in campus activities to know what Penn State is like and what it has to offer. It’s a very social, super chill, laid-back club,” President Jaewon Kim said.

Kim became involved with Project Blue as a freshman and never looked back. He now operates as the club’s president as a junior and said that he had a hard time making friends when he first arrived at Penn State. Project Blue was one of the first clubs that he regularly attended. 

“It was something that I became passionate about because without this club, I feel like I would’ve had a pretty bad experience my freshman year at Penn State. I got to meet all of these new people and try so many new activities,” Kim said. “I also learned skills to be more extroverted and to talk to people and feel more comfortable.”

Project Blue actively works with about 12 students this semester, although nearly 300 students are in the club’s GroupMe chat. Practically every club event has a different combination of students, which helps generate new relationships at every meeting.

The group participates in activities like Mount Nittany hikes, planned dinner outings downtown, ice skating excursions, and study nights at the HUB, among others. Project Blue also offers several “virtual nights” where members can tune in to activities via Zoom and virtually play board games or video games. One particularly exciting event is “Bob Ross Night,” when Project Blue members hop on Zoom, watch a Bob Ross video, and create “happy little trees” together. 

Project Blue welcomes any student that is interested in joining. The club is completely non-committal, and students can attend any and all events they choose to.

“The whole point is to have fun, relax, and get to know one another,” Kim said.

For more information on how to get involved with Project Blue, follow the group on Instagram @projectbluepsu. Additionally, you can reach out to Project Blue via email at [email protected].