Worried that coming to Columbus, Ohio, might put a slight damper on your social life? Think you will be strapped for cash and stranded in your dorm with nothing to see or do? Think again. To the surprise of many new OSU students, there are actually lots of things to see and experience in Columbus, and as a student with a BuckID you receive discounts on tons of stuff — some of it for free! The BuckID is not only your official Ohio State University student identification card, but is also the key to reaping all the benefits Columbus has to offer. There are many hidden benefits that you have as an OSU student; it’s only a matter of knowing where to find them…

The Wexner Center for the Arts is one of many interesting places to visit on Ohio State’s Columbus campus.

One of the most unique treasures on the OSU campus is the Wexner Center for the Arts (http://www.wexarts.org). The Wexner Center houses galleries for visual art, a video screening space called the Box, a film/video theater, a café, and various performance spaces for presenting theater, dance, films, videos, art exhibitions and installations. As a student, you are automatically a member that gets you discounted tickets to movies, performing arts events, and more. Some of the recent popular shows have included Brooklyn’s Antibalas, Wilco, Bright Eyes, and the infamous Hot Chip. The Wexner Center is also one of the only places in Columbus that frequently screens Spanish-language films. This year they presented the incredibly successful series: New Argentine Cinema: Four Directors which included double features of films by Lucrecia Martel, Martín Rejtman, Fabián Bielinsky, and Carlos Sorin. The Center screens a variety of contemporary films in many different languages including documentaries, classics, and flicks you just might not catch anywhere else. The first student party this year includes an outdoor screening of Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, free food, and more during Welcome Week — an event not to be missed. As a student, you also get a 10 percent discount in the Store which features unusual jewelry, books, housewares, magazines, kid stuff, and gift items you really might not find anywhere else in Columbus. When looking for a bite to eat on campus, also check out Cam’s on Campus in the lower lobby of the Center where you can enjoy fresh sandwiches, soup, salads, signature desserts, and coffee.

A group on campus that makes sure OSU students are always occupied is The Ohio Union Activities Board — OUAB (http://ouab.osu.edu). They bring some of the hottest acts and most popular comedians to Columbus, including the likes of Carlos Mencia, Wanda Sykes, and Dave Chappelle. The only way to get a good seat and fair-priced ticket is with your Buck ID. From a late-night karaoke session, to graduate/professional Martini Mixers at local Clubs or a cookout with pets on the oval, OUAB sponsors events all around Campus and Columbus to keep students entertained and amused.

Explore Columbus (http://explorecolumbus.osu.edu) on the OSU campus, located at The Ohio Union at Ohio Stadium, is a program that provides students with discounted tickets to events throughout the city and even organizes trips to travel outside of Columbus — and even out of Ohio.

Explore Columbus provides students with discounted tickets to Columbus Crew team soccer games.

Discounted tickets, available exclusively with your BuckID, include sports, arts, concerts, and other events. You can check out the Columbus Crew team (soccer) or Destroyers (arena football) for half the price! To almost every show that passes through Columbus, whether it’s a Broadway show or the latest international performing artist, Explore Columbus will have a discounted ticket for you. Want to go to the zoo? Out to dinner? Or a night on the town? Some of the general discounts that the program provides include: $15 gift certificates to Cameron Mitchell restaurants that are worth $25; free entrance to the Columbus Museum of Art and Cleveland Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame; half-price admission to the Columbus Zoo; discounted admission to COSI

Kids playing at COSI Science center

Science Center and the Franklin Park Conservatory; $15 gift certificates to Dave and Busters that are worth $25; and discounted tickets to the Drexel Movie Theaters, the Funny Bone comedy shows, and the Shadowbox Cabaret. And if you’re concerned about getting to any of these places, BuckID’s got you covered there as well. As an OSU student, just flash your BuckID on any COTA bus or CABS and you’ll get unlimited rides anywhere on their routes. To learn all about the other benefits of a BuckID, including information on their “Merchant of the Month” program — a program that offers up even more discounts from a different set of merchants every month — go to http://www.buckid.osu.edu.

Explore Columbus provides students with discounted tickets to the Franklin Park Conservatory.