We come to this place for magic: for FSU students, the Askew Student Life Center (ASLC) houses the magic with a variety of events and creative outlets, mostly free for students. The events include their current Get Out the Vote series, encouraging students to get registered by providing free pizza, to tribute screenings for icons such as the recently passed Dolly Parton’s Steel Magnolias.
What the aslc offers
The ASLC houses both the Garnet Gaming Lounge and FSU’s Art Center’s Paint-A-Pot, both their own areas for students to utilize gaming equipment as well as spend some time painting with peers. Both are accessible for a small fee; however, they host free events now and then, discoverable on their Instagram.
While most events at the ASLC are fun for all, those that gain the most traction tend to be held in their on-campus theatre.
The ASLC’s movie theatre has been home to many screenings and shows over the years, such as The Pride Student Union’s semesterly drag performances and the recent showing of World of South’s showing of Daring Women Doctors, featuring a Q&A with its director, Valerie Scoon.
They also have multiple movie screenings weekly, free for students who bring their FSU ID.
Forgotten Island: An early look
On Tuesday, Sept. 15, the ASLC was allowed to show DreamWorks’s new animated film, Forgotten Island, 10 days before its theatrical release on Sept. 25.
This isn’t the first time the ASLC has received an access key to a movie before its initial release. During the 2025-2026 year, they played Curry Barker’s Obsession before it became such a success, as well as an advance screening of the predetermined hit Wicked: For Good.
The Forgotten Island screening began at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m. My friends and I made sure to show up at least 30 minutes before doors, as reminiscing about the Obsession screening reminded us that people were lining up over an hour early.
For Forgotten Island, we were met with another large crowd. Though seats weren’t immediately filled by 6 p.m., the theatre was full of students within the hour.
As we went into the theatre lobby to swipe our FSU IDs to get in, we were met with a full merch booth. The employees allowed us to take two items each, the choice being between a teal and purple bandana, a poster, a charm bracelet that matches the ones from the film, pins, and a themed grocery bag. I naturally went with the poster and the bracelet to fill the somewhat barren walls of my new apartment and add a new keepsake to my corkboard.
Forgotten Island, according to its already public trailer, follows two friends, Jo and Raissa, as they travel to a secret island following a last night together before Raissa moves to California for college.
Before the film began, the ASLC staff informed us that having any kind of device out during the early screening would get us asked to leave by the hired security. This was to help preserve the fact that the movie was being shown 10 days before its true release.
Though I can’t say much more about the movie itself, I can say that it had the ASLC’s whole theatre laughing, gasping, and everything in between.
The latest the ASLC closes on any day of the week is 11 p.m., so my friends and I spent the next hour on the couches inside, talking about the movie. It provided us with a nice, quiet space to debrief afterward, as no other films were being shown that night.
The ASLC’s early screening of Forgotten Island gave me the opportunity to see a film that has been on my watchlist for a while now and leave with some really cool memorabilia before anyone else got the chance. There’s always something to do on campus, and the ASLC is constantly holding events like these for students to attend.
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