Winter Carnival warms students’ spirits with fun, activities

The Winter Carnival was held just in time as the snow melted away in Troy. The theme was “There’s Snow Place Like Home.” After students checked in, they were free to play games outdoors, free skate, or explore the activities.

Indoors, right by the check-in, students could decorate white mugs with a “Winter Carnival 2020” snowman printed on them, get their photo taken with friends for a souvenir magnet, and check out the many raffle prizes available. Prizes included a Nintendo Switch Lite, a Fitbit, a kettle and mug combo, stationery, a Crock-Pot, a Keurig, T-shirts, blankets, items and shopping totes designed by Natalie Tague ’20.

Inside the gym, students enjoyed running the obstacle course, trying the escape rooms, and of course, spending time at the stuff-a-plush in the center of the gym, while listening to WRPI radio station and the RPI Jazz Band later in the day. Upstairs, students waited in line to grab Sodexo wraps, soups, mac and cheese, chips, cookies, cupcakes, and hot drinks.

In tents outdoors, student-created games were hosted with the incentive to earn tickets that could later be used to earn prizes or a printed RPI logo pillowcase. Habitat for Humanity was running a game where people hammered nails into wooden boards, while other games included bean bag toss, frisbee toss, ping pong toss, ring toss, and toilet paper toss. Union Show Techs, formerly known as UPAC Lights and Sound, were running the sound outdoors, while the games were run by student volunteers.

The heads of the Winter Carnival Committee, Andrew Hebel ’20 and Sarah Speer ’20, started working on the Winter Carnival Committee their sophomore years at RPI, learning what it took to plan the massive event before heading the committee at the start of their junior year. According to Hebel, the setup took about two hours with 40—50 volunteers from RPI’s many groups on campus, mostly from fraternities and sororities.

It was a fun way to enjoy a Saturday morning with friends, and I look forward to what the coming year has in store!