Jacob Jardel
Staff Writer
Students rocked out and gamed on during PAC Game Night at 7 p.m. on Sept. 25 in the MCC Ballroom.
The night featured various board and card games alongside the music video game “Rock Band.” When students were not taking part in activities, they were taking quick breaks for snacks.
Student Activities Specialist Megan Canfield said students had the freedom to choose what to do with their evening, setting it apart from other PAC events.
“It’s an event that’s a bit different because they’re in control of what they want to play and do,” Canfield said. “Usually, our events are a bit more directed. For this one, we provide all the supplies necessary to play the games, but we won’t run the game for the people who come. It’s going to be up to them to play the games themselves.”
Junior Biology major and PAC co-chair Bobbi Loflin agreed. Loflin said she believes this freedom makes for a better student experience.
The event brought in enough people to surprise Loflin. She was pleasantly taken aback by the attendance.
“More people showed up than I expected to be here,” she said. “I didn’t know that there would be a big response.”
Loflin said one of the things that set this game night apart from others was the addition of a cakewalk.
Freshman Psychology major and Game Night co-chair Krista Ortiz said the cakewalk received good traffic alongside games such as “Twister.” Each game offered had its own particular draw, which Loflin reiterated was an expectation for the night as a whole.
“One person might come in and play ‘Monopoly’ while another comes in and plays ‘Rock Band,’” she said.
While those two games had their own draws, students such as Ortiz spent much of their time interacting with others over one of the various card games offered.
“I’ve been playing ‘Apples to Apples’ all night, and it’s so much fun,” Ortiz said.
Canfield said the event was made for the sole purpose of having fun.
“We strive to provide an entertaining and fun atmosphere for the students,” Canfield said. “They’ve got the stress of class and work — we want to provide a fun outlet where they can come and relax with friends and get away to enhance that out-of-class experience.”
In order to enhance that sort of experience, PAC members such as Ortiz urged fellow students to be involved in PAC events
“We just want more people coming, more people being involved and more people being aware of what PAC does and what we bring to campus,” Ortiz said.
Canfield said events like Game Night creates more events for students to get together and interact with each other.
“It’s a great opportunity to meet new people and make new friends because you bond over a game of ‘Monopoly’ or ‘Candy Land,’” she said.
With the turnout that Game Night had, Loflin stated her optimism for future events geared toward student interaction.
“Hopefully, if we keep up the momentum, we’ll have some really good turnouts later on.”
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