Winter carnival warms up Lee Hall

By TIFFANY OSUANAH

The University of Mary Washington kicked off the semester by warming up Lee hall with the annual Winter Carnival.

The University Programming Council, in collaboration with Cheap Seats and Class Council, hosted this year’s Carnival.

Students packed into Lee Hall on Jan. 16, ready to celebrate the first week back at UMW with the promise of free food, drinks, games, photo booth fun and prizes.

Despite the cold weather, students were not deterred from dressing warm and coming out to enjoy all of the wonderful things this event had to offer.

“Winter Carnival was awesome. It was a great way to stay warm and have fun with friends,” said Brooke Turner, a senior sociology major.

As the students entered the Underground, volunteers were setting up the game “A Minute to Win It.” “A Minute to Win It” is a TV show where contestants can win various amounts of money as long as they can complete the tasks assigned under one minute.

Of course, UPC put their own twist on the game show, and students had the chance to win money for their EagleOne cards.

Students also rushed to get their gamble on in the casino game floor and tested there luck playing Black Jack, Texas Hold’em, 7 Up or Down and Russian Roulette, all in order to win one of these prizes: a slow cooker, a Keurig, a Winter Carnival long sleeved t-shirt, a blender, a camera and a gift card.

Around 9:00 p.m., comedian, Scott Schendlinger presented the names of the lucky winners, and went on to perform his set.

The line of people waiting for the Build-A-Bear room wrapped around the fourth floor, as they eagerly waited to create a stuffed animal of their choice.

Dean Rucker, Associate Vice President and Dean of Student Life, was seen amongst the students greeting them and showing off his own little Build-A Bear.

Photo mugs were the next hot commodity, and the group of people waiting for mugs continued to grow.

Some students waiting for their mugs helped to gather and replace all of the chairs in the room, while listening to some throwback jams, all to prepare for the next day’s tour of prospective students.

“I really enjoyed the 90’s music,” said senior Julia Michels.

Meanwhile, in Monroe 116, at Cheap Seats played the Christmas classic “Elf” for the price of only one dollar.

“Overall, it was a good experience, I would definitely recommended going with a group of friends,” said junior Barbra Adwoa-Mfum.

There were a lot of student workers at this event that ensured everything ran smoothly. There seemed to be a little bit of something for everybody, and no matter if you just stopped by or stayed a while, UMW students seemed to have enjoyed this year’s Winter Carnival.