Celebrating the end of the year, spending time with family members and beingoutside in the warm weather is why sophomore Geena Lingberg chose to attend the North Campus Carnival on Saturday.
“My little sister is visiting, so we were just having fun outside instead of being stuck in my room all day,” Lingberg, a bioengineering major, said.
About 500 people came to La Plata Beach to attend the carnival, which was a collaborative effort between the Resident Hall Association, the councils of 10 North Campus dorms and the Department of Resident Life, RHA President Allison Peters said. Attractions included several moon bounces, a carnival high striker, or strength tester, free food and giveaways, including a Fitbit, Beats headphones and Maryland sweatshirts.
“It’s really fun and a way to interact with people in a very low stress environment,” Peters, a senior government and politics and history major, said. “It’s a [a way] to relax before finals.”
The event, previously known as the North Campus Luau, did not happen last year “due to some rushed leadership,” carnival co-chair Tayo Omisore said. Although there are more than 5,000 students living on North Campus, it’s possible to only interact with the people in your hall if there are no events like the carnival, said the sophomore accounting major.
“Any time there’s a chance for us to bring the student body together [it] really is a nice thing to do,” Omisore said. “The North Campus Carnival is really important to me and to the people who helped put it on because we want to see over 500 students come in and have fun and understand that campus doesn’t have to be boring on Saturday.”
Seeing the student organizers of the carnival work throughout the year to create a successful, exciting event was what Peters said she enjoyed the most.
“This is an event that’s gone on for a really long time, and the kids in charge last year dropped the ball on it, so I really challenged [the students this year] to take on the extra responsibility,” Peters said. “Seeing them use their leadership to have a constructive event, to see them actually reach that goal when at the beginning of the year they were so intimidated by it, is so cool.”
Meetings and coordination with the different vendors, such as CVS and Insomnia Cookies, began in September, and the carnival was the perfect way “to give back to all the different residents on campus,” said Rick Mikulis, a freshman management and marketing major, said.
“Seeing La Plata Beach transform into a carnival is the coolest thing for me,” Mikulis, another co-chair for the event, said.
Spending the day eating ice cream and interacting with other North Campus residents is why Steve Chen, junior biology and individual studies major, attended the carnival.
“It is just [a way] to get residents to talk to each other, to have fun, to relax,” Chen, president-elect of the RHA, said. “It’s the weekend, and we want to build that community atmosphere.”
