November 12 was an amazing day. There was amazing weather, which consisted of the warm sun plus a gentle breeze, and there was an amazing event, which took place all over campus. The event, which started outside the Fieldhouse, was the Amazing Race, an event organized and directed by the Lakehead University Residence VP Committee. Based on the television series, the Amazing Race consisted of groups of students competing in various challenges with the goal of finishing faster than other groups.
The challenges were mostly team-focused, requiring trust between teammates. Some of the challenges included untangling a human knot, ‘shaving’ and dressing a teammate, two teammates simultaneously licking Cheez Whiz from a balloon that the other is holding, and navigating a chalk course blindfolded with the help from a teammate. The Amazing Race tested each team’s knowledge of their way around campus by sending them all over the place. Some of the locations included the Agora, the Avila Gym, by the river, outside the library, and Residence’s tennis courts. After all the challenges were completed, teams raced back to the Fieldhouse.
Marty Johnston, President of Lakehead University Residence Council and Chair of Residence’s VP Committee, overcame Murphy’s law, an adage stating “anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” The weather was arguably the best we’ve seen this month, plus everything ran smoothly from start to finish. With the help of many dedicated volunteers, Marty and the VPs did an amazing job in organizing and executing the Amazing Race.
Lakehead University Residence Life runs many events like this throughout the year. In late October, Residence held an event called Minute to Win It. Based on the popular television gameshow, students were selected by ballot to participate in individual challenges. Students winning one challenge would win a prize for themselves and move on to a second challenge. Two successful challenges would result in a prize for their entire house and a third challenge with the chance to win everyone in the audience a prize.
The challenges included Caddy Stack, Face the Cookie, Get Forked, Hanky Panky, Ka-Broom, Stick the Landing, Tilt-A-Cup and many more. All challenges came with a time limit of 60 seconds, of which each second counts. In the case of the Tipsy challenge, where a student had to drink from and balance 3 soda cans on their beveled edges, he won on the last second. Many other students showed us what they’re capable of and won themselves, and their houses, over $1000 in prizes.
From altruistic events such as the Terry Fox Run and Ditch Clean Up to prize-filled events such as Minute to Win it and the Amazing Race, this semester has been packed with amazing events made for Residence students. But the fun doesn’t stop here, there are many events happening next semester too!
