By: Aaraksh Siwakoti
Jousting friends and climbing an inflatable volcano were just a couple of ways Algonquin students got a chance to have some fun at the Student Commons Outdoor Concourse on Sept. 11.
The Students’ Association held the annual Campus Carnival for frosh week. The event included activities such as human foosball, obstacle racing, cage gauntlet, various target practices, jousting and rock climbing.
“The Carnival was set up for students to just have a fun time, kick back and relax,” said Rachel-Dawn Wallace, a SA employee. “It’s just a chance to have some fun for frosh week and relieve some stress students might be facing.”
Along with the physical activities, students had an opportunity to grab some free promotional gear from companies like Sony and Cineplex. The students also had a chance to win bigger prizes at the various kiosks.
“The event is for students to have fun and take a break from studying,” said Thais Saito, a SA employee. “Students are here not to just learn and study but to also grow as a person. This is a great way to do so, experience things you might not have had a chance to before.”
One of the most popular activities was the rock climbing attraction. Climbers would race each other scaling the side of the volcano to be the first to the top. For many, rock climbing was a first-time experience.
“Rock climbing was so awesome,” said 19 year-old Matt Tanguay a first-year robotics student. “I’ve never done anything like that before in my life, it was kind of scary the first time climbing up to the top but a lot less the second time around.”
Even with the extremely humid weather, students flocked to the event and seemed to enjoyed just taking a break from classes and try out the activities available to them. Jousting and the human foosball were pretty popular activities as well among students who didn’t seem to mind the heat.
“I got some free stuff and got to feel like a kid again,” said 23 year-old Samantha Billings-Turner a first-year early childhood education student.
“I’ve never played human foosball before and that was a blast. The gauntlet was like a bouncy house and the jousting really took a lot out of me. The weather definitely didn’t help but MiO was giving out free water so that’s a plus.
“It was a very fun time and I enjoyed just being part of the whole thing, the free stuff was just icing on the cake. I hope they do this more often.”