A Galactic Weekend with MSU
When it comes to Minnesota State’s most popular event during Welcome Week, it is always a good idea to show up early as students packed Myers Fieldhouse on Saturday for Galactic Bingo.
Sponsored by Affinity Plus and Kwik Trip, this year’s space-themed game continued to excite MSU students with not just Bingo but the chance to win $3,000 worth of prizes, including the famous $500 grand prize presented by Affinity Plus. Other prizes included a bike, a beanbag chair, a TV, a Keurig and many more.
Maverick Traditions Chair Shelby Roerick explained that the planning involved with the event took all summer and how the Student Events Team worked together with another well known organization on campus.
“I started in the middle towards the end of July, and I’ve been working with Fraternity and Sorority Life and just trying to make this event happen,” Roerick said.
Like all other welcome events on campus, Roerick says the purpose of Galactic Bingo is to help new students overall ease into a new environment and make connections within the community.
“It helps make that connection to other students, especially for freshmen. I remember my freshman year, I only really knew my roommate and maybe a couple other people, but Galactic Bingo really made me step out of my comfort zone and meet other people than what I normally would have,” Roerick said.
“For students that have been on campus for a while, oncoming or non-new students, I feel like that’s just a way for them to connect with friends that they haven’t seen over the summer, and they can just make more memories and just have a good time without the stress of school.”
In the midst of a fun glow-in-the-dark experience, students were handed boxes of free pizza, accompanied by beverages, music and a chance to make new friends.
Sophomores Mika Wessels, Elli Westrum, and Olivia Meehling attended Galactic Bingo together and shared their overall enjoyment of the event.
“This is our second year for most of us, so we really enjoyed it enough to come back.” Meehling said.
“I loved it. I loved the music, I loved the atmosphere. I didn’t win but everything else was great. Bingo is a game that everyone knows so everyone can join in, have fun and win prizes,” Wessels said.
“The pizza was delicious. Everybody was so excited, even if we didn’t win, we all had a blast. Not stressful, even if you miss a number, you’re okay,” Westrum said.
As the academic year begins, Roerick lists several events that the Student Events Team have ready for the remainder of August and for the month of September, including the annual pool party she highly favors due to the current hot weather.
“The pool party, that one’s going to be a blast. That’s going to be a lot of fun. I can’t wait for that. I was outside. I was like ‘I’m sweating. I just want to go into a pool,’” Roerick said. “We also are having a silent disco and it’s where you put the headset on. Then we have the Minnesota Zoo coming and bringing a few animals.”
For more information on upcoming events and date, visit mnsu.edu/StudentEventsTeam
Write to Anahi Zuniga at anahi.zuniga@mnsu.edu