Halloweek

UTRGV combined problem-solving, creativity, community service and stress relief into a series of fun events to celebrate Halloween.

Escape Room

Student Leadership Academy hosted an Escape Room challenge on Oct. 22 in Salón Cassia on the Brownsville campus. Participants had to work together to solve riddles to escape.

Kristopher Nava, the program coordinator for Leadership and Mentoring, said the escape room encourages teamwork and helps students learn how to communicate and work together on a project, even for school.

“It’s something to get you out of your element, to get you thinking cognitively, where it’s not your everyday board game or your everyday schoolwork,” Nava said. “It takes you out of your comfort zone and gets you to think in a bigger picture.”

Amanda Salas, a biomedical sciences student, was among the participants in the group named “V-Squad.”

“I thought the escape room was very interesting, ’cause I’ve never been in, like, that type of situation where I have to, like, kind of use different clues to get myself out of the room,” Salas said.

“We hope to use this continuously for more events, to bring in more people and to get them thinking outside the box,” Nava said.

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Student Union hosted a pumpkin carving contest last Tuesday in El Comedor on the Brownsville campus and last Wednesday in the East Patio on the Edinburg campus, where students showed their creativity through their designs.

Sandra Masso, a student assistant for Student Union, said the event was a way to help students relieve their stress from midterm exams.

“Since students have a lot of work to do and midterms are coming, or they already passed … since it’s Halloween, also, we wanted to get inspired and get them inspired to get into the Halloween season,” Masso said.

Keila Valdes, an education junior, said even though the event was a competition, it was also an opportunity to have fun. Her group opted for a Día De Los Muertos design for their pumpkin to represent Hispanic heritage.

“It’s really exciting and I wish students get involved and for them to really, like, explore the stuff that UTRGV has to offer,” Valdes said.

Javier Hernandez, a history sophomore, said that whether or not people celebrate Halloween, the pumpkin carving contest is a fun event to show off people’s creativity.

“I know a lot of tests are coming around, so a lot of people are stressed out, so this would be very fun,” Hernandez said.

The winners in the Brownsville contest were Stephanie Cevallos in the singles category, and Elsa Torres and Manuela Ramirez in the team category. The winners in the Edinburg contest were Vanessa Diaz in the singles category, and Jesus Quintanilla and Karim Gonzalez in the team category.

The first-place single carver winner received $50 V-Bucks and the first-place team carvers winner received $20 V-Bucks per carver.

“We just want [students] to be happy and we want them to want this again,” Masso said. “We do it so they don’t feel like school is just work. It’s also a little bit of fun.”

Zombie Walk Food Drive

Lecturer Marianita Escamilla’s first-year writing class hosted the fourth annual Zombie Walk Food Drive last Tuesday to collect donations for the UTRGV Food Pantry.

“I started it off as part of my service learning class,” Escamilla said. “I wanted my students to have a project where they would feel connected to the community. … This is part of the student food pantry so I figured, what better cause than to have people that are hungry and the students that are hungry benefit from a public project.”

Joe Torribio, a psychology junior, said the event has benefits.

“Aside from relaxing you from college and other stuff … you’re also doing a good thing by helping people with canned foods,” Torribio said.

Escamilla hopes that with this event, students will become more positive about donating to the food pantry.

Fright Fest

The Student Union also hosted a zombie prom last Thursday night at the Edinburg Student Union and Casa Bella in Brownsville. The Edinburg event included a haunted house.

Fright Fest has been hosted since the first year UTRGV opened, according to Ruben Santibañez, the assistant director of Housing and Residence Life.

“We’re trying to get the students something fun to do, some alternatives to, probably, going out, to going out to a party or something,” Santibañez said. “Something fun to kind of distract them. I know midterms are either happening or just finished and it gives them something to kind of relax.”

Yubizdely Tanguma, a biomedical sciences freshman, lives in Casa Bella and attended the event to interact with other students.

“I know a lot of people from here, so it’s a really fun experience to [communicate] with all these people and know them and get to hang around,” Tanguma said.

Skylar Jaramillo, a sophomore music major at South Texas College, said she attended the event because she thought it would be fun.

“We don’t get events like this,” Jaramillo said. “We get the fall festival but this looks so cool.”

She and Carlos Guzman, a mechanical engineering junior, wore skull makeup on half of their face. Guzman also helped at the haunted house.

“So, I’ve been here for the past day or so, two days, and I was helping set up,” Guzman said. “… I just wanted to see how the turnout was for tonight.

He explained the haunted house had four different themes.

“We have a torture room in the first [room],” Guzman said. “The second room is a clown room. The third room would be like an exorcist room. And the fourth room is going to be like ‘The Nun.’”

Abraham Villarreal, a student program adviser, wanted students to enjoy themselves.

“I know right around now, you know, academics are starting to get a little bit tougher–exams, projects, midterms. So, this is a good opportunity to just, you know, just come out, relax and enjoy themselves,” Villarreal said.

–Zugay Treviño, Fernando Ramirez and Robert Benavidez Jr. contributed to this report.