Editor-in-Chief
The Student Health Advisory Community (SHAC) held its first-annual Health Trivia Night in Steinman College Center at 7 p.m. Friday.
Five teams of 10 students each participated in the trivia competition, which was turn-based and relied on a PowerPoint with trivia questions and riddles related to health. There were four levels of difficulty, with more points awarded for more difficult questions. If the team whose turn it was did not get the question right, the chance to take the points was given to the other four teams, and whoever raised his or her hand first was given the chance to answer. The gameplay was made all the more competitive by the prize on the table: $150 in gift cards to Iron Hill, as SHAC wanted to make sure the entire winning team could benefit from the experience.
Questions included, “What are the two biggest fears?” (heights and falling) and “If you throw me off a building I will not break, but if you throw me in water I will,” (a tissue).
Ndifreke Ekpa ’15, president of SHAC, hosted the event, which was a great success.
“We definitely didn’t have a quiet crowd!” said Melanie Liskov ’13, an active SHAC member and peer health educator (PHE). “Everyone was in such good spirits and engaged with the questions! Given how many people turned up and the positive feedback [we received], I can definitely see this event being something we put on every year.”
Liskov controlled the computer during the event, which was unexpectedly the center of attention and speaks to the friendly and outgoing nature of most SHAC members.
“Working the computer was exciting,” Liskov said. “I didn’t expect to be working up front and center but it paid off. A few of us were up on the floor trying to decide if the team’s answer was close enough to award points. We formed an impromptu committee!”
According to Liskov, the event was created both to get the SHAC name out on campus as well as to spread health knowledge in a fun, functional way.
“We wanted to get the SHAC name out there in a bigger way than just stall signs and D hall tabling,” Liskov said. “Our last event was the Condom Scavenger Hunt, which was very successful, so we wanted to do something similar that would get people involved with our club and learn what we do.”
The event took about a month of planning, with Ekpa, SHAC members, and Jan Masland, director of student health and wellness, working to secure funding, the venue, and create the questions. They took two weeks to advertise the event and drum up student interest. In the end, they were able to fund the event from the club’s budget, which Masland controls.
“[The idea formed] after we were talking about trying to figure out how to get the SHAC name out there,” Liskov said. “We wanted to do something big that would draw a crowd, so an event in the College Center seemed to be the best option, and we figured that trivia would be the best way to incorporate both health and fun into a community event.”
Ultimately, team three took the win and the gift cards in a show of mastery.
According to Liskov, SHAC’s role on campus has changed since she matriculated.
“The members of SHAC provide the F&M community with students trained to handle health situations,” Liskov said. “We may not be able to help you like an EMT can but we can get you to the help you need; we know what health facilities F&M has to offer and who to call. On top of that we try to increase health awareness on campus by tabling in D-hall and posting stall signs.”
Events like trivia night are intended to bring SHAC into public view and highlight how important a club it is to be aware of as a student.
“The purpose was to let the campus know that our club is here and we are going to be a louder voice on campus as our club grows in the coming years,” Liskov said. “There is really no other opportunity like [the one] SHAC offers on campus, and with more active members we plan on making ourselves a very big presence at F&M.”
True to form, SHAC is not stopping at trivia to promote health and safety on campus this semester.
“Now that the trivia night has passed, we are turning our attention to promoting the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) survey that is coming soon,” Liskov said. “This biennial survey is very important in gathering data about campus life. The survey is coming via email and takes about 15 minutes to complete. We have even more prizes to give out for this event, so stay tuned!”
Questions? Lauren at lbejzak@fandm.edu.