Homecoming festivities and talents
Alli Zembrodt(left) and her friends gather their strength to climb the rock wall, part of the homecoming festival.
Upbeat, popular music flowed out of the Campus Rec Center on the night of Jan. 30 for the annual homecoming festival. Students were excited to participate in some of the new sporting activities.
A mechanical bull, a wrecking ball, archery tag and the rock wall were new additions to this year’s festival, all of which were added to connect to the Olympic theme of Going for Gold.
The mechanical bull was a favorite among the attendees.
“I really liked the bull, even though I fell off because my leggings were too slippery,” Aubrey Franzen, junior math and computer science major, said. “This was not what I was expecting. All the new sporting events were different and really entertaining. It’s been fun watching everyone getting thrown off.”
Alli Zembrodt, freshman data science major, agrees that the bull was an embarrassing but enjoyable time.
“It was more intense than I thought and when I fell off I hoped I didn’t look stupid,” Zembrodt said. “It was a really fun experience to share with your friends and peers, though.”
Popcorn, cotton candy and nachos were available for students to snack on and replenish their fuel from the energetic activities.
Next to the buffet of snacks, students struck their favorite poses, selected goofy hats or glasses and made the silliest expressions they could muster- all for the perfect photo.
Stefanie Sinclair, director of special events and senior psychology major, hopes that by including all the dynamic activities, the expectations for homecoming week will be high.
“We work really hard to plan everything out and we try to keep it as diversified as we can,” Sinclair said. “Hopefully, it makes going to the homecoming events more enjoyable, like you actually want to do all these things. I think we accomplished setting the bar high.”
Once the festivities ended, students made their way to the Student Union Ballroom to cheer on their fellow classmates in the talent show, which began at 7 p.m.
Sponsored by the Activities Programming Board, the talent show consisted of eight parts.
From singing and dancing, to spoken word and Chinese flute playing, the performances were causing the audience to explode with applause.
Judges scored the acts according to quality of the talent and how impressed the crowd was.
Kylie Phillips, co-chair for the talent show, was hoping everyone was going to have a good time and admired the contestants’ talents.
In fact, she was hoping that APB had chosen the right performances from the auditions.
“Judging who was going to be in it was very difficult, all of our auditions were really good,” Phillips said. “We were really hoping that nobody walks away thinking that was lame.”
The roaring applause after each act gave Phillips the answer she was looking for.
Q102 Broadcaster Jennifer Fritsch hosted the show. She announced the winners of the raffle and listed a few interesting facts about the contestant before they took the stage.
Anticipation was in the air as the show was coming to an end. Everyone was eager to hear who would win first place.
Before Fritsch declared one competitor’s victory, NKU’s Hip Hop Dance Team E.N.V.I hurried on stage. Their routine gave the audience one last chance to be amazed, as the group jived to choreography in perfect unison.
Then the crowd fell finally silent and the suspense grew. The winner was about to be announced.
Tekiuh Hutton took home first place for her spoken word piece, receiving $100 on her All Card. Rui Mao placed second for playing the Chinese flute, receiving $75 on her All Card. Troy Cornes came in third for singing and playing the guitar, receiving $50 on his all card.
To see what events are coming up next, go to homecoming.nku.edu.
