Saturday’s kick-off marked the beginning of the homecoming game, but for registered student organizations the game marked the end of a long week of fierce competition. Since the beginning of homecoming week, student organizations competed in varying physical and mental events such as ping pong, human foosball and trivia—all stylized for this year’s Pete’s Arcade theme.
Daniela Almarez the student organizations management intern. She organized a few of the events. “The competition between the teams was incredible,” Almarez said. “You could feel the excitement from all the participants.”
This year’s winners, a partnership between fraternity Theta Chi and sorority Alpha Sigma Alpha, took home the trophy after racking up participation and spirit points when their competition points faltered.
“It was rewarding,” said Janneth Mendoza, homecoming coordinator for Alpha Sigma Alpha. “All the hard work from staying late learning the lip sync dance and waking up early for Miner Morning Mania was worth it in the end.”
“Participation was the biggest help,” said Edward Escobedo, historian for Theta Chi and a senior double majoring in marketing and management.
The week was gruelling, with at most two events per day in between students’ already busy day of classes, work and studying, but team Pac-Man, Theta Chi and Alpha Sigma Alpha’s subtheme, seemed to figure out a way to win.
“For starters, you have to build the strong trustworthy teamwork relationships,” Escobedo said. “Secondly, you must appoint strong, motivated and determined people to organize what’s happening on a daily basis, not to mention maximizing points on every single event with participation and spirit points.”
A lip sync competition, triathlon and arcade tournament were among the many events on the list throughout the week, but a first place in every event means nothing without member support, a tactic that didn’t slip by Team Pac-Man when strategizing for the win.
The end of homecoming week proved to be a grind, as ignored homework and sleeplessness begins to build.
The event that took the most out of us would be the float making party,” Escobedo said. “Due to the fact that we had minimal time on Friday. However, once again thanks to our participation we managed to get the job done.”
“It was a little stressful,” Mendoza said. “I strongly believe that what really helped us win was we were all willing to put the effort needed for every event.”
Although homecoming week is over, the Student Organizations Services at the Student Engagement and Leadership Center have several competitions planned throughout the year.
For more information on Greek Week and other opportunities to participate in competitive events throughout the year, visit sa.utep.edu/selc.
