The spirit of Homecoming took over the Old Main Lawn Wednesday as students flocked to the annual Best of Penn State Field Day and Carnival event .
Andrew Byun, Student and Homecoming Pride Events Director, said this was the first field day in three years that it has not rained, so participants were able to fully take part in the day. He said the weather caused field day to be canceled two years ago because of the rain.
During the field day portion of the event, from 3 to 4 p.m., overall competitors — including teams of sororities, fraternities and other groups — competed in classic field day events. These included tug-of-war, egg tosses, sponge relay races and potato sack races.
Byun (senior-education and public policy) said field day, like most of the events this week, was simply meant as an opportunity for overall competitors to have fun and bring participants back to their elementary school field days.
For student Linette Sanchez, these classic competitions also brought back a sense of childhood.
“I’m excited to play all the different grade school games,” Sanchez (senior-nursing) said.
Sanchez, a part of the Student Nursing Association of Pennsylvania, said she came to field day to “show her school pride and to win.”
This spirit of competition was shared by other teams as they moved from one event to the next.
Students C.J. Brandmeier and Shayne Bement , members of the combined Phi Sigma Pi Fraternity and Triangle Fraternity team, echoed this spirit as they waited to participate in an event.
“We really want to show our stuff,” Bement (senior-aerospace engineering) said in a joke.
Brandmeier (junior-architectural engineering), also joking, agreed with Bement and said,“[I came to show] Penn State pride. It’s a chance to prove ourselves against any other team.”
Both Brandmeier and Bement said they were particularly excited for the upcoming Homecoming parade, as well so they could show off their float.
It was then that the carnival, open for all to enjoy, began.
All overall competitors were required to run a booth that members of the public can visit. This included things like mini games and handing out candy, Byun said.
The Blue & White Society and the Lion Ambassadors ’ booth had Penn State Fight Songs and lyrics listed on poster boards. Participants could get a piece of candy if they sang the song. Otherwise, a participant could guess what song the team members were playing, student Melissa Duck (senior-kinesiology) said.
Participants could also take part in other activities such as a mechanical bull ride and large inflatable obstacle course.
But, for some students the carnival brought other appealing aspects.
Students Jasmeen Kaur (senior-biobehavioral health) and Natalie Engle (senior-environment resource management) said they initially came to the carnival for the games and, most of all, the free food.
