To celebrate a day that only comes once every four years, students gathered in the Mandela Room to explore what life might be like in an alternate universe.
Despite being held the Sunday before Leap Day, Ryan Cadwell, organizer of the event and a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering, said this was an opportunity to show students activities that could be accomplished on the extra day. The event was hosted by Hinman Community Council (HCC), of which Cadwell is the vice president for service and leadership, along with the Dickinson community.
“Leap Day is kind of a weird, interesting day that happens every four years,” Cadwell said. “I thought the idea of a ‘fake day’ was a cool concept to use so that students could have some fun with the extra day in their year.”
By setting up different stations around the room, Cadwell said they hoped to provide a glimpse of different realities for students. With tables dedicated to professions such as doctors, astronauts, janitors and the President of the United States, students could get a taste of new and different lives through simple games.
Elizabeth Sang, a sophomore majoring in psychology, ran the table where students pretended to be doctors; participants played the board game Operation, in which they extracted small plastic objects from a plastic man with a pair of tweezers. She said Leap Day gave students a chance to take part in a completely different world than the one they currently inhabit.
“It only comes every four years, so this day’s not really supposed to exist,” Sang said. “Since this day’s not really supposed to exist, we kind of made up a parallel universe where you get to be these different professions … you get to do all these different things, you get to be all these different people. It’s just a completely different world.”
Ann D’Angelo, a resident assistant in Dickinson Community and a sophomore majoring in human development, was also running the doctor table. She said that the day was both fun and a way for people to interact in unique ways.
“I thought it would be a fun way to get communities together,” D’Angelo said. “It would be a chance for different people from other communities to meet other people during a bigger event.”
Students at the event went from table to table, taking in the different experiences an alternate universe could offer them. Lydia King, a resident assistant in Dickinson and a sophomore double-majoring in mathematics and economics, said she was using Leap Day to meet people across campus.
“We came to support the communities hosting the event, but also, it’s an extra day in the year and that’s pretty cool,“ King said.
Faith Porzilli, a sophomore majoring in biology, said she saw the event as a reminder to appreciate the additional day.
“Once every four years we randomly get an extra day and often it’s very overlooked,” Porzilli said. “The event reminded me to take the time to have fun despite all the stress of classes and exams.”