Music pulsed through the air in Lower Right as students scribbled down answers to trivia questions. Runners relayed the answer slips, crucial in determining the game’s winner, to the host, a representative from Stump! Trivia.
Held Friday night in Paresky Commons, Trivia Night attracted students of all grades, who competed in teams for first place and a prize of Burger King milkshakes. According to Katie Wimmer ’21 and Hoben Chargualaf ’21, working with friends to answer trivia questions was an enjoyable way to spend a Friday night. Collaborating in a team while still competing against others made answering trivia exciting.
Wimmer said, “Trivia Night was really fun because I got to see what all the other members of my team knew and what random fun facts I could pull out. Even though I was in a really big team, everyone was able to contribute their knowledge so we could answer the question as a team. I loved when the right answer was announced because everyone would go crazy with excitement.”
“I really liked it when everyone was shouting when the right answer was announced. Regardless of whether we got the answer right or not, it was still exciting,” said Chargualaf.
The trivia at Trivia Night was not confined to a singular theme, and instead relied on students’ general knowledge. Because of the wide variety of topics covered, it was necessary for everyone on the team to contribute.
“There were so many different topics it was fun seeing who could answer the question on my team. We often had to split the topics between us because we all have different interests. I especially liked the questions about theater and movies because I enjoy those things outside of school anyway. It was fun how the questions also covered elements of popular culture instead of just focusing on school-related subjects ,” said Shreya Patel ’19.
The questions addressed a diverse range of topics including business, sports, video games, and theatre. Many questions directly reflected popular culture and current events, but also related to academic subjects.
“There were a bunch of really interesting facts that I knew because I had learned the answers from some of my classes. For example, there was a question about the allotropes of carbon that I had just learned last week in Chemistry class,” said Wimmer.
The music also contributed to the lively atmosphere. The host used music to not only add to the ambiance, but also to count down time between questions. Sometimes the songs played served as hints or clues to the question itself.
“My favorite part was the music that the host played while we came up with answers. One time there was a question about Hamilton, and she started playing Hamilton songs, and it was really exciting,” said Chargualaf.
