Spring Carnival is the single tradition that unleashes the typical college student in every CMU student, also known as Carnegie State. It’s a time of relaxation and freedom from academics. I personally did not participate in the standard Carnegie State activities, but my Spring Carnival was still lots of fun. Here are some of my highlights from Carnival 2018.
Going Off Campus
I could have easily made this post a food diary of my Carnival weekend, but I think I’ve written enough about food in general. While I do love food, I don’t always have the opportunity to venture off campus to indulge, considering school and the fact that I’m on quite an expensive meal plan. So this weekend, I went with a few friends to Millie’s Ice Cream, Crepes (on Craig St), Sushi Fuku, and Razzy’s (essentials to the CMU diet). Brewster’s also had a truck on campus, and their coffee chocolate chip ice cream is amazing. In addition, I enjoyed some lovely cake and barbecue at a friend’s house.
Outside of the food category, I also love shopping, even if it’s just window shopping. No, not just online shopping- I mean shopping in the actual store where I can play with the actual items. I went to Sephora on Walnut Street, swatched many lipsticks, and didn’t buy anything. As a makeup lover, Sephora is one of the most fascinating stores to me, and Walnut Street is overall a great place to go to if you ever want peace and quiet off campus.
Buggy
Buggy is probably one of the most fascinating traditions of Carnival. People race tiny people in mechanical vehicles up a hill, and it’s basically a legitimate sporting event. No kidding, there’s a jumbotron and everything. Participating in Buggy meant that I spent many Saturday and Sunday mornings waking up at the crack of dawn to do exactly this without the jumbotron. It was fun to finally showcase the exhilaration and embrace my participation in sacred CMU tradition.
Chicago
Scotch and Soda put on a brilliant performance of “Chicago”, and it was so impressive how this was completely student-run. Everything about this performance was so impressive- the set, the choreography, the acting, the technical direction, everything. Congratulations to Scotch and Soda for completing this masterpiece!
Having Spare Time
It was such a relief not being mentally drained from back-to-back classes. Many students had the opportunity to catch up on sleep, as well as other areas of their lives. My weekend did not necessarily allow me to get any more sleep, but I still eagerly made the most of my spare time. I was finally able to go off campus for pure leisure, catch up on reading I’ve been wanting to do, and spend late nights watching movies with friends. As a Catholic, I also used this time to attend daily mass and sit in the chapel in Adoration, both of which I haven’t been doing very often when classes were in session.
Now that Carnival is over, I’m kind of dreading the my unfinished assignments and studying for the upcoming week. At the same time, I feel refreshed and ready to take on the race to finals. Carnival was certainly a fantastic, and necessary, weekend for all of CMU, and I’m so grateful to be going to a school with such a unique tradition. Here’s to another Carnival in the books. And now good luck to all students as we transition back to our regular swing.