The Quest: A New Union Cup Event Builds Teamwork Among Students

On Friday, March 6, students gathered in the Bowld gym for the kickoff of a brand new Union Cup event called The Quest.

The details of the event were kept a mystery until all students gathered with their buildings in the gym — even the RAs did not know what to expect. Res Life leaders revealed that the participants would be competing in a scavenger hunt.  To the dismay of some and elation of others, leaders then passed out wrist bands to link all participants from each individual building with one another.

After receiving the list of locations and instructions, the buildings then set off to complete the various tasks. Activities occurred all across campus. Teams solved Sudoku puzzles in the Logos, crammed saltines in their mouths as fast as they could until they were able to whistle in Brewer Dining Hall and rolled pennies in the BAC. They played “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on the piano without messing up in Jennings, made a bed in an Ayers dorm room, counted every chair in the chapel and solved a long math problem at the bell tower.

Teams could also find a secret bonus location by solving the clue at the bottom of the pages they received after completing each task. Teams that found the lockbox in the post office with the correct passcode received bonus points based on the hierarchy of who reached the box first. 

Each team faced a different set of challenges. The “Pollard Pandas,” for instance, had the largest group with 15 boys. Their RA, David Bowman, a senior marketing major, realized that this would be an issue as soon as the leaders handed out the wrist bands.  During the competition, the teammates on one end of the line could not hear their teammates at the other end. They also could not all participate in certain activities such as the bed-making challenge. However, in areas like the saltine challenge, this was a serious advantage.

“At first, it was really hard being connected, but I think that it actually worked to our advantage at the end just because we were able to kind of come together and have almost like a line of communication,” said Bowman.  “So, it starts at one end and then it goes down to the other. It’s just a lot of fun because that was able to show we have teamwork.”

In addition to building strong teamwork skills, Union Cup events also build intense rivalries. At every event the “Pollard Pandas” and the “Sully Squad” — the Sullivan building — face off. Bowman refers to it as a sibling-like rivalry. Allaina Armstrong, a freshman zoology major, lives in Sullivan and said that she appreciates this rivalry because it gets their building involved and more excited for events. 

Prior to The Quest, Sullivan sat in first place of the Union Cup with 2315 points and Pollard at third with 2059 points.

“At the beginning, we had huge turnouts just because Ash is so excited about all the events,” said Armstrong. “I think it also helps to have so many upperclassmen in Sullivan who are excited about the events and who can say ‘I did this event when I was a freshman, and it was really fun. I think we should all go.’”

The unexpected contender, “Craig Crew,” currently sits in the Creamed column on the scores list. However, this did not stop their team from getting excited and giving the competition their best efforts. They even brought a speaker, so they could listen to music as they ran from location to location.  Megan Calhoun, a junior nursing major, is the RA of Craig. Her favorite aspect was being linked together with her teammates because it allowed them to work on communication, listening and planning the best course.

“I think our teamwork personally was very smooth because we made sure we hung together,” said Calhoun. “I almost tripped and fell at one point. This is what being united and banded together is like. If one falls, we all fall. We experienced it together.”

Bowman and Calhoun both agreed that the main goal of these Union Cup events is to foster community and provide a space for students to get away from school work, loosen up, have fun and not think about anything else. When all the teams finally gathered back in the Bowld gym for the announcement of the winners, it was clear that The Quest achieved this end. There was an energized and positive atmosphere. Music played in the background as some students sang along and others played basketball.

Sullivan building finished in third place with 450 points. Craig building finished in second place with 460 points. And Pollard building won first place with 480 points.

The next event will be the final competition in the Union Cup. The Union Cup: Field Day will take place on April 25.

Graphic from UU ResLife