By Crystal Davis—
You are cutting it close. This game has lasted a glamorous two hours and then you get them—Q-U-I-X-O-T-I-. You wait patiently for your opponent to place his or her letters down in the perfect cross angle that will give you access to the triple word score near the axis of the board. And then you have got it, placing “QUIXOTIC” down and utilizing the useless “c” near the edge of your opponent’s last word. Then in the background you hear “Is it a Duck?”
On the evening of December 3, 2012, the Black Freedom Society of NJCU held an event called “Word Play” which gave students an opportunity to meet and greet new faces during challenging matches of Taboo, Scrabble, HeadBandz, and more.
The event went from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Word games were chosen because they were “educational,” said President of BFS Angela Giddings, Journalism, Brooklyn, “We chose to do the wordplay event because it’s not only fun, but its educational. Participants get a chance to exercise and expand their vocabulary.”
The night was very interesting; students came from all over the campus to spend a few hours playing with friends and acquaintances in some of the most challenging yet soothing games that Hasbro or Milton Bradley has ever invented.
According to Josias Aracena, 20, Psychology, Jersey City—”I will never be good with numbers but words and numbers? This was exciting; I honestly thought nobody was going to show up when I first got here. AND they have free food!”
Ties were made, both between the word game combatants and in the games themselves, indefinitely, but at the same time students got to know one another on a more tranquil level. Students were given an opportunity to be wowed by the event and to learn just a little more about the event’s sponsors.
“The event is a normal outside of school activity.” Said Vice President of BFS, Taofik Osha, 23, English, Maplewood, right before he walked away to take his turn on Taboo.
Unfortunately the next event that BFS will be planning will remain unannounced until next semester, but one thing can be said—they definitely gained a lot of fans for choosing a word-game themed event.