Homecoming Week closed out as students engaged in community service and fellowship before partying the night away at a brightly lit carnival in Lynn Eusan park.
The day kicked off with a campus clean-up event hosted by the Metropolitan Volunteer Program called Rock the Campus. Students gathered before splitting up into teams and spreading out to pick up trash around the campus.
“Usually in our events, we go out and make a difference in our community, in the Third Ward and Houston as a whole, but this type of event allows us to bring that service back home,” said Angel Flores, director of MVP.
The event had a wide variety of students helping to clean up the campus, including some alumni who fondly recalled their commitment to keeping the campus clean.
“I’m proud to see how the campus has developed but one of the things that’s discouraging to me is all this trash,” said chemical engineering graduate student Carl Krueger. “My goal is to give back and do something nice. It doesn’t cost anything either, all it takes is to volunteer some of your time.”
The events carried on into the evening as students congregated in the park to enjoy a carnival filled with music, games and a haunted house to get into the spirit of the season.
Along with a setup of games and food, the carnival featured a large inflatable TV with the Astros game streaming on it, a tarot card reader and a local DJ that kept the crowd moving throughout the night.
“I like watching the Astros game, the music is chill, and I love that it’s outside, said biology sophomore Sam Gonzales.” It’s just got a really chill vibe overall.”
While many students said how much they enjoyed the carnival, a few noted some suggestions for future events.
“There’s a lot of lines and it feels like there’s not a lot to do when you’re not in line, but other than that it’s a lot of fun to hang out here with a group of friends,” said digital media sophomore Ashton Serrano.