Carnival 2019, “Planet Earth,” was a weekend packed with different activities, shows and rides in traditional Carnegie Mellon University fashion. While most visitors associate Carnival with some of the showiest events, like Booth or Buggy, seeing Carnival up-and-running is a whole different world from the behind-the-scenes set-up. Want to know more about some of the amazing individual contributions, and organizational efforts, that made 2019 Carnival a success? Read on to see how students’ unique passions and ambitions elevated this past weekend to new heights!

 

Reviving “The Old Mill”: Roly Garcia reimagined this classic Kennywood ride in Skibo as his independent study

“This ride was inspired by my love for Disney– and Universal-style dark rides and their storytelling abilities. As a budding show control engineer for the themed entertainment industry, I have always been intrigued by this interplay between story, sound, visuals, and the countless other aspects of building attractions. This project has been about a year and half in the works. I have a team of about 15 that I assembled, comprised of my friends, my students, and others that are enthusiastic about themed entertainment design.”

 

Going Green: Nicole Shi, member of Sustainable Earth, explains how “Planet Earth” was both thematically and practically implicated

“Sustainable Earth collaborated with SCC in hopes of making one of the most prominent campus-wide events zero-waste. We hope this can serve as an example to campus that zero-waste is possible on a large-scale. Furthermore, we pushed for higher weighting of the ‘environmental’ portion in booth scoring. Given carnival’s theme, “Planet Earth,” we found it fitting to have a presence where we could have conversations surrounding sustainability and tell a story about CMU’s waste!”

Working Round-the-Clock: Emily Newman, member of AB Tech, explains how her org kept Carnival running smoothly

“AB Tech does a lot during Carnival, but our role changes from year to year! This year we’re designing, implementing, and running the Activities Board Spring Concert, we’re supporting various student groups with their performances, like Scotch’n’Soda, and we’re providing services for Alumni Association events. As a part of AB Tech for three years now, one of my favorite memories is running the Alumni Association’s 90’s cover band in 2017. It was so much fun and all of us there had a great time.”

 

Double Trouble: Stephen Clark and Hannah Koschmeder talk about being Carnival Co-chairs for two years in a row, and what some of their goals were

“Throughout our college experiences we have both transitioned and grown as people, and the leadership opportunity of Spring Carnival Committee has been a large part of that growth. We were very fortunate to be surrounded by supporting mentors in SLICE, especially our adviser Andrew Greenwald. As Co-Chairs last year, everything was a little bit new and we accomplished a lot, but we knew that there was still more to do. We haven’t solved every inconvenience, but we have worked to make Carnival more efficient, productive, and communicative.”

Buckle Up: Joyce Chen explains her history with Buggy and why she was Sweepstakes Chair

“Raceday is so exciting year after year because it’s the one weekend where teams can show off all of their hard work to the rest of campus. I became a buggy mechanic my freshman year because it seemed like a really unique, hands-on experience that I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. Now, as a Sweepstakes chair, I get to see all of the back end work that goes into making Carnival and Raceday happen. Seeing buggies safely drive through the chute and across the finish line makes all of the cold practices and the long hours worth it.”

 

These are just a handful of examples of how hard students work to make Carnival memorable for other students, alumni, and the local Pittsburgh community. Carnival isn’t just an excuse to have fun (although there’s certainly a lot of that) it’s also a platform to showcase dedication, share inspiration, and come together across all ages and backgrounds.

What was your student’s favorite part of Carnival 2019? Tell us in the comments below!