By Jack DiDomenic
On Nov. 13, the Office of Student Involvement hosted their annual Build-A-Buddy event in the Underground from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For several years now, Build-A-Buddy has proven itself to be one of the most popular and well attended events on campus, with this year being no exception.
As the name suggests, Build-A-Buddy is Dominican’s very own version of the well-known Build-A-Bear. Students first select from a variety of different animals, then stuff them, and finally style them in any way they want.
The event serves as a great opportunity to de-stress toward the end of the semester. With plenty of worries including class registration and approaching final exams, the Build-A-Buddy event comes at the perfect time for students.
Freshman Jessica Villarreal, who worked at the event, said “the experience was heartwarming.”
“It was nice to see everyone coming together during such a stressful time in the semester,” she said. “[I love to] watch new adults bring out their inner child.”
In an effort to organize the distribution of “buddies” and reduce traffic this fall, the OSI turned toward a new ticketing system.
On Nov. 12, the day prior to the event, students were able to visit the Student Involvement Resource Center, located in the basement of Coughlin Hall, to reserve tickets for their buddy of choice. The center opened for registration at 9 a.m. and was immediately full a few minutes after 1 p.m.
During the week before the occasion, there was a select five buddies given away, where students had to look for “golden tickets” hidden around campus. Each day, a new ticket was hidden, and upon their discovery, one fortunate student was able to skip the registration line and guarantee themselves a buddy.
This year, over 300 buddies were given away with over 12 different buddies to choose from including squirrels, snakes, pigs, and rhinos. Students also accessorized their buddies from an assortment of colorful, patterned bandanas.
Sophomore Sandra Magdaleno said it was tough picking a Build-A-Buddy because many “of them were super cute.”
“[However,] I ended up narrowing it down to the snake,” Magdaleno said. “I chose one of the bandanas that had a fish on it. A snake doesn’t really have shoulders to wrap the bandana around, [so] I gave him a cute little head scarf instead.”
The Underground was filled with plenty of smiles during this year’s Build-A-Buddy event. Students enjoyed a break from the stresses with a couple hours of building their own furry, or scaly companion.
There is no doubt the event will grow in popularity among many students as more buddies are to come in the near future.
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