By Jessica Mitchell
Every year more than 15,000 college students flock to CollegeFest at the Hynes Convention Center for musical performances, prizes and a multitude of free product samples.
The event, now in its 22nd year, was held during the weekend and featured performances by rap artist Fabolous, the Shop Boyz and lesser-known bands We Are The Fury and Whitestarr. The Shop Boyz’ performance of its chart-topping hit “Party Like a Rock Star” drew the largest crowd.
Cast members from MTV’s The Real World: Sydney and Playboy magazine Playmates also attended. The lines of students waiting to meet these personalities weaved down the aisles of the convention center.
While in line, students could hear sex questions answered by Amber Madison, author of “Hooking Up: A Girl’s Guide to Sex and Sexuality.” Most of the questions posed were from male members of the audience.
“OK, here’s a question. I know girls like sex more than guys, so why aren’t they more forward about it?” one male audience member asked.
Madison laughed and said, “Well, I wouldn’t say girls like sex more than guys. In case you forgot, when girls have sex, they can get pregnant. You guys don’t really have to worry about that.”
Students could win giveaways, including Xbox 360s and an iPhone raffled off by Planned Parenthood. Several prize wheels offered everything from posters and CDs to free underwear.
Katelyn Cairns, a freshman international business major, waited in a long line for one of these prizes.
“This is awesome,” she said.
At another booth for the Diego Hair Salon, stylists were giving free haircuts. Nicole Sousa received a free haircut.
“I just thought it was a cool idea,” said Sousa, a middler chemistry major. “I was going to just get a trim, but then I just told her to surprise me.”
Senior speech-language pathology and audiology major Jessica Ironman is a campus representative for Jetblue Airlines who helped run “Blue Betty,” a mock airline cabin where students can hang out while sampling the “leather seats and DIRECTV” that Jetblue offers on its flights.
Ironman called out to passerbys about Jetblue’s own giveaway. “Sign up for a chance to win two free roundtrip tickets! How can you pass that up,” Ironman said.
At the end of the day, students like freshman psychology major Ashley Rodman, left Hynes Convention Center with “swag bags” filled with promotions, coupons, stickers, hair products and more.
“We went around to the booths a bunch of times, got energy drinks [and] free makeup,” Rodman said. “We came back with huge bags filled with stuff. We had a lot of fun.”
