Drop the books and let the jousting begin! Usually I wouldn’t say this, but when flyers advertise a trip to Medieval Times for only $25, I just can’t resist, especially with stress of finals. Usually when trips like this come around, I tend to ease up about the price I’m paying for room and board. Yes, staying in an apartment may be cheaper than living in the residence halls, but off-campus students don’t get these opportunities as often. Anyone can appreciate a relaxing trip to Medieval times for a fraction of the costs, especially around finals time.

Jennifer Zeinz, residence hall director and Stevenson Hall Council adviser looks at this trip as a stress breaker.

“We wanted to have an opportunity before finals where students could take a break and get away from studying, get away from classes, even if it’s just for a couple hours on one night so that they could have a little relaxation time before finals start,” Zeinz said.

Zeinz doesn’t just see this as a way for students to get away from stress. She also thinks it is a good way for students to socialize in college. They can make a lot of good memories with people they may not meet outside of the trip.

Even students who are not going on the trip feel that Medieval Times is a great idea.

“It’s a nice place to have fun without worrying, especially about finals,” said Bryan Sabatini, freshman English education major. “It’s not like it’s a $60 trip. It’s still affordable.”

Freshman nursing major Alicyn Bolton also likes the idea of the Medieval Times trip because of her previous experience there.

“I really liked it when the knights would throw the roses into the stage,” Bolton said.

While the Medieval Times event started as strictly for Stevenson residents, it eventually opened up to other residence halls because students showed interest.

“I’m glad that the people that could go will go and enjoy this trip,” said Ally Freismuth, programming vice president of Stevenson Hall Council.

Maria Wojnicki, the RHA representative for Stevenson Hall Council explained while this was an effort made by the Resident Hall Associaton and Stevenson Hall Council, it was ultimately the students voices that make events like this happen.

“The presentation for the Medieval Times trip was wonderfully presented by one of our programming vice presidents, [but] the students themselves voted to pass a budget and allow this trip to happen.”

Zeinz encourages students to become involved in hall councils because they get a lot of say in the decisions.

“I would like to see more students participate in Student Hall Council,” Zeinz said. “We could see a lot more things happening.”

In fact, Sabatini feels that a free trip to Starved Rock would be cool in the spring. He also enjoys the scenery after it snows. If people like Sabatini take advantage of Hall Council meetings, their opinions about trips would be voted on. In this way, students get to pay a very good price for an event that they can enjoy before finals.