Whether it was the chance to pie a professor, pick up information and swag from the many display tables, or grab a burger with new friends or longtime colleagues, the annual NEOMED welcome back picnic drew a big crowd on Monday, Aug. 26.
Overheard in the courtyard: “OK, what else can we win?”
You didn’t have to look hard to see the chances to do that. Students could try for gift cards from the Department of Family and Community Medicine or a cool water bottle from the Research, Entrepreneurship, Discovery and Innovation Zone (REDIzone®) while listening to an overview of next summer’s paid entrepreneurial internship.
Every student was a winner in the fun mini blow-up pool where staff from the Center for Student Wellness and Counseling picked out the prizes in decorative stress balls and announced them (“free beverage at Erie Island!”). The College of Medicine was offering a NEOMED sweatshirt and gift card; the list went on.
With the courtyard jumping with music from a DJ, some students concentrated on their best game of cornhole, while others gave ladderball a shot, sat for a free caricature or held up letters spelling NEOMED for photos.
A perennial picnic favorite is buying the chance to greet a professor (ready and waiting, some in rain gear) with a faceful of whipped cream. Proceeds from that activity ($2 a pop) benefited the Internal Medicine Interest Group. Dana Peterson, Ph.D., associate professor of anatomy and neurobiology, was one popular target, though others in the lineup saw plenty of activity, too.
