Tuesday, November 10th, 2015 | TechNews campus@technewsiit.com l a; I “E i : EEI 5

Students win big at Caribbean
Visionaries poker tournament

Kori Bowns
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

HT student organization Caribbean
Visionaries hosted their thirdeannual poker
tournament in The Bog last Friday night,
November 6. The event was limited to 64
students; the tournament was structured to
have eight tables, each with eight students
competing to win all of their tables chips
in a game of Texas hold ‘em. Students from
Caribbean Visionaries also served as dealers
for the event.

According to Nicholas Welsh,
President and Event Director of Caribbean
Visionaries, there was an immense amount
of student interest in the event. Even though
the tournament itself could only include 64
students, 118 signed up, and several others
made their way to The Bog on Friday night
hoping to get a seat in the tournament if one of
the first students to sign up didn’t attend.

As students arrived and checked in,
light appetizers were served and students took
their seats, many of them taking time to review
poker hand rankings. While many students
were worried about their lack of experience
in playing competitive poker, the skill levels
and experience among students varied vastly,
providing a lighthearted and educational
atmosphere for all.

By the end of the night, three
winners walked away with the top prizes of

 

   
  
   
 

$100, $80, and $50. The first prize winner
was Sahil Chalke, second prize went to Sunny
Shah, and third prize went to Ariel Young.

“The best part about organizing
the event was seeing our hard work manifest
into great success,” said Welsh. “The measures
of success for an event of this nature was,
first of all, to get all 64 seats filled, and more
importantly, ensure our participants have a
memorable experience. It creates a blissful
feeling on the inside when participants are
asking to sign up one year in advance for our
2016 tournament.”

“Caribbean Visionaries would like
to thank everyone for their continued support,
and looks forward to giving our followers an
awesome experience at each and every event,”
said Welsh. “It’s also important to note that in
addition to giving our supporters a wonderful
time at our events, we are also trying to raise
awareness of talented Caribbean students
who aspire to study in the United States.
In Caribbean Visionaries, we aim to create
a pipeline that will help and benefit those
students.”

Welsh says that he thanks the hard
work of the executive board of Caribbean
Visionaries for planning, organizing, and
carrying out the event. Students on the
executive board all contributed to the event,
which was funded by Illinois Tech’s Student
Activities Fund.

Photo by Kori Bowns

Vandercook Live! Senior
Rec1tal by Luke Moyta

 

ae@technewsiit.com

Photos by Reno Waswz’l

  

A thrilling Halloween night filled with swing

Ricardo Torres
TECHNEWS WRITER

The night of Halloween was filled
with fun events and high celebratory spirits
as people transformed into their spooky
costumes and haunted the streets to trick or
treat. On such a night, I would have shed my
human appearance and joined the creatures of
the night, but this time was different. My friend
invited me to a Halloween event and little did
I know of the experience that awaited me. I
stepped out of the car and walked towards the
door, and so it began. ..

entered the doors of the
Willowbrook Ballroom. The colorful lights
and creepy decorations immediately caught
my attention. I walked into the lobby area and
the doorman greeted me as I sat down on a
long soft couch to wait for my friend to arrive.
I looked around the room and saw other guests
preparing for the event. There was a vampire
who walked past with bloody fangs that looked
thirsty for fresh blood. A pirate sat across from
me looking cheery after drinking his bottle of
rum. 1 turned towards the door and saw my
friend walking in. She wore a hat with fluffy

ears and a pink and black outfit with a nice
purple tutu. As I walked towards her I looked
at a mirror to my left and on the brief reflection
I saw Batman. We greeted each other and then
walked eagerly to the ballroom to begin the
thrilling night.

The sound of swing music filled the
room when the Flat Cats Band began to play.
We all got together with our partners and
danced the night away. I had never danced to
swing music but after a quick lesson from the
Willowbrook staff I was able to enjoy the dance
and move to the cheerful rhythm of the music.

All throughout the night, we went round and
round with different partners dancing to the
variety of swing music ranging from the slow
and soothing beat to the fast and wild one that
filled us all with energy and happiness.

The festivity came to an end as the
sound of music left the room. The creatures
of the night walked back under the dark sky
excited with the beat of swing still playing
in their head. I said my goodbyes and was
thankful for the thrilling and memorable
Halloween night.

 

Photos by Ricardo Torres