Hand Above the Line

Khadija Greenidge

Staff Writer

The Long Island Room of Winnick was full of energy and fun on March 2. From 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. the Student Caribbean Asso­ciation (SCA) along with the Student Dance Association (SDA) and TWIce as Nice hosted a fundraiser event called Keep Your Hand Above the Line.

Admission prices were $10 for partici­pants and $5 for spectators. The competi­tion required participants to keep their hand above a line for the duration of five hours or for however long they could last. Everyone who entered was motivated, knowing that there was a $300 Visa gift card waiting to be won.

The proceeds from the competition are going to the Fiver Children’s Foundation. According to Tatiana Marshall, SCAs Vice President, “One of our members was a part of the foundation in her youth and it was dear to her heart. The Fiver Foundation is about giving back to the community and that is what we aim to do.”

Fiver Children’s Foundation is a youth development organization that assists inner-city children from ages eight to 18. The foundation funds year-round mentoring and counseling programs and a residential sum­mer camp.

During the five hours of fun, DJ Sparkx, one of the campuses favorite DJs, provided music for all to enjoy. Not only did he supply music he joined in the fun with a game called “Sparkx says.” Copying the classic Simon Says game, DJ Sparkx had the participants jump­ing, spinning in circles, switching places, and dancing to songs like Cha Cha Slide with his special mixes.

In addition to DJ Sparkx’s music games, general members of the co-sponsoring clubs took part in trying to get students off the wall. The general members of SCA, SDA and TWIce as Nice threw tennis balls for the contestants to catch, passed out waters and snack, and danced all around them. Their joint effort was still not enough to get the participants to quit. At the three hour mark, Dylin Lewis, a freshman with an undeclared major, said, “my motivation for staying in the game is the money; nothing but the money.”

As time went by the competition got stronger. There were timed eating contests which quickly eliminated people. Within 30 seconds students had to chew and swallow brownies, chicken fajitas, hot wings, and fruits. Some could handle the pressure while others fell short and were removed from the game.

Between the eating contests SCA Presi­dent Rockshana Desances asked several trivia questions including campus knowledge and other miscellaneous topics. These questions confused contestants, especially those about sports. Surprisingly, the names of the campus’ residence halls were questionable to some residents!

Four hours had passed and it was down to Irving Derlin Engineer Major at City Col­lege (CCNY) and Post’s own Sophomore Dance major Freyani Patrice. The two went head to head with trivia and menial chal­lenges such as keeping their legs up and only having one hand on the wall. Derlin said, “I didn’t even know about the competition. I just came to visit a friend and I’m just hoping to be the last.” Unfortunately for Irving Derlin, Freyani Patrice proved herself as the winner of the competition.

Freyani Patrice lasted in the competition for four hours and forty minutes and won the grand prize $300 Visa gift card. She was so thankful and said, “I am a commuter so that is some helpful gas money; the rest will go toward my school expenses.”