Spring semester is here, which means it is time to “Blast Off into the New Year” — in more ways than one. Students came back from break on Tuesday with new resolutions and a clean slate of classes to propel them into 2019. 

To help students acclimate to the new semester, Campus Events + Entertainment threw a space-themed back-to-school bash, titled “Blast Off into the New Year,” on the first floor of the Student Activity Center.

Kimberlee Walters, Campus Events + Entertainment president, said free food and music attracted students, including many who had been previously waiting in a long line for Starbucks. 

“We had an assortment of donuts from Shipley’s and then we had cupcakes from H-E-B with fun space colors, as well as some little toothpicks with planets on them,” said Walters, a corporate communications senior. “Students really enjoyed those, and our food (was eaten) within about an hour and a half.”

Campus Events + Entertainment member Megan Mealey lured people to her table with free food, where they played space-themed trivia on Kahoot! to earn E+E merchanchise including a hand towl, pop socket and tote bag. The questions from the trivia game included ones such as, “How many planets are there in our solar system?” and “What are the biggest and smallest planets?”

“To win a prize, you have to play Kahoot!” computer science sophomore Mealey said to a couple of students who walked up for the free food. 

“Okay, let’s do this,” Arjun Karpur, computer science graduate student, said to his friend.

The number of students quickly dwindled after the food ran out, but there were around 20-30 people in line at the beginning of the event, attendee Sania Khan said.

“On the first day of school, everyone’s just running around, but when they hear music and they see balloons and cake and people are like, ‘Oh, hey come eat’ … it creates a wanting-to-get-involved type of environment,” said Khan, a corporate communication junior.

These events are meant to make students feel welcome on campus, Walters said. Walters suggested students add one more resolution to their list in order to help them get through the semester. 

“Always focus on the positive things, because there are a lot of negative things that happen when you’re a student,” Walters said. “Focus on all of the really small, good things throughout the day as you have your bad moments.”