Student Council Pilots New Scavenger Hunt

Brought to the community by Student Council (StuCo), the Scavenger Hunt was one of many different activities stationed all around campus for March Madness. President of the Class of 2023 Dev Madhavani detailed in a Google Classroom announcement that “in all the buildings throughout campus, there are different themes and activities for [students] to participate in.”

The event was the brainchild of Madhavani and fellow StuCo members Joy Xu ’23, Luke O’Connell ’23, Charlie Fisher ’23, and Cyrus Kenkare ’22. Xu detailed the planning of the event and overall atmosphere prior to its execution: “We got together as a group to write up the clues, pooling together our common Hopkins knowledge. Then on the afternoon before [the Hunt], I went all over campus putting up the signs; I was so excited for the next day!”

 
During the Hunt, clues sent students running from Baldwin Hall to Heath Commons to the Athletic Center, looking for their next clues. Each of these buildings had its own theme; for example, Malone was “Home of the Malone-ys,” honoring twins Sawyer and Craigin Maloney ’21. Heath was the new “Hea(L)th” building and the Kneisel Squash Center was adorned with decor centered on puns about squashes and other vegetables.

The wide array of buildings involved in the Hunt also allowed students newer to campus to explore spaces to which they had not yet been exposed. Anvi Pathak ’26 personally liked how the clues were spread all over campus. She recalled, “My favorite part [of the Scavenger Hunt] was the clue about the original Hopkins House because I had walked by it before, but I have never actually looked at it.”

Both Xu and Madhavani’s favorite clue in the Scavenger Hunt was one that required students to give an excuse for being late to Heather Volosin, Administrative Assistant to Head Advisers; responses to the prompt from students included, “Dog ate our tire,” from Yash Thakur ’21, and “I got distracted by a $19 Fortnite gift card,” from Marlon McFerren ’26.

The Scavenger Hunt allowed students to spend time away from their school- work and in the outdoors. Charlotte Cocozza ’23 enjoyed “being outside. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the clues hidden in all different buildings kept my advisor group active and moving.” Seventh graders were also seen enjoying the fresh air; many students saw “seventh graders running around, timing themselves to see how fast they could [complete the scavenger hunt].”

Over 70 students participated, according to StuCo President Ella Zuse ’21’s all- school email. Xu “hopes that everyone had fun doing it, and maybe even learned some- thing new about Hopkins!” While nothing is set in stone, Madhavani believes there is potential to make the scavenger hunt an annual occurrence at Hopkins: “March tends to be a quieter month for StuCo, so if more students want it to happen, I’m sure it will continue.”