First-year media arts student Sydney Spangler wins best overall
Wednesday was the last chance for students to grab a late breakfast before classes began, and a few took home prizes for their creative sleepwear.
The second-annual pajama contest was held in the Gibbes Court Bistro dining hall in Capstone House yesterday morning, and one of the winners almost didn’t make the deadline.
Second-year classics student Jay Menees was the last student to enter the contest, arriving a few minutes after the registration deadline. However, the judges — a panel of four faculty members — decided to let him in, and he ended up winning the most creative category.
In all, 14 students had a turn to impress the judges, who gave out four awards: honorable mention, most fashionable, most creative and best overall.
Lee Pearson, an adjunct professor in the School of Public Health and one of the judges, said students who combined creative pajamas with a lively personality stood out most to the panel.
“Personality goes a long way. When people gave insights into their personality, it made it easier to vote for them,” Pearson said. “We also took creativity into account. Some people really stepped it up, put in the extra effort.”
Menees definitely gave the judges an insight into his personality, telling the judges how he had owned the “Family Guy” shirt since seventh grade, and showing them a picture of his dog he bought while wearing the same shirt.
Menees won best overall last year, and he said he plans to win his third award next year. Pearson said USC likes repeat champions.
“We look no further than our national champion baseball team to see the value of a repeat,” Pearson said.
First-year media arts student Sydney Spangler won best overall with her “Super Mario”-themed pajamas. Cocky was on hand to witness the event, and took home the honorable mention. First-year computer science student Nicole Gilland wrapped up the awards with the title of most fashionable for her “Hello Kitty” pajamas.
In addition to the awards given out for the pajamas, there were other chances for students to leave the dining hall with more than a full stomach. A trivia contest also took place with two sets of questions, USC trivia and General Mills trivia. Prizes included water bottles, T-shirts and a backpack.
Students could also vote for their favorite cereal. Each of the seven cereals available could be sampled before filling out a paper ballot.
Cynthia Steele, marketing manager for Carolina Dining, said the voting was a way for Dining to find out what cereals students prefer.