In past years my midterms have sadly fallen on the same day as the Halloween themed pancake breakfast event put on by United Way and the School of Construction and the Environment. But not this year as us third years are currently between mid-terms and assignment deadlines.
This year, I was adamant about attending the event that is held on the other side of campus (near NE1) in one of the carpentry shops. It is always promoted to our classes as the civil engineering program falls under the School of Construction and the Environment at BCIT. If anything, it’s a chance to see some of the school staff dressed up for Halloween.
I arrived around 7:45AM and the party was in full swing. Bruce Springsteen was blasting from the DJ booth as I lined up with other students to get into the carpentry building on the North side of campus. From what I was told by the organizers, the event had been busy since 6AM and they would be serving up pancakes until 10AM.
School of Construction and the Environment staff were dressed up in costumes, serving up pancakes, chatting with students, and just having a good time in general.
After making a donation to United Way, I grabbed a couple pancakes and went inside to eat. There was even a photo booth setup, complete with props and I was happy to see the winning pumpkins from our civil engineering pumpkin carving contest decorating the table. The Wednesday before, about 25 civil engineering students had carved the pumpkins – an annual event put on by our Canadian Society for Civil Engineering chapter to take our minds off of the mid-term exams for a couple hours and get into the Halloween spirit.
Even though I was only able to stay for half an hour at the pancake event, I was able to chat with some of the people who work to keep our school and programs running before heading to my 8:30 class.
The United Way Pancake Breakfast event is part of a larger campaign lead by the BCIT United Way workplace team chaired by Maria Phillips (Dean’s Assistant, BCIT International) and Shannon Greke (Marketing & Ops Coordinator, Student Operations). The campaign has been so successful that United Way awarded the BCIT workplace team of 28 people the Spirit Award in February. Get more details.
So thank-you to Maria, Shannon, and the rest of the team for putting on events like the pancake breakfast!
About United Way
I had heard about United Way, but had to look them up as I wasn’t completely sure. In a nutshell they are a global organization who raises money for to help local group improve the community. So events held to support their workplace campaign such as the pancake breakfast are for a great cause!
About School of Construction and the Environment
This is one of six schools that divide the programs and courses offered at BCIT. As a civil engineering student, I fall under this school along with many other programs ranging from welding to environmental engineering and everything in between.