Siblings Day

BY Shannon Szefinski

Features Editor

This past weekend, on Feb. 8, the Student Events Team (SET) hosted Sacred Heart University’s annual Siblings Day.

This year’s theme of sibling rivalry was encapsulated by the slogan “Not always eye to eye, but always heart to heart.”

“We wanted to capture the rivalry siblings have naturally between each other,” said Ava Del Forno, Novelty Chair of SET.

This event brought out the competitive side of many siblings but also showed how close some siblings were.

“My brother and I are extremely close, so it is never a competition, it is more of a team effort, we worked together to compete with other siblings,” said sophomore Brianna Cirillo.

Sacred Heart students and their siblings were able to participate in a variety of events, including a photo booth, making their own stuffed emojis and different kinds of competitions.

The day ended at the Bobby Valentine Health and Recreation Center.

“We rented out the building to use the rock climbing wall, the bowling alley and Robex provided us with smoothies for everyone,” said Andrea Matyszewski, Vice President of SET.

There are certain events that make a reappearance at Siblings Day every year.

“We always have a scavenger hunt, but it will fluctuate with the theme for that year,” said Del Forno.

This year’s scavenger hunt included ‘Minute To Win It’ challenges that took place all over campus.

“The scavenger hunt really brought out the competitive side in us and it also gave me the chance to show my brothers a quick tour around campus,” said junior Nicole Magliulo.

In addition to the scavenger hunt, SET is also known for organizing bingo.

“My brother and I enjoyed bingo a lot because we won in the first round of it,” said Cirillo. “I loved watching my little brother win a speaker; his excitement was precious.”

The Student Events Team also took time to recognize the participation of students and their siblings with unique awards.

“My brother and I won the award of ‘Two Peas in a Pod’ and that was so cute that we won and were acknowledged by SET of how close we are,” said Cirillo.

Even though the Student Events Team hosts Siblings Day, they also get to enjoy the event with their own families.

“A lot of us on the board bring our siblings too so it’s a lot of fun to have our family members to interact and play with,” said Matyszewski.

There is a lot of planning that goes into putting on an event of this size for the Student Events Team.

“We started planning over winter break, to get the idea for the theme and the slogan,” said Matyszewski.

“We take a lot of time to prepare for this event, we have to reach out to companies and see if they want to work with us,” said Del Forno. “Our advisors place a lot of responsibility on us and I am able to have fun with what I want to do.”

SET holds daily events during the semester for students and they gain inspiration from those activities to put on an event like Siblings Day.

“We try to take what we plan out during the semester and we put it together in one day so you have a whole day of back-to-back activities,” said Matyszewski.

The events of Siblings Day brought siblings together in a very unique way. This year 70 students and their siblings participated in Siblings Day.

“There are parts of campus that my sister has never seen and she was able to see where I spend my time and it reminded me of how much I love this campus and how special it is,” said junior Shannon Torres.

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