To Kick Off the Spring term the School of Economics co hosted Casino Night along with The Economics Society and Kent Invest societies. We asked President of the Economics Society, Aliye Osman all about it.
‘We’ve heard it a hundred times and we’ll hear it a hundred more. Since the start of the pandemic, university students have been deprived of the university experience they signed up for. I guess that’s why the casino night was such a great success.
Poker face
The event catered to all skill levels. Some were already professional and others had never played Poker, Blackjack, Roulette and Spades before. We also provided cards so students could play any games they preferred. The Kennedy atrium was so full that we also had two seminar rooms to play in. My favourite feature was the massive playing cards, like something from a TV show.
Walking around the event, I saw some people going all in with their chips, others being cautious and careful. As economists, we understand to some extent people’s choices and these games were an opportunity to analyse which type of consumers our members were. Personally, I change my risk aversiveness depending on how many chips is have- if there’s only a few left then I’ll tempt the group to go all in with me.
Nonetheless, it was a night away from studies. A night for laughter and joy, and a time for students to finally talk to one another. I haven’t heard of casino games being an icebreaker, but it really warmed people up to one another.
‘While standing on the top of the stairs, looking down at the happy faces, I realised that the pandemic may be reaching its final chapters.’
World of Freebies
We were given a large budget by the School to organise this event so we decided to give as many freebies as we could. We had free pizza, free drinks, free snacks, free merch, and prizes, including love to eat vouchers to be used in exchange for a £25 meal in restaurants (Nando’s, Zizi’s, Pizza Hut and more) as well as Amazon vouchers and school hoodies.
The excitement reached its peak during the raffle draw- it was the first time I saw so many students clapping, laughing, and waiting in anticipation for their number to be shouted out. Out of around 100 or so attendees. We had 13 prize winners, I would say those are great odds to win a raffle prize.
While standing on the top of the stairs, looking down at the happy faces, I realised that the pandemic may be reaching its final chapters. As I called out names and saw the sheer joy on the winners’ faces, I thought to myself we need more of these events. We need more time to spend together- with people we don’t know on different courses in different stages. Socialising is an important part of our development, and this event was a great activity to get people together again.
What’s next?
The Economics society have a few exciting events planned. Our weekly Tuesday event as well as our annual summit in March. Our theme this year is on AI and Automation, and we’re excited to have this event In Person on the Kent campus.’
Aliye Osman is President of the Economics Society in her final year Studying Economics with Econometrics BSc Hons.