Getting started

This log will be partially about how my team helped me run my most recent event, Trivia Night, and partially a review of the actual event and how I feel about it :). To begin, the team that helped me set up Trivia Night was made up of two CAS projects: MUN and the Matapalo Garden Project. On the MUN side was myself, Rapha, Emerson, and Alessandro, three juniors who are currently set to take over the MUN project when I leave La Paz to embark on the next section of my journey of life. On the MGP side was Noah and Luis, two seniors in my class whom I’ve worked closely with on numerous other, non-CAS related activities. This crew of 5 was a huge increase from the team who helped me set up my previous Trivia Night, which consisted of, well, me. The idea of having support was incredibly attractive, as school is notably difficult right now and my attention is mandatorily spread across a number of different assignments and classes. Our first few weeks went very well, as we established different roles for the different people involved (such as prizes, decoration, questions, etc.), established a clear timeline, and created a schedule that would ensure the event was marketed effectively. However, as is common with group projects, cracks began to show when it was time to sit down and do some real work. To provide an example, it took me nearly an entire CAS class (70 minutes) to get a couple of the group members to write and publish a 4 sentence, informational PR statement related to the event. It was incredibly difficult, much harder than it should have been, and served to sow some serious doubt in my mind about the future viability and possibility of a successful Trivia Night. The same group members were in charge of designing the questions for TN, an incredibly important task that could make or break the event with ease. I am somewhat of a leader, and I regularly struggle with trying to monopolize tasks in a group project to ensure that they are done my way. Thus, I’m sure it was easy to understand why I felt like having a minor hear attack following that class. Said heart attack continued up until the actual event, as the questions were left relatively unattended till the night before and hadn’t exactly been crafted with thought of the audience in mind. Fortunately, members of the group in charge of decorations, prizes, and manning the cashier’s position delivered in full. I was incredibly impressed by their excitement and passion towards the project, as well as the initiative they demonstrated and their willingness to take command of certain tasks. All in all, I would say that there were a couple group members who I feel could have really done more, but overall it was extremely helpful having multiple people on my team, and I am very excited for the future of Trivia Nights and the MUN CAS project. In terms of the actual Trivia Night, it was extremely successful! There were parents and students in attendance, and we covered a variety of very entertaining categories. Pizza was generously donated to feed the hungry contestants, and everyone walked away with some impressive, designer prizes! Additionally, we raised nearly 80,000 colones in net profit, with more on the way from people who have yet to pay. I was very pleased with this event, and very happy to see trivia return to La Paz!