The Utah Tech Student Association hosted its annual Let It Snow Somewhere Else event, creating a Christmas atmosphere and helping students to take a break before finals.
“It [the event] is a good Christmas event for students to kind of celebrate and be together before the holidays and breaks,” said Emily Enright, UTSA tradition events director and a sophomore exercise science major from Washington.
The event took place Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Gardner Student Center.
Enright said the event had a big Christmas tree, decorations for gingerbread houses and lots of other Christmas elements to create a holiday atmosphere and help students feel cozy.
For the event, UTSA had a giveaway for students. This year, they gave sweatshirts to the first 200 students who arrived.
Carson Warner, UTSA vice president of student life and a senior criminal justice major from Las Vegas, shared a story about the role of sweatshirts in the present tradition.
“We had an event probably six years ago, and we needed marketing on it, and so one of our marketing managers created the Let It Snow Somewhere Else sweatshirts to kind of market for an event,” Warner said. “From that point on, we started to adjust the history of it [event] and make it [so we] build an event around the sweaters.”
Since then, Warner said Let It Snow Somewhere Else became one of the biggest events, and this merch has become a valuable part of university tradition.
While enjoying the excitement of the upcoming holiday, students could also eat pancakes and hot chocolate provided by UTSA while decorating a gingerbread house and listening to atmospheric music.
Enright said students could take free food during the celebration and have a chance to win some prizes at the gingerbread house decorating contest.
By visiting the annual Let It Snow Somewhere Else event, students at Utah Tech not only get the chance to be active students and participate in events, but also make Utah Tech a second home for them, make friends and have a good experience in their campus life.
“From events, our Wednesday events, we try to create a home for students where they can come and hang out and make new friends, or come with their friends and just have a good time and have a good experience at Utah Tech,” Enright said.
Warner said the students were able to craft a Christmas ornament from the supplies and wooden parts that UTSA provided to them. Then, students could take them home to create a winter atmosphere in their dorms.
Arya Long, a freshman English education major from Lehi, had positive emotions from the event.
“And one thing I found interesting about [the event] was the atmosphere,” Long said. “It was a fun Christmas vibe the entire time.”
UTSA now looks for the next opportunity to bring enjoyment to students and brings this message to the campus community:
“I would say get involved, whether it is showing up to events or joining a student organization,” Warner said. “Create the connection with the school.”
