On Wednesday, March 4, the Academic Success Center hosted the Student Showcase in the Hoosier Room, located in the University Center.

The event was put together to give students a chance to see what organizations they can get involved in with their major.

There were 13 exhibits created by academic clubs who volunteered to have a display to show other students at the event. There were a variety of groups including those from chemistry, geosciences, nursing, the debate team and the Writing Help Center.

Some of the displays included photos, brochures and activities for students to participate in.

The chemistry exhibit allowed students to make slime. With the help of volunteers, students could eat a frozen marshmallow that had been dipped in liquid nitrogen or break a flower that was dipped in it, as well.

The exhibit for the Office of Disability displayed several photographs taken by a student. The idea behind the photos was what it would look like if disabilities could be seen on the outside. It featured photos of different body parts with a handicapped symbol on them.

Another display featured TV screens that allowed students to learn about virtual reality. The volunteers talked about avatars and how they create certain parts of the bodies, including how they got the avatars to have tattoos on them.

The purpose of the Student Showcase was to try and help students see what other students are doing in their majors. All of the groups were organizations that any student can be a part of.

Sarah Gierke, academic adviser and coordinator of Academic Success Center Retention Programs, said some people may not understand what goes on in an informatics class, for example, so the event helped to portray that to students.

“It’s a lot more fun for students to talk to other students about what’s going on with their majors, rather than me stand around with a brochure and talk to them,” Gierke said.

She also said the Student Showcase was a recruiting event to help students get contact information they may need from others.

When students entered the Hoosier Room, they signed in and were handed a card. As students visited different exhibits, they had the card signed by a volunteer. If a student had at least four signatures, they turned in the card for pizza, cookies and a drink.

The group who attained the most votes received a trophy to be placed in the school office of that group. The winning group also received $300.