Student employees clash in “minute to win it” games on April 14 for the seventh annual office olympics. The games started with Lori Larkin, the former Hamline HR manager, and the idea of something fun for student worker appreciation week. Junior Anna Mowry, the student worker from HR who, along with sophomore Elizabeth Renkas, is co-directing this years event, said “Lori found it important that student workers get recognized”.

Current HR manager Lynn Willmert, said that the Office Olympics are a “fun way to get student employees together.” For people whose shifts don’t overlap, for instance, the games “allow student workers to be a team.” Willmert added that “no other schools do anything like it,” that Hamline is unique in this respect.

The particular events of this year are, as is traditional, only explained to team captains on the day of the games. According to Mowry, Larkin instituted this guideline after teams would “train” for the games, preparing ahead of time.

“Part of the fun is not knowing what you’re going to do,” said Willmert.

As far as the nature of the events, Mowry described them as mostly relay type games. According to her, the focus is on “accuracy, precision and hand-eye coordination.” Willmert added that the games try to make teams “think on their feet.” The ultimate goal of each event? To “make sure all six members participate,” said Mowry.

The most important participation comes from the student workers, Mowry explained but added that HR also encourages supervisors to come in order to support their teams. Willmert said that, just like the rest of student worker appreciation week, the point of the olympics is really to support the workers and reward them for working hard. She encouraged all supervisors to find something special to do for their student workers.