For 90 minutes on Thursday, Apr. 12, two teams of six- Strawberry Lemonade, a mix of students employed by various Hamline offices and CEM Squad, consisting of students working in conference and event management- faced off in the most high-stakes competition of their careers as student workers. The contest in question was the Office Olympics, held from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 on that day in the Kay Fredericks Ballroom.

“The Office Olympics is part of Student Worker Appreciation Week,” explained Payroll Coordinator Sam Wortham, “and students working on campus or off campus… build a team with six student workers and compete in office-themed games.”

Three games were played in all, the first of which was Cotton Ball on Nose.

“The students have to put Vaseline on the tip of their nose and put the cotton ball on it, and then run down to a table and get the cotton ball off into the bucket, not using their hands. They can only use the bucket or shake their head to get it off their nose,” Wortham said.

The second game played was Popsicle Stick and Dice, which involved carrying a tongue depressor in one’s mouth, with a die on the end of the depressor. Students had to walk down to and around a table and back without dropping the die in order to be successful.

Lastly was Buckethead, where one player holds a bucket on their head while other team members throw crumpled wads of paper for them to catch, without crossing over a certain line.

In order to win, a team must have accumulated the most points from all three games combined, and Strawberry Lemonade proved victorious.

“Strawberry Lemonade had 140 [points], and CEM Squad had 130,” Wortham shared.

The prizes consisted of mementos donated by the athletic department, such as Hamline water bottles, T-shirts, and lanyards, as well as cookies provided by Dining Services.

“It’s a very fun event for students to participate in, as well as the payroll office- we had a lot of fun doing it this year,” Wortham said, and expressed her desire to continue the tradition in future years.