Q: Hello LeShauntai Adams how are doing? Are you excited for this year’s upcoming Great Race 53?
A: Hello and yes, I’m excited for Great Race 53! It’s one of the events I look forward to planning every year!
Q: What exactly is your role in this great race 53?
A: I am the president of a student led group on campus that runs and host Great Race. We plan out the events each day, and during the week of Great Race we make sure every day runs smooth. I couldn’t say I play a huge role, but the team I work with does because it’s a team effort
Q: So, what is the student led group called? How often does your group plan events like do you have a set schedule or is it just whenever you all are free? I understand that great race is only a week out of the school year so how does that work?
A: The group is called Mustang Entertainment. We plan two major events throughout the school year. Homecoming in the fall and Great Race in the spring. Those are two of Westerns greatest traditions so those events are our main focus, but we try and do little things throughout the school year such as dances and we help out with the Mustang Showcase to show incoming students about the greatest traditions at Western. We meet two times a week at the same time and we ensure that these dates and times work with everyone.
Q: That’s pretty cool I don’t think people really appreciate mustang entertainment enough for the things that they do. I mean they do plan the two biggest events like you said. I know that over the past couple years not a lot of people show up to our school events or complain that they are boring or not fun so how are you going to make sure that the events are fun for the students? Also, how are you going to make sure that there is a good turn out during this event?
A: We plan events based on what students want.
If students don’t tell us what they want, we will go by what has been done before and what has been popular. We also go by what sounds fun and exciting because we don’t receive as much input from students as we would like. We go by what seems more fun and is competitive because that is what Great Race is all about! We do things such as Twitter polls, we ask students around campus what they would like to see, and often individuals will mention something to us about an event that they want to see for the upcoming great race.
Q: That sounds pretty fun I know that people will definitely enjoy that. I know you’ve already stated some events that you plan on doing, but can we get a little snippet or an idea of what to expect for Great Race 53? What should we be looking forward to this year specifically? Any surprises or changes being made?
A: All I can say is we are bringing new events to the table and we are planning on bringing in an artist to preform to kick off Great Race 53!
Q: That’s amazing! I can’t remember the last name time Western New Mexico University brought a music artist to perform on campus. That was a great sneak peek for this year’s Great Race!
Is it hard making the events during Great Race enjoyable for all the students? Who comes up with the events during the week? Is it the student’s choice or do you all decide as a group? Also, do the events vary due to the diverse amount of ethnicities we have on campus?
A: We decide as a group. We brain storm and branch off of each other’s ideas which works the best because a group of individuals with great ideas can take us a long way. I wouldn’t say that they vary based on the ethnicities we have on campus, but we do try and do something for everyone on this campus. We can’t please everyone, but we for sure can try. Complaints are expected during these events, but majority of us have been in Mustang Entertainment for over a year, so I would say we know what’s best for running a successful event.
Q: It seems to me as if you and your group are all for the students. During the week of Great Race what do you do for preparation? Do you lose any sleep over it? Does it ever stress you out knowing that things can mess up or go unplanned? Are you excited?
A: We make sure everything is set at least a week and a half before Great Race is here. I wouldn’t say we lose sleep, but it’s important to ensure that we get homework and everything done before. It is a lot of time management for our team. I wouldn’t say we get stressed out because we always remind ourselves that there are twenty-four hours in a day and we prepare for all the bad and good things that could possibly happen.
Q: Thank you for taking the time out the day to do an interview and I hope Great Race 53 goes as planned!
A: Thank you for the interview! Please let students to know that anyone can come to our meetings!
