CAPTURE THE FLAG-it's on!

Keri S.

April 4, 2010 - 11:00 PM

Hi. My name is Keri Sime. I am 21 years old, and I still play capture the flag!

This isn't so much a confession as it is me bragging about my most recent University of Oregon adventure. Last Thursday, I joined 13 other Alpha Kappa Psi brothers on an epic battle against the accounting fraternity, Beta Alpha Psi. The rivalry between Alpha Kappa Psi and Beta Alpha Psi has existed for as long as I have been a member of the fraternity. At least once every term, we engage in a friendly sporting event against each other. In the past, Alpha Kappa Psi has seldom proven victorious. However, last term in a game of dodge ball, we finally won the trophy back (yes, there is actually a physical trophy we pass back and forth). Luckily, we continue to hold custody of the trophy after this week's game of capture the flag.

The game took place on campus outside the Lillis Business Complex (where most of us consider a second home). The boundaries were set, the flags hidden, and the rules clearly explained in excruciating details: don't go outside the boundaries, no puppy-guarding the flags, best 2 out of 3 games. It was dark outside when the game finally got underway. As some students walked home from studying with their backpacks and others were already on the way to the nearby bars ready to begin their weekends, we ran around in dark clothing ducking behind bushes to try and run undetected towards the flag.

The first game went to Beta Alpha Psi, and the second to Alpha Kappa Psi. The third and final game was close. We had an end time of 10:40 so we all could get back into the Lillis building to get our belongings before it closed. 10:38 came around, and still nobody had captured the other's flag. Alpha Kappa Psi constructed a quick and easy strategy: everybody run at once to the flag leaving nobody to play defense. It was a risky strategy, but as we learn in the business school: "no risk, no reward". Although most of us were tagged quickly, one was able to get the flag all the way back to the other side. Victory for Alpha Kappa Psi!!!

The next time classes are stressing you out, I recommend you do as the business students do: run around campus acting like children. I laughed so hard watching my friends pull Mission Impossible moves to navigate around the library, and got quite a work out running from one end of the field to the other.