Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) hosted the annual Glow Bowl at Mustang Lanes on Friday, giving students the chance to show off their bowling prowess and eat free pizza.
Berlin’s “The Danger Zone” blasted from the sound system overhead and the colliding of pins with bowling balls could be heard outside the Julian A. McPhee University Union (UU).
Architecture graduate student Angelo Freeman laughed after he was asked if he was any good at bowling.
“I’m all right,” he said. “I’ve been pretty consistent tonight.”
Though bowling might not have been his calling, Freeman was stoked to be there hanging out with his friends.
“My friends usually keep me updated on what’s going on,” Freeman said. “I can’t believe we can come here, bowl and eat free pizza.”
The pizza smell was slightly overpowering, and it would have been a feat of stellar willpower to not have enjoyed a piece or two.
Most students seemed to have attended Glow Bowl because it was free with a PolyCard. However, after asking around, there was a group celebrating more than just free stuff.
Graphic communication freshman Naomi Fuad, who wore a rainbow glow stick around her head, explained her group’s cause for celebration.
“It’s one of my friend’s last days here,” Fuad said. “So we thought this would be great to celebrate her and be all together.”
Bringing people together seemed to be a reoccurring theme at Glow Bowl, as groups of students huddled together at their lane assignments with pizza and soda in hand.
It felt like every killer birthday party we went to at the age of five, except back then we bowled with those handy bumpers and could hardly pick up a bowling ball.
Civil engineering sophomore Darya Shtykalo appreciated that Glow Bowl was held on campus.
“It’s a really cool event and a great opportunity to explore what’s on campus,” she said.
Multicolored lights flashed across the whole bowling alley and every student received a glow stick upon entry.
“ASI should definitely keep doing this,” Freeman said.
Glow Bowl has been a classic event hosted by ASI and has proven extremely successful in the past due to the free pizza and bowling.
“This is great,” Fuad said. “I am for sure coming next year.”
As the night wore on, nothing but every ’80s song imaginable played throughout Mustang Lanes.
It was nostalgic, really — an event that seemed to capture the essence of what Friday nights might have looked liked years ago when leg warmers and shoulder pads were a thing.
Fuad and her friends were ecstatic to spend their last night with their friend bumping to Duran Duran and not caring about how bad everyone was at bowling.
“What a way to create our last memories with her,” Fuad said.
Without bumpers on the lanes to keep the bowling balls from shifting horribly to the gutters, the competition between players was far from stiff.
Watching one bowler in particular, neither of his attempts at knocking the pins to the ground was successful, but that didn’t seem to bother him as he pumped his fist into the air and high-fived his bowling mates.
Every hour, a new wave of happy bowling-goers filtered into Mustang Lanes and new games began: Purple, blue and green bowling balls lined every ball-return station.
“I call this one ‘The Grandma!'” an enthusiastic student yelled from across the bowling alley lining up his bowling ball and using both hands to toss it down the lane.
Glow Bowl scored a whole gathering of students enjoying each others’ company the old-fashioned way, with a Coke in one hand and a bowling ball in the other.