On the ominous Friday the 13th, the International Student Program invited all students and faculty to watch a horror movie for free – even providing free popcorn, snacks, and drinks.
Lizhuojing Xu/THUNDERWORD
Free drinks and food provided by ISP are placed neatly on the entry table by volunteers.
The event ran from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., but at 2:40 p.m. the entry table was already filled with drinks, snacks, and candy while the smell of freshly baked popcorn wafted through the air. The organizer, Kirsten Rinker, who is the International Student Advisor, and her team of volunteers welcomed all the students with warm smiles and care.
“The last time I saw a movie with students was during the spring quarter,” Rinker said. She then added, “But it wasn’t a horror movie, it was a regular movie. This time we chose a horror movie to warm up to Halloween.”
The promotional poster of Horror Movie Night, allowed students to scan the QR code on the poster to vote on what movie to watch this time. There were seven horror movies from different decades for students to choose from, they were: “Scream (1996)”, “Cabin in the Woods (2013)”, “Train to Busan (2016)”, “The Nun (2018)”, “Us (2019)”, “Malignant (2021)”, and “Barbarian (2022)”. The thriller “Barbarian (2022)” ended up getting the most votes.
When students registered to vote, the student’s name appeared on the list of visitors to participate in the activity. But even if students did not get a chance to vote and register, all students are welcome to come to all activities of the International Student Program.
Before and even after the film began, students began taking their favorite food and drinks at the entrance and continued in to get comfy for the viewing. This movie night not only gave students a choice of entertainment activities, but also gave students the opportunity to make new friends and have more topics to talk about.
Some students came with their friends and some students came alone but left together. After watching the movie, the students left one after another, but the energy brought by the exciting plot did not dissipate.
“I love the feeling that we’re all sitting around watching a movie, eating snacks and drinking drinks, and everyone’s emotions are moving along with the movie. It feels like we’re a family. I wish we could have a movie night every weekend,” said an anonymous student from India.
Last week’s Horror Movie Night, held by the International Student Department, was only one of the various activities held by different departments on campus every week. When the atmosphere of the cinema is combined with the meticulous care of the school for students, it is a perfect night out for Highline students!
