First Street Towers houses adventurous and academically ambitious residents. To provide adventure and mental challenges to the First Street community, Titan Club devised a plan to incorporate diversity, intellect, physicality, and creativity in a one-day event. The focus this year was to create individual floor communities, but Titan Club wanted to go beyond this approach and bring not only floor communities, but the entire residence hall together. This event, Boiler Race, a spin-off of "The Amazing Race," was more than just a competition; it promoted Purdue pride and challenged participants in an interactive way. To ensure a successful and full experience for participants, the Towers knew they had to seek assistance. With the help of the John Purdue Club, Follett’s Purdue Bookstore, HKN, Union Rack and Roll, Freckles Graphics, and the Purdue Alumni Association as sponsors, Boiler Race was able to develop a race that tapped into Purdue pride and spirit for all participants, as well as expose them to a Purdue experience different from that of their college careers.

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This program was able to break down the every-day formality between Resident Assistants, residents, Faculty Fellows, and Service Staff workers in one afternoon. Each floor community was challenged to participate to earn Titan Points (points distributed to floors based on participation in floor or building activities). Boiler Race was configured to include objectives; pit-stops at specific locations that required answering questions or completing tasks in relation to that location. Because these tasks required time and effort to successfully complete them, the participating teams were divided into three separate but equal routes to avoid back-up at any of the pit-stops. For the purpose of identification, each of the 12 teams of two was given shirts to wear in various colors. This created a sense of friendly competition as each team set out to successfully complete objectives along the route. The pit-stops were facilitated by one or two volunteers who managed activities, awarded race points, and distributed clues based on successful completion of the task(s). Therefore, the winners of the race would not be solely determined by time – winning required knowledge, creativity, and Purdue pride.

Starting the teams on equivalent but separate routes encouraged participants to focus on successfully completing each task rather than making the objective to finish the entire race before the other teams. A task located at the Dauch Alumni Center required participants to seek information from historical memorabilia and short alumni biographies within the building in order to correctly answer questions. Another task, located at the Rack and Roll bowling alley in Memorial Union, required precision to make a strike or spare in as few attempts as possible. Certain pit-stops also required participants to gather “souvenirs” such as a reusable water bottle from the HKN lounge, a pom-pom from the alumni center, and of course, the clue cards.

Although there was a general feeling of exhaustion after the race, all participants and volunteers enthusiastically shared experiences from the race. Each team was able to visit a variety of locations, locations that the general student body wouldn’t normally venture out to or visit during their college career. From taking a trip to the airport on the outskirts, to locating each species of crab apple trees, Boiler Race extracted the unique and characterizing aspects of Purdue and combined them into one race; a race that required interaction and creativity, and exposed the treasures and pride of Purdue.

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The goals of Boiler Race aligned with those of residence life: to build character, create interaction, develop camaraderie as a residence hall, and continue to instill and promote Purdue pride. The race was able to successfully break down the barriers of static, daily residence life by stimulating interaction. By participating in this race, all participants were able to develop a sense of commonality through shared experiences along the route. After the race, teams were sharing experiences with each other, such as how they made mistakes along the route due to a perplexing clue, describing the intrigue of the existence and availability of the HKN lounge, and commenting on how inspiring it was to be shooting hoops in Mackey Arena. It was evident that the participants had not only learned more about campus, but they also had an increased awareness about all the different attributes that compose Purdue as a diverse university.

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The great turn-out for Boiler Race resulted in collaboration and interaction with a diverse group of people. It created change in residence hall culture, from residents occupied with academic obligations in their rooms, to residents sharing experiences and laughs from the race, creating a more open and communicative environment. It allowed First Street Towers to not only develop a stronger community with these interactions, but also allowed it to expand beyond the walls of the Towers, to expose the residence hall to the greater campus of Purdue through one race. The activity-based objectives of Boiler Race not only challenged the physical, mental, and interactive stamina of the participants, but it also exposed the First Street Towers community to overlooked and hidden charms of campus that embodies Purdue as a university. From discovering the HKN lounge buried in the bowels of the Electrical Engineering building, to shooting hoops in the home of an elite basketball team on Keady Court at Mackey arena, participants and volunteers alike, were able to interact with campus beyond work and classroom obligations. How often do students get the opportunity to shoot baskets at Mackey arena and glance at flight simulators at the Purdue Airport in-person?

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Boiler Race successfully brought together the entire First Street Towers community through diverse participation and involvement in the race. Each pit-stop was created to be challenging, but not so difficult as to discourage teams from completing the task. This one-of-a-kind race stimulated inter-floor and building participation as well as support from several other sponsors and organizations to ensure an enlightening event. One of the supporting organizations, the Reamer Club, provided a true-Purdue highlight for the race. Teams were given the opportunity to sing one of four Purdue fight songs or hymns and even got to pose with the Boilermaker Extra Special for a picture. Besides those directly involved in the race, other organizations and sponsors contributed in a variety of ways such as donating time or prizes. Each team received a set of prizes including a booklet about life after college, bumper stickers, coupons for local businesses, a pencil, and an official Purdue pin. Grand prize winners received prizes donated from the John Purdue Club and Follett’s Purdue Bookstore. Overall, the success of Boiler Race is attributed to the support and involvement of volunteers, organizations, and sponsors for providing a singular experience for the First Street Towers community.

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First Street Towers was able to create one of the best events the hall has ever organized with the support and participation from all realms of the building; residents, Resident Assistants, Faculty Fellows, and Service Staff. Residence halls within Purdue as well as other universities can utilize a similar event to open up campus to their residents and building to expose them to unique aspects and opportunities of campus. By participating in this race, participants were able to continue to develop a sense of belonging and community with not only their residence hall, but also with their university. As future Purdue alumni, it’s important to be well-versed in Purdue culture and Titan Club has created an excellent approach in preparing current students to be more informed and engaged alumni through Boiler Race.

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