By Benjamin Gonzalez
University of Maryland students gathered in the Prince George’s Room in the Stamp Student Union for a night of gaming and fundraising Nov. 30.
The Gaming Symphony Orchestra (GSO) held its second annual Gaming4Life event to raise money for the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The fundraising event, previously called Deathmatch, got a name change two years ago. There had been multiple annual Deathmatch events prior to the name change, which was a welcome one, according to orchestra members.
This year’s iteration of the fundraiser featured a wide variety of games ranging from Zarvot to Super Smash Bros. and included video game consoles such as the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U and Nintendo GameCube.
Attendees gathered around makeshift gaming stations to watch others play or signed up to participate in one of the many tournaments scheduled for the night. Many attendees at the event were members of the Gaming Symphony Orchestra, but they were not required to attend. James Shen, a junior chemical engineering major and member of the GSO, showed up to the event to play video games and get the word out about the GSO.
“We’re playing video games to get support and get the word out about GSO,” said Shen.
Senior mathematics and computer science major Aaron George saw an advertisement for the event on McKeldin Mall and invited fellow senior mathematics and computer science major Joshua Twitty to the event. They each donated money for the fundraiser.
“It was for a good cause,” said George. “I could tell they put a lot of effort into this, so I didn’t want to just come here and not support their cause.”
“I hate video games,” Twitty jokingly added.
Video games were not the only attraction, though they are a big reason for why many people come. Nicholas DeGraba, a junior electrical engineering major and member of the GSO, sees the event as a large social event, in addition to being a fundraising event. He has attended the fundraiser since his first semester on campus in the fall of 2016.
“That was back when it was called Deathmatch, which was probably not the most proper name for an event that’s for charity for Children’s National Medical Center,” said DeGraba. “Since then, [I] have become involved in the orchestra and have helped run tournaments for it, and it’s a good cause. I enjoy most, probably, just the fact that we’re able to have so much fun doing video game tournaments, hanging out with friends all night long and raising money for charity.”
Hojin Yoon, a junior chemical engineering major and vice president of the GSO, organized the event.
Over the years, vice presidents of the GSO have made changes to the event and kept track of those improvements, which they pass down to their successors.. This year, Yoon implemented accepting Venmo as a way to get donations.
“We’re also more focused on the atmosphere in the Gaming4Life,” said Yoon. “It’s pretty casual. It’s a five hour event, so people just walk in [and] come out whenever they want to.”
Yoon, although busy running around making sure everything was working and running smoothly, also got a chance to enjoy part of the event.
“I really enjoy this kind of event because it’s something that we focus so much time into, something that we really try to make a good product out of so that people understand that you can do things like gaming and other things for fun while also doing things for a good cause,” said Yoon.