Palms sweating, muscles tense, heads turning from left to right suspiciously. Sticker tag has begun.
“The game hadn’t even started yet – it was the night before the game even started and my roommate, Val, and I screamed every time someone knocked on our door,” said Jacqueline Gallant. She thought it was just going to be fun and games, but she soon realized how competitive it was and soon felt the immediate paranoia it created.
Sticker tag is an interactive team-building game within residents. Everyone is assigned another resident’s name to tag, and someone else gets your name. The game then is an object of not getting tagged while trying to tag your person. The last person left untagged is the winner.
There are some so-called “safe zones” such as the cafeteria, Margaret McCain Study Hall, your dorm room (unless you invite them in), work, class – basically any place you have to be – so walking to class is fair game. You have to tag with a sticker, and it has to stick to them for at least three seconds.
“I was lucky though because the night we received our assignments I was immediately in an alliance with five other people,” said Gallant. “I had an alliance with one girl that we wouldn’t tag each other, stick it out until the end.
“She and I wrote down everything on her mirror on the back of her door.”
It was all very strategic and the two girls put every participant’s name on the mirror and who they had if they knew. Because of this alliance, Gallant is still in the game two weeks later.
A friend of Gallant’s, Chrissy Maine, got a wig to disguise herself. While wearing it, she was unrecognizable – she went from a blonde with shoulder-length hair to a brunette with short hair. She used this as defense while maintaining an offense.
“Another one of my friends got up at 6 a.m. and stayed outside of her person’s door for a long time, waiting for her to come out and tag her,” said Gallant.
“Sticker tag is a fun game we like to play in residence, and even in recent years off-campus. “Since my first year, I have found that sticker tag is a good way to get to know people you live with. Sitting in the cafeteria watching some of the chases is always lots of fun. I think some of the best stories are from some of the ‘great escapes’ or from some of the friendships that are formed.
“This year I had the chance to organize a game of sticker tag and I loved being able to see all of the alliances that were formed and strategies that were played. I’m excited for more fun next semester!” said Daphne Cooper.
Gallant agreed that it is a good activity, but emotions tend to run high and some people get angry when they’re tagged. She thinks that people should set their emotions aside, as it is just a game.
Some students even go as far as to change their profile picture and name on Facebook so when their tagger looks them up, they will not find them or be misled.
