Last Friday night, Sept. 21, students were invited to Burt Kahn Court to participate in the Psychic Fair hosted by the Student Programming Board (SPB).

Just before the opening at 8 p.m., the traditions and community chair for SPB, Emma Shipton- the person in charge of the whole event- shared her thoughts.

“As we’re getting closer the nerves are kind of kicking in. There’s a lot of stuff to get done and we start in less than an hour,” Shipton said.

Nerves aside, Shipton was excited for the activities set up for the students to enjoy.

[media-credit id=2177 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]“We’ve brought in a bunch of psychics and they all have different specialties,” Shipton said.

The fair was set up with separate booths housing a different psychic and their specialty. The students had options of visiting a booth for astrology, palm reading, archangels, astrodice, tarot readings and ribbons.

“The students can experience [the booths] and then we have lawn games and lucky bamboo plants students can make for their dorm rooms while they wait in line,” Shipton said.

The games included giant Jenga and a bean bag toss, but most students were seen carrying around little bamboo plants that they were able to make. Each little glass container was filled with colorful water beads to make each plant a unique new dorm decoration for students. A magician was also making rounds to entertain the waiting students with his card tricks.

Students were excitedly chatting with friends, snacking on the desserts provided and trying to peek behind the curtains of the booths. 

Some students, like sophomore criminal justice major Lindsey Downey, had an idea of where she wished to visit first.

“I’m looking forward to the tarot card readings. I think that they’re very interesting and cool, something different,” Downey said while waiting for her reading.

Others attended the event just to see what the fair was like such as a freshman civil engineering major Steven Gomes.

As his first time visiting a psychic fair, Gomes didn’t know what to expect.

“I’ve just got a bamboo thing so far. My friend brought me along, so I’m kind of just seeing how it goes,” Gomes said.

Gomes also expressed his hesitancy about the readings.

“I’ve always been highly skeptical,” Gomes said. “So, I’m kind of interested, but I’m still going to be very skeptical.”

Not alone in his beliefs, others voiced their hesitation about the practice as well.

“I’ve always wanted to try something like this, but I’ve been too afraid to pay for it. To be able to do this kind of thing for free is nice,” senior film major John Ferraro said. “I did a tarot reading. It was interesting, there were definitely some truths that were thrown in there. I think the reading was a little exaggerated, but I guess that’s kind of the medium in general. But it was fun, I think it’s some good advice that I got out of it.”

Some people did not approach the event with doubt like freshman journalism major Justin Blicht, who believed the reading would be “accurate.”

Others, like Downey, have had personal experiences with readings.

“I do tarot readings for myself,” Downey said. “But I think it’ll be cool to get a different perspective.”

With beliefs aside, the event was very popular like Shipton had predicted. The turnout was high and a lot of people had fun with set-up activities.

“I’m really excited to be a part of it,” Shipton said.