CampusPerks fuels student life on campuses across Canada by providing students with exclusive opportunities, and as the Hunger Games neared, we thought, how sweet would it be to send a few of our Community Members to see the Hunger Games before everyone else? 

Answer? Pretty darn sweet. A few lucky CampusPerks community members had the unique opportunity to attend the Hunger Games advance screening as our CampusPerks media reps.

Anna from Ottawa University, tori from Carleton University and Steffany and Carolyn, from Dalhousie University, have given us an exclusive play-by-play on their Hunger Games experience.

What did they think of the experience? Well…

“WOW, what to say about The Hunger Games. Did I actually expect it to be as good as the hype around it? Yes. Did it deliver? Definitely, I could even say it exceeded ALL expectations I previously had. What helped exceed them was being able to say I saw it first, before many die-hards had the chance to. Feeling the anticipation and excitement of the crowd of people who were just itching to see it was exhilarating! It was also refreshing to not have to hear the opinions of others before I had the chance to experience it myself, which was one of the perks of being able to see it first; I could really claim my expectations as unclouded and my own. I have ever really experienced something similar before, and it was really nice to genuinely go based on your own thoughts!” – Anna

“To my surprise, and excitement, I was given the opportunity to attend the Advance Screening of “The Hunger Games” as a CampusPerks Media Rep. The experience was sweaty, hot, and required a lot of multitasking. Twitter updates on my phone, taking photos with my camera, carrying popcorn, and waiting in line with a bustling crowd of people…piece of cake right? Not so much. There was popcorn everywhere! It was loud, but security kept the lucky advance screening hopefuls in check.” – Steffany

“The movie was amazing, and I am so happy that I was chosen to see the advanced screening of the Hunger Games in Ottawa! It was an exciting experience, even waiting in a huge line to get tickets was exciting as people around us were re-reading parts of the book, and describing their favourite characters and wondering how accurately they would be portrayed in the film. ” - Tori

Was it an accurate representation of the book?

“Well let me just say, the Hunger Games exceeded my expectations. This movie succeeds in a way other book-to-movie attempts have not. I think this is because the director, Gary Ross, seems to not attempt to simply emulate the book but actually seems inspired by this story. The movie surprisingly tackles a lot of issues for what could easily be another shallow attempt to draw in young moviegoers.” -Carolyn 

“I can honestly say it was a great depiction of how I had envisioned it, and the book’s integrity was maintained exceptionally well. The entire experience was thrilling, kept me on the edge of my seat, anticipating the next second to see the progression of the story being brought to life. The dedication of some people in line- those who brought foldable chairs and down to the ten year old girl who was still re-reading parts of the book before the movie started- it all made the experience that much more exciting! Having such an opportunity from CampusPerks was actually one I never would have expected to have, and I really could not thank you enough! I whole-heartedly enjoyed myself and never would have thought it could be so much fun, but thanks to you I have one more thing to check off my bucket list.” - Anna

Steffany reports on the environment before the film started.

“We exited the screening only to find a huge line equal in size to the one we had been standing in a few hours earlier. I was definitely one of those people who had no idea what was in store.… fans had been lining up for the past few hours impatiently waiting for the theatre 8 doors to open and usher them into the World of The Hunger Games!” – Steffany

Things you’d like to see more of from the Hunger Games movie?

“Jennifer Lawrence. She deserves to be the new ‘it girl’. Her beauty is only exceeded by her talent. One of the best young actresses around right now, in my opinion.

Also: Braided updos and wacky high fashion. Katniss had some seriously amazing hairstyles that deserve emulation. The majority of the characters were high-class city folk of the future sporting polished yet strange versions of haute couture. I loved the color palette ranging from bright blues to mustard yellow, orange-red, and jewel tones.

It was so great to see fresh faces in a  hollywood blockbuster. Most of the cast had never previously been in a film this big, despite all being talented and experienced actors. Oh, and did I mention the Hunger Games’ roster of extremely handsome counterparts?” – Carolyn

Overall?

“Thanks again CampusPerks! I’m so glad that I had the chance to represent such a great initiative that provides students across Canada with the opportunity to promote student life on campus!” -Steffany

“A big thanks to CampusPerks for sending us to see the Hunger Games!” – Carolyn

“My Karyna and I had a great time, and loved the trivia and prizes that were given away before the movie! Thank you so much CampusPerks!” – Tori

“[CampusPerks] really is a university student’s BFF and I could not have asked for a more entertaining distraction from the midterms which never seem to end. Thank you for the kick-ass tickets and making my university experience that much more memorable, you are awesome!” - Anna

Did you see the Hunger Games over the weekend? Let us know what you thought about the film in the comments section below.

Side Note: Want to gain access to exclusive opportunities like this one? Become a CampusPerks Community Member here: http://campusperks.ca/en/users/sign_up

-The CampusPerks Team

One of the great things about being a university student is the opportunity provided to get involved with a student-run club or organization. One club at Brock University that has made an impact on the student population is the Brock Jewish Students Association. As a result of there hard work, the club was recently awarded a $400 sponsorship from CampusPerks. As a result I got a chance to sit down with Avital Sternin, President of the Brock Jewish Students Association to find out what impact this money was going to have on the club for the upcoming semester.

Avital was extremely grateful for the opportunity that CampusPerks provided her and her club. As we began to talk about her club, Avital went into great depth as to how CampusPerks had helped through publicity and club recognition in a large scale. The exposure the club had received from the CampusPerks website had opened many doors for the Brock Jewish Students Association. In addition the recent sponsorship would help the Brock Jewish Students Association to accomplish their current programs on a much larger scale.

As the second semester has begun at Brock, Avital made me aware of two major programs the club would be working on this semester. The first was the Jewish holiday of Purim and the second being a weekly lunch and learn series. The celebration of Purim is a Jewish holiday, which takes place every March commemorating the salvation of the Jewish people in Ancient Persia from Haman’s plot.

As part of the celebration the Brock Jewish Students Association will host a community food drive over the course and celebrate the week with a large celebration. At the same time the weekly lunch and learn will be open to all students with the opportunity to learn about such topics as “why be Jewish?” or “why do bad things happen to good people?” For more information on either of these events students can email the Brock Jewish Students Association at brockjsa@busu.net.

-Written by Dan @ Brock

CampusPerks has officially sponsored the Justice Studies Students Society’s Cops and Robbers Cabaret in support of local women’s shelters. The Cops and Robbers Cabaret will take place on January 21. The JSSS received sponsorship towards their event from CampusPerks; half of the funding will be used to print tickets, partner with beer companies and purchase door prizes. The remaining funding will be used towards their sponsorship of three African Children at the Glorious Orphanage in Tanzania. “Just $1050 sponsors three Tanzanian children for a year,” says Ashley Major, member of the JSSS. Much of the remaining funding to be sent to the Glorious Orphanage will come from the proceeds of another Campus Perks function. Check out the link to the Glorious Orphanage to find out how you can get involved.

http://www.gloriousorphanage.com/public/

The JSSS first became involved with CampusPerks when they heard about the Virgin Mobile’s On The House Campus Race. “After hearing what CampusPerks was all about, we felt like it would be a fun way for justice students to promote who we are and raise awareness about our causes. A lot of our events and projects require funding and we hoped that CampusPerks would be able to provide us with support that we could use for new and exciting projects,” says Ashley. The student club competed in and won the race and have been involved with Campus Perks ever since.

“CampusPerks has really brought the JSSS positive publicity. People who had never heard of our group began to contact us and ask how they could get involved with our initiatives. CampusPerks has certainly helped us monetarily as well. With the sponsorship and money raised [...] we were able to sponsor three children in Africa, give over $2000 to our local Food Bank, and donate hundreds of dollars to women centers in Regina. We also had a lot of fun getting involved with the challenges and really learned how to work together as a team. Thanks for everything CampusPerks!” – Ashley Major

-Written by Caitlin @ U of R