Go Wild Week ignites Wildcat spirit

March 23, 2022
Northwestern Qatar students came together in celebration of Northwestern traditions – and Purple Pride – during the school’s annual Go Wild Week—igniting their Wildcat spirit and reinforcing community bonds.
 
Go Wild Week is a week-long series of events organized by the Student Union in collaboration with cultural and student clubs at the school. This year’s event—the first since the start of the pandemic—included a range of sports activities, cultural programs, and other events. 
 
The week began with a cultural night organized by the Qatari Culture Club, African Students Association, Latin American Student Association, South Asian Student Association, Palestine Student Club, and the Chinese Student Association. With traditional performances, international dishes, and a fashion show, students experienced various elements of the cultures represented in the school’s diverse student body.
 
Another event was Qats Got Talent, an open platform for students to showcase their creativity and compete for awards across categories. Featuring faculty and staff as judges, students shared their poetry, singing, music, painting, and theatre performances. 
 
The traditional Purple Fest brought students, staff, and faculty together with food from around the world, sporting activities, video and board games, and competitions. It also included an open market, where student entrepreneurs set up booths to showcase their startups and sell products from their small businesses.
 
At the 2022 Media and Research Awards, more than 30 outstanding student projects were recognized for scholarly and creative excellence. Nominated students discussed their work with the judges during a research expo and then attended the awards ceremony, where they networked with attending alumni and industry leaders from Al Jazeera, Al Kass Sports Channel, BLJ Worldwide, other notable media organizations.
 
In concluding the week-long program, student artists and storytellers will explore the concept of love and its meaning across cultures and contexts at the 2022 Creative Media Festival. Working with faculty advisors Rana Kazkaz, Dana Atrach, and Marcela Pizzaro over the weekend, nine individual and group projects will showcase their projects—including short films, documentaries, poetry readings, live performances, photography, paintings, sculpting, and sound and light design elements—to the community on the final day of the festival.