Think Fast or Lose Cash: Late at Lane Delivers Rewarding Entertainment

For a lot of college students, free money does not come by as excitingly as during Late at Lane on November 16 in which all students had to do was one simple thing; play the game "Think Fast" and potentially win $200. For this particular game, students must answer a series of trivia questions that appear on a jumbo screen by submitting their answers on a buzzer device. The announcer stated that these particular "Think Fast" questions would focus on Hollywood trivia. Each trivia question could be worth up to 1000 points with every question decreasing in value the longer a student decides to wait to submit an answer. In addition, if a student answers a question incorrectly, then they can change their answer but will lose points in the process. The buzzer device has five options to choose from that range from letters A-E. The buzzer also gives each student their own personally name so that they can identify what place they are in during the competition. Each buzzer scrolls a generic name across the top portion of the device that allows students to identify how many points they have and see if they are in the top ten when the names appear on the jumbo screen.While the buzzer was a convenient way for students to join in on the fun, some students did experience slight difficulties. Student Tori Glass found the buzzer to be annoying at times stating that "my buzzer would lose power and it would make me so anxious that my answers weren't going through."

The game also provides students with many extra opportunities to gain points in the hope of increasing their chances to make the top ten. One of these extra opportunities was the special ESP question that was designed to play mind games with the majority of the audience. This question made students answer a simple yes or no to a scenario. For example, a scenario could ask if students would still buy a movie ticket if the price went up to $20. If a student would not purchase a ticket at that price they would answer no or they could answer yes if they would. Afterwards, students would be told how many people are currently playing and then they would have to guess how many of those students answered the question with a yes. The closer the student gets to the correct number, the more points they get and the further away they were, the more points they would lose. "I love the ESP question! I'm not that good at Hollywood trivia and it gives me an opportunity to guess and get back in the game," said student Dimitri Adam as he scored 600 extra points from the ESP question. This gave students who were not particularly strong at Hollywood trivia an opportunity to gain points.

Another exciting opportunity that students had to make it into the finals was the competition rounds. There were only two competition rounds which needed students to raise their hands to participate. The first competition round allowed four students to come in front of everyone and face each other in a dance competition. The second competition was a scenario situation in which two students had to describe what they would do if sharks fell from the sky from a tornado inspired by the movie "sharknado." Both competition rounds ended after 60 seconds and with all the students trying their best to impress the audience of people who would vote for only two winners. The winner of each competition round was granted an instant seat to the final round that occurred after the trivia. 

         
The final round of  the "Think Fast" competition was the last thing standing in between one of the four students and the $200 dollar prize. The two students who did the best in the trivia aspect of the "Think Fast" competition were given a seat in the final two, alongside the two individuals who won the competition rounds. The goal of the final round was to be the first individual to answer ten questions correctly and reach 1000 points. All four players were told to get behind a buzzer with a panel that would display their points in front of the entire audience. The announcer would then ask more Hollywood trivia questions and the first person out of the four students to buzz in would have an opportunity to answer and get 100 points. However, if a student gave an incorrect answer they would not gain any points. In addition, if a students who entered the final round via the competition round answered incorrectly, they would lose their spot and a randomly selected student would replace them. Finally, after screaming, laughing, fussing, and cheering from all the participants, the winner of the competition was announced and one college student got a pay day that they would never forget.