In Jan. 29, in honor of National Puzzle day, students had the opportunity to work on puzzles, socialize with fellow students and enjoy hot chocolate from Chartwells’ over-the-top hot chocolate bar at Washburn’s pop-up Union Daze event in the Memorial Union.

Melissa Whitmire, director of catering, oversaw Chartwells’ over-the-top hot chocolate bar. Chartwalls had brought in a wide range of toppings for students to add to their cocoa.

“From cinnamon toast crunch to raspberry sauce, to white chocolate curls,” Whitmire said. 

With a variety of puzzles, including cross word puzzles, jigsaw puzzles and Rubik’s cubes available to try, the event brought together many puzzle lovers. Students were drawn to the event because of the upbeat music and groups of students excitedly working together on various puzzles. 

Cinai Anderson, junior forensic science major, a self taught puzzle enthusiast with a record of solving a Rubik cube in under 30 seconds, donated some Rubik’s cube type puzzles from his collection for students to try out. When asked about all his puzzles he was very passionate about his collection. 

“I have pyramids… I got soft ones, I got ones that light up [and] I got customized ones,” Anderson said. 

National Puzzle day and Chartwells’ over-the-top hot chocolate bar was just one of many of Washburn’s planned pop-up events this semester. Jordy Mosqueda, a senior in

marketing international business and marketing intern at Washburn University, is in charge of facilitating student engagement and making sure the event runs smoothly. 

Mosqueda shared how the goal of these events is to make the Union a place beyond just a building, but a place where the student community can engage with one another in meaningful ways. 

The event overall did not receive much student participation. The puzzles seemed to be a success but Chatwells was charging for their hot chocolate which drove many students away. 

Edited by Anushma Dahal and Bidhya Sapkota