Anyone walking by the Career Studio between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Oct. 31, would have noticed a larger-than-normal line. The line consisted of students waiting to get into one of BYU’s Halloween events: Career Fright.
Every year, the Career Studio chooses a theme and designs a walk-through experience to help students learn about services the Studio provides. This year, the theme was based on the popular Marvel Comics Universe.
Event organizer Meghann Larkin said, “The purpose of Career Fright is to create a fun and immersive atmosphere for students to visit and learn about Career Services. We really love this event as it is a fun and festive way to share our services with the whole campus.'
Students who attended the event were ushered into Avenger’s Headquarters and were met with employees dressed as various Marvel characters, including Bruce Banner and Tony Stark. An employee dressed as Jeff Goldbloom’s character from 'Thor: Ragnarok' explained that the Career Studio can help with building resumes.
The tour continues through Stark Industries to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters from the X-Men films and comics. There, an employee dressed as Professor X explained that the Career Center can help with opportunities for students with disabilities.
The next room was designed to look like a little girl’s bedroom with extremely large toys from the Ant-Man films. The Career Center had placed a small Ant-Man toy with a recording device behind it, so it sounded like Ant-Man was explaining that the Career Center can help with mentoring opportunities.
Students then entered a long hallway decorated with fake trees and long vines hanging from the ceiling, resembling the jungles of Wakanda from 'Black Panther.' An employee dressed as the titular superhero told attendees that the Career Studio could help with all things career-based, like internships.
The next room was covered in golden paper, where the Career Studio version of Hela, Cate Blanchett’s character from 'Thor: Ragnarok,' told students that they could come to the Career Studio to practice interviewing for jobs.
The tour guide then led students into a room decorated with graffiti where Post Malone’s “Sunflower” was playing in tribute to the film 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.' Two employees dressed as Gwen Stacey and Miles Morales explained that one of the purposes of the Career Studio is to help with networking.
Lastly, students were greeted by a convincing version of Tilda Swinton’s character from 'Doctor Strange,' who explained that the Career Studio was there to help them and offered them some free pumpkin pie.
Kezia Dearden, a social science teaching major, had been to the event before and said she was so impressed that she decided to come back. She appreciated the theme and the dedication of the employees but also felt that she learned something.
“I have gone from seeing the career services studio as another place on campus to something that can really help me towards my future career,” Dearden said.
Megan Niu, a neuroscience major, also said she enjoyed the experience that though she was familiar with the Career Studio, she came to see others learn.
Career Fright is an annual event that takes place every Halloween, but the Career Studio offers services year-round.