Well, I stand corrected in my comment from last week’s column about the Quad Cam’s unremarkable content, considering Monday was the most active day of use in its history. 

In fact, I sort of feel like the timing of my statement and the Monday that proceeded was karma saying, “Hey Nicki, you’re an idiot. Go home.”

After Ellen DeGeneres’ Twitter account spewed multiple teasing tweets earlier this week about a “surprise” for the University, the campus immediately buzzed with excitement on Twitter and Facebook about Ellen potentially coming to our school in what trended as “Ellenois.” And like all things social media, the word spread like wildfire.

When it comes to a rumor about a celebrity, despite schedule commitments, students make time in their day to feed their inkling of curiosity which we rarely, if ever, see.  

Ellen urged us all to be on the Quad at 3:00 p.m. on yet another cold and miserable Illinois day — and, of course, we were.

Then just a couple hours before 3:00 p.m., with little warning or time to prepare, she said to come dressed as our favorite movie characters — and, of course, we did.

The Quad swarmed in with minions, Harry Potters, Legos, Jokers, Elfs, Batmans, Doris, American hustlers, and even live pigs, among many other creative homemade outfits.

Even those of us who aren’t terribly artistic willingly threw on our cheetah-print onesies and cheetah-print bathrobes in all our dignified glory and called ourselves the Cheetah Girls — and in that robe, I was feeling SO Raven.

With campus all aflutter, it dawned on me how infrequently we see hundreds and hundreds of students making the effort to join in on some collective University festivity. Granted, I know it’s not every day that a well-known celebrity tempts us all to the Quad with the promise of prizes.

Yet even this time last year, students gathered in a similar, goofy fashion to film a University-version of the 2013 fad, the Harlem Shake, which was probably the most “wtf” Internet trend of the year. It sure did leave me wondering how and why so many students own such a strange assortment of props and costumes.

Nevertheless, a large number of students took the time to partake in this amusing event and it probably had to do with the fact that this took place on the Quad, which provides a convenient location for most students. 

Even though the University’s events calendar is filled with a countless number of campus activities, we usually don’t see the entire student body getting into a huge frenzy over many of them. I think most of this is because not many of these events cater to the majority of students’ interests or take place in a central location, such as the Quad. 

While there are a plethora of great events that go on, chances are I’m not going to make the effort to get off my couch unless it’s free and located somewhere I can get to easily — which is a pretty understandable argument if you ask me.

If the University held more widespread and themed-events on the Quad, I think we’d have a larger turnout with more chances to demonstrate how truly comical and innovative we are behind the stoic expressions we wear in class and tears we shed over exams.

We like fun. We like excitement. We like opportunities to bust out old Halloween costumes and glittery Ragstock attire, and it would be awesome to see more events catered to promoting our oddities.

Although clearly, getting people to willingly put forth creativity into silly and sometimes humiliating outfits takes some incentive. The pattern thus far seems to include the promise of being on camera for all of us narcissists and closeted aspiring super-stars.

But, as I have found, most people are willing to do anything for a free T-shirt, Jimmy John’s sandwich or Chipotle gift card — because who doesn’t love an addition to their workout shirt collection and a carb-loaded 6-inch sub? We also can’t deny that we don’t constantly fantasize about running slow motion across a beach and into the arms of a Chipotle steak burrito with guacamole.

Plus, what is more enjoyable than weaving through tight, penguin-like huddles of students only to move forward maybe five inches? Talk about fun (and a pretty good excuse for why you were late to your next class.) 

It may seem juvenile that we are motivated by convenience, giveaways and weird outfits, but at the same time, it shows how we like change from our monotonous schedules and million expenses we have for food, textbooks and rent. 

So despite the ruined shoes from the mud-snow mixture on the Quad and the overwhelming disappointment that we didn’t get to see Ellen DeGeneres in the flesh, Monday’s Quad event showed how students can be ready with energy, excitement and inventiveness at a moment’s notice.

In other words, let’s see this happen more often (a.k.a. bring us more celebrities and opportunities to be on TV.)

Nicki is a junior in Media. She can be reached at [email protected].

Follow her on Twitter @NickiHalenza.