Sophomore Paula Seligson accepts the bags under her eyes and general twitchiness. Seligson isn’t suffering from an epileptic attack; instead she has spent the last week with limited sleep and the paranoia that comes with leading a campuswide battle.
Seligson is overall coordinator for Humans v Zombie week. She is the first girl to run the whole operation and has a lot to say about what they jokingly call “the only activity on campus with more guys than girls.”
Seligson admits to being a nerd, but also advises other girls on campus to join her in an intense, weeklong battle against the undead.
Seligson shared stories of people camping out in stairwells for hours, laughing at memes and zombies dancing Thriller in the pit.
“HvZ is just crazy and just fun,” she said.
Her Campus UNC sat down with Seligson to find out more about HvZ at UNC – a group that has attracted a lot of controversy over the years at the University. She explained about the HvZ community, relating stories of people meeting their significant others and a union between “stereotypical nerds, Greeks, athletes and Quidditch players.” HvZ is a mixture of all students that come together for an intense weeklong battle.
“Imagine waking up at 6 a.m. to get to a 9 a.m. class so no zombies can kill you, planning your whole day around how your squad can escort you, and the mad dash to the cafeteria to figure out how to get around (zombies),” Seligson said.
Her Campus: What is it like doing HvZ?
Paula Seligson: Missions are you and 50 other people going through a ridiculous objective. It’s just so much fun, I can’t really explain it until you know the stress of looking behind you saying “check,” so they know it is safe behind you. Becoming a zombie isn’t losing, it’s just a different way to play the game. The point of the game is fun; victory is secondary.
HC: What goes into planning HvZ?
PS: “Oh my God, so many hours. So many. You have the website, there is a national HvZ website … Advertising the game. Getting people excited about it. Making sure everything runs smoothly and making sure there is a forum. The biggest thing is designing the game. I delegate a lot of it; I don’t have a hand in advertising; the website I just made sure it happened; and someone else took the forum. … It is a big undertaking. People don’t realize how much planning goes into it. You have to think to yourself, “What missions will work?” “If it goes wrong, what do we do?” It’s a lot of work.
HC: There is a certain amount of stigma attached to the game. What do you think about that?
PS: “It is so frustrating. It takes this thing that is just for fun and makes people hate it. It pushes people away from us. It hurts our public image when all we are doing is having fun. We have specific rules to not mess with people who aren’t playing because we don’t want to annoy them. We have to combat (these stereotypes).”
HC: Why should girls play?
PS: “Don’t worry about it, honestly there isn’t a stigma, once you just don your bandana. Nobody cares if you prove your worth. It’s not a thing, but there is no stigma about being a girl and playing.”
HC: Any advice for those girls playing?
PS: “Ram’s Head is a death trap!”
HC: What are the plans for the future?
PS: “We’re going to tie it to a charity organization, which would provide legitimacy and hopefully get rid of the social stigma.”
Look for sign-ups in the Pit for mini-battles and other ways to get involved! Or check out the group’s Facebook page.
Photo: by Kirsten Ballard of Paula Seligson
HVZ: from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=187897627925559&set=a.187897624592226.43018.187897577925564&type=3&theater