Marshall Young Life College kicked off the spring semester with Trivia Night at the Young Life Building in downtown Huntington Tuesday night.

Julian Dye, a freshman from Parkersburg said “It’s just fun. There’s a lot of people here and friends. It’s a good environment.”

Young Life College officially began at Marshall at the beginning of fall 2015, according to area director Brad Bucklad. The group has trivia one Tuesday each month at 9 p.m. and “club” each other Tuesday of the month in the Young Life building at Sixth Avenue and Eleventh Street.

During Trivia Night, students are grouped into teams of four and the winning team received a cash prize of $100. There were three rounds of questions, a half time where free pizza was provided, followed by three more rounds and a final question.

Questions covered topics such as geography, anatomy, music, popular culture and more. Typical questions ranged from, “Name the six simple machines,” to “how many eggs did Gaston eat for breakfast in ‘Beauty and the Beast’?”

Dye attends Young Life club meetings and trivia nights regularly. Dye said he would not have the friendships he has developed in his first year of college if not for Young Life.

“I feel like I made a lot of friends,” Dye said.

At the end of the night, Bucklad addressed students with Young Life’s mission. “Our hope here at Young Life is to help you figure out what matters in life,” Bucklad said.

Bucklad said his goal for Young Life ministry is to help students to grow in faith. “Our hope is to provide a place where people can explore the Christian faith without having it all figured out,” Bucklad said.

“We’re never going to shove Jesus down anybody’s throat here,” Bucklad told students. “We want you to know you’re welcomed and wanted, but we think he matters.”

Bucklad said the next step for Young Life College will be to place a group of volunteers at Marshall. Bucklad said volunteers are the central force of Young Life’s growth.

Bucklad began volunteering for Young Life in 1998 while he was in college and said he has been on staff for 13 years. Bucklad now serves as area director. “My job is to oversee all volunteers and staff in the Huntington area,” Bucklad said.

Alli Childers, Young Life staff member, said Young Life also has programs with local middle and high schools.

Young Life College will have events every Tuesday during the semester. “We just hang out and sing and play games,” Dye said. Dye added that Bucklad usually gives a small devotional at the end of the events.

Bucklad encouraged students, “We don’t have to spend time on stuff that doesn’t matter.”

Lydia Waybright can be contacted at [email protected]