Students will again have the opportunity to leave Marquette campus in the hopes that the city of Milwaukee can provide them with answers in this year’s citywide scavenger hunt, Mission Impossible 2003.

“I think it is one of the best and most unique programs offered on the Marquette campus each year,” said Jason Eckert, a residence hall director from 1999-2003 in O’Donnell and Mashuda Halls and this year’s assistant director of the Career Counseling Center.

The quest begins at registration, which will start at 8 p.m. in the Alumni Memorial Union Marquette Place on Friday. An hour later, students from individual residence halls and the Campus Town Global Village are set loose with 500 scavenger hunt questions, said Jessica Tesch, the Coordinator for Residence Life Programs.

“Each residence hall forms a team and competes against each of the other residence halls to discover what the city of Milwaukee has to offer by answering 500 scavenger hunt questions,” Tesch said. “Students are only able to travel by foot and by using their UPASS. This is in hopes of getting them more comfortable with the Milwaukee bus system.”

Once students arrive back at Marquette around midnight, there is a raffle with prizes consisting of various donations from local businesses, Tesch said.

“The committee works very hard to make sure that the participants learn about the city and have fun prizes to win,” said Cobeen hall director Kelly Behmer.

Some freshmen that know of the event said they’re excited about it.

“I think it’ll be slightly difficult because a lot of us aren’t used to traveling by buses and we won’t know where to go,” freshman Michelle Bannick said. “On the other hand, it sounds like fun and I know I would like to be involved.”

Freshman Alyssa Anderson also said she is looking forward to the scavenger hunt.

“The fact that Milwaukee is such a big city intimidates me a little,” Anderson said. “But I think that by doing this, it will get me more adept to the city and I will meet new people. I think this event will be a lot of fun.”

According to Tesch, time spent at the event will not be wasted.

“I think that it is an awesome opportunity for students,” Tesch said. “It gives first-year students and transfer students a nice orientation to the city of Milwaukee. It also provides for hall unity — an opportunity for students in the same residence hall to meet and mingle. It also provides students a late night option on a Friday night.”

Mission Impossible began in 1996 with the purpose of getting Marquette students off campus and into the city that they now call home, Tesch and Eckert said.

They navigate the city at the same time as the rest of their hall in large groups to teach them the way around Milwaukee in a safe environment, Eckert said.

Mission Impossible is co-sponsored by the Residence Hall Association and the Office of Residence Life. The theme for the event is “Matrix related,” according to Tesch.

“The level of excitement and enthusiasm around this event in amazing,” Behmer said.