The Sweet Life of Planning Campus Activities

First morning of the conference!
Super excited and still full of energy!
#apcababy #apcaintern

Being on the Campus Activities Executive Board definitely has its perks! Before Spring Break I was given the opportunity to go to the Association for the Promotion Campus Activities Conference, or APCA, for short. APCA is basically a conference where students go and get to listen to different performers or speakers, test different novelty products, or play different games that are all available to be brought back to our campus! It’s basically a weekend of getting to dance, listen to music, and get lots of free stuff.

Although this would be my first APCA, I was given the unique opportunity to be an APCA Staff Intern! Basically I got to do a great deal of behind the scenes stuff. I put up signs, check breakout rooms, and also got to know the people who run the entire event.

Our Education Session Sign!

I have to admit I was a little bit nervous, especially since it was the first time I got to stay in a hotel by myself for a night! (The Hershey Lodge is amazing just in case you were wondering!) I was also nervous because four of my fellow executive board members and myself were presenting a breakout session on Series Programming (which I wrote the proposal for and am the current chair for at Berks). I was uncertain as to how it would go over, but we pushed on anyway!

Finally Friday arrived! It was crazy to start since I was working the registration table but I was relieved to see my delegation arrive! We had our breakout session starting in about two hours and we were all excited and ready to rock it! Luckily for us, the ed session room filled quickly and people were engaged and interested! We even got a great deal of positive feedback. It was such an incredible moment to see hard work and dedication pay off! I have never been so proud of something in my entire life!

John Dolan and I with Adam Grabowski!
He tweeted about us having his original
T-Shirts! #hispters

The rest of the weekend was just plain fun from that point on. I got to play with Mindy the Monkey, pet Pokey the Porcupine, make my own mug, laugh at comedians (especially my favorite Adam Grabowski), and hear amazing speakers like Bobby Audley all while being fed chocolate, dessert and other snacky food! I have to say that seeing the performers and learning more about all the hard work that not only they put into it, but the conference staff put into it is amazing! I learned so much and had such a fantastic time! I am so thankful for all the amazing opportunities that I have received by being involved at Berks!

My advisor, Brittney, with Bobby Audley and I! We loved him!
He taught us so much about living outside the comfort zone
and never giving up! #DontBe #leadershipspeaker

Until Next Time Interweb Friends,

Jeanine

P.S.- Hashtags were kind of a thing all Conference! #muchlove

P.S.S.- I love my delegation more than words!

#berkscabswag

Take A Break!

Stress runs rampant in college. You see people stressing all over campus, on the Internet, and it goes on. If you cannot get a hold on your stress, especially early on in your college career, you will be buried by it. In my opinion, it is extremely important to learn to manage your stress as early as possible. In college, there are far too many things to stress about. Here are a few examples:

• Grades
• Managing an overwhelming amount of assignments and exams coming up
• Midterms and Final Exams
• What to take next semester
• Problems within friendships
• Homesickness
• Problems at home
• Not getting along with roommates

This is a great way to really relax! 

The warmer weather cannot come soon enough!

My goal in listing that was not to remind you of any stress in your life, but to exemplify the stresses that occupy the mind of an average college student. You need to figure out how to manage this stress NOW, before you get buried. One thing that I love to do is to just take a break. There is only so much you can do in a day or a week. We are only human. Stopping and doing anything but schoolwork is an awesome and effective way to clear your mind, and energize you to get back to work. I like to take one day per week, typically Saturday, to do anything but school. 

You may be thinking how can I stop, I have all of this work to do, and I will be behind if I take a break. My question for you, is how productive are you when you’re stressed? If you can take some time to get your mind off of all the worries in your life, you will be able to return to your work refreshed, and, most likely, more effective. There comes a point when you get so stressed out or exhausted, that you just aren't productive anymore. That is when you know that you need to take a break, and breathe. 

Maybe you don't have time to take an entire day off of schoolwork. That may very well be the case, but I challenge you to schedule some time every week to just relax, treat yourself to some rest, and return to your work refreshed. In my experience, I look forward to my Saturdays off, and it causes me to finish assignments and studying ahead of time, so that I can enjoy my rest without worry. 

- Taylor Green

NSO2!

Hi everyone! It’s Tye and I’m back with some thoughts on one event that I’m super excited for… NSO2. If some of you don’t know what that means, it stands for New Student Orientation Part 2. It’s where you see a bunch of students dressed up in some really bright colors, jumping around. Well it’s a little more than that but I can’t spoil all the surprises.

NSO2 is when all the freshmen students are helped with move in and we run events throughout the weekend before their classes start. This year we are super excited because we have a large group of Orientation Leaders. Some of you may have applied to be OL's so I hope to see you soon.

This is my favorite part of the year because we really get to put the Penn State Pride into the freshmen, and a lot of times we help them make their first friends. It’s honestly one of the best experiences I’ve had and, looking back on my own orientation, I can say I am so extremely fortunate to be part of the planning process for other students. I can’t give too much away, but I would like to introduce you to the captains. This great group of people are some of my favorite on campus and they have become some really great friends.

Til Next Time This is a Captain Signing Off- Tye 

Passion in Life

Everyone has that one hobby, one activity, or thing that they live for. Whatever this is, it allows people to relax and to escape from reality for a period of time. It facilitates relaxation and brings more confidence to the person involved in that activity. Everyone has that one “passion”.

My “passion” in life is photography.

The feel of the smooth plastic of the camera in my hands, mixed with the click of the shutter closing and opening, and capturing that moment of time in order for it to be preserved forever…It’s like a rush. It’s a thrill, that exhilarates my soul and when that million-dollar moment is captured, and reviewed, my smile extends farther than my face… into my heart.

The enthusiasm we put into our “passions” is unmatched, and can’t be described. We strive over perfection of all details, and giving 125%, one hundred percent of the time. It reflects the best that each of us has to offer and shapes us into better people.

But, what about everything else? What about every other hobby, activity, and even chore that we also participate in? These are the activities that, unlike our “passion” in life, we merely complete, but not necessarily excel at or really care about.

Consider the power of your “passion”. What goes through your mind as you select the colors for your next painting? Or the mindset you have before your basketball game, or even baseball game?

Now imagine trying to apply that motivation into other things you do. Maybe toward things in your everyday life, such as daily activities or chores. Picture you completing those activities with the same kind of enthusiasm you show during your “passion”.  Its mind blowing, isn’t it?

Applying that kind of passion may not be as hard as you think!

Here’s an example of a picture that my mom posted on my Facebook wall the other day, because she knew I was having a rough week. It cheered me up right away.

It was a photo of a camera, and it said this phrase on it:

“Life is like a camera. Focus on what’s important. Capture the good times. Develop from the negatives. And, if things don’t work out- just take another shot”.  

When I saw this post on my wall I held my breath. It made perfect sense. When I considered these words, described in “photography terms”, the message clicked in my mind like it had never clicked before.

Ever since then, I feel as though I've had a more positive look on life. It was really easy, almost like a teacher describing a math problem. I’m no math major, but I know that for some subjects in math, there may be more than one approach to solve an equation.  It was like my mom was the math professor, and she said, “Here, try solving the equation this way instead!” when she posted that picture. If one way doesn't click, just keep trying!

Once you find that method of solving the equation, so to speak, the results will be astounding. So keep trying to convert your passion into everyday life, and let the results blow your mind!

-Katie