Starting my freshman year of college, I attended a small college in Hartsville, South Carolina called Coker College, 10 hours away from home. I was there on a softball scholarship, but I knew I wanted to get involved on campus. Even though it was a Division II school there was no Greek life or anything like that. I went to the Student Organization Festival looking through all the different organizations offered trying to decide what I would like to join. The very last table I approached was an organization called Campus Activities Board aka CAB. I was on Prom Committee in high school so I figured why not grab an application and apply. After turning in my application and going through the interview process, I received an offer to be the Director of Weekend Programming which I accepted. I soon realized CAB was going to be nothing compared to Prom Committee.
Director of Weekend Programming consisted of me planning one event a month on a weekend for the whole campus to attend. I remember going to my first meeting, I was extremely nervous, not only because I didn’t know anyone but because I was an introvert, and everyone else seemed to be an extrovert. I sat through the first meeting and listened to what CAB was all about, how we all worked together but independently at the same time, and was given my first event for the semester which was already set up for me, besides a couple minor things. The event was Glow in the Dark Miniature Golf. I decided to do a giveaway of glow stick glasses to the first 50 students who showed up. My first event probably had about 75 students show up and was a success.
I realized then how much I loved planning events. I continued to plan my events and attend the weekly meetings plus attending everyone else’s events. I eventually Transferred to Kent State University where I instantly looked for a group like CAB to get involved with, and I found one called Kent Student Center Programming aka KSCP. So I continued to do what I love at a new campus, and it was my job which made it that much better. I got paid to have fun, plan events, attend events, and to do something I love with people I love.
Little did I know at the time how much CAB and KSCP would impact my college career and me as a person. Yes, I got to learn all about Coker College and Kent State University and the traditions these two schools had, but it did so much more for me as a person. The first of many things they helped me with was to come out of my shell and not be as big of an introvert. Spring of my freshman year of college I held an event of a motivational alcohol awareness hypnosis speaker. About a half hour before the event I was told I had to introduce the speaker in front of the whole auditorium full of people probably about 150 students. I did not want to do this but everyone told me I had no choice. I was obviously nervous and giving my speech I got really red and stuttered the whole time. My friends even recorded me to show me later, because it was funny but also they were proud of me to do get out of my shell and do that. This taught me to be more outspoken in front of crowds of people and I can speak in front of people now without getting all red in the face and stuttering.
The event I am most proud of was the Color Wars where over 500 students attended at Kent State Universtiy. This was when I realized how CAB and KSCP also taught me how to be more independent. I went from planning events for 200 students with the help of my director to Kent State University planning events for up to 800 students with little or no help. The day of the Color Wars I was a nervous wreck thinking no one would show up. It was a new event brought to campus, and I was really worried students would not find it interesting, therefore I was unsure whether or not it would be successful. We were originally planning for 300 students to attend, so I would say when over 500 students attended and participated it was pretty successful. We spent a lot of time as a group planning for it, as shown in the video below. One day at work, we got to film this and have a color fight of our own.
I went from being the freshman who was given ideas for events or having to be walked through my events, to my junior year where I was planning events from scratch, thinking outside the box, and able to put on an event with little to no help.
CAB and KSCP also opened many connections for me. Not only were the friends I made in these organizations some of the best friends I met in college, but I attended leadership conferences and activity board conventions. I got to meet students from several different universities and different ways they present events to their campus and different leadership styles. I also got to meet different musical performers such as Brett Young who just recently had a number one song on the Country Charts.
My favorite part of event planning was not all the free stuff I received from all the giveaways and events that were put on, but bringing smiles to other’s faces. That’s when I realized I want to make a difference in people’s lives because I love bringing smiles to other’s faces. It just gives me such a good feeling when you know you are the reason for someone else's happiness. Even if it was just a little thing as a free t-shirt.
I planned events such as miniature golf, many giveaways, Bingo, color fights, craft day and many more. I went from being a freshman girl who was an introvert and very closed minded, to being a girl who came out of her shell, more independent, and learned so much more such as budgeting, time management, and event planning also opened my mind to so much more and made me think outside the box. I also learned how to properly communicate professionally by contacting companies, other staff, and ever performers. I fell in love with event planning. Yes, all the free stuff I received from giveaways and events was cool, but event planning helped me grow as a person and I plan to use all the qualities I took from it for the rest of my life.
