So this past weekend I got to spend time with some of the greatest people I know. I was asked to go to a conference called NACA. NACA stands for National Association of Campus Activities. Now I am not going to bore you all with the details of what it is, why I went and what happened, if you want those details, check my blog. I am going to talk about how I got to NACA, I don't mean the van I took, I mean where it started, what happened to get me to where I am.
I am apart of an organization on my campus called CEC or Campus Entertainment Commission. Our role on campus is to create and run campus wide events for students to enjoy. The goal it to create a fun environment without the need for alcohol. We do things like Trivia Night, Grocery Bingo, we bring comedians, and different types of artists, that's just to scratch the surface. We do so many things.
So now I'm going to tell you how I got involved in this amazing organization.
Rewind back to the first week of college. I had a list of organizations I was interested in joining, CEC wasn't on that list. I knew that it existed but I didn't want to be apart of it because I wanted to enjoy their events, not plan them. So I didn't really think a whole lot about it. Now every year, Concordia has an event where you can walk around and look at all of the organizations on campus and give them your information. The CEC booth had advertised giving away free cups and some t-shirts for those who signed up to apply. I am always game for free stuff so I put my name down and thats where it started.
When I got the email with the online application for CEC, I wasn't going to fill it out. I had just signed my name for the free t-shirt. I didn't want to be in the organization. However, my gut was telling me to just apply. So for some odd reason I applied, and after I applied I was asked to be interviewed. I never imagined making it this far in the process but because I did I decided it was happening for a reason and I shouldn't back out now.
I signed up for an interview time, went to one of the strangest interviews I had ever been to. After the interview, I found myself oddly nervous for the e-mail that would tell me whether or not I was accepted to be in CEC. I found myself wanting more than I had originally thought.
After what felt like a year, the e-mail and I was in!
Flash forward a few months and I was loving it, I had made friends, and was starting to understand the organization a little more. I went to the events I had to be at and the events I didn't have to be at. I kept volunteering to do extra things and soon enough I had it down. Sunday night CEC meetings where the thing I looked most forward to during the week.
All of a sudden it was time to apply to be on the commissioning team for the upcoming year. I applied and didn't get the position. For a few days I wondered what my role was in the organization. Everyone knows what it's like to want something so bad and not get it. It's hard. Not getting that position was hard for me. However, about a week later I asked my wonderful lead commissioner if I could sit down and talk to him about my interview for the position. What I could have done better, tips for my next interview. That conversation made me feel a lot better and not long after that I was asked to go to NACA with the commissioning team and help them decide what kind of things we wanted to bring to campus.
It was at NACA that I heard someone speak about how Life Writes Our Best Material. It was all about how, life doesn't always work out the way you want it to, but it always works out the way it's supposed to. When this talk was being given, I thought back to the beginning of the year. I wasn't even going to apply for CEC. It wasn't even on my radar, now here I was at a conference for it. The team saw me as a leader and wanted my opinion and it was valued.
After that weekend, I am excited to see what comes next for me from this amazing organization. I am looking forward to being apart of it again next year and I am ready to dive right in.
