The Daily Grind

Every day when I head out the door, I do have to keep in mind that any negative action I can do will revert back to me as a leader on campus. I am normally a polite person to begin with, but even little things like being late to meetings or joining in on inappropriate jokes can be a bad idea. I try me best to smile and greet all the students who walk by, so that they know if they have a question about the campus they shouldn’t be afraid to come up to me and ask.

After class I usually go to the Harborside Activities Board office in the new Student Life Center to log in my work hours and make sure everything is in check. I will have an up-to-date chat with Ryan Hughes, our graduate assistant and Lauren Dakers, the president. During the rest of my office hours, I would just answer phone calls and emails regarding different programming companies giving our organization ideas on what we can bring to our campus to entertain the students. Honestly, it is tons of fun to do this all. I love it!

Event Day- What happens?

We plan our events months prior before it actually happens. That way we are ready to go with no hesitation.

Bumps in the road occur every now and then, though how do we become stronger without tackling mistakes?

The Directors of HAB reach out to the rest of the members for volunteer opportunities at our events, such as sign-in tables or hosting and mingling with the crowd. Whenever we bring a comedian or any Stage Act performer, the members of HAB greet them and meet them first behind the scenes before they even go on stage. How cool is that?!

I remember during Welcome Week, we brought the comedian Mike E Winfield. Anna, the Stage Acts Director, couldn’t greet Mike because she was in class, so it got turned on me. I was so excited but nervous because it was the first time I got to be the pointee to the comedian!

Our HAB Cinema Series are somewhat of a big deal on campus haha. After renting out the theater at Muvico for the Twilight Premier, students could just not stop talking about HAB. It was such a successful program and we plan on doing more in the future (so be on the look out..)

When we have movies in the USC Ballroom, that is like our own “on campus movie theater”. We have rows of chairs lined up in front of a giant projector screen with refreshments on the side.

Frank, the Director of Film, does a great job organizing his cinema series.

After a couple of hours for a program we put on, when the students leave and the time hits 10 or 11 PM, us in HAB gather our belongings, give ourselves our last few roles of the night (who would take the stuff back to the office, who will alert that the program is done etc) and call it a night. And lets not forget homework and classwork that needs to be done the next day!

Pros and Cons?

Being a student leader definitely has pros and cons. The pros? We get to not only be a role model for many other students, but we get to inspire them to also become one of us. The cons? Well, just knowing how to balance it all. Though if this is a passion- it won’t be difficult to do so.

So I decided to start the Yoplait Save Lids to Save Lives program here last year in October.

Saving yogurt lids save lives…? Wait what?

What is this you ask? Save Lids to Save Lives is a philanthropy that takes in the Yoplait Pink Lids as donation money. Each lid is worth .10 cents towards our local Susan G Komen for the Cure.

Last year this program was held by the Residence Hall Association from October 1st through the 31st, and only held in the Residence Hall One. It was done by having floor competitions. By the end of the month the total amount of lids collected were 350, totaling out to be $35 towards the charity.

This year I wanted the program to be a campus wide event, getting faculty and student leaders in on the deal. RHA has a goal of collecting 1000 lids so that the total money donated would equal a solid $100. The first week was a slow one of marketing and promoting the event. 26 lids were collected at the end of the first week. I was disappointed and also scared that I wouldn’t be able to reach the goal of 1000. However I had to keep positive and remind myself that no matter how many lids are collected, it is still donation to the charity.

Yogurt parfait table

Today, however, Harborside Activities Board put on an event call Think Pink. Think Pink was a “create your own yogurt parfait and a breast cancer awareness key chain” event. Yoplait yogurt was provided so that when the students or faculty were finished, they can easily take the lid off and place it in the box supplied.

There was a great turn out of attendance and I couldn’t be more excited to count how many lids are totaled by the end of the week.

I am hoping this is bringing awareness to the campus and I hope that with each student realizes that turning in a simple yogurt lid is contributing so much to fight the cause.

During winter break last year, I saw a post on the USFSP Know it All Guide (Facebook group) with a flier mentioning the Mr and Miss USF Pageant were looking for contestants. This was the first year that the pageant was being open to all of the USF institutions, rather than just the USF Tampa.

My whole life I have always wanted to participate in a pageant, but never had the courage to do so, I believed this was my chance. I thought, “Hey, I will be killing two birds with one stone, not only am I finally doing a pageant but I will be representing my campus!” With that mindset, I sent the pageant director an email requesting for more information. Days later I got a response and the pageant packet to fill out. Oh, and not only does the Miss USF just win the title, she would also be able to participate in the Miss Florida Scholarship Pageant under the Miss America Organization! Let the nerves begin!

After completing the packet I had to sign up for an interview with the directors of the USF Pageant. I wasn’t as nervous because the interviewers were students and some faculty, not so intimidating. The one thing I can remember that left me feeling absolutely amazing was when one of the interviewers said, “With all the applicants, you are still the only one from another USF institution to apply. You are not only representing USF St. Pete, you are now representing the rest of the campuses other than Tampa.” Talk about pressure! About a week later I got the final confirmation that out of the 18 women that applied- I was one of six that were officially a contestant.

“I don’t want to do this anymore…”

The contestants were 6 men and 6 females to have an even 12 contestants of the pageant. We had our first meeting together that were basic ice breakers. Everyone seemed nice and friendly but I couldn’t help feeling out of place because I wasn’t from the Tampa campus. They would talk about greek functions or the latest campus event, and I had to just smile and nod like I knew what was going on. I didn’t let that get to me too much though, not at all!

Meeting all the contestants

There were many rehearsals and meetings to attend to. As everyone had a car, I did not. It became frustrating for me to figure out how to get over to their campus whether it was carpooling with a friend or calling a family member. Between all of that I was also balancing school and organizations. At this time my head became congested with negativity and I wanted to quit the pageant. I didn’t feel like I could put in as much effort as I wanted to– I was beyond stressed out. I worked up my nerves and sat behind my computer typing out an email to resign from the pageant. This was one of the hardest things I had to do. After I had hit ‘send’ I collected myself and returned to my everyday schedule.

The next day I got an email response from one of the pageant directors, Sarah, telling me that she was going to call me so we could discuss it together. She reassured me that everything would be alright, and filled me with positivity, which was what I needed. She even told me a similar situation that she was in, on wanting to quit something she put so much work into but having to continue so all the work wouldn’t be for nothing.  It was a phone call I wouldn’t forget. She helped me back on my feet and I decided to continue the pageant with a new mindset. I worked with friends with carpooling and made the meetings on time.  I was finally ready to go and show the pageant what a student from USFSP has to bring to the table.

5…4….3…2….1….GO

After the final weeks of preparation for the pageant, it was officially time to freak out. The pageant consisted of a swimsuit/fitness portion, formal wear, onstage interview and also a private interview. I had plenty of support from my friends here at USFSP, my friends from home back in Tampa, and of course my family.

The day of, I had an all day schedule beginning with a private interview with the BIG  judges (who were not USF affiliated), practicing the talent portion, making sure the swim suit and formal attire were free from rips and stains, and being in the dressing room until called. During this time the ballroom in the Marshal Center was quickly filling up with students, parents, and photographers. The lights slowly dimmed- it was officially curtain time.

All of the contestants got on stage dancing the choreographed opening number to Pittbull’s “Run the Night”.

After that was concluded all the ladies and I returned backstage to the dressing room while the men did their Mr USF pageant first.

While I was practicing my talent silently my music stand broke!

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do for my talent with a broken stand so I had to quickly improvise with the piece I taught myself in 3 days. I had no choice but to do my talent from memorization.

Before I knew it, it was time for the Miss USF portion. All the ladies got in line to go on stage, one by one to answer the onstage interview question in 30 seconds. As I was called on stage, I remained calm while I was read the question. There was no time to freeze up or stutter. I just answered with what ever popped in my head, said ‘thank you’, and walked back behind stage. That part was finally over and now the fun begins: modeling swim suit and formal wear! Those sections went by like a breeze. Standing alone on stage, lights on me as I hear the MC telling the audience about my accomplishments… it made me feel like a star.

At that very moment, I realized that even if I didn’t win, I accomplished my original goal of representing USF St. Pete.

Results

After all the ladies have gone and done the categories, it was now time for the results. We were all called back on stage, both the men and ladies, as they were announcing who won USF Mr and Miss People’s Choice. I was biting my lip and looking down during this because I knew I didn’t win People’s Choice. To win that you had to have had the most ‘facebook likes’ on the pageant photo and the most money donations towards the “Don’t Stop Don’t Drop” charity. “…and your USF Miss People’s Choice is Solange Gorleku!” I couldn’t tell you what my expression was when my name was called. I most likely made 3 different faces! I really didn’t think I could win that title, but I did!

Expression being made after hearing I won USF Miss People’s Choice

The other winners were announced and I did not take home the Miss USF title, though taking home USF Miss People’s Choice was something I could accept over anything. Originally I told myself that just being on the stage I represented USFSP, even if I didn’t win anything- but I did win a title and I did represent to the USF system that we are USF Bulls too! Give us the opportunity to show it and we will! This event will be something I will never forget being a USFSP student and I hope others will decide to do the same in the future.

I had reached my goals