Week 1:
Welcome back to the spring semester of the 2021 school year! It feels good to be back. I hope that everyone had a nice and relaxing break. This week I was just like everyone else and trying to get back into the swing of things. I didn't have any ambassador responsibilities besides attending the D&I committee meeting. I'm excited to have this opportunity to be able to serve as a UCBA student ambassador. I hope that everyone has a good semester!
Week 2:
Welcome back to week 2 of the semester. I feel as if this week flew by. I'm really enjoying all the classes I am taking this semester. I'm excited to be able to work my first welcome desk shift of the semester next week. We also get to have our first ambassador meeting of the semester. I'm thankful I get to see everyone again and we can catch up on how everyone's doing!
Week 3:
This week for ambassador responsibilities I had a couple of different responsibilities. I was first part of a virtual classroom where I was able to talk to a pre-social work class about the variety of leadership opportunities at UCBA. It was very fun to see the students eager to learn and have questions about how they could get involved. Tracy Davis had an awesome activity planned for us where we were able to work together to create our own club. We decided on the "try something new club where each week we would spend time getting to practice something we didn't already know how to do such as knitting. I would love to see one of the students kinda get this club started and I'm glad I was able to share how to do that. I also had my first welcome desk shift which went really well. I like that I have a morning shift because I'm able to get my day started early and I also get to be on campus. I also met up with Stella to practice my in person orientation skills. It really got me excited to possibly have the opportunity to have people back on campus. I went into buildings that I haven't been in once this school year which really kinda put me in my feels. I also have an exciting event coming up in February for BHM that I have been planing with Tracy behind the scenes. All in all in was a very productive week as an ambassador.
Week 4:
This week I took my first exam for one of my classes and although I haven't received my grade yet I feel pretty good about it. Outside of school and ambassador responsibilities I got my second dose of the COVID vaccine and although it made me feel terrible and I experienced some pretty bad side effects I'm lucky that I was able to get it and I hope that it means we are one step closer to getting back to normal. I should have had my first in-person tour this week but instead, they keep getting pushed back. I understand why and I agree that we need to wait until things are safe but it makes me so sad for the students and for me. David and I were apart of the selection committee for the D&I award and this week we were able to choose a participate to receive the award. I have never been apart of something like that and it was very neat to get to read about some of the amazing people we have at UCBA.
Week 5:
For this week's ambassador responsibilities, I was able to be apart of several different black history month events. I must say that Doctor Tracy Davis has done a fabulous job with coming up with these events and getting everything together. The black alum expo panel was something like I have never experienced before. After leaving that event I felt so motivated and inspired. All the guests in that pannel were so educating and truly some of the wisest people I have ever been able to talk to. I wish that more students would have attended the event because I think a lot of people would have been able to get a lot out of it like I did but that sorta comes with everything being online. You can only promote so much and then it's up to the students to attend those events. Tracy and I had a little discussion about that and I loved what she had to say "the people that were there were the people that were supposed to be there". I can not believe we are already about to enter week 6 of the spring semester. I hope everyone is doing well and hanging in there!
Week 6:
This week I spent quite a bit of time studying and preparing for the student perspective tours that are going to be happening soon. I was supposed to have a tour on Wednesday but due to some heating issues in the building, it got canceled. I know that once I give my first tour everything is going to come back to me I just want to be sure that I give the possible new students the best insight into UCBA that they can get. I also finalized and completed my BHM event that I have been working very hard on for the past month. I thought that it was super fun and I think the students who did show up had a good time. Daniel, Sarah, and I also met up with both the Petes to discuss some of the plans we have regarding social media in the next couple of weeks. I'm super excited for what we have planned and you should be too!
Week 7:
Yay for in-person orientations! I had my very first in-person orientation on Wednesday and you have no idea how much joy it brought me. Being able to see students on campus was such a happy feeling that I haven't been able to experience in a long time. It really had me wishing that all of our orientations over the summer would have been in person because I think it would have just allowed for so many more friendships to be made, however, I understand that with COVID that wasn't quite possible. My hope is that I was able to give a good orientation for them all because I know I had a fun time while doing it. Other than doing that tour I worked my welcome desk shift and we had an ambassador meeting on Tuesday. I really enjoyed doing the CliftonStrengthsFinder test. One thing I found interesting was that every single one of my strengths was in the executing category. I think I was the only ambassador who has every single task in one single category. I was kinda putting myself down about the fact that I only had strengths in one category but then Chris gave a good speech about how we don't need to try and be every strength but instead we need to focus on the ones we are good at.
Week 8:
This week I had my second student prospective tour and it was so fun! There's just something about having students on campus and being able to answer any questions they have. I also had my mid-semester meeting with Stella which went well. I like to be able to do these little catch-up meetings with Stella to know where I stand and to talk about how the ambassador position is going. I can not believe that school is almost over. I feel like it's going so fast and the weather is finally getting nice outside. I encourage everyone to go spend some time outside. I really wish we were getting a spring break this semester because I could really use a break but I understand with the current circumstances it's safer not to have one.
Week 9:
I can't believe we're about to start week 10 of school. Midterms are over and we nearly have like a month left of school. This week I had my monthly D&I meeting and I have to say I am going to miss getting to go to those. Everyone apart of that committee is so welcoming and I always have such a good time. I have to say when I first signed up to attend those monthly meetings I had no idea what anyone was talking about. I sorta just sat in the call and said nothing. However, now I understand what is going on and what's going on behind the scenes at UCBA. All in all, it has been a great learning experience for me and I even got to be apart of a selection committee. We had an ambassador meeting this week and I also had another tour on Wednesday. I love finally being able to do tours on campus again, and the weather was beautiful outside so that was a plus! One of the other things I did this week had a meeting with Sarah, Chauncey, and Daniel about our progress with the asynchronous videos. We have some really exciting stuff in the works (Aka an Instagram takeover...) so stay tuned!
Week 10:
This week I worked on a couple of different tasks regarding my role for the video filming with Sarah and the communications team. The first thing I worked on was scrolling through my fellow ambassador's blogs and picking out some of my favorite videos they have created. I've never spent time going through everyone's blogs so that was really fun. I also created my "Instagram takeover script" which I am super excited about. I think it will be a fun way for students to see another student's perspective. I also filmed a video for both the Petes regarding the student perspective tours that are happening this spring. While on the topic of student perspective tours I also had another tour on Wednesday which was as always super fun. I worked on my batch of thank you cards on Wednesday at the welcome desk which was another thing I was looking forward to doing. I also wrote my 500 words about the bookstore and sent that over to Daniel. I think that Idea is super fun and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. All in all, it was a very busy yet productive week!
Week 11:
We are almost there folks... I repeat we are almost there. The semester is winding down and we have a little over a month left of this school. Can I just say I am so proud of the ambassador team as well as Stella, Daniel P, Chris, and Sarah. This school year has not been easy on any of us. In this past week's ambassador meeting Chris asked us to say one word that described our week. Hearing everyone's responses made me feel like I want alone. Everyone is tired, stressed, anxious, etc. I feel extremely thankful to be apart of a team that is so encouraging and uplifting. We are truly all in this together. With that being said this week consisted of a lot of video filming. With this new online environment Daniel, Chauncey, and I have been tasked to film some short videos for various use. One event that I have coming up that I am super excited about is on March 31st I am doing an Instagram takeover. Get ready folks it's going to be fun.
Week 12:
This week one of the bigger ambassador responsibilities that I had was I got to take over the UCBA Instagram page. I had so much fun doing this! I think it was a really cool way to engage with students and give them more of a student's perspective. I got to share more about the ambassador position and I had a couple of students who seemed really interested in the position! Outside of that, I had my welcome desk shift which it's kinda sad I only have 3 more welcome desk shifts left! Daniel and I also helped out with the WSSC spring workshop event. I always love working events for the WSSC they are all so cool and make you feel very welcomed. We really only have 2 more weeks of school and then exam week which is kindaaaaa crazy!
Week 13:
This week was a bit of a slower week. I definitely spent some time getting outside and enjoy the beautiful weather we have been having. It's weird because I check the weather all the time and I knew that it was going to be nice out this week but it truly felt like a blessing and now more than ever I really needed the sun (I literally turned on my AC in my house and I almost started crying). Anyway...this week we had our second to last ambassador meeting and it was kinda emotional for me. I am one who hates change and I really am going to miss this team so much and our bi-weekly meetings. Outside of that I worked my welcome desk shift and had a student perspective tour. This week's tour was probably the largest group of students I have had on a tour and it was so fun! Another week closer folks! I am praying for Sarah and the new baby on the way!
Week 14:
Week 14... sounds pretty crazy to say but here we are. This week I was a part of the virtual poetry cafe. This event was so fun! Almost like a little talent show, I was so inspired by everyone who participating and I think Molly did a wonderful job with hosting this event. Outside of that, I went to my very last D&I meeting. Sorta sad because I really grew to like all the people and enjoyed that time with them every month. I also had my second to last Welcome desk shift. I will not miss waking up early to get to school but I will miss my time at the welcome desk and saying hello to everyone. Outside of ambassador stuff I have just been preparing for finals and enjoying the weather outside!
Week 15:
The last week of being an ambassador... very bitter-sweet. I didn't do any out the ordinary events or tasks this week so I want to take this last reflection as a little thank you post. This experience was everything I thought it was going to be and more. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to be a leader at a college that I am so passionate about. I made so many connections and met so many new people. I feel so much more confident with my speaking. I met so many wonderful friends that I will continue to talk to. Most weeks my ambassador duties were my outlet to do something fun. I am excited to continue watching everyone flurish into what they hope to be. Thank you, Thank you! THANK YOU!!!