Angelica's World

Saturday night I decided to be my usual self and go to 3 events within the course of a few hours to show support and get more involved here at school. Everything began when I went to a "4th Day" with people from Kairos. Basically some of the people from the retreat we went on two weeks ago got together at someone's apartment and just caught up about where we are and how we are doing since the retreat. It gave us the chance to check-in with one another and hear about what's been going on with everyone.

Afterwards, I went to the Mass Transit concert which was absolutely phenomenal! It was the best Mass Transit show I think I've seen (and I've been to most of them). The energy the guys had and shared with the audience made it such a fun show--not to mention the comedy they inserted throughout the performance! But seriously, the talent that each of the members has is really amazing (makes me even more jealous of people who can sing haha) and the way they are all able to come together is awesome. I'm so glad I went to the show and I'm definitely looking forward to their next one in April!

But, that wasn't the end of my night. Instead, I sped home and changed really quickly to go to the Violet Ball which was another good decision. Two groups of my friends were going and since school dances are right up my alley, there was no way I was saying "no" to this event! The Violet Ball is an annual formal event that is held at NYU's Puck Building (incredible!) each March. For $12 you get food, a photo, and music by a DJ and live band. The music is great and the whole environment is just a ton of fun. My friends and I stayed until it ended at 1am and it was so worth it (and it gave us another chance to dress up--the 2nd or 3rd time in less than a month for some of us). It was just a fun way to catch up and hang out with friends and have some school spirit all at once!

For the last six weeks, I have gone through RALI--Resident Assistant Leadership Institute. Basically it's a six-week long group interview process that Residential Education has all RA (Resident Assistant) applicants go through as part of the selection process. An RA is a staff member in Residential Education. One or two RAs live on each floor of the residence halls and serve multiple roles--staff member, programmer, administrator, policy enforcer, resource, role model, mediator, counselor, crisis responder, community builder, and advocate.

Each week in RALI a different issue is discussed that relates to the position. We talked about things such as diversity, community, communication, discrimination and prejudice, values and morals, identity, as well as ethics and decision making. The group is comprised of about 15 applicants, 4 current RAs and one Community Development Educator (CDE) who is the overarching facilitator.

It is a really intense but interesting experience. It provides you the opportunity to learn a lot about yourself and the time to get a better understanding of your viewpoints and how they relate to others'. You have the chance to interact with people, some of whom are very different from yourself, and it really opens up your eyes to things you may never have even thought about before. Some activities do prove to be a little challenging or nerve-racking but they are certainly beneficial. I think that the RALI experience as a whole is a very valuable tool for any (campus) leader because it touches upon so many topics that are crucial to effective unification and development.

For the sixth week, each applicant has to create and present their own SLP (Significant Learning Project). It is a 5-minute presentation that can take any form and incorporate virtually anything your creativity comes up with. Everyone's ideas are so different yet so interesting. Seeing the multiple approaches people took was great--many baked, some wrote poems, and some acted or created some form of art. I made a mandala about myself based on the roles of an RA (in the first paragraph). I learned about mandalas last semester in class and thought it would be a lot of fun to create and I thought that since mandalas are found in many different areas of the world, it would also be a great way to tie into diversity.

Basically I selected the four roles that I felt described me the best (community builder, resource, counselor, and role model) and I found pictures of myself in each role. I then arranged them symmetrically across 4 concentric circles. I also gave everyone else in the group a chance to make their own and then I explained how RAs could use this to get to better know their residents and even use it to create programs.

Steps to create a mandala: (for any of you interested...if you're not too bored by my explanation already)
1. Hold a piece of paper horizontally.
2. Draw 4 concentric circles.
3. Based on the topic, select 4 words that correspond to it and relate to you, and write those in each of the 4 corners of the paper (i.e. I did Roles of RA so I chose Community Builder, Counselor, Resource, and Role Model and put those in my corners)
4. Underneath each word, draw a picture for each that corresponds to the specific word.
5. Select the most important word/picture and draw that picture in the center.
6. Fill in the rest of the circles in a symmetrical fashion keeping those things most important to you closest to the center (you can have multiple drawings in each circle as long as it is symmetrical).

Just thought I'd share that fun activity and forewarn anyone interested in becoming an RA that it is a long, intense, but very informative and helpful and educational, process! Good luck!

After months and months of planning, the Steinhardt Undergraduate Student Government put on "Project Green Scene"--a musical and fashion collaborative to raise money for Reverb Rock, an eco-friendly music organization.

Traditionally, Steinhardt has a music showcase in March in which numerous Steinhardt students have the opportunity to perform in front of their peers. However, this year we wanted to do something a little different. So, we initially added the fashion component to it--a huge asset--because we wanted to get the word out about other artistic genres.

We then decided to "go green" with the event and be as environmental as possible. We did not print programs but rather projected one on a screen at the back of the stage. In order for people to vote for their favorite musical performers, they had to put coins into recyclable soda bottles. The money would then be donated to Reverb.

The event ended up being rather successful and it was so much fun seeing all the diverse talent that Steinhardt and Tisch students have to offer. Tonight at the USG Executive Board meeting we began planning for next year's event so we can make it even bigger and better but for now, we're just proud of the event we were able to put on thanks to so many people's hard work!

In case I've never mentioned this before, I am the Secretary for the 7A Hall Council--that is student government group representing 7th Street and Alumni Hall (two upperclassmen residence halls). We have been working diligently to raise money for Relay for Life which is an event the university hosts each April in order to increase awareness, and funds, for cancer. Relay for Life is huge at NYU--it's an overnight even that takes place in Coles gym where a number of different campus organizations spend the year raising money to donate and then they get to have their own table set up at the actual event to continue raising money and supporting the cause. There are also a bunch of different activities set up around the gym, there's movies playing throughout the night, food being distributed (and sold for Relay), and friends just hanging out. It's a ton of fun and really great to see how involved and enthusiastic everyone gets about the event.

So this year, the 7A Hall Council has set a $1337 fundraising goal (we wanted to have at least $1000, 33 is the address of Alumni and 7 is for 7th Street--just figured the random number might need some explanation). At first we were a little intimidated but we have put a huge amount of time, effort, and hard work into making it a completely feasible endeavor. We have had pizza sale after pizza sale in the Alumni Lobby, we are having a raffle after Spring Break, but most impressive of all was the 7A Delivers event we hosted. It was so successful, that we're doing it again.

We decided to host a room service event on a Sunday evening--when everyone stays home to do homework. We brainstormed what some good places would be to get food from and decided that all the proceeds would go to Relay for Life. We concluded that pizza, Magnolia Bakery cupcakes, S'Mac macaroni and cheese, Cold Stone Creamery ice cream, and soda would be the menu items. We had Hall Council members man the phone in one of the Alumni offices and take orders throughout the day, and then other Hall Council members were responsible for delivering the food which ran from 6-9:30pm. The event was incredibly successful and well received!

We have ironed out some kinks in our system and are all set to do this again. At this point, it's so exciting to see us about to exceed our goal...one we once thought was going to be almost impossible to achieve!

Last spring and this spring I decided to volunteer for the NYC Special Olympics Basketball Clinic and Tournament. This meant that each Sunday morning from January-March I spent two hours at Coles practicing various basketball skills with the athletes. Each athlete is so unique and so incredible to work with.

The experience was great last year but coming back for a second year was such a good idea. I have become so close with the athletes and really feel like I have gotten to know them and been able to understand their strengths and weaknesses more fully. Today was the culmination and proof of it all.

This morning I arrived at Coles around 9:15 and spent the next four hours interacting with the athletes and speaking with many other volunteers. The opening ceremony began at 10am and we applauded our many athletes and went through numerous Thank You's. To my surprise, I was one of the people who was thanked! My RA had developed this to be a weekly floor event (our Explorations theme is essentially community service through sports) so she and I had our names called thanking us for encouraging our 7th Street residence hallmates to come join us. A few minutes later, another Special Olympics representative went to the center of the court and gave my RA and I our own plaques in thanks for our support of Special Olympics. I was completely shocked and surprised...but the plaque is pretty awesome!

Overall the experience was as positive as always. I love spending time with the athletes and having conversations with them! If anyone can make you feel loved, they can :)