Community Building Rotation #3: Hess Hall

SCANDALOUS!

Nate Farcasin and Michelle Luncsford, both of Hess Hall, hosted this lovely CB last Wednesday.

The idea behind the CB was to give residents a secure outlet to ask some questions that could be perceived as embarrassing/awkward/anythingelse in relation to dating, relationships, sex, and all that jazz. Nate and Michelle invited a panel of 6 students to talk openly about these questions in a town hall-type atmosphere.The CB also tied in with Sex Week.

Nate and Michelle teamed up with HHC to provide some delicious snacks, including chips and salsa from Moe's, as well as strawberry flavored Italian ice from Rita's.

But that wasn't the only thing HHC helped out with. Check out this awesome piece of advertising!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=534871236543654

Residents could submit questions anonymously through either the question box located at the Hess front desk, or by texting their questions to scandalous.event@gmail.com.

Overall, the crowd was large, the participation was high and enthusiastic, and the outcome was just what I think Nate and Michelle were after--an open place of non-judgemental discussion about the sometimes-sticky questions that can be difficult to ask.

Success!

Community Building Rotation #3: Morrill Hall

Procrastination alert! I am about to post several pages about different community builders. I've been attending, just falling down a bit on the blogging part. I shall do better! I promise!

So, a week or two ago, I attended a lovely community builder hosted by the wonderful Lauren Owsley and facilitated by the equally wonderful Laura Ladd, both of Morrill Hall. This CB was titled: Love Your Body: Yoga and Yogurt.

I would like to brag on each of these ladies individually. First, Laura is pretty much a yoga expert. She won't say that, but I will. Laura has facilitated similar CBs to this with her own floor, under the title "Yogram." (Clever, right?) But since taking her talents to other floors, she has developed a snazzy Prezi that outlines different types of breathing, poses, and reasons for doing yoga. The idea of this presentation is to equate residents with yoga basics, so if they decide to attend a yoga class, they won't be totally lost by the words and expectations! This is especially helpful for me, since there is a tempting Groupon out there currently for yoga classes. Lauren was an excellent host, providing a complete yogurt parfait bar for her residents with delicious (seriously, better than normal) vanilla yogurt, granola, dark chocolate chunks, and various berries. Mine wasn't very pretty, so I didn't take a picture, but it sure was delicious! Lauren, myself, and several of Lauren's residents attempted to do the breathing exercises and poses as demonstrated by Laura. We learned, laughed, and ultimately came away with a better knowledge and understanding of the ideas behind the practice of yoga.

Side note: Don't try yoga in jeans, y'all.

I didn't take pictures of the actual poses, since I was too busy actually trying to get myself in them correctly, but below are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of how the evening went!

Great job, ladies! I loved it!

Community Building Rotation 3: North Carrick

I attended a lovely community builder put on by Zach Hunn, Stan Hunter, and Desta Bume of North Carrick Hall recently.

Zach, Stan, and Desta invited a graduate assistant from the Center for Physical Activity and Health (UT's best kept secret) to come and speak to residents about physical fitness, general wellness, and health issues, especially in the college setting. The RAs also provided Subway sandwiches for residents.

I loved this community builder for several reasons, but I will elaborate on two specifically. One, I think this is a great example of what can happen when at first things don't go your way. The RAs had intended for this to be a speaker/presentation type program, but when it came down to it, residents seemed slightly more interested in the free food than listening to the speaker (don't we all face this?). Instead, the RAs began having residents ask at least 1 health/fitness/wellness-related question to the presenter in order to receive a sandwich. This quickly gained the interest of the residents, and eventually they were sticking around to engage in a thought-provoking question and answer session. I, for one, was really interested in this topic, and the questions raised by the residents were beneficial to all. I really came away from this CB feeling like I had gained knowledge in this area.

Two, who know that the Center for Physical Activity and Health actually existed? This is my 6th year at the University, and I had no idea. So, allow me to disperse my new-found knowledge with you!

The Center is located in HPER and provides top of the line fitness tests at very low costs to students. For instance, did you know you could go sit in the Bod Pod and have it automatically tell you your body fat percentage? Or you can have your resting metabolic rate calculated? The list of tests they provide is extensive, and very reasonably priced (most for $25) for students. You can also read more about what they do here.

Great job, guys!!

Chelsea Oliver
WAGA

RA of the Month--January

Congratulations to Kate Barnes of Morrill Hall for being named the West Area RA of the Month for January!

Let's hear what Kate's nominator, Sam Whalen, had to say about her:

"The Morrill Hall staff voted unanimously that Kate Barnes should be considered for RA of the month for January. She has had successful and creative community builders on her floor. She was integral in the planning and execution of our Spring Acoustic Night: Let’s Duet Again where we raised 420.00 for Habitat for Humanity. She helped coordinate an internship and co-op information session for the Engage Community. She has continued to serve as a resource to her residents this month. She has creative bulletin boards and her floor dec is superb. Overall, Kate has made a tremendous contribution to Morrill Hall this year, but especially within the last month."

Congratulations on this well-deserved honor, Kate!

Chelsea Oliver