One week!

Hi, all! For those who are coming for the first interview weekend, we are now one week away! Things are a buzz in Athens as the final preparations are being made. In the next week, check back for weather info, what to pack, and interview tips! For now, get to know another awesome CSAA student...

Meet Daniell:

Hey all! I'm a first year and my assistantship is with University Housing as a Graduate Resident.
At my undergraduate institution, the University of Florida (go Gators!), I became involved with the Residence Hall Association. Through that organization, I found other areas of involvement which piqued my interest within the field of student affairs. I was President of my Hall Council, became a RA - but the most influential experiences I had were with the South Atlantic Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (SAACURH, for short)

SAACURH is a regional affiliate of the national organization, NACURH, which promotes interaction of student leaders in the residence halls through networking at student-led and student-run conferences, and through a series of other resources designed to improve residence life on college campuses.

As an undergrad, I had the privilege of serving as the Conference Chair for the 2007 SAACURH conference. I knew at that point I wanted to continue my involvement, so in March 2008, I bid for a position on the Regional Board of Directors (RBD), even though I knew I would be entering graduate school that coming fall.

Despite my enthusiasm about running and the list of goals I outlined, I had some serious reservation about taking on such a time-consuming position in my first semster of grad school. I was going to be new to the University of Georiga, the city of Athens, and the state of Georgia. I began to think that maybe I needed to a semester (or two) to get used to the new place, the new kinda of work, and the feeling of being a graduate student.

But I threw that rational thinking out of the window, successfully ran for the position, and I am currently the Regional Education and Development Coordinator on the RBD. Being on the RBD has served to augment the skills I'm learning in my classes, and has (more importantly) allowed me to network with other students and professional staff members - which will hopefully be helpful when I'm job searching next year! Being involved in an organization like SAACURH also allows me to take a break from class or Housing related work.

Thanks for reading my story! I'm looking forward to meeting all of you at interviews. Good luck!