SHAKE YOUR ISRAA ISRAA

So I just had an AMAZING weekend at EIU, at the 22nd annual Illinois State Resident Assistant Association conference. Refer to my last post and you see me mention being the president of a statewide RA organization. Well, this is it.

As of this weekend my term of president was over and a new Executive Board was elected. Now who else would you expect to be capable of running this statewide organization, overseeing 1,000+ RA's? No one other than UIS students, of course!

4 of my former residents are now in charge of the organization, plus that cool John Kelly guy. :) Kyle Simpson, the new Twosouth RA, is now the President. Shelly Runyard, the new 3 South RA, is the VP of Administration. Jeremy Wilburn, the new Bluebell RA, is the VP of Communication. Dan Collins was re-elected as VP of Information/Technology. John Kelly was also re-elected as the Treasurer/Secretary.

Now this wouldn't be a worthy post if I didn't have pics! Pictures are compliments Jeremy Wilburn. Let's go!

This is me, welcoming the 200+ in attendance to the ISRAA '06 Conference.


And again..


2005-2006 ISRAA Executive Board doing our skit, complete with choreographed dance.


CASH! at Casino Night.


They had an amazing Elvis impersonator give us a live concert.


Jen and I get hitched in Vegas, until RA do us part. :)


Just Married!... in 6 months. :)


Mark Hudson, EIU Director of Housing and Dining Services, cuts a rug.


E-Board preparing for the annual business meeting.


The UIS Delegation + the UIS E-Board


TWOSOUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (L to R) Kyle Simpson (Twosouth RA 2006-Present), Emily Eskridge (Twosouth RA 2002-2003), Brad J. Ward (Twosouth RA 2003-2005)


Me, giving the Presidential Address at the closing banquet.


And after announcing Kyle as the new President. :)


Again with Kyle at the podium.


Time to DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANCE! Let's go.


Kyle and I with superstar Johnny Tenegra.


Rockin' out on leg guitar and tie guitar was necessary.


U of I boys doing a little male chest bumpage.


SHAKE YOUR ISRAA ISRAA


This isn't no small affair.


Get down playa.


Dancing the night away.



Another chapter in my book of life closed, leaving more opportunities ahead. It was a great experience and I learned a lot about leadership and all that good stuff in the process.

GO ISRAA!!!

Crazy.

So I just typed a good 4-500 word post about the great opportunities I have been provided with at UIS, such as being an RA (and later becoming the president of a statewide RA organization), an amazing internship, numerous leadership opportunities, and eventually landing a job as a result of all of it, and I deleted it.

Why?

Because I realized that it could all be summed up in 4 words.

Choose your friends wisely.

Involved students on campus do more, learn more, go further, and have a pretty darn good time. And they pay the same amount for college as the kid next door who gained nothing from college but a beer gut. Make the choice, spend your money and time wisely.

Do I sound like your Dad?
Brad

The Real Deal.

Here it is, the 'Real Deal' on what's happening in my life. So I left my faithful, devout reading audience with a cliffhanger in 2005. I mentioned a few posts ago about all the exciting things happening in my life, and said I would update later. Then Christmas came, then New Years, then work, and now here we finally are. Don't worry, I have a good reason for not updating... no internet. :)

So if you have not heard yet, I am no longer the resident assistant for Twosouth. For the full story, just go there and click on the PDF link at the top, I'm gonna keep it short and sweet here. Last semester I was offered a job at UIS, and I could not pass up the opportunity to begin my professional career right after graduating, especially at the place I love (p.s., that's UIS!). Word of advice for incoming freshman: If you want a place to live at college where drinking, drugs, and peer pressure to do so are few to none, Twosouth is the place to live.

It has also been great showing others that if they get involved, they can accomplish a lot. After 3 RA spots were vacant in December, 3 new RA's were selected. All 3 were my residents and lived in Twosouth during their time in the dorm. That was great to see, real leaders that are going to be great RA's. Congrats Shelly, Kyle, and Jeremy. :)

I will be starting my new job soon as the Marketing/Recruitment Specialist for campus, doing some pretty awesome stuff that will help potential students see how great this campus is (p.s., that's you.)

Since the time I moved out of Twosouth, which has been my home since July 2003, I have gotten a new apartment. The problem is, I'm broke. My apartment has great features such as: no internet, no phone, no cable. It's pretty boring, so I have been reading a lot of books to pass the time. Here are they are:






I recommend all of them. :) Well that is all for now. I get cable and internet hooked up today in my apartment. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Until next time,
Brad