Wow! It’s been a really long time since I blogged last. I don’t even have an excuse, I’m sorry. I guess I have been somewhat busy though this semester. I really didn’t think that I was going to be this busy but it’s a whole bunch of little things that just add up. My workload for my classes hasn’t been to bad, except for my independent study. That’s where all of the little things are coming from because it is a lot of reading and writing and researching. Sometimes it’s a bit tedious but whatever, it’ll look good on my resume.

This past weekend I attended a Resident Assistant conference which was being held at SUNY Cortland. 11 other Resident Assistant’s from New Paltz and I, as well as our two Resident Director advisers, left Friday afternoon in our athletic vans and journeyed up north to our destination. Sometimes I like car rides because I love singing obnoxiously and then sometimes I don’t because I get nauseous. This ride was a combination of both. Anyways, once we got there we checked into our hotel rooms and then went right to the Cortland campus for the Role Call competition which we all worked so hard on. We thought we weren’t going to have enough time to practice but fortunately for us when we got there we were able to get one more practice in.

Essentially, the role call was an opportunity for your school to show off a little bit but then also tie in the theme of the conference which this year was “Walking the Red Carpet,” so basically anything to do with fame, celebrities, and glamor.

We (as in the RA’s representing New Paltz) decided to do a lip sync where we would give the crowd a taste of New Paltz. It was supposed to be as if the audience were on a tour and we were the tour guides. The tour started off with us talking about our distinct location, then going into a song and dance section with music that related to our location. So, we had “Ain’t No Mountain High, Ain’t No Valley Low,” “New York, New York,” and “She Thinks My Tractors Sexy” (since we’re kind of located in the country). On our tour we also mentioned how we’re known for our Arts and Academics, our diversity on campus, and naturally that we were the Hottest Small State School in the nation (which tied in the whole fame theme).

We went first and then had the opportunity to watch other schools. They were good, but I have to be honest and say that they didn’t quite bring it like we brought it. I’m sorry, that’s just my opinion. Anyways, afterwards they informed us that we’d have to wait until the next day to find out who the winner was. So, we waited, and waited, and waited.

FAST FORWARD TO THE NEXT DAY: Woke up, got breakfast, listened to the Guest Speaker (who was really good by the way) and then started our programming sessions. This served as a way for other schools to attend other schools programs and share ideas and learn and whatnot. They were all pretty good and I think I definitely left with some good ideas for the future.

Finally it was lunchtime and the winner of the Role Call comp. was about to be announced………………………………………………………….DRUMROLL PLEASE……………………………………………..WE WON! It was so exciting and we were all so happy because we put a lot of hard work into it and we really only had less than a week to prepare for it. VIDEO OF THE LIP SYNC NEXT WEEK SO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR IT!!!!

Afterwards we did an Encore performance, went to more programs, attended the closing, and then peaced back to New Paltz.

Overall it was a really great trip and I think I got a lot out of it, not only program ideas, but also from meeting and getting to know other people, especially those I attended the conference with. I think it’s safe to say that we all had a blast with each other. So, shout outs to MATT, DIANA, LORRAINE, ZURI, COLIN, LIZ, MARTHA, BIG KEVIN, VARESSA, SAMI, and KIM. AND special shout outs to our Resident Directors: KRISTEN and CORRIE! Thanks for a great weekend.

Like I said once I get the video of our lip sync on my computer I’ll post it up here.

Have a great week everyone and good luck with mid-terms all you New Paltz students

-Kevin