Hello! I hope that you all enjoyed the rest of your Spring Break. I had an AMAZING Spring Break and am excited to share it with you! On Wednesday, I returned to New Paltz to prepare for the Mini No-Frills conference, located at Fairfield University in Connecticut. I spent Wednesday and Thursday prepping for the conference with 7 amazing New Paltz students, as we worked on the banner, trinkets, and presentation to host Mini No-Frills 2010 at SUNY New Paltz. Although these two days were a ton of work, I had so so so much fun hanging out with our delegation! Woo!

On Friday morning, we met in Deyo Hall to go over our presentation a few more times, and then loaded up the van and began our trek to Mini’s!!! Friday was also the free ice day at Rita’s (an amazing ice shop!), so along the way, we stopped at three different Rita’s! Yum! First I got Cotton Candy, followed by Fudge Brownie, and then.. drum roll please.. Pumpkin!!! We then arrived at Fairfield, and attended Opening Ceremonies and activities and socials on Friday night! Saturday was a lovely day, full of board rooms and presentations.

Moose Love at Rita’s!

Rita’s #1!

Rita’s #2!

Rita’s #3!

I am really proud of the presentation New Paltz put together. From the COUNTLESS hours devoted to saving fliers, to designing covers, to organizing the conference, to hand making 70 bids, to the creativity put into our 10 minute presentation, to the many presentation practices, I am blown away by the dedication and enthusiasm of the Mini No-Frills 2010 conference staff!!!

Three years ago, as a first-year student, I attended my first regional conference at SUNY Oneonta. Until then, I loved college, but attending regionals opened my mind to a whole new world, and I am truly confident that being involved in NEACURH has drastically impacted my college experience. I would not be where I am today, or who I am today, if I had not be so active in NEACURH. This organization has inspired me to further get involved with the New Paltz residence hall community, and the region, and I am just so thankful!

About a year and a half ago, I had this CRAZY idea to bid to host a conference. Yet, somehow, over a dozen students supported this idea, and we decided to bid to host Mini No-Frills 2009. Although we did not get the conference, we learned a great deal from the bidding process and were motivated to do it again! This year, the support and encouragement from our campus was overwhelming, and I am just so proud to be a SUNY New Paltz student!

I am so excited to Climb Mount Marty from March 5-7, 2010! “Climbing Mount Marty serves as a metaphor for essential leadership techniques, in addition to encouraging student leaders from our region to take advantage of their surroundings in our rapidly changing society. We are confident that this theme provides exemplary elements which will enhance your leadership skills, campus life at your respective institutions, and our mooosefully marvelous region. It is with great enthusiasm and pride in which we present to you… CLIMBING MOUNT MARTY, MINI NO-FRILLS 2010 AT SUNY NEW PALTZ!
Climbing Mount Marty is the perfect conference theme for SUNY New Paltz, as we are located in the heart of the beautiful Hudson Valley of New York State, north of New York City and south of Albany. More specifically, our institution is situated in the Shawangunk Mountains, a ridge of mountains in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County. The ridge top, which widens considerably at its northern end, has many public and private protected areas and is not heavily populated. Today, this land has become known for its outdoor recreation, most notably as one of the major rock climbing areas of North America. Since New Paltz is nestled in this gorgeous environment, we felt that it would be an awesome to take advantage of what our land has to offer, and expose our NEACURH family to this natural treasure.
A mountain resembles leadership. What we see from the outside is the magnitude, the trees, the rocks, which symbolize leadership skill. However, the majority of a mountain is what it is made up of, what is inside, and what keeps the mountain strong and stable, and together, these aspects symbolize character. This conference will celebrate your character and allow us to network with each other in order to understand the most effective ways to contribute your character towards teamwork. This regional conference was designed to ensure that YOU make time for YOU so that you can give 100% to the team!
We want to take this opportunity to thank you for being YOU! You rock! It is quite impressive to attend a NEACURH conference, and we here at SUNY New Paltz are proud of your dedication to bettering your campus. Think of all that you do, all of the college experiences you improve through your dedication to the residence hall community -wow! Being a student leader is not an easy task. The balance between academics and extracurricular activities is a challenging obstacle. This conference will emphasize the importance of wellness, as it is essential that you find time in your busy schedule to take care of yourself! Furthermore, you can’t possibly give your best to the team, unless you feel 100%! Whether it is making time to go for a walk outside, watch a movie with a friend, call home, head to the gym, or just lay down and relax, this conference will help you find that spark and energy!
We look forward to having the opportunity to learn from each other about the ways wemaintain a balance between self-wellness and teamwork and seeing you in the lovely Hudson Valley from March 5-7, 2010. Remember, we only have 84,400 seconds each day, so make the most of them! How will you spend that time to most benefit your team and yourself ? Come join us in this beautiful place, with beautiful people, to come together and to further understand this crucial balance.”

Furthermore, I am so so so proud of the progress made by the SUNY New Paltz residence hall community this year. Each individual truly has contributed to making this a “home!” Also, a shout out to Christina for 1st place passive program and Chris for a top 10 program! A very special thank you Tiff and Christina for all of their hard work and dedication and for being so amazing! And.. thank you to EVERYONE who was involved with Marty’s R.O.C.K.B.A.N.D.– you ALL rock <333 Congratulations to EVERYONE who attended this conference!

Enjoy! <3 Jessie

Happy Spring Break! And for those you not on Spring Break right now, Happy Monday!   Life is good!

As per usual, the week before Spring Break was pretty hectic!  Midterm assignments and exams galore, in addition my plethora RHSA & RA duties!

On Tuesday night, I held a Spring Break program for my residents.  It was a simple pizza party, but it was a nice opportunity for residents to take a break from studying and hang out with each other and just relax for a bit.  I had a great time!

Woo!   I was on duty on Friday night and  Deyo was pretty quiet!  Starr came over to hang out, so we played basketball-monkey-in-the-middle-run-around-Deyo with Keron and Cheyanne!  It was just wonderful!

When I got home on Saturday, I went out for coffee with some friends!  I had a delicious chai tea drink.  I love meeting up with friends I haven’t seen in a while, and just catching up as if we haven’t left each other for a day!

On Saturday, I walked on the boardwalk with my  family, and then had dinner with my grandma.

Today, I have been catching up with work all day, so I thought I would stop by and say hi!   Hope all is well!  Have a nice day! -Jessie

PS. Congratulations to all of the new RA’s!  I am so proud of each of you!  Welcome!

Oh hey there! Happy Sunday!

I hope you had a lovely weekend! The weather was just so beautiful! I love love love anticipating springtime! The changing of seasons is my favorite! I was indoors most of the weekend, but it was still nice to just know that spring is around the corner ! With that being said, just one more week until Spring Break- woo!

This weekend, RHSA held our annual STARS conference. Tiff and Christina did an outstanding job, and I am so proud of them for transforming this program into such an amazing weekend.. you go girls!

Saturday morning began with roll call, followed by a full day of programming. Halls had the opportunity to present programs, in addition to attending programs and being exposed to new ideas. Then, today, Sunday, we had a banquet and award ceremony to thank everyone for participating.

It was a wonderful event! Residents enjoyed themselves, networked with other student leaders, and learned new ways to program in their halls! Check out some pictures from the conference!

Roll Call!

Programming!

Banquet!

Awards!

Enjoy! <3 Jessie

Dear Readers,

How is everything going? I hope that midterms are treating you well and that you are starting to get excited for Spring Break! Woo!

This past weekend I attended a Sub-Regional Conference held at SUNY Geneseo! I went with our NCC’s Tiff and Christina, and NRHH President, Chris. They are truly three of the most fantastic people (and they listen to great music…)At the conference, we participated in some neat ice-breakers and team-building activities. The theme of the conference was magic, and the Assistant Director of Resident Life put on a fantastic presentation intertwining magic with leadership. We had the opportunity to work with each other on some activities and then spent time in rountable discussions. It is always motivating to connect with other RHSA presidents and learn about what is going on with their organizations. I love NEACURH people. I love NEACURH energy. I love NEACURH… and I am pumped for Mini No-Frills!

On Monday, at our RHSA Associate Council meeting, we introduced one of the ice breakers that we learned at the conference. In a nutshell, one person starts and says something about them. Then, if you identify with the statement, you run and link arms with that individual. Then, you say a statement, and so-on, until we make a closed circle. The purpose of the activity is to show how we are all connected. Check on the lovely SUNY New Paltz RHSA AC!

On Tuesday, RHSA attended our monthly President’s Cabinet meeting, a meeting that our college administration holds which we are quite fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in. At these meetings, we have the chance to connect with the Student Association Executive Board and the SUNY New Paltz administration. It is one of the several instances we have to further act as a liaison between students and the administration, and improve the quality of life and enhance the college experience for as many students as possible.

And now it’s Wednesday-my oh my how time flies! I can’t believe it is almost Spring Break. Before we blink, it will be summer. I am so confused about what I want to do this summer, and next year! I love New Paltz for exposing me to so many great things, and providing me with so many choices, but I get crazy when I have to make decisions! I guess I need to look at this as a challenge, and grow from the decision making process!

Peaceee out! Enjoy! <3 Jessie

PS. Friday night, we are holding Buzz Karaoke in Lenape Hall, and working with the Office of Student Development , who will hold a fun craft upstairs. It is from 9-11pm, so you should come! We are also having “Pie Your OL’s & RHSA E-board,” and for $1, you can pie us right in the face! All proceeds will go towards a special RHSA project!

View from the back of the Rosen Centre Hotel, Florida!

Kerry, Anna, John Gardner, Me: at the Publisher’s Dessert on Sunday Evening!

My delectable chocolate covered strawberry!

Award Ceremony: The recipients of the Undergraduate Student Fellowship!

Hibachi!

Enjoy! -Jessie

Greetings from Atlanta, Georgia, as I await the final leg of my trip, and head to Stewart International Airport, located in Newburgh, New York. When I return to my life tomorrow, and attend classes and meetings galore, I most certainly will have a new level of appreciation for my busy college schedule and every individual involved with it. These past few days have been incredible and I wish that each of you will have the opportunity to attend a conference on a subject which you are passionate about at some point in your life.

Before I write about the conference, I want to take the opportunity to once again thank everyone involved with my attendance at this conference: Robin Cohen-LaValle, the Center for Student Development, President Poskanzer, RHSA, SA, several hall governments/ RA staffs, and the phenomenal staff at the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition. I also really appreciate the support of my professors, the Deyo Hall staff and the RHSA executive board.

The conference officially began during the later part of the afternoon on Saturday. When I entered the grand ballroom, I was astonished to see so many people! In all honesty, I was a quite overwhelmed to be surrounded by such an immense number of college professionals. However, within minutes, that changed! During the opening speech, Stewart Hunter asked us to introduce ourselves to the person next to us. To my right was an academic advisor from a school in Missouri and it was just so neat to interact with someone with such a contrasting background from mine, yet with such a strong common interest. Then, several presenters spoke, including our keynote speaker Freeman A. Hrabowski III.

When I began my first-year at SUNY New Paltz, my RA, and my amazing mentor Jenay, encouraged me to become active with hall government, which rapidly became a seed for my expansion of leadership opportunities. I kept joining different clubs and organizations, and getting more involved, mainly because I really enjoyed building community on our campus. I had such a positively transformational first-year at college, that I soon became active with working with first-year students on our campus on several different levels. As time has progressed over the past three years, I have adored all of the time I have spent being so connected to SUNY (or as many people I met call it, “Sunny”) New Paltz. These upbeat feelings influenced my decision to want to pursue a career in higher education because I just enjoy working with college students.

Hrabowski’s keynote speech on Saturday, February 7, 2009 was a crystal clear confirmation for me that higher education is certainly what I want to dedicate my career to. He spoke about the power that education has on our future, and this theme just inspired me greatly. He spoke about how the number of students who graduate college is far too low and that we have the strength to impact these individuals, and enhance their college experiences. We need to be able to educate; we need to be able to teach our students to think critically, to write well, and to know what it means to be educated. He said, “We in America must educate more people than we are right now… and we need students to prosper in their institutions.” Hrabowski put a strong emphasis on attitude, as attitude can strongly impact these statistics.

My day on Sunday began at 7:00am, yes, I know-YIKES! But let me tell you, it was worth it! After a generous cup of coffee, I attended my first workshop, pretty much followed by workshops all day until 6ish. During these workshops, I took notes galore, so please contact me if you are interested and I can share my wealth of fascinating data and interesting information with you. The workshops which I attended were so great! I definitely learned so much at each session, from both the presenters and the individuals at the workshop with me. I went to workshops ranging from “Habitudes- the Habits and Attitudes of First Year Students,” to “The Challenges of Teaching for Engaged Citizenship in the First College Year: The Role of Cognitive-Structural Theories,” to “Successful Academic Endeavors in Residence Halls and Non-Academic Settings,” to “Balancing the Scale: Maintaining Wellness and Job Satisfaction as a First-Year Professional,” just to name a few! I learned a significant amount and I am excited to hopefully implement some of the practices on our campus. I have so many ideas and it is just so exciting!

At my last workshop on Sunday evening, I met one of my fellow-fellows, Anna! It was wonderful to meet her! That night, I went out for some delicious Italian food with Anna and a professor from her school, Kerry. Dinner was wonderful! First off, the food was beyond delicious! Secondly, the conversation was great! It was so nice to have the opportunity to connect with a student with such similar interests and goals. Anna and Kerry are such great people, and I feel lucky to have met them. It was a really fun meal, followed by a really fun dessert! For dessert, we headed back to the hotel, as one of the publisher’s was hosting a dessert. I am being 100% honest when stating that I truly had the best chocolate covered strawberries I have ever had in my entire life. My entire 20 year life. It was really cool to be at that dessert, as many distinguished individuals were there. We were having a lovely conversation with the head of an FYE program in Minnesota, when we were fortunate enough to be graced by the presence of John Gardner!

John Gardner is the father of the First Year Experience. He is the individual who is/was dedicated to making FYE a respected aspect of higher education in our society. As I told him about my past involvement, and my future goals, he was more than helpful with guiding me in a direction, and making many recommendations. It was really a gift to meet him! Throughout the remainder of the dessert, other FYE researchers sat with us, and it was just an unbelievable experience!

Monday, starting once again at 7:00am, was also fantastic. I had the chance to be exposed to many posters which were really interesting to look at and choc full of ideas and statistics. During the poster session, I met a lady who actually taught with my aunt at Seaton Hall University! Fancy that! I also met a really cool girl from Alaska, and we decided to be pen pals, and send each other small tokens from our institutions, along with pictures and ideas of what we are doing on our campuses!

For lunch, I went to the Random House Luncheon. I had the privilege of hearing several authors speak about their texts, including Donovan Campbell, Louise Steinman, Michael Greenberg, John Elder Robinson, and Tracy Kidder. This alone was an unbelievable experience!

Then, we had the award ceremony for the recipients of the Undergraduate Fellowship. It was at the ceremony which I met Ryanne from Vermont, another recipient! We decided to all meet up that night, so after more workshops, we decided to go shopping!

Please note, we took a trolley! Yes, a trolley! Anyway, first we got hibachi, which was scrumptious. Our chef was so fun and kept playing tricks on us. It was such a good time! Then, we went to the shopping mainly we needed more luggage for all of the free books we received! We had an absolutely wonderful time, especially in the Gap! It was crazy that we only knew each other for a few hours, yet were able to joke around and just laugh! We each got something in the Gap, which is going to be our way of staying connected!  Then, we got some Starbucks, and took the trolley home.

Today, yet again, an early day, was a half day of workshops followed by a town hall meeting. I went to the airport, where my plane was delayed. First, there was an emergency with one of the employees working on the plane, and then once we finally got on the plane, the engine wouldn’t start! But, it was a fine flight, and now I am here in Atlanta, waiting for the last leg of this fantastic journey.

I would certainly consider this trip to have been an adventure, one which will have a lasting impact on me as a human being. Traveling alone was completely new territory for me in itself. In addition, having the opportunity to interact with hundreds upon hundreds of individuals from all over the world, including 6 countries and approximately 500 institutions, about something which holds such deep meaning to each of us was remarkable. I think that it was important for me to be exposed to so much intellect and philosophy behind the principles of higher education, more specifically, on the first year experience. I am so excited to do something with all of this positive energy and valuable information.

In a nutshell: unbelievable four days. It was the perfect time of winter to escape to palm trees and bright skies for a few days, in addition to the plethora of priceless data I was able to gather!

As I get ready to board my plane, I assure you that I will post pictures soon! Thank you for reading this rather long post. From Atlanta, I wish you the best! Enjoy! -Jessie

Greetings from Florida!

I am currently in Orlando, attending the National Resource Center’s 28^th Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience! Yesterday, after a quiz, my fantastic RD Val drove me to Steward International Airport. As I got out of the car, all I could think about was how un-nervous I was! All week long, people were asking me, are you nervous to travel by yourself? As crazy as this may sound, in all honesty, I really was not nervous! So, I checked my luggage (49 ½ lbs.. which means I have to pack really carefully when coming home!) and headed up to Gate 4.

My first flight to Atlanta was TINY! There were 12 ½ rows on the plane, and I was in row 12! The lady I was sitting next to was very nice and we talked for a good majority of the flight. The other part was dedicated to some school work.

When I got to Atlanta, I took a trolley from Zone D to Zone B, bought some gummy lifesavers, and immediately boarded the next plane. This plane was much bigger- 200 passengers. Again, I sat next to a nice family, going to Disney for 5 days. This flight seemed to go by soooo quickly- before I knew it, my ears were popping and we were descending!

Everything went smoothly from here! I got my luggage, took a van to the hotel, and checked in. Once I dropped my luggage off in my room on the 16^th floor, I took some time to wander around the hotel! It’s huge and beautiful! There are separate elevators for floors 1-15 and 16-top floor, whatever that may be!

Today looks like a beautiful day. I am planning on catching up on some work for a while, and then heading down to register for the conference. Hope all is well.. Enjoy! -Jessie

Hey there!  I was woken up at 5:45am with a wonderful text message, stating that morning classes would be canceled today! Now, if I had been woken up at that awful hour of morning, for any other reason, it would not have been okay, but when I learned that classes would be canceled, I was very happy! Woo! SNOWDAY!

New Paltz has a program in which all students, faculty, and staff, can sign up FOR FREE to receive text messages/ phone calls with emergency updates from the college.. and it is pretty sweet! It is so convenient to be able to know what is going on so quickly and accurately!

Anyway, I slept in a bit, on this fabulous snow day! I then went to get brunch at Hasbrouck with my suitemates. It was fun to be in the dining hall with so many excited students! Then, I headed back to Deyo and make a fort and played in the snow with some awesome residents!

The rest of the afternoon was spent catching up on some work and relaxing! Today was a much needed nice surprise! Happy Snow to you! Enjoy! –Jessie

Hello! How are you doing? Everything is going well here in New Paltz! We have SO much snow on the ground, and it’s freezing out, and I love it! It is truly a winter wonderland!

Besides the wonderful winter weather, classes started this past week. I must say, the majority of my classes seem to be really interesting! I am genuinely looking forward to them, so I will be sure to keep you updated!

This past weekend was “Welcome Back Weekend,” co-sponsored by many offices and organizations on campus, including The Center for Student Developing, Residence Life, The Office of Student Activities and Union Services, RHSA, etc. There were awesome events each day, ranging from wintery movies, to a magic show, to a comedian, etc.

On Friday, I attended RHSA’s first Buzz Karaoke of the semester, which was held in Dubois Hall.  We had wraps and pizza and a lot of fun! We had a fantastic turn out it was a really great crowd! Then, on Saturday, there was a synthetic ice-skating rink on the concourse of the Student Union Building. So cool! Today I participated in “Snow Games with the OL’s” which was a super fun time!

Overall, a very nice weekend! School work already, but nevertheless, a very entertaining weekend!  Until next time (pictures from this weekend), Enjoy! -Jessie

Hello! So, tomorrow is the first day of classes for the Spring 2009 Semester! Wow! The beginning of the semester is always such an exciting time of year, full of so many possibilities! As much as I am looking forward to my classes, RHSA, and being an RA in Deyo Hall, truly, I am more excited for the aspects of the semester which I am not anticipating.  I really never know how everything will turn out, and it is just so exhilarating to foresee what will happen this semester! My classes seem to be interesting, and although I have a pretty hectic schedule, it will most definitely be worth it! RHSA has some really great plans to program on a large scale and get involved with some really entertaining events.  To all of you starting classes tomorrow, good luck!  Anddddd.. I hope YOU watch the inauguration!  Enjoy! -Jessie