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Darrell |
November 1, 2008Wow! Time really flies, doesn’t it? Past Fall Break already and on the way to Thanksgiving! Can’t say school is any getting any less hectic, though! Quite the opposite , with all this work piling up! But I’m pretty sure I can handle it all. The last few weeks have been pretty exciting., to say the least. One of the most notable activities was the Emerging Leaders invitation to eat dinner with the newPresident of Valdosta State University, Dr. Schloss. I have to say I was somewhat nervous as well as excited about the entire experience, but I kept it together. Everyone had to dress semi-formal and me being the fashion maven that I am, I ended up wearing a pretty impressive ensemble, if I do say so myself! Anyways, the President’s house ended up being only a block or two from the school, meaning we had to walk. I didn’t mind; I was just ready to head over and get this dinner started. It took about five minutes to get there, and the President and his wife were already standing there at the front door waiting to greet us. I have to admit, I was pretty floored when we all met the President for the first time. For one, he was wearing casual clothes and a grilling apron. Second, he was very friendly and pretty down-to-earth. Third, he was cooking our food, namely burger and hot dogs, himself on his grill. It was a pretty big departure from the business-suit wearing, strict, intimidating , and disciplinary figure I had imagined prior to coming. To be honest, I was more than relieved. Especially since I had been worrying for the last few hours about what I would say, how I would say it, etc. So, once that step was out of the way, I could relax in the President’s rather larger home. I got another surprise when the President let a few of the guys and I hang in his den, sit in his La-Z-Boys, eat his food, and watch his TV. That probably ended up being the coolest moment of the entire “dinner.” The President and his wife were very hospitable, and walked around, asking us what we needed, and also stopped to get to know most of the students in the program personally. After we finished eating, we were allowed to take our own tours of the house, which was pretty cool also. Once we were finished, we took pictures, and returned to campus. But not before I let know the President’s that he would see me again at some point. The Dean’s List, anybody? It was probably one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had here at VSU thus far. Another fun moment occurred around Halloween. In our Emerging Leaders program, one aspect of our lesson plan is volunteering and helping in the community. We had to opportunity to help out by doing events, such as helping at food drives, animal shelters, schools, and retirement homes. For Halloween, one of my good friends in the program named Staci decided that a group should go out and trick and treat for cans to help with the school’s recent food drive. I volunteered because I liked community service and it sounded like a lot of fun. A few days later, on Halloween, my friends Keisha, Sakeena, Staci, Daren, David, Alesha, Courtney, Justin, and I headed out for a nearby neighborhood to start. Only Staci, Daren and I dressed up as a Ninja Turtle, Harlem Globetrotter, and an Emo Thug. I guess no one else was really in the mood. Every reaction was the same at every house. “What? CANS? You guys don’t want candy? Really? Cans? Um….let me check.” It was pretty funny, but not surprising. No one else asks for cans on Halloween night! Most of them got with the program when they realized that we were doing it for VSU’s food drive. I managed to creep everyone by remarking on the fact that neigborhood that we were in was eerily similar to the one in the horror flick, “The Strangers.” After that, everyone started walking a lot faster. I, for one, was waiting for someone with a burlap bag on his head and a butcher knife to chase us down the street, but to my disappointment, no one did. Oh, well. Maybe next year. At the end of our trick-or-treat run, we ended up with more than 50 cans, and went on to win an in-class pizza party for our efforts! We all felt pretty proud of ourselves, and were also just glad we could help out with the food drive. Well, I’m sure more crazy moments are sure to come in the last two months of the semester! I’ll be sure to keep the entries coming!
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