Yesterday I spent about two and a half hours at Starbucks.

I was one of those hipsters who use Starbucks as their office. I have the thick-framed glasses, but I didn’t have a Mac (I have a Dell), and I wasn’t wearing hipster clothing (though I was wearing a Reptar t-shirt). But the point still stands, right?

I have tons of things to do this summer for work. I strive to do the best possible at this job and I guarantee what I do this year will be better than what was done last year.

I’ve already started earning the NMSU RHA banana points. There are emails sent out every Monday where they ask for content to put in that month’s newsletter. This week there were a few things that I wanted to take advantage of:

• Monkey See, Monkey Do
• Swinging Scholars

The Monkey See Monkey Do assignment was to “give 3 unique ideas for recognizing at the end of the year.” I wrote up three paragraphs about three ideas: Candy Grams, Study Bucks, and a thing I titled “What Goes Around Comes Around.” I’ll post those paragraphs at the end of this post. By sending these in, it already gives us 5 banana points. Sure, that’s not a lot, but it’s a good start.

Swinging Scholars is where you submit a list of people who got a 3.5 GPA (on a four-point scale) or above to recognize them. I was able to work with our RHA Adviser to get a list of people who had a 3.5 or above. I made a list of active Hall Council and NRHH members, then she went through them and found those names who qualified. I then submitted those names to the website. We will see what comes out of that.

One of my official Summer Projects is to affiliate the NMSU chapters of RHA and NRHH, which can’t be done until NACURH is over, since affiliation goes from NACURH of one year to the next NACURH conference. I want to make sure everything is ready to go before registration opens so that when it does, it will be super easy to do. So, yesterday I was able to compile all of the information I need, just minus the NRHH Constitution, which will be easy enough to get my hands on.

The other (huge) official Summer Project is to get together a bid team for No Frills 2015 and to get everything together and ready to go for that. I already have two people who will be on the team for sure, but the most important step at this point is to give a presentation to the Director of Housing to make sure she is ok with us bidding to hold this conference.

What I am working on now is getting together a plan to plan. Planning a conference is not simple and I want to make sure that everything is great and done correctly. I have figured out how everything needs to be split up so that everyone is able to focus on the one thing they are working on, instead of working on a plethora of things, since that can get confusing. I have been looking at previous No Frills bids to see what sections they had and what some bids look like.

I’m on the right path and it’s going to be a great year.

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Unique Recognition Ideas

[Monkey See, Monkey Do]

As you can tell by my humor, I am trying to win over IACURH with my charming personality.

Candy Grams –

Send something sweet to recognize those who have helped out and made a difference. Sure, it isn’t a showy way of recognition, but it is nice to know that people appreciate the contributions you have made. We make a difference because it is the right thing to do, not to get a showy (yet shiny and attractive) plaque!

Study Bucks –

The end of the year is stressful for everyone. People have their heads stuck in books like a bear has his paw in a bear trap, and it is just about as pleasant. But, studying is a necessary part of college and cramming is a tradition that nobody can seem to break, just like a bear trap. Ok, clearly this is an unpleasant time of year. Why not turn that frown upside-down and give an added incentive for studying? Study Bucks is a low-stress program where RHA executives and Hall Council members can go around their community and hand out Study Bucks to people studying. The recipients of these Study Bucks can collect and redeem them for things at the RHA Office for small prizes, such as random snacks or school supplies, like scantrons or pencils. Students get recognized for their hard work and we are able to help ease the pain of the end of the year.

What Goes Around Comes Around –

Nobody knows how much stuff they have until they are moving. Your room may look miraculously clean and organized, but there is still so much extraneous things you have that you don’t even think about. When you have stuff you don’t want or need you tend to throw it out. Unless you’re a hoarder. And if you are, that’s ok, this is a judgment free zone. Why throw out perfectly good things, though? A great way to be productive with unwanted items is to donate them to local charities. RHA can reward people who have donated items with coupons they redeem at the RHA Office. They can redeem these coupons with small prizes such as drinks or snacks that they might crave while moving out.