Conference Crazy

Being a teenager is all about living it up with people who have the same mentality as you do. It's absolutely amazing to be in a place where people all have the same common goal. You feel apart of a community and something that's bigger than just you alone. You're apart of a greater good, and you're making a difference. You're apart of a movement to change the world for the better. Come drink our peppy Kool-Aid, let's go conference crazy.

Let me fill you in on the epicness of my teenage life. So remember how I'm kind of like RHA  *residence hall association (well at UVM it's IRA) president for all the on-campus residents? Yeah, well each fall we have a regional conference to meet up with other schools, do some business, make tons of new friends, and cheer like it's our jobs. We're in the NEACURH *NorthEast Association of College and University Residence Halls region of NACURH *National Assocation ... which is the largest student run organization in the world. Now that I've explained myself, get ready for the story of my regional conference experience at "Mooselodoen" (Marty the Moose is our regional mascot; conference was themed throwback Nickelodeon) at SUNY Geneseo. Friday morning was an absolute mess. I woke up late and slept through my first class, uhm whoops. I had to hurry and pack all my stuff for conference and for Thanksgiving break while saying my goodbyes to my suitemates Joel, Jimmy and Patrick. I got my stuff and went to grab a quick bite while waiting for my advisor Learie to pick up our NCC (National Communications Coordinator) Bret, and our NCC-IT (In Training), Taylor. We finally hit the road at like 10:40am. We zoomed through Vermont and for me it was one of the few times I've seen more of the state outside of Burlington. It's definitely a big difference, so many small towns and even some rural areas as well. We spent the first hour talking about literally anything and everything while switching through radio stations. Apparently I never listen to the radio because I had not heard any of the ridiculousness on there #tellmewhy every song sounds the same. Choruses with some dubsetp nonsense inbetween - I'd rather listen to static, I can't wail along to that. We crossed into New York and after tons of winding roads and scenic little escapes by pristine Lake George we made it to the highway. We took a quick pit stop for a whaz and some bubble gum. We hit the road and I was hardcore jamming to "Take Me Home" 1D while going in and out of sleep. My life is such a struggle. We stopped at McDanks and went to check in with the awesome conference staff at the hotel. We changed into our cheer gear and face painted it up. It was like Hellcats, meets Fired Up, meets Bring It On 1-5 (yes, there's five of them, get with the times) up in the gym. People were just screaming up a storm and getting so hype. We immediately joined in and met up with our favorites from Quinnipiac (love those people so much). Get ready, we're about to step it up and go conference crazy.

All of sudden it was time for roll call, where all the schools do a skit or cheer that represent them. We hadn't planned on doing one at all, and blam they called us up. Taylor and I legit did a synchronized double take and mustered up the courage to go down and wing it. We were awesome if I do so saw myself, we cheered loud as hell, just the two of us. I think people were definitely suprised and I was so proud of us. I was legit shaking afterwards, it was nerve racking as heck but an amazing experience. The roll calls went on and on, so many of them were so cool with skits from Figure it Out, All That, Hey Arnold and Legends of the Hidden Temple. Finally we finished a couple hours later (yeah, that's hours) and it was activity time. Taylor and I grabbed some super salty popcorn and watched the school's rowdy all-male acapella group. They were pretty good but kind of all over the place (literally and figuratively #judgemental). Tay and I went to make glow in the dark t-shirts with highlighters and what not and soon the spirit stick came around. We flipped the heck out and went so hard yelling, sreaming, chanting, clapping, jumping and stomping. Of course we got it, and we finished up before moved on to some of the socials. We hopped right into a game of ninja "wa" with my homeboy Jeff from UConn and then joined a game of ride pony. That's my game for real, when we step into that circle it goes down basement. I rode that pretend pony like a cowboy in a shoot out. Afterwards we made best friends with the hilarious characters from St. Michael's College, Gracie, Meg, TJ,  and Tyler. Uhm, how were we not friends before this - we all belong together. Tons of pictures taken and soon it was time to head back to the hotel. Tay and I hit up the hospitality room for some food and ended up playing an intense game of catchphrase with some cool kids from Bentely, Justine and Nate. Bret and Katie (from St. Mike's) caught up with us at like 2 am and we went to barge into the rest of the St. Mike's crew's rooms. No sleep until 3 am, my voice was a scratchy mess and we were meant to be up again at 6:45am - super struggles. Never want this to end, let's go conference crazy.

Being a teenager is all about getting a little bit crazy. It's about bringing all you've got and losing your inhibitions for an amazing cause. People ask me how I can have so much spirit, and so much pep and I let them know that I'm honored to get to be in a place where everyone wants to help their campus out. How could you not be excited to be there? What's the point if you're not going to go all the way out and do the most? Don't be afraid to succomb to the chaos and get involved. Participate to the fullest and bring something new, everyone appreciates it when you show yourself. Let's go conference crazy.

My blog post question for the day is ... how often do you get to visit another college campus? Really not that often, but it always give me a different perspective and reminds me that I'm so lucky to go to the school that I attend.

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