GLACURH Pt. 2

I eluded to something in my previous GLACURH related entry... that we were required to give a presentation about something at the conference. (In front of what seemed like hundreds of people, but really... it wasn't.)

ISU had decided to "bid" for the Student Award for Leadership Training (SALT). This included a 20 page bid, or paper with pictures and stuff. We submitted that to the Regional Board of Directors and waited to hear if we made the finals. We did! That was SO exciting!!! We were up against 2 other schools for the award.

What was next for us was a 10 minute presentation and a 5 minute Q & A session. The 10 minute presentation was required for us to showcase our retreat and bid.... and was completely open-ended. That really worried me... an open-ended presentation was giving us a TON of right to be creative - and let's just say that I was NOT feeling creative during the 2 weeks beforehand!

Our delegtion had come up with the idea to do a movie. Well, that proved almost impossible because we had decided that 5 days before the conference... and there was NO way that me, with my meger editing skills, would be able to throw something respectable together. Shannon and I brainstormed the idea that we should take video clips and put them in a powerpoint, to make it interactive.

So in 2 days I gathered 12 testimonials from members of ARH and started to assemble the presentation. I think I spent over 36 hours straight on that powerpoint!!! It was a little tiring, but after a lot of testing, practicing, and reading Microsoft tutorials online, I got the videos to work on any computer I wanted! :)

Shannon, a delegation member, Robert, and I went to present the powerpoint. We practiced for over 2 hours.... as our presentation time kept getting pushed back. We went in there - and I'd like to say... we rocked it. :)

The three of us before our presentation!

Did we win? Well, we had to wait ALL day to find out! We went to the last 2 programming sessions, and then back to the hotel to relax and prepare for dinner and the banquet. Let's just say, that was the longest wait ever! Once we got to the banquet, we took a ton of pictures and I was basically nervous the entire time!

Our delegation, all matching in green, before dinner!

I had a delcious pasta meal, and texted my heart out to one of my friends across the room from UIC. He used to be on the Regional Board of Directors, so he was pretty comforting as I was having an corinary about whether or not we won. Of course the SALT bid announcment was in the middle of the ceremony... I cant even really tell you who else won the other awards, my heart was beating too loud.

Well the moment came! The SALT award announcement....

Do you think we won? Either that's me sneezing while Shannon is taking a picture or, I'm getting ready to stand up and accept the award. :)

Oh I'm sure you guessed it! We won the award!!! Here it is! It is in our office, waiting to be hung proudly after break. :)

It was a very emotional weekend.... very tiring, away from school, anxious from the presentation, a presentation delegate change at the last minute.... but it was all worth it. I was able to work with people who I know very well and care about very much, as well as get to work with brand new conference go-ers. It was a great weekend!!! :)

Now, an exciting thing - we decided to bid nationally! Now, when we bid for Large School of the Year, for some reason I was like 10432% more confident about winning. I spruced up our bid and submitted it last Monday along with a million pieces of paperwork. After I sent it in, I stared at my email for about 1 hour waiting for a confirmation. The hour turned into 2, as I fell asleep next to my computer. It turns out that my wait was completely unwarranted... the email came 4 days later saying the application and paperwork was received. Now we just wait to hear if our bid is eligible or not. The suspense!

Once I find out, I'll keep you posted! If we are, then we move into the stage where they narrow down to the finalists! *Crosses fingers*

Now THIS wait is the worst!