New direction.

I talked with Matt Dulin, the Print Production Manager at the Daily Cougar the other day at our IGAEAUH Meet & Greet. We were talking about the yearbook staff and it's dynamics/needs/changes it's going through, etc.

Essentially what it boils down to is that I found out I am really interested in applying to be the Editor-in-Chief. They are also looking for a Managing Editor - which Aijah would be great at. I cannot tell you how thrilled I would be if Aij and I got to be yearbook editors again. We both have experience, which is the main thing they're looking for. Both of us have been section editors, both have been Editor-in-Chiefs. Now, I focus more in my degree on production and management and design, and she focuses more on editing. Can you say perfect?! She's a great editor, too - we'd make an awesome team - again.

However, it's just another job I can add to my list of never ending things to do. I am looking to downsize my workload also. But, there is a solution (or two.)

Currently I am:
-Senator in the Student Government Association (SGA)
-Secretary, IGAEAUH
-Secretary, Sigma Phi Lambda
-Working 20+ hours a week
-Taking 15 hours of classes and 6 lab hours
-Leading small group on Sunday mornings

SO, I am too busy.

Solution:

I love being a senator. I feel like the College of Technology needs someone who cares because there is a lot that needs to be done. However, it's not personally beneficial to continue my involvement any longer past this year because it's not related to my degree at all. It's a great leadership opportunity, but it gives me too much to do. I'll do all that I can this year - put in a lot of effort - but then my time is up. It's smarter for me to be involved in something more relevant, like the yearbook. This is the most time consuming of all my commitments, so it would free me up the most.

In all honesty, Sigma Phi Lambda might not work out. We are having a very hard time getting interested members, and while we are putting full force behind trying to identify members, no one is coming to any of our meetings or events. Plus, we're all students with limited time available to devote to it in the first place. Also, I talked to BJ Ramon today, the director of the BSM and got some interesting insight. He said that there are about 35 Christian organizations on campus, with the vast majority of them being 10 people or under. (We need 15 to be a recognized chapter of Phi Lamb.) There are A LOT of organizations, and in comparison to the 37,000 students here, just not that many Christians. He has a vision for unity for the Christian Cougars and part of his goal for this year is to contact those organizations to try to do projects together, to create a more uniform, more impactful, bigger presence on campus. So, in his opinion, there isn't really a need for Phi Lamb at UH right now, because the Christian community won't be receptive to it at this time. It would just "create another organization." While it's pretty discouraging, God has perfect timing. If and when God wants and needs a chapter of Phi Lamb at UH is when it will happen.

IGAEAUH. Well, that's a whole story in itself. In short, I think I would be a really good president. I already have a whole list of initiatives I'd like to accomplish, and feel very qualified for the position. I don't know if anyone else in interested in running, so I don't know the likelihood of me actually getting the position, but we'll see. However, there is a time commitment that is significantly heavier than any of the other officers. But with that, part of what I think the organization needs to do is restructure the responsibilities. Currently, our President is assuming a lot of the work, which takes a lot of time. We'll see.

I will still work 20+ hours. I just have too many responsibilities that require my attention there. Plus, it's money, honey! Can't do my Dave Ramsey budget if I don't have any money!

And then, being yearbook editor. This is my ultimate goal of next year - but it's the most uncertain. It's a big job. It's a PAID job. That ultimately makes all the other things fall to 2nd priority because I would be getting paid to do it.

I will be taking the same amount of hours next semester, but I will be taking a mini-mester before the semester actually starts to knock our Finite Math, so I'll only have to focus on 4 classes instead of 5.

So what I see happening is me running for IGAEAUH President in December. Then, in April applying for Yearbook Editor. Not running for SGA, and we'll see what happens with Phi Lamb. I think it's possible. But after that, my commitments are full! No more saying "Yes, sure!" to everyone.

I am kind of almost a senior. Wow.