This semester, something happened that changed the course of my life. In September I have been selected as one of the leaders of SBCC’s Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa National Honors Society— Beta Gamma Upsilon— where I am currently serving as Vice President of Leadership. Each member of the student leadership board is required to organize one event supporting one of the Hallmarks of PTK, which are Leadership, Scholarship, Fellowship, and Service.
In previous articles I have talked about some of our events, such as lectures, cleanups, and other volunteering events.
For my project, I wanted to address multiple Hallmarks while also raising $1000 to
United Way of SB County’s Educational Programs. So I started thinking of what enjoyable and recreational activity has a great fund-raising potential, is attractive to teenagers and adults alike, and yields strong community involvement. Considering my headquarters— SBCC— are located really close to the beach, I thought to myself: “what would be a better opportunity to have a fun(d-raising) activity than a beach volleyball tournament under the Californian sun?”
Differently from the
SBCC Semi-Annual event, which is sponsored by the SBCC International Office and the SBCC Ambassadors Program, and which targets SBCC students — particularly the international— my tournament is open to the community. Putting this event together, which some called the largest PTK event, was — as I expected— harder than I expected. I had to reserve courts— a $300 expense that I was able to finance through a grant— find sponsors— such as delicious local Mexican restaurant
El Sitio, who is going to provide free finger food (many thanks)— get speakers, balls, whistles, tables, chairs, water and water jugs, cups, etc… I had to make a flyer, type up the event details, and get a letter from United Way, then print this all out and reach out to the community asking to participate in the event; then I had to find teams to play. This shows the event’s Fellowship significance. I also had to collect donations, representing the Hallmark of Service, and I was able to achieve all this by managing a
team of student leaders— a feature
that shows the involvement of Leadership in the event.
I have learned a
lot from this journey, which required a considerable amount of time and effort to set
up, but which was really fun to organize and hopefully will be enjoyable to the
participants. I have learned both about myself and about others, and
gained important skills in team leadership, event management, and public
speaking. Right now I am in the process of finalizing the last details.
The tournament is on Sunday (Nov. 22) and I am so excited. In the PTK
Leadership, we all are. And if you're reading this, you're certainly a
good person… So you're officially invited to participate!
I hope to see
you there!
https://www.facebook.com/events/109291379434792/
Also, if you would like to contribute a donation, you can do it securely online!
The children from low-income families of Santa Barbara County (which
are 60% of them— unbelievable but true) thank you very much.
https://unitedwaysb.givezooks.com/events/sbcc-s-phi-theta-kappa-honors-society-beach-volleyball
A presto,
- Fede
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