May 4, 2009

I absolutely cannot believe that an entire school year has gone by since I began blogging! It seems like only a few days ago that I was returning to the US from Serbia and preparing for an exciting junior year at OSU. Now that year has come and gone and I am sad to see it go. I still have one more week of finals, but I figured for my last post I would take a look back at the highlight of my year!

First STUFU meeting!

International Expo.

America’s Great Homecoming!

Parade with Kirk and Jan.

Monumental Election

SUAB all day, every day!

I could go on forever. This year has been such an opportunity for growth for me. Personally, I feel like I have come so far. Through my involvement on campus I’ve come to see what things really matter in life. Giving, and loving, and living life to its fullest. This past year has been an amazing exercise in all three of those things for me.

I look forward to next year and every thing that it holds, but I will always look back fondly on the memories I made with my family and friends this past year.

Wish me luck on my finals!

Ever you’ll find me, loyal and true, to my alma mater, OSU!

As always…

GO POKES!

-Dennis

April 27, 2009

As I mentioned last week, I was in Austin, Texas this weekend for USA Taekwondo national team trials. Unfortunately, I didn’t win, but I had a blast while I was there and I fought really well. I gained a lot of confidence in my fighting because I went the distance with an Olympic silver medalist and world champion. Obviously there is room for improvement but I left the ring with my head held high after that match.

Some other fighters from team trials going at it.

Now my next big challenge is finals! One more week until they start. I’m pretty confident that I will do well on most of them. I’ve really enjoyed all of my classes this semester so keeping up in class and on homework have been pretty easy.

Two more weeks until freedom!

GO POKES!
-Dennis

April 20, 2009



Carmen Deveraux!

So the semester is winding down. Teachers are getting crazy. Stress levels are through the roof. And I decide to put on the biggest drag show in the state of Oklahoma.

Last week Thursday, nearly 1,000 people packed the Student Union Ballroom to see SUAB’s Dragonfly 2009! I was in charge of coordinating 5 professional drag queen, 5 student contestants, lights, music, the crowd, my volunteers…. It was no small feat to say the least.

But I did it. We reached capacity and had to turn people away. We raised over $2,000 worth of cash and canned food for charity. The show was great, even with a few minor technical difficulties, and people had a blast!! I couldn’t have asked for anything more. All the feedback has been positive and I can’t wait to do it again next year.

Then Friday was the climax to end this year’s Student Foundation COWBOY SPIRIT campaign. Hundreds of people turned out to the Tumbleweed to celebrate philanthropy with good music, dancing and fun! Some notables included President Hargis who said a few words and Kirk Jewell, president and CEO of the OSU Foundation.

Kirk with some STUFU members, all in their awesome Battle of the Bands t-shirts!

Two Steps Back. One of six bands that rocked the Weed on Friday.

Congratulations to the Bo Phillips band, which won the battle. They got to play an extra hour and will also get to play a spot at College Fest, the Tumbleweed’s second largest event.

Also, thanks to everyone who bought a shirt and came out and had a good time!

Now it’s crunch time, for real. I can’t believe that this is our last week of regular class. Next week is pre-finals week, then a week of tests, and then FREEDOM!

One other thing coming up… Next weekend I’ll be in Austin, Texas for USA Taekwondo National Team Trials. I’ll be going up against the best fighters in the country for a spot on the national team which will travel to Denmark later in the year to fight in the world championships. Wish me luck!

GO POKES!
-Dennis

April 13, 2009

This past week Student Union Activities Board had two awesome Easter programs, both of which I was in charge of. On Wednesday we had a community Easter egg hunt on Library Lawn and in the formal gardens. We sent invitations to every student in Stillwater elementary schools and to the kids of OSU’s non-traditional students. We had a turnout about 3 times what we anticipated! It was crazy. There were kids everywhere. Unfortunately, that meant that, even with almost 3,000 eggs, most kids didn’t get very many .  But we had coloring pages and the Easter bunny to take pictures with so most kids were pretty content even with only a few eggs. Next year we know that we need to hide quite a few more eggs and use more area of campus.

A picture of our adviser, Kathleen, handing out eggs. She made the paper!

Then on Friday we had another fun Easter event, this time for college students. We called it the campuswide Wiister egg hunt. At 7 a.m. on Friday morning we release 3 video clues on youtube.com/okstatesuab which hinted at the locations of three eggs all across campus. Whoever found the hardest egg to find won a Nintendo Wii! It was so fun to see the view counts on the videos skyrocket and then to get to give people their prizes as they turned their eggs in.

What a fun holiday!

GO POKES!
-Dennis

April 6, 2009

So two pretty notable things happened this week, both involving presidents.

On Monday, Student Union Activities Board hosted a Graffiti Contest on the lawn. We had three contestants, each work on his or her own board, and then we had an extra board set up for anyone who wanted to give graffiti a try. There was music and skateboarding and food! It was an all around good time. THEN guess who shows up?! None other than Mr. Burns Hargis, president of the University. We tried to give him a lesson in spray painting which didn’t go so well, but he ended up tagging our board with a paint pen.

President Hargis tagging our board.

Needless to say, we were all so excited to have the president be a part of our event. The more I am around Burns the more I feel like he is exactly what the students need right now. He loves getting involved with students and really seems like he has our best interests in mind.

On another note, I became the president-elect of the Student Union Activities Board yesterday! We had our election banquet and the Board’s new executive team for next year was selected. Congrats to everyone else who won a position. I look forward to a fun and exciting year or some of the best programs the University has ever seen!

With next year’s SUAB exec. team.

GO POKES!
-Dennis

March 30, 2009

This past week seemed so much busier than any week in recent memory. The long awaited start of the Student Foundation’s (STUFU) Cowboy Spirit ticket/T-shirt sale campaign was this week, so I’ve been working hard to make sure that goes smoothly.

COWBOY SPIRIT t-shirt!! Free with the purchase of your ticket to Battle of the Bands 2009 at Tumbleweed on April 17. Get your ticket at OSUStudentFoundation.com!

Tuesday was Student Union Activities Board’s exec/chair nomination party at which I was nominated for president of SUAB for next year!! I also had a STUFU exec meeting and general meeting that day. Luckily, one of my classes had been canceled that day so that made things a little bit easier.

Wednesday, I was frantically making some last minute arrangements for the start of ticket sales on Thursday which included planning for RAIN in the forecast .

Thursday was another crazy day. Start of ticket sales, I had to take an SUAB flier to the Stillwater Board of Education to get approved, I found out I was selected as a School of Journalism and Broadcasting Ambassador for next year, I had lunch with a visiting professor from Pennsylvania, I had an SUAB exec meeting, followed by a recreation committee meeting, followed by SUAB open mic night..

I only have one class on Friday but somehow it turned into one of my busiest days this week. After my class, I worked the ticket booth, had lunch with some graduate assistant candidates for campus life positions, and made preparations for SUAB Beach Bingo in the snow…. I was nervous that we would have a small turnout because of the weather but we ended up with over 170 people braving the weather to come out and have a good time!

Saturday was pretty relaxed, but Sunday it started back up again. Tour guide meeting at 3, posters and chalking at 4, Creative Lightning Awards at 5, and then finish all my homework for the week.

I’m not sure how I survived but I did and I feel so accomplished for it!

GO POKES!
-Dennis

March 23, 2009

So my spring break was pretty uneventful, which is a good thing, and I actually got pretty productive which is an even better thing! The highlight of my break was my taekwondo tournament this past weekend at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. I flew in on Saturday, fought on Sunday, and ended up getting back yesterday.

In the holding area at Brown.

I’ve been to plenty of taekwondo tournaments, but this one was a unique experience because it was the first time I’ve ever had to lose weight to make a certain weight category. I decided to fight lightweight which meant I had to diet for about a month to make weight. If anyone in your family has ever wrestled or boxed you’re probably familiar with the concept. So basically I spent my spring break in the Colvin Recreation Center sweating. I finally got on weight and then it was time to fly out.

Unfortunately, I lost in the semifinals to the eventual gold medalist, but I qualified for national collegiate team trials to be held later in the year in Colorado Springs, and hopefully I will do better there.

Also, I spent a good portion of my break keeping up with the NCAA basketball tournament. How ‘bout them Cowboys!? It was sad to see them go out against Pitt, but what an exciting game against Tennessee! Congrats to Coach Ford and the team on such a successful season!

GO POKES!
-Dennis

March 9, 2009

That’s right. Spring break is one week away and I couldn’t be more ready for it. The past few weeks have been filled with event-planning, applications, interviews and all kinds of other stuff to keep me busy. This week I have two tests and quite a bit of reading to do. All that basically means that spring break is going to be a much-needed rest. Will it be long enough? Probably not, but I’ll take what I can get.


Chips from last week’s SUAB casino!

My friend and SUAB treasurer, Stephanie, dealing poker at a table of regulars.

Also, last week, my Student Foundation application for next year was due, and I had a mixer as part of the selection process for being an ambassador for the School of Journalism and Broadcasting next year. I have my interview today for that, so hopefully things go well and I can be a part of that great group of students!

One other notable thing coming up in the next few weeks is that the second weekend of spring break I will be travelling to Providence, R.I., to compete at Brown University in the USA Collegiate National Taekwondo Championships. I will be fighting at lightweight which means I will have to watch what I eat over the next two weeks. So wish me luck in that endeavor and look forward to pictures!

GO POKES!
-Dennis

March 2, 2009

So it started looking a little bit more like spring this week in Stillwater, and then winter set back in. It was so nice to be able to wear shorts and just lounge around outside. I absolutely cannot wait for spring break. One, because of the break from the daily grind. And two, because the weather should be permanently springy by then!

Tuesday, was Fat Tuesday, and Student Union Activities Board did it big like SUAB has a habit of doing. We decked out the ballroom with decorations, beads, masks, and 2 hours of live music. It was a blast.

The Fat Tuesday festivities

Wednesday, we opened our first ever student art exhibit and sale, appropriately named Cowboys Create. The event lasted three days and was really well received.

From the exhibit opening

We even made the paper! Here is Devin, SUAB’s historian, setting up for the event.

Friday was Superhero Bingo, and I forgot my camera , but know that it was a blast. Attendees got to make their own capes, several SUAB members dressed up, we gave away a Nintendo DS. Generally, a great time was had by all!

GO POKES!
-Dennis

February 23, 2009

After last week’s post, this week’s might seem kind of boring. Not much actually happened but I assure that doesn’t mean I wasn’t going through the usual grind. On Tuesday and Thursday, I don’t think I was in my room once from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The only things that actually materialized this week was an Student Union Activities Board Casino on Friday and a postering/chalking party for Student Foundation on Sunday. Casino was successful and fun as usual and the posters and chalk are all over campus, so hopefully we will get a good return for Student Foundation New Member Recruitment! But other than that, this past week mostly consisted of planning for this coming week.

Packed house at Casino!

The Student Foundation poster that’s all over campus!

Tuesday, SUAB is planning a Mardi Gras Cultural Dinner to celebrate Fat Tuesday! Wednesday, SUAB is having its first ever student art exhibit and sale called “Cowboys Create.” And then Friday is Superhero Bingo!

So look forward to lots of pictures next week!

Admittedly, it’s hard sometimes to find a balance between extracurricular activities and school work, but I feel like I’ve found it this semester. I’m getting along great with all my professors and doing well in all of my classes. I’m making myself find time to study, which I’ve always had problems with in the past.  Hopefully I can keep it up and dominate through the end of the semester!

GO POKES!
-Dennis