MY PROJECTS
When I'm not working part-time or studying communications, I spend all my free time focusing on these projects. Not only do they keep every day interesting and fresh, but they give me a purpose and fuel my soul.
first up...
Rock
Chalk Revue
Director | 2018 & 2019
Rock Chalk Revue is the largest philanthropy event hosted at the University of Kansas annually since 1949. Each year, a sorority and fraternity join forces to create a 25-minute musical showcasing their creativity through singing, acting, dancing, and artistic abilities. Last year’s show brought in $60,000+ for Habitat for Humanity and the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence
Winners of the 70th Annual RCR Production
How Do You Direct A Musical, Annie?
Funny you should ask. This project is not a guaranteed ticket into the show. Our first semester is spending our free time collaborating with five others to create our show in entirety. This requires a completely new idea, making sure it doesn't resemble any aspect of a previous show within the last ten years. We then develop a 30-page script filled with puns, hilarious characters, and an exciting resolution. This is hands-down my favorite part.
The show also requires us to find three songs to change all the lyrics too--ones that we can all sing and dance to. In addition, we write one original song. As you can imagine, writing a song for a very specific musical is quite difficult. it requires a lot of trips back to the drawing board. I lost sleep over this but when we heard our track after the recording studio and heard the compliments from the judges, we were thrilled.
Up until auditions, we worked 10-12 hours a week preparing to showcase the best five minutes of our show, including songs, dance and of course, script. We created our handmade costumes and ran our show at least 70+ times. Practice makes perfect. And we know that saying is true considering we were one of the five groups picked to show off our beloved creation!
The second semester is full of daily practices for two months straight working with a cast of 50 to bring our show to life. We have to create even more costumes, build an entire set and make sure it's all perfect--all while fundraising for the cause! Handling 50 college students is always a struggle and throughout the two months of preparation, I'm torn between being their leader and being their friend. Telling your friends to be quiet and being the bad guy versus ignoring them to maintain that friendship is tricky but it's a role I chose to have to so sacrifices have to be made.
However, the hour leading up to our opening performance is a feeling unlike any other. I look around and see 50 passionate college students who, regardless of their dancing and singing abilities, came together to create a hilarious production. We all end the third-night reminiscing on our fun-filled hours spent together and collectively decide that we'd do it all over again.
AND NEXT...
Fun Run 101
love funD
color run
Creator & Coordinator | 2015
The Love Fund Color Run is an annual fundraiser which raises money that is donated directly to students and families in need at Shawnee Mission East High School. The run took a whole year to plan and get approved and is now an event hosted every year. I always wanted to leave a legacy as Student Body President and the Color Run is how I did it.
Well, I wish I could write and say there was a rule book I was following or even an event SME had put on in the past I could recreate, but there wasn't. Instead, there were six of us in charge of putting on a new philanthropic event that our school had never done before! With the help of our student council sponsors, our amazing principal, the city of Prairie Village, and the rest of our school's student council, we worked daily to bring to life an event I had envisioned since I was elected student body president.
Although I am writing this now, four years later, it feels like yesterday I was calling and emailing city officials about different city codes, vendors for finding healthy, organic, and affordable colored powder, and walking back and forth to the front office to figure out budgeting with our principal. Although there were over 30 students apart from the student council, only six of us had been given our class period to work on it (roughly six hours a week). In these six hours, we were brainstorming and critiquing ideas. We would split up into teams to talk to different people to make the most of the five-month period we had to plan a 5K walk and run.
In addition to working on coordinating all the details, we had to make this whole event worth it by making sure we had participants. This meant reaching out to all the local elementary and middle schools in our district, hanging flyers, and posters around the greater Prairie Village area, and by encouraging our student body to pay $20 to participate in a run at 7 a.m. Once the event arrived, everything not only went according to plan, but it ended up being a blast and a truly memorable ending to my time at Shawnee Mission East.
Overall, this event taught me that although you may be young and inexperienced, if you have a vision, passion, and motivation for what you're doing, you can accomplish big things. I still remember the day of the event getting on the mic to thank everyone who had come. I couldn't help but choke up describing how much work had gone into this event and how I proud I was of my student council and myself for making a difference in our community.
This project helped me discover who I am through my passion for creativity, event planning and philanthropy--and above all, making people happy. I'm happy to say that the Love Fund Color Run is an annual event put on my Student Council every year at SME.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
G.I.R.L.S.
Academy
Educator & Mentor | 2016-2017
G.I.R.L.S. Academy is a program created and ran by members of Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority on a national level. The idea of G.I.R.L.S. Academy is to empower young women through discussing our five core values: Girls, Inspiring, Respect, Leadership, & Service.
How to impact a young woman
When I was a young girl, I felt different and left out. I wore Beatles and Rolling Stones t-shirts to school as a 4th grader. I never went a day without trying to act as weird and silly as possible with my three best friends. And being different was something I was so proud of as an elementary-aged kid. However, once I transitioned to middle school with more people, I felt the desire to change who I was to conform to the people around me. Being a girl meant being judged and talked about. It meant finding the "popular" group to hang out with if you didn't want to be made fun of. My friends changed and so did my outfits, yet I'm thankful for holding onto that spark that made me stand out. But not every girl can feel the same way as me.
G.I.R.L.S Academy was a way for me to communicate my experiences with young girls going through exactly what I went through. This remarkable program, created and put-on through Kappa Kappa Gamma, allows middle-school girls to come out of their shells, make to new friends through shared experiences and discussions, and help guide them to living a life of respect for women.
As a head mentor, I worked with a group of eight girls through hands-on activities to help better their self-confidence. This weekend retreat consisted of a full day and half of team building games, meaningful discussions, and presentations from outstanding women in the community. Many of these young women grew up in a middle to lower class family and struggled with problems across the board. Had I gone to a retreat like this at their age, I would've gained the confidence they did to openly talk about struggles they have in our everyday lives.
The best part of this retreat was not only the feeling of leaving an impact but seeing these girls create new friendships with other girls from different walks of life, as well as showcasing what they've learned to their families at the end of the program. I was so fun to see how creative these girls were at working together to create a presentation that encompassed everything they learned in the short 24 hours together.
As for me? It became an annual tradition to return to South Middle School in Lawrence, KS to establish thee amazing relationships with young women that reminded me all too much of my younger self.