Meet the Student Coordinators

We had our first-ever PSEO Orientation / Class Registration day yesterday!  It was the hottest day of the year (heat index 110-115 degrees!) and we ran into a few snafus, but in general had a very successful day.  PSEO stands for Post Secondary Enrollment Option and it's basically a program in which high school students can attend college classes while they are still in high school.  It's a very smart idea to participate in this program because the state picks up the tuition bill for all public school students (and usually private school students as well; they just have to go through an extra step to get approved for funding). College credit for free?  Um, okay!

Rather than review every painstaking detail of the day, I thought I'd introduce you to my Student Coordinators for Orientation!  Every year (can I say "every year" if it's only the second year in a row?) I hire three students to serve as unofficial interns for Orientation for the whole school year.  It's about a yearlong commitment of working behind the scenes of Orientation.  These students help to recruit, interview and select our Orientation Leaders (OLs).  They help plan OL Training and, of course, Orientation itself.  

The current Student Coordinators were hired in November.  I mentioned that I usually hire three students, but this year I hired four because we had such outstanding candidates!   Lauren, Lance, Chuck, and Kaylee play a huge role in the success of Orientation.  And they certainly liven thing up in the office, considering Schwarm Commons looks like this in the summer: 

  

Annnnnd it's 10:52 am.  Granted we're always a little slow on Fridays, but there is hardly a soul in my building.  That's one of the many reasons I love the Student Coordinators. 

Meet Lauren:

 

 

As you can probably tell, Lauren is a hoot! I've know her since September of 2008, when I first started working at Miami Hamilton and she was a brand new freshman.  She got involved with Campus Activities Committee (aka CAC, the group that I advise), and she and I have worked together ever since.  She's been the President of CAC for two years, an Orientation Leader for one year and a Student Coordinator for two.  This summer is Lauren's last big shebang with Miami Hamilton, as she's relocating to Oxford in the Fall.  Sadness!  We'll miss her so much!

Lance is another student who has been around for a while.  He plays a prominent role in the "Student Involvement Video 2010-2011" which I will try to post at some point if I can ever figure out how to upload it to youtube.  Lance has been super involved for the past few years and is just about the most positive, upbeat person I know.  As a nontraditional student and a veteran, he brings a unique perspective to the planning of Orientation, and we are  lucky to have him!  Meet Lance:

 

 

Lance loves to crouch down and point in photos.  

Chuck is the resident "ginger" and extremely proud of it.  He has taken the reins of CAC as our president for the upcoming year and he has the most Miami Hamilton pride of anyone I know.  I think he might have been the one to coin the phrase "Miami Hami Fami" (Miami Hamilton Family), and he's known to work this phrase into daily conversations.  He has an uncanny ability to get people laughing and pumped up about Orientation. Meet Chuck:

 

Why yes, that is Chuck getting his head shaved. 

Our final Student Coordinator is Kaylee.  Kaylee is a Nursing student and has been an Orientation Leader for two years.  She is as sweet as they come and has been on several mission trips, including her latest trip to Gambia, Africa.  Kaylee is awesome at making confirmation phone calls and updating our many, MANY Orientation session sheets for each program.  Meet Kaylee:

And there they are.  The four Student Coordinators of 2010-2011.  And they ROCK!  Gratuitous group shot, anyone?  

What a group!  Lauren, Chuck, moi, Kaylee & Lance!