ASB Formal Report: August and September 2020
Spencer Redula
Freshman Representative
29 September 2020
Position Assessment: In my position, I have completed/currently doing 4 different events, whether it be an interactive event for leadership students or events for the student body, like fall fest. First, I have completed Core Camp and have learned ways to assess situations as a leader and create communication tools. Next, myself and the representatives completed the tee shirt creation and distribution. My design ended up being the finalized shirt and for the distribution I checked and packed every order for tee shirts with Devin Fitzpatrick and Kylee Brown. Thirdly, the leadership students took part in Scott Backovich’s zoom session for rethinking the fundamentals of leadership itself. I learned a great deal of creative ideas to incorporate the Ripon community and how to get interaction on spirit days. Lastly, I am currently working on Fall Fest with the rest of the representatives. I have created a google doc for the decorations for both the door decorating and the truck decorations, and put into 20+ ideas into it.
Position Development: I have participated in/going to do many things this year to further develop my professional skills. Starting from the beginning of the year, Core Camp helped my professional development due to the on the spot questions for creative ideas or creating slideshows, and in this case I presented to the class about increasing communication. Next, I am going to be doing a virtual job interview with a dentist to see how the job works. This helps my professional development because I have to take time to create professional and interview-quality questions with appropriate and relevant information. This also helps my confidence in stressful situations, as most people’s first interview is normally very stressful. Class discussions in and in general participation help me for the future by putting the “fail forward” idea into my head. The more you participate in activities and answering the questions, you will become better at what you are doing and even if you get it wrong you can learn from it and fix it next time, which is really helpful later in life.
Concerns/Change: One thing that I would change about this program is the further implementation of due dates for the freshman representatives. I feel that some people are as motivated to get ahead of the event if there are no weekly or daily due dates, and that would really help for the next freshmen because they have to take care of homecoming and the Halloween dance. I understand that they need to adapt to the new lifestyle of leadership, but those due dates for the first months I think would really help. The freshman year is not hard at all, but with leadership things are constrained time wise so those due dates would really help.
Positive Comment: I have three positive comments for three people so far this year, Niki Nguyen, Kylee Brown, and Devin Fitzpatrick, and one positive comment for the group of freshmen reps. Niki Nguyen has really been the turning point for the group in my opinion, as she has offered tremendous support in helping conflict and planning whose goes where in the group. She is such a hard worker that deserves the best because I can tell she puts so much effort into everything she does and excels at it, which shows what a great role model for myself and many others. Next, Kylee Brown has really put so much effort into leadership and even though people sometimes don’t see it, I really understand the work she puts in. She puts in so many hours that are not required for events and planning that I really appreciate a lot. In addition, her constant positivity really wears off in the conversation and in general, and I really admire that. Thirdly, Devin Fitzpatrick also has a very great work ethic and, similar to Kylee, does a lot for the freshmen representatives by the hours he puts in and the desire to get ahead to get ahead of events and I really appreciate it. Finally, I want to thank the freshmen representatives for being such a responsible group when we need to be. During the conversations we have, we might disagree or get a little bit mad, but in the end, we all apologize if we did anything wrong and don’t act childish if something doesn’t go our way.
My Impact: I have changed the world today by helping and communicating with others on events, homework, designs, and by using the Core Principles in my daily life. Over the past 2 months, I have helped many people in different ways, such as teaching someone a math lesson that they didn’t understand to assisting people for the whole tee shirt operation. Communication is a huge part of success and I believe that I have done a good job at communication so far, from relaying information to the representatives to taking pictures of the ideas and making sure everyone is fine with it. By communicating constantly you can make sure no one is on the wrong page for things and this really helps in the long run. The Core Principles this year have impacted myself and others because I feel more confident in the things that I do and the mindset of “Do it and even if you get it wrong you can learn from it” really has changed me from my 8th grade self. Being accepting to change, for example, is a great thing to keep into your head, so I stay positive for the COVID-19 situation because I know things are changing but it is fine because in the end everything will be back to normal, or at least partially. The impact that I have made on the virtual Ripon campus is by keeping positive when they ask me about something because having that positive attitude really does wear off on others and by also doing this, the campus as a whole becomes a better day by day.
ASB Meeting December
Spencer Redula
Freshman Representative
1 December 2020
Position Assessment: In October and November of 2020, the freshman participated in Fall Fest, the Dude Be Nice Event, and the Gratitude Video. To start, Fall Fest consisted of: door decoration, truck decoration, and tee shirt handouts during the Trunk of Treat event. Door decoration and truck decorations were split up among the freshman reps, with Spencer, Kylee, Devin, and Katie planning and completing the door decoration, while Ava, Payton, Jenna, Jennaveve, and Maddie planned and completed the truck decoration. During the Trunk or Treat, Spencer, Devin, Kylee, and Jenna handed out freshman tee shirts. The Gratitude Video had all of the freshman reps call someone that they thanked and read a letter expressing their thankfulness towards them. Finally, the Dude Be Nice event had the leadership students who did not create a video to write a letter with dad jokes for the dude of the year, Mr. Perez.
Professional Development: For developing my professional skills, going to the CASL leadership conference helped me secure my mindset going into difficult situations. The man who led the zoom was very informative yet intriguing, and showed us how perspective affects the outcome of your actions. A key point he went over during the conference was a picture of black blobs, which no one knew what it resembled. Once he pulled up the actual picture, it was a snake, and immediately the image from the blobs we couldn’t get out of our heads. Since our brains try to make sense of what is in front of us, that could blindside us in other situations. Overall, this was a very great experience and would definitely do it again.
Concerns/Change: The only concern I have for the two prior months and looking ahead is the future of leadership. Since we can’t do events, rallies, and other activities, how can we appeal to the student body to make this year memorable? I have thought about this a lot recently, and the only thing I can think of would be just to be the best role model you can on campus, but even with all of leadership’s help, I still am weary about the overall feeling once the year ends. A positive thing that I did find great was that my friends really enjoyed going back and are completely fine with this because they have found it so fun so far.
Positive Comment: A person I want to talk about that has gone above and beyond these months is definitely Kylee Brown. She has spent so much effort and time into things that she doesn’t have to do. For example, Fall Fest had her doing the door decoration, but she still put so much hours into the truck’s group and even directed them and did most of the work on the day of Trunk or Treat. She put a lot of effort into the door decoration, and was overall really helpful and hardworking throughout these two months.
My Impact: So far with these in-person days, I have tried to make an impact as best as I could by being the best role model I possibly can. I try to make a good impression on everyone I meet so that it wears off on them. I help people with homework, try to be as positive as I can, and other things just to be a great person overall. I once heard that whoever you hang out with wears off on you over time, so I try to use that concept the other way around, because more positive and better students on campus makes life better for everyone.
ASB Meeting February-March
Spencer Redula
Freshman Representative
16 March 2021
Position Assessment: In the months of February and March, things have come to a standstill then jumped right out at us. In February, we had elections and everything with it and writing letters to veterans. The month overall wasn’t that important for whole school events but March came with my responsibilities, with Homecoming, the St. Patrick’s event (clovers), Match-o-Matics, and Coronation . Homecoming as of now is going great as of planning and figuring out what we need to get done at certain times. We have had great timing, really worked together as a team, and had success as of March 16. For Coronation, I am doing the risers, which is the set up and bringing down of it. Match-o-Matics had the reps do a video and a script for the overhead announcements. It wasn’t the successful of an event but I still think we did a great job. Finally, the St. Patrick’s event/clovers is going to be successful, with everything planned out and everything ready for the event.
Professional Development: I have worked to develop my professional skills through Homecoming and the ABC’s packet. Homecoming has allowed me to develop my teamwork skills, communication, and consistency, through constant work and communication with the other reps to make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone is working to their best ability. So far, we have had great success, with everyone putting in a lot of effort and progress is being made. For the ABC’s packet, it really taught me how to manage time. With all of the coloring of the letters and the writing portion, I needed to set out a plan to get it done and efficiently. I think I went above and beyond by finishing it 2-3 weeks before the deadline, but I am glad I did it early so I could focus on other tasks I had to do.
Concerns/change: With Homecoming right around the corner, I have 1 worry about it, the feeling by the student body. Of course they will be appreciative of what we made of a COVID Homecoming, but if a lot of students don’t like it, I think I have failed to think of better ideas and ways for Homecoming to help the student body.
Positive Comment: Someone who has truly gone above and beyond these months and I would like to thank is Kylee Brown, as well as the reps in general. Kylee has put so much effort and so much hours into coronation and Homecoming and has really taken the lead in it. Even with playing softball and having practice everyday, she puts countless hours into Homecoming to make sure it comes out great. Next, I want to thank the reps in general for their great work throughout these weeks. We have really gotten along very well and have worked very productively together.
My Impact: Being in school for these two months have really given me many opportunities to help the class in any way possible. Helping people with teaching them lessons they didn’t understand, telling them the dates for certain events or practices, etc. Being in school really opens my opportunity to help, and I think I really used this over these two month to help anyone who needed it.