Lessons Learned Planning My First Work Event

Last Friday I coordinated a board meeting that happens twice a year. It was a great experience, although a somewhat crazy couple of days.


What I Learned:

1. In the planning stage, ask several different people for their advice and opinions about event details and needs. The more well-informed you are, the less often you'll have to guess when making decisions.
2. Type out detailed written requests to caterers, hotels, etc. Talk to them on the phone or in person, and then follow up with the details in an email. I am grateful to have exact records for clarity and future reference.
3. As a follow-up to number 2, caterers don't necessarily do the things that you expect them to do (even if you have confirmed and triple-checked).
4. Before the event, stock refills as close to the place where they will actually be used as possible. For me, keeping non-refrigerated snack refills under the serving table was extremely helpful, and the extra chairs in an adjacent closet was a great time/stress-saver as well.
5. People like helping, so give them specific tasks to be in charge of (details and a reminder right before the event are helpful)...but don't be a diva, and be sure to thank them afterwards.
6. Beware: it is indeed possible to accidentally stab yourself with a ballpoint pen.
7. Alarms, "calendarized" to-do lists and calendars are absolutely essential. There are entirely too many things for any person to keep track of in their brain alone.
8. It is completely likely that people will drink more coffee than your overestimation of how much they could possibly drink. (Hello, last-minute brewing!)
9. People may actually show up 45 minutes early. (This never happens in my world, so it was a shock.)
10. Plans, hotel reservations and catering orders can be canceled in 2 minutes...a little shocking compared to the hours it took to make the plans. Just let it go.
11. A good event-planning motto: Try your best, but if something goes wrong, life will go on. 

Does anyone else have good lessons or advice for new event-planners?

76 Things I Learned During College (in South Carolina)

1. College is as much a time of academic education as it is life education
2. What a frocket is
3. It’s awesome to become so comfortable in your skin that you don't feel like wearing makeup
4. Tents should not be left overnight in stadium stands (hello, wind)
5. How to swingdance (kinda)
6. The importance of good t-shirt design
7. How amusing autocorrect and parents’ texts really are
8. The deliciousness of kahlua and peppermint schnapps
9. The value of quality hiking and running companions
10. The lyrics to 'Wagonwheel'
11. How to care for 13 infants at once (with assistance, don’t worry)
12. The definition of rhetoric (I like Aristotle’s interpretation best—Comm major problems)
13. The appropriateness of "FU all the time" as a greeting (Go Paladins)
14. The value of learning about yourself from roommates
15. How to navigate while driving
16. How great ratatouille is: not just the movie but the food as well
17. About southern Africa: its beauty and its struggles
18. How to pin and tweet things (and automate them using Hootsuite)
19. The Humane Society is a great source of no-strings-attached stress relief
20. How to use a rowing machine
21. About the glamour of Alabama debutante balls
22. The effectiveness of baked goods at placating college boys
23. What croakies are
24. The power of a dedicated teacher to make topics interesting and accessible
25. The deliciousness of peaches bought on the side of the road
26. How great the music produced on The Voice is
27. What it's like to race 25 laps around a track: woo hoo 10k!
28. How to make pesto
29. The importance of a good wifi signal just when you need it
30. How to stay safe around hyenas
31. The difficulty and value of saying no
32. The catchiness of Nicki Minaj
33. If you’re hungry, pasta is ALWAYS a good option
34. How many people have heard of Anna Maria Island
35. Just how great it is to drive around belting along to the radio with the windows down
36. The wonders of double-decker buses, the metro and the T
37. How awesome gingers are
38. The freshman 15 are real: beware
39. The correct pronunciation of "chi"
40. How to French kiss
41. The frightening pervasiveness of stereotypes
42. The legitimacy of babysitting as a career
43. How to use Stata
44. How little time there is for television
45. It is possible to look 12 when you are 21 years old: unfortunate
46. How to maintain relationships through Skype
47. How to produce a video
48. How funny Jen Lancaster's books are
49. Jeremiah 29:11 is true
50. A resume can never be perfect
51. The amusement provided by "BadLipReading" on YouTube
52. Facebook is a legitimate resume skill
53. Looks really are only skin-deep
54. Mean Girls, Finding Nemo, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and The Emperor's New Groove are always quotable
55. How to fishtail and rope braid
56. Coffee can definitely enable the production of quality work
57. Trail half-marathons are tough
58. Trips to Waffle House at 1 am are always a good idea =)
59. The entertainment value of wheeled chairs
60. When you get the chance, GO and DO
61. $4 flowers from Publix always make your day a little happier
62. How to paint a cooler, formal-style
63. Sororities are not like the movies
64. Sororities are sometimes like the movies
65. Always surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable
66. How to make great pumpkin bread
67. Some of the best shenanigans occur while "studying in the library"
68. The usefulness of Chacos
69. Puns are always good
70. Poverty is systemic and way more complex than most people think
71. It really is a bad idea to procrastinate cleaning out the chocolate fountain after a party
72. The importance of internships
73. How to use film cameras...and manual settings and developer and fix
74. The beauty of He Is We's music
75. Pinterest projects are always better when you actually do them ;)
76. How to appreciate my blessings (always a work in progress)

And Some Added by Friends:
77. Ms. Felicia (the cafeteria lady) is always a good source of hair inspiration -Allison
78. To not write songs about girls you're dating -Jay
79. Mattresses make great slides and boats -Ben

Feel free to add your own or share which things you identify with most!

How to Travel as Cheaply as Humanly Possible: From a Barely College Grad

Because I really like traveling--blame my mother for passing along the bug--and there are a lot of great options out there, I spend as little money as possible on my travels: like four-full-days-in-DC-for-$120-total cheap (including splitting rides to and from South Carolina with friends and H&M and Forever 21 purchases).

Here are my favorite ways to travel using very little cash:

1. Network: If you’re like me, you probably have at least a few friends or family members who live in cool places and would be happy to let you stay for a couple days. Free “hotel”! Be sure to not overstay your welcome and either bring a gift, or cook or take them out for a meal.
2. Megabus: I took Megabus last summer from DC to New York City to Boston and back after a friend’s recommendation. Even after an overnight ride from Boston to DC, I am still thoroughly in love with this company. Bonus: we didn’t have to pay for a hotel room!
3. Frequent: Start hotel loyalty accounts and frequent flyer accounts now. The miles and points will add up over time and be useful later. I can’t wait until I have enough to go somewhere new for almost free!
4. Squirrel: Since most airlines no longer provide food, take food with you to the airport so you won’t get stuck paying inflated prices when you get hungry. Be sure not to bring anything liquid that you’ll have to throw away when you go though security. The temporary extra weight in your bag is totally worth it, and honestly, strangers often tell me that my food looks delicious and ask where I got it.
5. DC: Visiting the capitol is my favorite. There are so many great free things around the National Mall that I never get bored. In addition to all the museums and monuments, I recently discovered the free shows at the Kennedy Center and explored the National Zoo and the National Botanic Garden. There are free lockers in several of the museums, as well! Plus, the metro is wonderful and easy to use: get the free metro app and decide if a pass may be a better option than pay-as-you-go.
6. H2O: Carry a reusable water bottle that you can fill up at water fountains instead of paying for drinks. If water’s not your thing, keep instant coffee (I love Starbucks Via iced coffee!) or flavor packets handy.
7. Allegiant: This airline offers ridiculously cheap flights to select locations in the US…as in, you can fly for $40 if you only take one bag that fits under your seat. Heads up, they do now charge for carry-ons to keep costs low.
8. Study: If your school has a good study abroad program that you can fit into your schedule, do it! It will likely cost much less than if you traveled solo, plus you won’t have to make as many arrangements for your trip. Keep in mind that you’ll have less freedom.
9. Carry-On: If you can fit all of your clothes and items into a small bag, you can either bring it for free or much less than a standard checked bag. Bonus: you don’t have to wait around at baggage claim and they can’t possibly lose your luggage!
10. Layover: Make layovers into free mini-vacations, either exploring the airport or taking a few hours out-and-about! I’ve had great layovers in Tokyo, Dubai, NYC, Las Vegas and Paris.
11. Lunch: If you're eating out, choose to go for lunch instead of dinner or just choose a nicer option for lunch than dinner since prices are lower. Then, you can try a cool food stand, cook at a friend's place or pack a picnic for dinner for fun and savings.
12. Cruise: If you find an inexpensive cruise and don’t drop money on excursions (plan your own for much less), then you get lodging, food, transportation and entertainment all-in-one. Your biggest cost is likely to be the transportation to the cruise port, so use sites like Kayak to find the cheapest flights.
13. PB: If you can handle peanut butter sandwiches a couple times over the course of a week, buy a loaf of bread and a jar at the beginning of your trip—it can serve as breakfast, snack, or lunch and costs nearly nothing! Don’t forget plastic knives and ziploc bags.
14. Carpool: Find a bunch of friends willing to split gas and drive somewhere awesome! Take a day trip, or even get a hotel room: things cost much less split four ways.

Happy travels, friends!

About the Author: In the last 14 months, through school events, family trips and using babysitting money, Jessica has traveled to San Antonio, TX, Columbia, SC, Cincinnati, OH, New York City, NY, Boston, MA, Nashville, TN, Switzerland, Paris, France, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Atlanta, GA, Bristol, TN, Washington DC, and Alaska. She graduated from Furman University in May 2013.

Senioritis

As I'm entering my final week of my Furman career (wow, that feels strange), I'd like to share some of my favorite papers from this school year.


The first discusses "senioritis" as anomie (sociology nerds rejoice!). If you're like me, you probably know someone who has faced senioritis: I didn't think it was real until it hit me this fall (don't worry, I bounced back pretty quickly). If you've never heard of anomie, don't worry, I hadn't either until this year, but it's a fascinating concept. Fastforward to paragraph 4 if you can't handle the suspense.

Anomy and the Dreaded Malady, Senioritis
“I’m so burnt out!” This phrase, indicative of senioritis, is commonly heard from fourth-year college students during their last year of formal schooling. Emile Durkheim’s concept of “anomy” is the sociological basis for the fictitious disease “senioritis,” with symptoms including expressions of frustration and lack of motivation towards schoolwork and other activities. I will discuss Durkheim’s thoughts on moral regulation, anomy and its negative effects, then I will discuss the modern phenomenon of college “senioritis” and show why senioritis is a modern instance of anomy.


Many college seniors struggle with unhappiness. Durkheim shares the secret to happiness in his essay on “Suicide:”

No living being can be happy or even exist unless his needs are sufficiently proportioned to his means. If his needs require more than can be granted, or even merely something of a different sort, they will be under continual friction and can only function painfully ([1897] 2012:255).
Expectations are very important for determining our level of effort, the things that we strive for, and the way that we interpret daily circumstances. If our expectations are incompatible with our capabilities, then we will not be able to fulfill our desires and will therefore be unhappy. What blinded him to himself was his expectation always to find further on the happiness he had so far missed…Weariness alone, moreover, is enough to bring disillusionment, for he cannot in the end escape the futility of an endless pursuit. ([1897] 2012:262)

Durkheim continues on to say “Inextinguishable thirst is constantly renewed torture….Human activity naturally aspires beyond assignable limits and sets itself unattainable goals ([1897] 2012:256).” Since individually instinctually strive for lofty things, we can only really be happy and avoid the torture and suffering of an “inextinguishable thirst” if an outside force limits our aspirations. Durkheim states, “But how determine the quantity of well-being, comfort or luxury legitimately to be craved by a human being? Nothing appears in man’s organic nor his psychological constitution which sets a limit to such tendencies ([1897] 2012:256).” Man needs society because he cannot limit his own desires. Individuals must be morally regulated by society in order to have realistic expectations and have an enjoyable life.

Though freedom from regulation may seem ideal, it actually leads to a harmful state. When society fails to regulate individuals’ aspirations, individuals will eventually realize that it is impossible to achieve the things that they desire or thought that they should strive towards. After a long period of striving, individuals may take a moment to analyze their endless yet futile attempts to do well, and realize that their goals are entirely impossible and that they don’t know what they should actually be striving for. With the realization that goals are unreachable comes negative results such as discomfort, distress and anomy.

Anomy is a condition where the absence of moral regulation from society causes deep distress because humans naturally aspire to achieve beyond realistic limits and do not develop appropriate goals. As an extreme example of the detrimental effects of anomy, one of the three types of suicide is named “anomic suicide” because of its close relationship to the concept of anomy. Anomic suicide results from an individual’s intense desire to escape suffering because of a lack of regulation from society and leads the individual to voluntarily end their life.

One situation in which individuals often strive for unrealistic goals is in college. College students face many demands and recommendations. They feel pressure to achieve good grades and do things such as hold leadership positions, be involved in multiple extracurricular activities (for example Greek life and sports teams), have time to hang out with friends, get enough sleep and exercise, keep in touch with family, and participate in religious activities. Particularly for students attending competitive schools or seeking to enter prestigious graduate schools or jobs, the “expectations” that they strive to fulfill are entirely unrealistic and disappointment is inevitable. For the vast majority of students, there are simply not enough hours in the day to do all of these things well. Every student simply cannot be good at every part of the college workload and “experience.” Therefore, students must either decide not to pursue or prioritize some aspects of the “ideal college experience” (but as Durkheim says, humans naturally strive beyond their natural limits) or they will end up trying to do everything well and eventually fail and become distressed. This distress will cause them to question why they participate in and strive for all of their goals, and leads to disillusionment and deeper unhappiness.

One can never truly be happy when they are striving towards unfeasible goals, because even if they get relatively closer to their goal, they will always be far away from completion. Durkheim describes the misleading and upsetting nature of striving towards unreachable goals: “Even the glances behind and our feeling of pride at the distance covered can cause only deceptive satisfaction, since the remaining distance is not proportionately reduced ([1897] 2012:256).” After three years in college, students have generally participated in numerous group projects, done research projects and papers, held a leadership position on campus, possibly held a job, participated on a sports team or done other activities while going about their everyday life. When senior year begins or progresses, students become disillusioned as the list of tasks for classes and organizations goes on and on, in addition to the new list of chores in order to prepare for the next step after college, continuing on to either graduate school or a job. The transition period of the beginning of senior year through graduation is a time of planning, deadlines, anticipation, stress, and apprehension about the next phase of life. Though this transition adds extra tasks and pressure for students, senioritis can be experienced before senior year, depending on the individual and factors such as their level of ambition, skill, involvement and pressure from family and friends.

“Senioritis” is a fictional disease that describes an unpleasant phenomenon felt by many fourth-year college students. Senioritis has become a widely-accepted term among students and it is often discussed. Even seniors who are not disillusioned with school may use the idea of senioritis as a scapegoat as a way to justify being lazy. US News and World Report describes different types and various symptoms of senioritis while providing tips to combat this malady (McMullen 2011). Several definitions of senioritis are given in the article “5 Tips to Battle College Senioritis (McMullen 2011).” They include "a general apathy toward school work that is developed after years of schooling at an institution," feeling “overwhelmed by the pressure to both succeed in class and prepare for life after college,” and students who have come to prioritize spending time with friends over work (McMullen 2011). The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines senioritis as “an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades (Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2011).” The dictionary also states that the first known use of senioritis was in 1957, several generations back (Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2011). A USA Today College article entitled “Diagnose your Senior-itis” classifies types of senioritis as differing by the student’s answer to the question “What are you doing next year?” on levels of definitiveness and impressiveness of plans and the level of marketability of the student’s degree (Wall 2011). When students are expected to do everything well and realize either during the school year that this is impossible or that graduation seems to continually loom far in the distance, they may stop trying and start whining about school. 

Most seniors face pressure from parents, peers, graduate schools, and employers to be involved in many different activities and areas and to do well in all of them. Rather than regulating the individual’s expectations, societal forces encourage unrealistic expectations that will inevitably lead to distress. Eventually, lots of these students realize that they are either not doing as well in classes as they would like, not spending as much time with friends as they want to, they don’t really enjoy time spent on their extracurricular activities, or they are simply tired of always being tired. With this realization can come distress and general indifference towards school, and a sense of general distress like “anomy.” 

When discussing anomic division of labor, Durkheim says “a state of anomie is impossible wherever organs solidly linked to one another are in sufficiently lengthy contact ([1893] 2012:240).” This means that he believes the depressing state of deregulation cannot occur when individuals are connected to each other. I disagree, because through complaining with friends about the demands and unrealistic expectations of senior year can lessen distress, it cannot guarantee that one will escape the distress of anomie.

Clearly, senioritis is a detrimental challenge faced by many fourth-year college students. The realization that one’s goals are impossible to achieve causes distress and devastation among students. Senioritis is a modern instance of anomy. College students are told by friends, family, popular culture, and that they can “do it all,” but the simultaneous achievement of all these goals is simply impossible. Society’s “organ,” the college institution, fails to regulate students’ goals, and therefore by the end of four years in college, students experience the distress of senioritis as a result of striving towards unattainable goals.

Though senioritis does not generally cause anomic suicide (as Durkheim discussed), results may include undesirable things such as lower grades, high levels of emotional and physical stress, and a variety of unhealthy coping mechanisms (with negative effects). The only currently known cure for senioritis is graduation, but what happens when individuals face the next round of unrealistic expectations after college? Are we really content to simply acknowledge the fact that many college seniors experience disillusionment and distress that cause a lack of motivation towards the end of college? What can we do to stop this detrimental cycle?

The dreaded malady “senioritis” is a clear 21st century example of the concept of anomy, as originally discussed by Emile Durkheim in the late 1800s. When students finally realize that they cannot actually “do it all” like they have been told throughout their lives by family, friends, schools, and popular culture, they experience the anomic distress of senioritis. We must find a way to encourage more realistic expectations among college students so that they can finish their senior years well. If students are given healthy perspectives through the moral regulation of society, they can graduate with good grades and more importantly, happiness and energy to continue on to the next phase of life after college.

REFERENCES
Durkheim, Emile. 1893. “The Division of Labor in Society.” Pp. 220-242 in 3rd ed. Classical Sociological Theory, edited by C. Calhoun, G. Gerteis, J. Moody, S. Pfaff and I. Virk. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Durkheim, Emile. 1897. “Suicide.” Pp. 255-264 in 3rd ed. Classical Sociological Theory, edited by C. Calhoun, G. Gerteis, J. Moody, S. Pfaff and I. Virk. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. “Senioritis.” Web. Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved October 24, 2012. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/senioritis).
McMullen, Laura. November 18, 2011. US News and World Report. “5 Tips to Battle College Senioritis.” Retrieved October 25, 2012. (http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/11/18/5-tips-to-battle-college-senioritis).
Wall, Elizabeth. April 18, 2011. USA Today College. “Diagnose Your Senioritis.” Retrieved October 25, 2012. (http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/blog/diagonose-your-senioritis).

Allons-y!

It's tomorrow. Or today, depending on how technical you want to be. I can't believe I'm going back to Africa as a hiatus from my classes in Furman Hall, my workouts in the PAC, and my time in the DH...it's incredibly surreal. As cliche as it is, this trip is sure to be life-changing.

It has been so great to spend time with many of my marvelous Furman friends this week and weekend. I am so grateful for my college friendships. It was certainly nice to have fake "Valentine's" dinner on Saturday as well, on my 21-monthaversary with my sweet boyfriend. After presenting the Pecha Kucha on psychological attachment styles, submitting the paper on Raisin in the Sun as Aristotelian tragedy, taking the photography test that got moved up 2.5 hours due to imminent sleet and hail, completing the paper on the Gates Foundation, and perusing Linda Richter's article on AIDS orphan tourism, I'm very much ready to stare at some in-flight movies and maybe even do some Sudoku.

I wish I could say that I've finished packing, but I'm not quite there yet...40 pounds for 9 weeks--bring it on!

Feeling so excited. And scared. And happy. And blessed. And a little crazy.

Off to the bottom of Africa, 7 hours ahead of my east-coast USA friends. See you in April.

Africa, Week Two

My goodness, it has been a long two weeks.

On Tuesday, I finally got overwhelmed by the amount of homework, the intimidating time and energy commitment required for sorority recruitment, and the whole mess of future-planning (job-searching and housing research). It started to make me feel a little crazy (crazier than usual). Thank goodness God's in charge and He will provide. I took a quick run out in the healing rain and it was most lovely.

Class-wise, this week we read the Crucible (still dislike), A Raisin in the Sun (cool!) and Siszwe Banzi is Dead (super interesting, plus our professor did his dissertation on Althol Fugard). We looked at lots of images by South African photographers. We watched "I Am Because We Are."

Tayla, Margaret and Katherine accompanied me on several runs. We made it through a lot of rain. I did a lot of strategic sorority socializing and I made my second-ever bar appearance with my Dgroup. I spoke in front of approximately 600 people and I felt fine: a vast improvement from my freshman days in public speaking. I cannot quite believe I will never have times quite like this weekend with my sorority sisters again, and that I am leaving for Africa in only seven days: my goodness.

I processed two big questions in a preparatory exercise this week:

• What types of contributions are needed by the world at this point in history?

People need to really love and sacrifice for others. We need to live according to God's will. We need to figure out tangible things we can do to help others on a regular basis. We need to live boldly, and trust without being constantly fearful.

• What does the world need less of?

Selfishness, suffering, inequality, poverty, entitlement, ignorance, malnourishment, waste, trash, laziness, fear.

Off to pack and finish three papers and a group project. 'Til next time!

Introduction to an African Adventure

Last week felt about a month long, but it wasn't unpleasant. Just one week ago I started four new classes sure to teach me more than just facts to be memorized. I'm in reading, papers and projects up to my ears (with the addition of many hours simultaneously spent on sorority recruitment), but I am blissfully happy. I'm combating senioritis Furman-style by traveling to southern Africa for 9 weeks, but there is a lot of preparation to be done before we leave. God is so good.

I am taking:

1. Poverty and Child Development: a psychology course
2. Global Health Inequalities: a sociology course with one of my absolute favorite professors on a topic that I care deeply about
3. Travel Photography (with a documentary focus): where I will learn to apply the technical principles from my film photography class using my beloved new manual point-and-shoot (Canon Powershot SX260 HS) with 20x zoom
4. The Stage, Theory and Social Struggle: a drama-for-social-change class with an adorable Nigerian professor who did his dissertation on apartheid literature

The highlights so far:
-The people, both professors and fellow students, are wonderful. I am so thankful for the chance to form and develop close relationships with the 24 individuals involved in my study-abroad experience.
-The Danger of a Single Story: a great TEDtalk that hit me like a ton of bricks. Even though I've traveled extensively and even been to several parts of Africa before, I am still guilty of having an oversimplified view of the Africa--one that highlights the suffering over all else and evokes "patronizing pity." This is a particularly important message for those doing relief work to digest.
-The Babies documentary: man, I love babies. The world is a beautiful place, with so many different people raising their youngsters.
-A Closer Walk: AIDS documentary. If you haven't watched it, you need to. We need to care for our fellow humans.
-I spent a lot of time exploring REI with my sweet roommate in order to use a gift card that was a present from American Leprosy Missions, my internship for the summer and fall (miss them!)...REI has a lot of things I didn't even know existed: so useful! Watch out world, I now own a pocket knife ;)

I'll leave you with the verse that started it all: Acts 7:3.
"Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.'"

On January 28th, I will go.