Sam Houston State University - A Member of The Texas State University System
Rec Club Members attended the AORE conference in Snowbird Utah during the week of November 7-11, 2012. According to AORE’s website, “The AORE Annual Conference gathers outdoor recreation and education professionals and students from college/university programs, military recreation and public parks & recreation to come together each year for networking, professional development and information sharing opportunities." The conference offers educational sessions, skills workshops and certifications, keynote addresses and peer networking opportunities at a unique conference site each fall. It is the premier place for current professionals, students and vendors to interact and stay on top of this dynamic and growing field. SHSU students Eddy Numa, Mairéad O’Hara, and Juan Bonilla attended the conference in hopes of finding an internship, or graduate assistant outdoor program with one of the various universities represented at the conference. Currently, these students work with the Outdoor Program at SHSU, each serving in various areas of the multifaceted program. They aspire to stay involved in the outdoor community and intend to pursue careers in the outdoor job market. Attending this conference, provided an opportunity to network with peers and business associates from around the U.S., and gave them a sense of how the Outdoor industry works.
Student development focusing on professionalism and skill enhancement is a very important focus in the Outdoor Program at SHSU. These students have demonstrated these qualities, through the dedication and involvement each has maintained in the SHSU Outdoor program.
"All of the students agreed that a big reward out of the trip was getting an opportunity to see how other school programs function, and how to apply it to SHSU’s program. Going to this conference was a really big chance to live the life less ordinary, and to help lead students into adventure and discovery."
submitted by: Jacob Luna
The Agriculture Future of America conference pulls top students from universities across the USA and prepares them to be the future of the Agricultural Industry. This was my second year to attend, and I would not have been able to attend without funding assistance from the Vice President for Student Services office at Sam Houston State University.
This year’s conference focused on the recently released study concerning the expanding world population. By 2050, population is expected to reach 9 billion with most of that growth occurring in areas that are already in poverty. This focus struck a chord with me as I have a passion for international development and markets as well as feeding hungry people. The conference’s slogan this year was “Follow Passion, Take Action”. This inspired me to be more than a talker when it comes to my dreams and to take action to make them come in to fruition."
Agriculture is the future of the survival of the human race. Advances are being made with crop technology as well as production methods to help meet the needs of the growing population. Some of these advances are controversial in the public’s eyes (i.e. Genetically Modified Organisms) but are necessary to meet future needs. Consumers must be educated on the technology before we make up our minds about advances. We must also have an educated government, as they are the policymakers that make decisions regarding environmental and other concerns. It is for this reason that I am pursuing a Government Relations internship on Capitol Hill this summer.
My main takeaway from this conference is that there has never been a more exciting time to be involved in agriculture. A changing world, growing population and hungry people give individuals the opportunity to make the world a better place.
submitted by: Mike Meyer, Ben Nilles and Deuce Ultimate
The team benefited greatly from going on this trip. We played 6 games throughout the weekend and it is all thanks to the funding assistance received from the VP for Student Services.
We played teams that we would normally never see at other local tournaments which allowed us to learn new ways of playing the game and improve our team. The monies received helped pay for travel and lodging expenses. The hotel that we stayed at was 5 minutes from the playing fields.
Since the tournament we have implemented some of the new strategies that we saw this past weekend in our practices and hope to utilize them at our next tournament in Houston.
- Mike Meyer, Ben Nilles and Deuce Ultimate
submitted by: Sam Houston Advertising Club
The students who attended the AAF confernce in Washington, D.C. on October 24-26, 2012, were able to gain knowledge about the field of advertising and numerous internship and scholarship opportunities for the club members. They also brought back critical information for the club to use in the National Student Advertising Competition coming up in April.
They were able to attend many panel discussions on professional development, resume building, and networking. It was a look right into the minds of advertising CEO's and creative and account directors. They were able to bring back information regarding internships available to Sam Houston State University students,and inform the Advertising Club sponsor, Renee Gravois Lee, concerning scholarships available this fall to club members.
In addition to the professional development tips and information, the students were also able to attend a panel discussion given by National Student Advertising Competition sponsor. They provided information concerning accessing secondary research for the competition, giving the university a “one-up” on the competition. This information will be extremely important when building the campaign for the competition next semester. We expect, with this new information, to be able to take the highest quality of work to the judges.
submitted by: Sam Houston Advertising Club
The two-day educational event gathers college-level advertising students from more than 15 universities across Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
The first day of the competition challenged students to develop a comprehensive advertising and marketing campaign to meet the needs of a real client, Academy Sporting Goods. Each student team, comprised of students from multiple universities, had only one eight-hour work day to create a successful campaign that addressed the client’s needs. The teams prepared both a written report of their recommendations and a short video pitch for the judges —practitioners from the advertising industry.
Of the SHSU students who competed, Elanie Marcontell, Marketing student and the President of the Sam Houston Advertising Club, and Kenneth Smith, Graphic Design student, earned top honors as members of the third place team.
“This competition has been one of the best experiences of my undergraduate career. Working with students from different colleges and building a whole advertising campaign in only eight hours was an invaluable learning experience that I know will pay off in the future,” said Marcontell.
The second day of the conference focused on career planning and professional development, featuring a resume and portfolio review by industry professionals and lectures by leaders in the advertising field. “ It was extremely helpful to have my resume reviewed by someone in the field of my interest. In school, teachers can only give you a certain amount of feedback on your resume before you send it into the real world. A professional perspective gave me insights to what companies really look for in an applicant and resume. This interaction between professionals and students is something this university should strongly welcome moving toward the future.” Charles “Rhett” Martin.
Special thanks to the Student Service Fee Travel Fund and the Department of Marketing and Management for making this all possible.