Here is Year Three. If you remember any stories and want to include them please post in the comments section.
Building: Donahue Hall
Dean of Student Life: Larry Siegel
Dir. of Res. Life: Annie Ciaraldi
Dir. of Res. Operations: Greg Wilder
RDs - B: Bonnie Maitland - C: Danielle Cochrane - E: Ramya Kumar - F: Derek Costa - L: Kim "Wicked Crazy" McFerran & Andy Lapp Sh: Kishshana Palmer - Sm: Andy Lapp & Hassan Borhot
Kishshana didn't show up for her first two days of work and Kim showed us that she was completely crazy. Kim had more stories than anyone I had ever met. She took crazy to a level that I could not even comprehend. At NACA she made me so uncomfortable that I slept in my car at a McDonald's instead of in my room. Thankfully she went out drinking with staff the night before Winter Opening and was promptly fired. Plus she really had a bad smell to her. :( Bonnie & I rescued the building. We got the mess ready for Andy who did an excellent job getting Leitch to a good place. Kishshana on the other hand didn't care about UML one bit. She thought this was going to be a blow off job. Thankfully she left at the end of May too. Though she screwed Bonnie by not paying her the money she owed her.
Bonnie and I continued our not really trusting each other work relationship. It didn't do any harm, but it definitely did help either of us. Danielle did a pretty good job over in Concordia though she was wicked burnt out by the end. Hassan filled in pretty well over in Smith and Ramya did a great job in Eames that led to jobs at Michigan State and now Arizona State.Derek had perhaps the worst year an RD could ever had. First semester they had four fires that were caused by an arsonist. Everyone's lives in Fox were disrupted for a solid month. Finally they did a big article and The Connector and it stopped for the rest of first semester. Second semester came and they didn't have any other major problems until Larry & Annie went on vacation for Spring Carnival week. A student died from unknown(to me) causes. There were lots of rumors of drug usage and alcohol. Who knows, but Derek was one of the first people on the scene and that has to have an affect on him every day. The next night they had another fire set by an arsonist and they caught him. Unfortunately it was caused by one of the Fox RAs Brendan Pollard. I hope he has gotten a ton of help because he was crazy. How the fuck can you put 500+ lives in jeopardy like that. He is one of the charter members of people that creep Greg out and will never get a second chance in my book. There is only two other members if you are wondering. Miraculously the Fox Hall Staff pulled through and I think that Derek did a better job than the year before when he got the RD of the year.
My Staff: ARD - Niamh Brady RAs - John Harrison, Mariel Tejada, Tricia Ryan, Bryan Wint, Rosie Lankowski, Kendra Godzyk, Josh Loiselle, Diana Crowell, Kristen Czarnecki, Mike Bonosaro, Jason Iovanna, Colleen Brady, Sylvia Aguilar & Daniel Callahan
Everyone on this staff was so incredible in their own unique way. John Harrison was the Student Senate President and everyone thought he was going to be a major problem. He learned to love Res. Life and the Donahue Staff became his family. He did a freakish cry/laugh thing and told a great story about a pooping raccoon. I was glad that I got to work with him as he taught me a ton. Colleen Brady was well Colleen Brady. She started "Shit Surprise" for the staff. It became our staff motto. Sylvia was our youngest looking older person. She is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She had such a cute accent. Mike left mid year for Afghanistan which turned out to be a lost semester in New Jersey. Thankfully. Diana had a rough exterior that we slowly chipped through and she was a great office worker. Josh was our computer guy who was loved by each and everyone of his residents. Daniel took over for Sylvia mid semester and continued his quest to be the funniest guy on the planet. He did so many off the wall things that it was hard to keep up. Breaking the security booth chair was probably the worst of it. Kristen (Ciznerski) did a great job as an RA. It was weird working with someone who I had put on probation during her first year in Leitch. She and I had many long conversations about family, religion, boys and other fun life events.
Tricia was the person no one thought I would hire. I saw something special in her and learned that I was right. She had one of the most negative attitudes ever. We fought through that and she actually got to know her residents. She still can get attitudy, but we worked it out pretty well. The greatest thing about Tricia she was always available for a hug. :)
Biggy & Rosie were a lot different. Biggy became the best RA I have ever seen at confronting situations. There isn't a situation he couldn't handle and he worked very hard to get rid of his late bulletin board reputation. Rosie hated working for me this time and didn't think I put enough time into her. She may have been right, but there were other people I needed to work with and I knew she had a good handle on things. It was good for her to become the Sheehy ARD, even if it meant working for Kishshana.
Kendra took over for Rosie. She was excellent and we had a connection that even to this day I cannot quite explain. Either way she makes me smile. Jason took over for Mike. He was a great part of staff and we worked on a lot of issues. He is another person I would call a little brother.
Then came Mari and Niamh. Mari walked into the Main Office one day looking for a job and I convinced her to be an RA. Although she said she would never be one. We became fast friends and I am so glad that she came into my life. Niamh worked for me all summer and I think we spoke 50 words to each other. She didn't like me all that much and thought I was mean. Then we threw Skittles and Starbursts around the office during Opening and a friendship was born. We had numerous late night talks and she ended up being one of my closest friends. There are probably thousands of more words to say about the two of them, but they already know how much they mean to me and I will continue to show they for the rest of my life.
We had a lot of fun in Donahue. The staff gave me a big "Shit Surprise". We dealt with the Women's Soccer Team and Field Hockey team. 104 was always having a good time. We eliminated a ton of damage in the building and made it the best place to live on campus.
5 comments:
First of all Greg, thanks for the compliment, i was never scurred on any incident, even parties that had 100 people in em... and yeah my boards were getting better and were done on time so can you stop hating on me for that. Da Hue, (created by me btw) was an awesome staff although no one would know it. We really were different than every other staff on campus. Truly a special bunch.
My best memory on staff was probably staff retreat. Chillin in the hottub while it was slightly snowing, stars above us, it was a great night to go up to black bear. Also, while on retreat, got to see a few people open up like never before. Hard to explain but that trip was special for me.
Greg still drove me crazy sometimes as an RD, but like i said, even after a year i was still adapting to him and his leadership style. At first, i thought that was going to be my last year on staff, but when i decided to stay here for grad school, Greg took time to talk to me about my goals about within reslife. As hard as it was to hear what i didn't do well, at least he was honest and worked with me throughout the year to improve in certain areas. I believe i did, along with that and getting more involved on campus, my senior year was great in Donahue.
During the Fox fires, people would come over to Donahue and on one night, John and I were on security and ended up staying on until about 4:30am in the morning helping out. Next day, nice card was in our mailboxs from both Greg and Niamh giving us a holla for doing a great job. Throughout that year he was very supportive to all of us but he did have to spend more time with different people on staff that needed more help and i understood that.
The Jump Offs in 210 were obviously good times. It was nice to know that people could come chill in my suite, have a good time, hit up the brew, do whatever and not have to worry about anything stupid happening that would put their job in danger like underage drinking or what not. Lots of fun, probably too much but hey, i didn't have Griff in a bag so i had to find a way to entertain myself.
Da Hue, Greg said Hue represents different colors, and it reflected Donahue since so many different types of people lived in the building... honestly i just thought it sounded cool but whatevah. Shit Surprise! Dane Cook jokes, The Jump Offs and sometimes On, Crazy parties thrown by crazy residents, the side door, too hott water, Choice Cuts, Miami... too much to list. Got love for Donahue :O)
Burnt out? I have no idea what you're talking about! Kishshana was the best support system any new RD could have over on South! I was totally refreshed by the end of the year! I never ever EVER had to support her staff, and I certainly never had to confront her and tell her that her staff was unhappy with her. I definitely never had multiple one-on-ones with her ARDs either because she never EVER left them alone in charge of the whole building and staff. She certainly never disappeared during key events like opening, closing, or Spring Carnival. I have no idea what you're talking about. Pshaw.
I do have to send a "shout out" to the staff from Concordia that year. No offense to the staffs from Leitch in the prior two years mentioned, but that Concordia staff may have been the most amazing staff I've worked with. Everyone melded well and became more than just a staff, it was definitely like a family. Oh, tu no sabes? I sabes, kid. SOOOOUTTH!!!
Yeah, I sabes, kid. Stop drinkin' your haterade and all that. Just remember the corn maze (and the seventh level of Hell).
-Robness
Greg- I'll never forget the parking gate... or the cookie..... hahahahah!
Mari
Wawaaaaaaa, gwegweeeeeee, maweeee, bwady.....MIAMI!!! The Clevelander.....F#@$% BEES...I will PUNCH them in the FACE! Dancing with Dan in the office or just about anywhere...suiting up the rubber gloves and slinging unbelievable amounts of trash out at the school year close....moving on...but not really. One of the best years I have experienced yet and it was all too short and fleeting, but than you for all the hugs, memories, tissues, and listeining sessions.
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