Some reasons reason i'm here... in remembrance of my grandfather.

2 weeks ago I found out that my Grandfather has past away after a long, courageous battle with Alzheimer's for 9 years. Today I am flying back to Cody Wyoming to lay him to rest.

If you didn't know 2 Years ago I went to Auction school to learn to become an auctioneer. My grandfather went to auction school when he was young and ended up teaching auction school where my dad learned and became an auctioneer. My family runs and operates "Musser Brothers Auctions" along with "Yellow Iron Auctions". I grew up almost every fall & spring going to farm auctions and helping my uncles and dad out. I started out as a ticket runner and as i became older I got to do "Bigger" jobs, such as checking in people, ringman, clerking and now auctioneering and helping run the online portion of the auctions. My family also does Charity auctions which I LOVE! Raising money for a cause at fun events put on to raise big amounts or just simple quilt auctions too. 

Every summer since i was little my family flew  to where ever the NAA (National Auctioneers Association) Convention was in July. It became a yearly thing and almost the whole Musser crew would be there. I remember watching contestants go up and compete every year and seeing those who came back every year to try and win the Championship.  The NAA became part of our family and every year it was a reunion. As all the grandchildren grew older we didn't go as much. I got to compete in the Junior International contest in 2012 and ended up getting 2nd Runner-Up. 

My Grandfather Robert E. Musser was inducted in to the NAA Hall of Fame which is a GREAT honor. That very same year my dad won the Championship with our friend Jill Marie.

My dad and uncles took off in the auction career because of my grandfather and I hope to continue doing so. 

Now why am at school? Well I've gone back and forth with a certain degree but no matter what I have pursued that at least my minor will be business and with that ifs a Major or a Minor I hope to bring more knowledge back to our family auctions and help in some way. 

If its running auctions or even setting the charity auctions up. I plan to pursue in this and hope to be as successful as the generations before me.

I am very thankful for my Grandpa Musser he brought many memories for me to remember. With his Musical ear where he would play the harmonica everywhere! He always had a wink in his eye and a smile on his face when ever I saw him. One thing he always said was the I was his favorite JAM. (My initials)

RIP Grandpa

BECOMING THE RA

I moved in Friday September 6 in to a empty hall with 12 other staff members who I didn't know that well. I had only met a few of them before from being in RHA and 2 of them I knew from my hall last year.

Training started that next monday. Now since this was over a month ago I'm giving you all a short version.

Training is for 2 weeks for all the Housing staff on campus. We get to meet each other, learn in depth of how to be an RA or CP. Training practically went from 8 or 9 am to 8 or 9 pm. That didn't include the time where we made decorations and door tags for our hall.

We got taught how to act in situations, how to use the money we have available for our programs and hall, how to interact with residents and get them excited about being here and living on campus. We went over move in day and freshman weekend. Had a lot of area time which was when staff members would go to their halls area for instance we have (North, Central, East Besseties, West besseties and South) These areas usually included many halls. In area time we went over things that our staff who we will work with mainly the whole year, these things being like, setting up the rooms and doing inventories in each room (documenting broken blinds,chips in walls, lights broken. basically things that we didn't want the residences to pay for when they didn't do it) Our staff worked great and got really close with one another.

Did i mention staying up till 3am quite a few nights during training to get hall decorations done?

Training is tough but it is ALOT of fun and I have met some life long friends here who I am glad I have met. I would explain more but its ALOT ha ha :p

MOVE IN DAY! Residents are here yay!!!! My hall is not empty and we have over 200 residents in my hall alone. My area of responsibility is about 30 residents who I get to know well and if they need anything or want to talk I'm their RA. 

During the first weekend before school started we had alot of school and Hall pride where we participated in events and tried to become the Best Hall on campus! Residents met new people and started making friendships! I met over 200 residents this weekend and yes i tried to know every ones names but yet I am still struggling haha!

South Campus has been known the past couple years as the quiet freshman hall. Many of the people on my staff came from halls with alot of spirit and it was one of our goals to make sure we have an AWESOME Community! I can Proudly say South Campus is succeeding in that goal!

School started! Yay???? haha

I was defiantly caught off guard forgetting and kept reminding myself to get books, read teachers syllabus, and do homework. 

I finally got in the hang of things and am thankful that I decided to take later classes this year so I can be productive late at night and in the morning if I want to.

Juggling RA job and Going to class can be tough and I will not deny being frustrated, overwhelmed at times but I have a great Support system with my staff team and people I can talk to. And in all honesty being busy keeps me focused and keeps me more involved rather than sitting around just focused on school all the time. 

One of the main things I have heard from all my Supervisors is "Be a Student First" that can be tough but that is what we were trained on also. How to manage our time and shoot I got a PLANNER! Best thing to have so its physical and I have everything planned out and know what I will be doing most of my day! After 7 I'm pretty much in the hall talking/hanging out with residents and/or doing homework. 

As an RA we are assigned a "Duty Night" this is where 2 of our staff does office hours( Distributes the mail, has the office open for residents to come borrow tools like vacuums and other cleaning supplies from us) along with Rounds( where we walk around both of our buildings at 8pm, 10pm, 12pm and on weekends 2am) After 10 it is quiet hours so we are responsible to make sure those rules are being taken seriously and along with making sure our halls is safe and everyone is ok.) ALSO one of the 2 staff members keep the "Duty Phone" on them from 7pm to 7am on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends in case someone needs assistance and cant find another staff member.

As an RA also we get to deal with Lock-outs where residents leave their doors locked and forget to take their keys. This means they have to call the Duty phone or find an RA to lend them the spare key so they can get their key out.

Yes this may sound like quite a bit of work but you get to help many students of the university enjoy their time here at school. Have an AWESOME experience and meet SOOOOO many new friends!

I ENJOY this job every day and I could go ON AND ON about it which if you want email me if you have questions. 

I love being able to hep my residents and get to know them personally I know my RA's made a difference in what I decided to do the next couple of year. So I am so hoping to do the same.

Why I became an RA and how I did.

Last year I LOVED my RA's in my hall. They made events fun, they showed me where to go, what i needed to do on certain things and even just hung out with me when ever! 

As a Freshman I was involved in the Residence Hall Leadership Council where I was the Publicity Coordinator. My council planned programs and events for the residents to attend and got to be apart of RHA! (Residence Hall Association)

 

RHA meant a lot to me and led me to this position. I got involved in Regional and National conferences Residence halls all of the world go to such as PACURH and NACURH. At these conferences I met a lot of new people from all sorts of places and got to go to meetings where other schools would share their ideas on programs and what to do in halls or campus-wide. I had an AWESOME experience and am hoping to attend NACURH this next year just depends on how it all goes!

In my hall last year i learned about what RA's job's were and how we were able to become one. I talked to my RA's about it and when it came time to apply I got in the Hiring pool. Some people got hired for this year 2013-14 right away but I didn't. I didn't give up and sure enough I received a letter saying i will be an RA in Kamola Hall!

Over the summer we got newsletters on how to get ready to come back to school and get ready for 2 weeks of training before the residents move in. Along with choosing our hall theme! Our fall hall theme became "90's theme"

Why a blog?

So warning to those who love grammar!
I am not at all great a grammar or spelling!

I decided I have filled my Facebook posts way to much up to where im pretty much writing a story. So those who want to read my stories or see how being an RA or going to college is in my point of view here it is!

I love to tell people about my experience and so far being an RA and going to college has been the best experience in my life!

Soooo here it goes.....