cheese-smith

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: "Trampled Underfoot" by Led Zeppelin

I used to post regular Ship of Fools show reviews on here, but I got waaaay behind, and I think the backlog is past the point where I can keep a complete record of all my shows as a Boilermaker. That said, I think now that I'm blogging again (trying oh-so-hard to do it regularly!), I will try to post more about everything, including improv, and if I feel super industrious, I may try to reconstruct the past and fill in all the missing shows (something like...a dozen or so, since the last one).

That all said, I am going to post about something improv-related. Way back in high school, when I was stage-shy to a painful degree, when I was a quiet jokester, a class clown without antics, just snide remarks and such- I never dreamed I'd be one of about a dozen people (of ~50,000 people on campus) to be part of the improv team. Even less, did I dream, about someday being elected as President of the Purdue Improv Club.

Heck, I didn't even know I wanted to do improv in high school! I never thought I would relish the chance to be on stage, the camaraderie, the laughter and support. And now, of course, I find myself at the head of such a crazy bunch of Fools, subtly attempting to guide them to the best of my ability towards new games, better warmups, group cohesion, larger and more prestigious venues, more money, and a better reputation overall. I think it's going well. We just inducted a new member, Renee, and we're watching a few more with good promise.

Earlier, I received a special invitation to the 7th Annual Purdue Presidents Dinner. Essentially, this is a special invite-only dinner for every President of an official Purdue University organization, of which there are over 740. The event took place in the Union North Ballroom Thursday October 5th, 2006 and was a very very classy affair. The event included:

*Introductions by Pablo Malavenda, Associate Dean of Students

*Solo vocal performances by the Glee Club (including a song from Guys and Dolls) and piano accompaniment

*The keynote address delivered by no less than Purdue's President, Dr. Martin C. Jischke

*Dinner:

Field Greens Salad
Oven Roasted Breast of Chicken
Sliced Roast Sirloin
Vegetable Lasagna
Glazed Baby Carrots
Ranch Smashed Potatoes
Buttermilk Biscuits (with Whipped Butter)
New York Style Cheesecake
Iced Tea, Lemonade, Water & Coffee


Basically, it was a recognition ceremony for the Presidents of Purdue. It felt really nice to have such a delicious dinner (especially living in my apartment and not having a meal plan) and pretend to be all swanky for an evening. I felt a little underdressed, but such was life. Thankfully, nobody gave me the "hey, you're the improv guy, tell me a joke", which I hate. I had a joke in my mind all night for just such an emergency, having run into such a problem earlier introducing myself to my AAE 204 class.

Since President Jischke couldn't meet all of the Presidents himself, spread throughout all 40 tables were administrators, staff, professors, and leaders of Purdue to engage the students. Seated at our eight person table were Tom Paczolt, Director of Residential Life at Purdue (the man in charge of all Residence Halls, meaning he's my supervisor's boss's boss's boss working at Hillenbrand Hall) and Kevin Booker, Purdue Police Lieutenant in charge of Operations and Training (programming, and especially all preparations for key speakers and visitors).

At first I thought it was lame that I didn't get to meet our President (especially after listening to his hour long "extol the virtues of Purdue, including all the money we're spending, but not really talk about Presidents), but our table representatives turned out to be quite entertaining and cordial. They told us of the time then-President Ronald Reagan came to Purdue and gave a speech at Mackey Arena. They told us about all the security (a blue curtain near their seats which they were told if they got behind the Secret Service would "take them out"), the preparations, and the operations. Similar preparations for when Colin Powell is planning on speaking at Purdue in February for National Engineer's Week. They also told us about some of the "secrets" of Purdue, like the defunct underground morgue or the rocket fuel bunkers beyond the airport.

Also, I was pleased to meet some of the other Presidents, from such groups as the Rodeo Association, the Badminton Club, the Haliberd Council (Tarkington Hall's Residence Club), and an Agricultural Co-Ed Fraternity (the Greek letters of which I forget, unfortunately). I learned a bit, did some schmoozing and networking.

It makes me happy to be in my own tiny little seat of power, if you can call it that. Not that I specifically aim for power and prestige, I just like having connections and the ability to get things done. Like getting a job, ideally, when it's time for me to leave. I definitely feel like I've been very active on Purdue's campus and that I'm not a *nobody*, even in a school orders of magnitude larger than my high school. I know personally the President of Pugwash, and my roommate Alex is President of the Purdue DDR Club. I know several administrators from Hillenbrand (through work), and I know a lot of the Aero faculty from my summer research and classes. I'm not an A list celebrity, but I have a few strings. It also makes me really happy to be in a position to go to a University that can attract such large events, concerts, speakers, and yet I seem to be somewhat in the thick of it all- a Junior Aero with relationships with so many people and able to take advantage of so many opportunities.


In the end, even if I'm only President for a semester or a year, I am glad to have had the opportunity to attend such a classy event and be recognized for leading such an outstanding group of my colleagues and friends.