Thursday, February 23rd, 2017
We're off! I was late to the car because I had to use the bathroom last minute before going on the two-hour drive to Hartford, CT for NGLA 2017. I got in the big van with Emma Russell as the driver and 7 other delegates as passengers. We had a great time on the way to Hartford, listening to High School Musical and Beyoncé. I had to make a pitstop at a roadside station because I had to go to the bathroom even though I already went before we left (yes... I am a nuisance). But then we made our way to the Connecticut Convention Center and our hotel!
Once we settled in, we had to wait for our room to be ready :( It was fine because we needed to check in at the registration in the conference center. We walked to the conference center and downstairs was this BIG gardening expo, which I wanted to go to (it cost to enter omg...), and eventually made our way all the way upstairs to the conference check in. We checked in... but our nametags were not ready for pick up yet. So we went on a stroll to check out the greek boutique until they were ready again. Once I ordered like $50 dollars worth of swag, we headed back to check in again... still not ready. Oh well...
We headed downstairs for dinner and we all decided to split up and go separate ways. I went to Bears BBQ, which was a solid 10/10. Amazing pulled pork sandwiches! Sasparilla tastes like root beer mixed with coke, it was oddly satisfying.
We met back up, headed to our rooms (which we finally got access to), and then picked our sessions that we would head to during our time here at the conference. Then shortly after we headed to the Opening Keynote Speaker and NGLA Introduction. It was a very average presentation at first and then the keynote speaker, Michelle Guobadia got on stage and took the audience by storm. She was interactive, entertaining, and really promoted the definition of what it meant to be a member of the greek community as well as how to bring the real meaning back to fruition. Michelle was bold, brash, and hilarious keeping everyone on their toes. She was sassy and heartfelt, showing her passion for her career, the work she does within student affairs, and her dedication to the greek community. Her presentation was very well spoken. Right after, Russell Citron came on stage to promote his Philanthropic, fundraising program, Crowd Change. He showed the variety of uses for each campus and each organization's individualized philanthropy fundraising events. This tool appears extremely useful! Shortly after, he said to pick up a card in front of everyone that was face down on the table. Each card held a picture of a child wearing oversized clothing and each card correlated to a reward that delegates could exchange for. Three of the cards in the room full of 1000-ish people would give a free Crowd Change program for the recipient's campus! Lucky for us, Cat had one of the lucky cards!!!
After this, we all parted ways. MB was a savior and helped me get some medication from Walgreens. This was no trivial feat, we got lost multiple times due to Jackie's poor GPS tracking (She's a champ, though). We finally got there and got back, and MB may or may have not fought off a mugger. Who knows? Maybe I'm also lying... Jake is complaining about the beds being too small. My bed is big and spacious since I am sick and all alone. Not complaining.
Anyways, goodnight friends! See ya tomorrow morning!
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