39th Annual Student Leadership Banquet leaves many on the edge of their seats
The UHCL Annual Student Leadership Banquet is an evening to celebrate the accomplishments of outstanding leaders and student organizations. This year the banquet was held at the Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake on April 28. Everyone came out in his or her best attire, as we were treated to a cocktail hour followed by a three-course meal before the award ceremony actually began. Everybody was eager to know who won the different awards!
The award ceremony was formal, and there were a lot of categories including “Best Social Awareness Event of the Year” and “Best Faculty Advisor of the Year,” which acknowledged the unsung faculty and organizations on campus that put in a lot of time and effort to keep their organizations running smoothly. The awards that really had everybody biting finger nails as they sat on the edge of his or her seat were the “Peer’s Choice Awards.” Officers in multiple student organizations were able to vote for the “Student Leader of the Year” and the “Best New Organization” of the year, so this was an award that the student body was actually invested in.
Since I’ve been pretty involved on campus with student organizations and volunteering this year I was particularly excited about the awards ceremony. Being a second-year member of the Hawk Leadership Institute, I got recognized with a certificate chronicling my accomplishments over the past few semesters. Since I’ve accumulated more than 225 hours of community service and more than 40 hours of leadership development hours, I was recognized as a silver recipient of the Servant Leader Scholar program!
Although these accomplishments were important to me, the biggest accomplishment I’ve had this semester was getting elected as SGA Vice President of Administration. Ever since my first semester at UHCL I’ve wanted to serve on the SGA executive council, but I felt that I didn’t have enough experience. Now that I’ve been at UHCL for almost two years, I definitely feel that I am up for the task. For the first time ever, the SGA executive council was elected by the entire student body, so I definitely felt a big sense of accomplishment. Toward the end of the banquet, Dr. Biggers came to the lectern and called the executive council-elect to the floor to be sworn in. After Dr. Biggers made sure that everybody was capable of fulfilling the tasks that the SGA executive council is put through, we were officially sworn in as the new SGA Executive Council!
All in all the 39th Annual Student Leadership Banquet was really fun! After the awards ceremony was over, the dance floor was opened and everyone continued to have a good time. It was really nice to recognize all the individuals who contribute their time and talents on campus while effectively distressing right before finals!
Also published on Medium.
