Spring Showers Bring May Flowers

Good afternoon!

I hope everyone is staying dry today on this rainy Monday. I also hope everyone is staying safe on the roads. Don't drive unless you need too. Ok, I'm done being Grandpa Zach. But I'm keeping the cane and suspenders.

I think it's important to bring attention to some important dates coming up for PLC and RSU.

RSU's Got Talent is right around the corner on March 12! Auditions will be held next week so get your act together and try out Monday March 4 from 5-8pm or Wednesday March 6 from 5-8pm in the Centennial Center! If you don't have your act together, come anyway. Bring a dog if you have too. Actually, no dogs please.

Also right around the corner is the PLC trip to go see the Thunder beat the Lakers in OKC! I just knocked on wood so it's ok for me to say they will win. Remember to plan accordingly. We'll be leaving at 5:00 PM and returning in the wee hours of the morning. Of course, if you're like me the bus is opportune sleep time. Bring a pillow and blanket if you want you guys. I will probably bring a teddy bear...don't judge. I am looking forward to this ladies and gents. I am psyching myself up. Right now. I am psyched. Whoa nelly. Gotta slow my heart down for a second.

Thanks to everyone that showed up Sunday to grade and pizza stain the applications. I think it's safe to say we had fun and managed to get a lot done. That just rhymed.

Remember if you didn't finish through all of the applications you will have to complete your list before it can be used.

Once again, I hope everyone is having a great Monday despite the gloom outside. Stay safe on the streets, they will more than likely ice over tonight. 

With mucho gracias love and hugs, and puppy dogs,
-Zach

Spring 13

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

I hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of their Spring 13 semester. I certainly am. This last week in class we watched a video featuring Fareed Zakaria. He spoke eloquently about the reasons why our generation and country basically is the best. Kinda got me pumped about life you guys.

We also discussed the upcoming events for this semester and...look out people. Lots of events. Lots of fun. Coming at ya. You can't stop it.

• RSU's Got Talent is already on the bulletin. Save the evening of March 12. It will be a night to remember. Unless you somehow acquire amnesia. Then it would be a night to forget. 

• March 5 is another date to save. We will be watching some rubbish dumb basketball game or something...Sike. Totally kidding. We are going to watch the best basketball team to grace God's green earth. The Oklahoma City Thunder will be playing the Los Angeles Lakers in OKC, and we are going to see it. We will be leaving at 5:00 PM and returning around 1:00 AM.

• And yet another cool fantastic event. We are traveling to Eureka Springs April 19-21. We will be exploring the historic city in all her glory. 

A reminder! People please go visit with Dr. Taylor before the February 6th. This applies to me as well. Feel free to shame me in public for my hypocrisy. I'll even shame myself look.

 Well I guess this is actually pointing at you now, since you're reading this. I apologize. But it must stay.

Another reminder. Paragraphs are due this Wednesday upon arrival to class. Let's see if we can get everyone single member there to turn them in. It will seriously take a few moments to get this done and I'm sure it would be well appreciated. Challenge mode!

I wanted to include some of the advice from the guide for living in 2013 we received in our packet.

Drink plenty of water...you will be amazing how much better this makes you feel.

Play more games...unless you already play a lot of games. Then disregard this point.

Don't have negative thoughts on things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment. 

Don't overdo. Keep your limits.

Smile and laugh more.

You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Those are just a few that stuck out to me. The whole list is fantastic. Hang it up on your wall. Or maybe in your shower in a plastic bag. Or on the ceiling above your bed. I think mine is going on my door.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic semester already. As always, don't be afraid to come talk to me. I am almost always available to talk or give advice or maybe even provide comic relief in a stressful time.

I'll see you this Wednesday ladies and gentlemen!

Falling...falling...

I wasn't in class Wednesday :(

Replace spring with Fall and this is me.


I was in bed sleeping. Sounds amazing right? Well it didn't feel so amazing. I woke up feeling like Santa on the Christmas that was cancelled. So let this be a lesson to everyone; drink orange juice.

I am going to keep this post short. I hope everyone is having a great year. Stay on top of homework and clubs/sports. Keep being awesome. Keep being PLC. Keep PLC being...awesome.

Once again, if anyone ever needs someone to talk too, please give me a shout. Or just talk to me. Shouting can be mean.

Remember, Remember, September, September.

Good afternoon ladies and gents.

I hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather we have been having. I think we may have made a break from the triple digits, but this is Oklahoma after all so no guarantees.

I also hope everyone takes some time to reflect on what happened 11 years ago this day.

Two weeks ago on the 29th of August, PLC had a guest speaker, Clayton Taylor. This man is a Oklahoman who came from the small town of Oktaha to accomplish much in his career. Clayton Taylor was a fantastic speaker and someone that I could see enjoyed life. His advice for us was to set goals, short term and long term. A big thank you to Clayton Taylor for taking the time to speak with us.

This last week Stratton told us he will not be here the upcoming two weeks so we received our assignments ahead of time. In case you forgot, I'll put them right here courtesy of Kylie Hardin once again.

Assignment due Sept. 12=

 "You are Bud Selig- decide whether or not Barry Bonds' home run record should stand."

Assignment due Sept. 19= 

"Google 'Atul Gawande'. He is a doctor who writes for the New Yorker. Read his article 'Cheesecake Factory'-Write what you think of it and how it will affect you either in your career (if you are going into a medical career) or as a patient (if you are not going into a medical career)."

There is also an opportunity to skip the Sept 19th assignment by attending the RSU  Constitution Day luncheon and speech. Or maybe it's one or the other. Just make sure you prove you were there. No Tom Foolery!

I hope everyone is taking opportunity of the volunteer jobs popping up. I saw a lot of PLC cats at the Bluegrass and Chili festival: that made me extremely happy. It's good for our program to have a presence as events like that and I believe we were represented very well. So thank you to the ones who volunteered. 

We have a tentative date for Battle of the Bands! November 13th! I am very pumped for this event. We always have a lot of fantastic acts and we definitely have a lot of fun. Be thinking about ideas for this years BotB!

Well I believe this will do it for today. Tomorrow is Wednesday so I am going to post after our class and hopefully get on a regular schedule. Keep up with your schoolwork and obligations. But also remember to relax and  have fun along the way!

Beginnings

School is here! 
You know know how I know that? I haven't updated this blog in awhile, that's why. And I apologize.

But wonderful fun filled affairs have been happening as of late. No, not the marital sort. Those would be depressing, heart wrenching affairs. I digress.

The PLC had our first class session  August the 15th. A very exciting day for our program. The returnees fraternize about summer shenanigans. The freshmen settle in and become acquainted with how we roll. Or how we operate. That sounds more official.

I read a message to the freshmen from a dear friend of mine, Andrew Jolly Robinson who will be unable to attend our first semester sessions because of a class conflict. In this letter he expressed his well wishes on the new PLC members and gave a few words of wisdom as well. A delightful way to begin our year. Also, the freshmen, Dr. Taylor and myself also played a requiring both memorization and dance skills. Actually I think it was more of the first. It was fun.

That following weekend we  had our retreat. This is a fantastic time for everyone to bond and be silly. I call it silly bonding. It's not very clever but I like it. We got a bag of goodies, danced for a good thirty minutes at least, and then dined like kings and queens on the Centennial Center front patio area. There is more than likely an official name that area but I don't know it. The evening was entertaining.

This last Wednesday, the 22nd for our PLC session we had a very special guest, Matt Van Itallie. Matt is a Harvard law school graduate who has done amazing things outside of the law field. He was involved in the Baltimore Public School system and has helped campaigned. He is currently running a new business that is helping University's across the world foster technological advances. He had some amazing advice. And our fantastic Kylie Hardin took down notes on his advice which I will add here.

1. Do hard things and take 

large risks early in life while the risks are low. Even if you 

"fail" you will learn something and that makes it worth 

while. 2. Know thyself--know what you like and don't like. 

Know what you can and can't do. If you like something you 

can't do, by working hard enough at it you can get good 

enough to get by. 3. There is almost always never a clearly 

right or wrong answer. 4. Learn to network. It can be scary 

but you HAVE to do it. Who will open doors for you to show 

how great you are if you don't network? The best way to 

network isn't just by asking for a recommendation 

immediately. Gain the contact's trust and be interested in 

what they have to say!

Thank you Kylie!!

Ladies and gentlemen I hope everyone is having a good first start of the year. This can be a very stressful time of the year so I hope people are taking advantage of the multiple events taking place around campus. I know I went to a couple of events for Welcome Week.

I will be updating the blog again very soon to discuss this weeks happening. In the mean time, I am going to head to class! Because class is important. And because if you don't go, you can fail a whole easier than if you go. Wise words from multiple professors. Have a great day, week, month, year, life!!

SCHOOL!

Ladies and gentlemen...it's that time again.

The time small children dread and parents treasure. The time rooms that went dark for weeks are brought back to life. The time that books are dusted off and reopened eagerly awaiting to bestow their wealth of knowledge. The time pencil companies see a bump in their profit margins. The time educators don the armor of enlightenment and ready their weapons of wisdom.

It's school time ladies and gentlemen.

I know I may be in the minority here but I am very excited for school to start up again. I missed going to class and seeing such lovely friendly faces!

I am also very excited for PLC this year. I am excited to better get to know our new members and to continue growing the kinship with the current ones. I am excited to see what we can accomplish and the impact we are going to have as well. We have good things in store.

As everyone is getting ready for school, be mindful of certain steps. Please please please go fill out your FAFSA now. Yes it is a pain, but it is much easier to do it now than when you are in school. I'll even put this the link right here! http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ Look! There it is! Ready to be clicked!

If you haven't enrolled yet, go. Just go now. Run if you have too. Run into enrollment and scream at the top of your lungs about how badly you need enrolled. Plead and beg for mercy from the sins of being an ignorant undergrad...No but seriously if you haven't enrolled yet, you really need to go do that.

Also, go get some books! A lot of these classes require books for learning and what not. I don't make the rules people. You can purchase books at the bookstore in the Centennial Center, or you can purchase them online from places like Amazon or Chegg.

Dorms are all ready for moving in! Head down to the Residential Life offices in the club house located in close proximity to University Village B and go pick up your keys if you have not done so already. Get all moved in and take time to evaluate how much better your living conditions are than those students at OU and OSU. Maybe even chuckle to yourself if you're feeling rather baleful.

I know a lot of this can be confusing and just plain ole frustrating, so if you have any questions feel free to ask me. Or you can e-mail the very helpful, very knowledgeable, very amazing Joy Lin at jhusted@rsu.edu. She is here to help us with anything and everything we need. She is like the Obi-Wan Kenobi to our Luke Skywalker. Or the Rafiki to our Simba.

I am very much so looking forward to seeing everyone! Have a wonderful last few days of summer and get ready for an amazing year!

Wow, Another Year.

Exciting things have been happening! 

April 14th-15, PLC took an amazing trip down to Kansas City! We went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and had a fantastic lunch. The dining facilities were exquisite. Then we journeyed to the National World War I Museum. Both museums were intellectually stimulating and very enjoyable.

After that we headed to the  Marriott Kansas City Country Club Plaza hotel and checked in. The hotel rooms were spacious. I'm almost positive the beds were made from clouds. The hotel was beautiful.

That night we were given a thirty dollar gift card and told to go explore the Plaza. I certainly had fun walking around and talking with friends. Dinner was excellent as well. I enjoyed eating a delicious 18 dollar hamburger, which I must say was the best hamburger I have ever had the pleasure of tasting.

The next morning we arose to find we had not been targeted by dangerous storms. Yay! We each had a breakfast ticket and were treated to a delicious breakfast buffet. It was not the typical kind of continental breakfast of bagels with cream cheese and/or cereal. There was bagels with cream cheese and cereal, but that not the only option. We had eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, grits, hash browns, cinnamon rolls, bagels, muffin, cereal, fruit , and biscuits and gravy!! So much food!! We even had waiters. It was delicious. I want that breakfast every morning.

After our breakfast we checked out of the hotel and made our way to the Kansas City Royals baseball game! I must say I was impressed. I thought I would get bored, but I was very entertained. Unfortunately, the Indians beat up on the Royals. :(

We left the stadium and made our return home safe.

I believe this has been my most favorite trip so far.

Monday night on the 25th, we had a ceremony for the PLC graduating Seniors. It was a bitter sweet moment. The night went well and a lot of good times were had. Most of the new freshmen made the trip and it was exciting to meet them.

Today was our very last PLC class meeting for this semester and year. For our Seniors, it was their very last PLC class ever. Part of me is sad that things are ending, but another part of me is excited for the new things to come.

Our seniors are graduating, heading off to more school or into the real world. They will be the rare people who companies and businesses are enthusiastic to employ.

Another exciting prospect of bringing the year to a close is bring in the next President's Leadership Class. (Do I add another class after PLC? Sounds redundant, like Automatic Teller Machine machine.) I am very excited to usher in the freshmen and get to learn more about our new members!

I am very happy to be a part of this amazing program. We work hard but are also rewarded graciously. As our year closes I want to say thank you too everyone in PLC for making this year special. I will never forget it.

I would also like to thank Dr. Taylor and Stratton. They work diligently to ensure this program is successful and enjoyable for the members. We cannot thank you enough.

Joy-Lin, you better believe I wouldn't forget you! Thank you for helping us out and being our 'behind the scenes getting things done lady'. I'm not sure if that's the official title or not. Nevertheless, thank you!

Thank you too our fantastic president Megen Richardson, soon to be Rhine. You are close to my favorite president. You are probably right behind George Washington. He is some pretty stiff competition.

And thank you again everyone for getting things done this semester. We had a great Battle of the Band and RSU's Got Talent. We were active in our community and campus. PLC is looking good people. This could not have been done without everyone working together a team. Thanks guys!

Keep checking out the blog over the summer. I will be trying to make updates as often as possible.

Have a great summer and stay out of trouble you kids!