Student of the Year

Branching Out Into Leadership University of North Carolina Wilmington NCARH 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS The Roots of Success: Basic Information 1 The Trunk : On-Campus Involvement 2 The Branches: State, Regional, and National Involvement 3-4 The Leaves: Impact on Others 5 Replenishing The Soil: Letters of Recommendation 6-8 Jemilia Harrison, NCARH 2012 Advisor Sara Sonderman, National Communications Coordinator Bradley Davis, National Residence Hall Honorary Advisor

The Roots of Success

The roots form the foundation that people are build, the value which help them grow strong and live on. Kenzie’s roots tell where she began and what inspired her to become a successful student leader.

Realizing the importance of being a well-rounded student Kenzie Hopkins became involved very early in her college career. During her Freshman year at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) she was elected as the Vice President of Community Service for the Tri-House Area Chapter for the 20102011 school year. Being involved at UNCW opened many doors for Kenzie and inspired her to make an impact on the campus. Her desire to make a difference guided the way into her Sophomore year where Kenzie took on leadership positions big and small making an impact on not only her fellow students but the UNCW community as a whole. She allowed her humble beginning as an Area Chapter Executive Board member to be the starting point in her development as a wellrounded student leader as she tried every new opportunity and inspired the success of future leaders.

“Her energy is contagious; her example inspires me to give all the energy I have to whatever it is I'm doing, even if it's at a late night meeting.” – Emily Brantley, RHA VP of Programming

Name: Kenzie Hopkins Year: Sophomore Major: Environmental Science Favorite Dance: The Wobble

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Dub Idol- Volunteer Coordinator This year Kenzie serves on the planning committee for the UNCW annual program, Dub Idol, a Housing sponsored event which highlights students singing abilities. As an active member of the committee, Kenzie is the volunteer chair and is responsible for recruiting volunteers to help out on the day of the program and assigning them tasks to help insure the event goes off with out a hitch

National Residence Hall Honorary This year marked Kenzie’s first year as a member of the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) but you would never know. Kenzie has been a very active member of NRHH joining the Service Committee and then stepping up as the co-chair of the committee when no one else would. As the co-chair, Kenzie takes the minutes during every meeting and informs the NRHH body about what the service committee is currently planning. With the help of the Service Committee, Kenzie is helping to plan NRHH’s first ever 5k event.

Hawk it Out- Guest Performances Every year in April, Housing and Residence Life also sponsors Hawk it Out, a dance competition which features the dancing talents of the UNCW body. Currently Kenzie is service as a committee member to help plan Hawk it Out and is responsible for all of the guest performances during the show. In her position she gains support for the program by getting a variety of organizations to participate and show off their talent.

National Communications Coordinator in-Training (NCC-IT) Currently Kenzie serves as the NCC-IT on the RHA Executive Board, In this position she shadows the NCC in order to learn as much as she can about the position for when she holds it next year. Though she is only in-training that has not stopped Kenzie from contributing and making an impact on conferences. At the beginning of the year, when Kenzie and the NCC were trying to come up with a way to promote conferences she thought of the idea to make a music video highlighting all of the benefits of a conference which soon became a viral hit and encouraged over 20 people to apply for SAACURH! With so many people applying for SAACURH it was hard to narrow it down to just 7, Kenzie used this predicament as an opportunity to develop a delegate criteria sheet which provided an impartial way for her and the NCC to pick the best delegation yet.

Residence Hall Association Though Kenzie’s position on the Exec. Board greatly deals with conferences, Kenzie has also been an active member of RHA and ensuring it is as successful as possible. Kenzie is very passionate about the environment and is always encouraging the executive board to be sustainable. Because of her encouragement, the executive board has placed a recycling bin in the RHA office, began reusing old materials to help put on a program, and has become more conscience about what they are printing.

The Trunk

The trunk is the body in which makes the tree grow tall to reach new heights. Kenzie’s on campus involvement is the sturdy base that allows her to develop as a leader.

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The branches of a tree allow it to reach out and collect more nutrients. State, Regional, and National Involvement are Kenzie’s branches which allow her to reach out across the nation to learn and gain from others.

The Branches

In 2011 Kenzie attended NACURH 2011 at Western Illinois University. There she has the opportunity to present a program to the delegates at NACURH as well as learn from many other students about their student leader experience as well as ways to help improve RHA. At NACURH is where Kenzie learned a lot of information about how to create a more sustainable campus which she brought back to UNCW and is currently putting into practice through RHA.

Later in 2011, Kenzie had the opportunity to attend SAACURH 2011 at Georgia State University. During this conference Kenzie served as the NCC-IT and helped in the preparation for the conference. At SAACURH 2011 Kenzie participated in all that the conference had to offer including boardroom. Through she was only an NCC-IT her time spent in the SAACURH boardroom helped her gain confidence in her public speaking abilities as well as knowledge about the region. In preparation for the SAACURH conference Kenzie was responsible for involving the UNCW campus in the conference philanthropy of Hosea Feeds the Hungry. Through her efforts, the SAACURH delegation was able to raise over 400 non-perishable items to be donated to the cause.

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The Branches In 2010 after the NCARH conference two UNCW students had a dream to bring the state conference to Wilmington. Their dream came true at NCARH 2011 when UNCW was selected to host the conference in 2012. Last year Kenzie joined the conference staff and was a part of the presenting bid team at NCARH 2011 which helped UNC Wilmington win the bid. Since winning, the conference staff has been hard at work preparing for the delegates arrival in February. On the conference staff, Kenzie serves as the Spirit and Sustainability Chair. Her position is responsible for organizing all of the details of conference spirit including rubrics for determining the best banner, display, and roll call as well as working to make sure the conference is sustainable as possible. As the Chair, Kenzie is responsible for a committee of 10 members who assist her in coming up with new ideas for the conference and put them into action. Thus far, the Spirit and Sustainability Committee has made a great impact on the NCARH conference. For spirit Kenzie thought it would be a good idea to have all of the delegations at NCARH to vote on who they believe is the most spirited as opposed to the conference staff selecting it. This would make all of the delegates an active member of the conference and make them more engaged. Since the community of Wilmington as well as the University campus promotes ecofriendliness the Sprit and Sustainability Committee wanted to make sure that the conference was as green as possible. Under Kenzie’s direction they developed the idea to give delegates the option to have an electronic version of the conference booklet to limit the number that were printed. At the conference all delegates will be receiving reusable water bottles, and there will be a recycling bin around every corner so students don’t throw away what could be recycled. Kenzie also introduced the award of Most Sustainable Delegation to help further promote environmental friendly habits while at NCARH.

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As leaves fall they cover the ground decomposing and helping to nourish and develop the soil. The leaves represent the impact Kenzie has made on her fellow students helping them grow into strong leaders.

The Leaves

At the beginning of the year Kenzie’s friend, Austin Myers, approached her asking if she could help him get more involved. Kenzie suggested that he apply to attend the SAACURH 2011 conference as a way to meet people and develop new skills. Austin applied and was accepted to attend the conference; there he met a variety of people and was able to gain confidence in himself as a student leader. When the VP of Administration on the RHA Executive Board had to step down at the end of the semester, Kenzie sought out Austin and once again encouraged him to get involved. Because of his newly gained leadership skills at SAACURH Austin applied for the position and won!

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