Student Awards Banquet

 

            Recently I attended the student awards banquet that is held to honor students for their service to the college. Being involved in Student Senate this year acting as the vice-president, I was nominated for a Student Meritorious Award. Like I stated in my blog before I was saying how I wanted to spend my free time volunteering to a good cause, that’s exactly what I did. I never expected to be rewarded for my time, instead I felt good knowing that my spare time was spent wisely and will benefit in the future.

Distinguished Alumnus Award Recipient Mike Staral

            The awards banquet was held at The Camelot Golf Course in Lomira. This banquet includes all three campuses, Beaver Dam, West Bend, and Fond du Lac. A reception with hors d’ oeuvres began at 5:30, with dinner following at 6:00. The banquet began at 7:00 sharp. The first award went to Mike Staral the 2013 Distinguished Alumnus Award. He talked in his speech how he graduated from a technical college and how he has achieved success since then. It was very inspiring to see how a technical school grad like Mike made it to being a vice-president of a company, only from having a technical education. After Mike finished, everybody that was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society this year was asked to stand and be applauded for their hard work and dedication. I was able to stand and be applauded for my induction. The next award in the banquet was for MPACTE and MPFT scholarship recipients, as their names were called they walked across the stage at the front of the hall, shook hands with the President of Moraine Park, Dr. Sheila Ruhland and had their picture taken. The next award was for Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. This award was for second year students who have a GPA higher than 3.25 and are involved in extracurricular activities. They were called up, walked across the stage, shook hands with the president, and had their picture taken. Technical Achievement Awards were the next to be presented. This award is geared for one-year technical diploma students. Taken into consideration is GPA, participation in the classroom, and other contributions. After the last student walked off the stage, the next award up was the Meritorious Award.

 

The Meritorious Award is for students who have served the college through their leadership and participation in co-curricular activities such as being involved with Student Clubs, Student Government, or other volunteer opportunities. I myself was in this group and got to go up on stage in front of my peers, instructors, and family. It felt good being recognized for the time spent volunteering over the past year. After the final recipient walked off the stage they went on to honor those who have served their time being the presidents of Student Senate for each campus. After the recognition of the presidents of all three campuses, the District Student Ambassador Award Honors were up. This was a passing of the torch so to speak from one student ambassador to the future ambassador.

 

After the former and present ambassador did their secret handshake to act as the passing of the torch, that drew laughs from the audience; it then was time to present the student of the year award. Toni Griesmer was the recipient of this grand award. In his speech he talked about how he had come into college having a mediocre attitude, and finding out after his first day that he would have to have the right attitude towards college. Well he obviously found the right attitude because he was standing in front of us all receiving the Student of the Year Award and giving an inspiring speech.

            This banquet was another great way to see how being involved in your college has benefits. I honestly never knew of this or had wanted anything in return for my time volunteering at Moraine Park. My main goal was to just spend my free time wisely. Well I spent it wisely and in the end I got something in return which makes me feel a since of accomplishment towards my education knowing I’m on the right track. So don’t be afraid of getting involved in activities at MPTC. My experience has been nothing but a good experience. Our student involvement specialists at each campus are there to help you and guide you during your venture. MPTC is a great place to learn and a great place to get involved with!  

In picture above is members of Fond du Lac Student Senate who received awards along with our student life director at the very left, Sam. Serving as Vice-President for the last year here at MPTC for FDL Student Senate I'd like to say thank you to all the Senators for your participation and to Sam!

 

Last Blast

            Hello again! Today I want to write about my experience at the Last Blast Event at Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac campus. The Last Blast is an event for students and staff to come relax and enjoy the entertainment, free lunch, door prizes, and a receive a free shirt. It was held on April 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This year’s theme was “blast from the past” incorporating oldies songs, root beer floats, and old style décor such as a jukebox and classic cars. The entertainment for the event was a ventriloquist who incorporated students and faculty into his show, which earned laughs from the audience.

            Before the event could start it was brought to my attention that they needed help to set up for the event. I gladly volunteered to help the night before. We were very productive that Tuesday night before the event, setting up what we could. I helped set up the classic car cut outs and helped with the balloons. That Tuesday night we got as far as we could go and would come in on Wednesday morning to finish the set up. We all arrived around 9:00 a.m. Wednesday morning to set up what was left. I helped with the photo booth and the free t-shirt stand. Everything went well and went quickly and efficiently and I would like to thank everyone that was there Tuesday night and Wednesday. Without all the help we wouldn’t have been able to pull it off.  

            This event was quite popular! Out of the 300 free t-shirts we had we gave away all but 30 or so. I’ve never seen the cafeteria this packed for an event. As a student or staff member you really couldn’t afford to miss this event. Lunch was provided to you at no cost with a student or staff ID or if no ID was shown you needed only to pay $1 for lunch. There were 53 door prizes given away including; Summerfest tickets, Brewers tickets, State Fair tickets, folding chairs, a grill, gift cards, and so much more. The door prizes were open to all who attended the event. I myself was lucky enough to win a Wal-Mart gift card! I attended the t-shirt stand with 4 other people we’d all take turns attending to the booth while each other got their meal. It was nice to give away free t-shirts and say hello and chat with students and faculty members passing by. I know I saw quite a few familiar faces that came through. But it also was a good time to say hello and chat with unfamiliar faces. Students and staff are very friendly at MPTC, at events like this I encourage you to take the time and go say hi to an unfamiliar face, who knows it could be a beginning of a brand new relationship.

 

Campus Clean-up Day

This past year I have been a part of Moraine P ark’s Student Senate serving as the vice-president. My big push personally was to be involved with the college and to put my free time to good use by volunteering. In the past year I have lead Student Senate meetings and volunteered for various events when needed. The most recent volunteering I did was Student Senate Campus Clean-up Day.

            Campus Clean-up Day is where students go out and clean up campus. You’re doing exactly what the event is called. As a student at Moraine Park, this event was important to me because we were cleaning the campus we attend every day. As the semester went on you could see careless people throwing garbage where it didn’t belong and making our campus look dirty. As a student at MPTC I want the college to have a good image along with making sure our campuses (Fond du Lac, West Bend, Beaver Dam) are all presentable. You never know who might be coming in to one of the campuses, and sometimes appearance is very important.

            All of the students involved arrived around 11:30 in the cafeteria. We split up into groups that would each take a section of the campus. My group went out to the O wing entrance and parking lot. We began cleaning up everything immediately, picking up everything that was making our campus dirty. It was really neat to see everyone come together for a short time and just get down to business. Everyone that attended really made this event go quick and easy. I know Campus Clean-up Day isn’t as lavish as a lunch ‘n learn or last blast event, but it needs to be done every year. With every ones help we finished with just over an hour of cleaning.

            What I learned from this event was that no matter what it is you’re volunteering for it is worth it. Volunteering makes you feel good and have a sense of accomplishment. In this case I was volunteering my time to clean up the Fond du Lac MPTC campus I attend every week. It gave me a sense of accomplishment to see our campus clean and tidy. And for everyone that attended to help with the clean-up Student Senate put on a free lunch for those who helped. In this case you actually got a tangible thing in return, but in most cases volunteering is for your own satisfaction knowing that you yourself have made a difference in helping someone directly or indirectly.