Apparently AWOL

Remember how I may have mentioned about being able to post a little more regularly? Yeah...that fantastic idea was only that: an idea. I clearly did not realize that the combination of keeping up with coursework and my duties as the Student Government Vice President of Finance would be more than enough to keep me busy. But as I sit in a van on the way to Wheaton College and Chicago (more on that in one of my next posts!), I can finally give some sort of an account of the last month or so. It has been exciting, to say the least.

I moved back into school early at the end of August due to being directly involved in Student Government Association (SGA), and we were quickly plunged into a leadership retreat with all student leaders on campus. It was truly a very beneficial and encouraging weekend, and the bonding that took place with my fellow SGA cabinet members was absolutely incredible. We became rather good friends very quickly, and that bonding/development only got better as we left the retreat and entered into our training week. Training week was time-intensive, but it was truly an invigorating experience. As a cabinet, we developed a set of genuine, ambitious goals for the academic year and also grew even closer as we began to fall into the responsibilities of our individual roles. Needless to say, I am more than excited to see the progression and completion of our goals.

Classes started the following week, and after having gotten used to just working on SGA things, it was a bit weird falling back into the swing of the normal college life. Luckily, none of my classes have required crazy amounts of work for the first month. I say this because for SGA, beginning to mid-September is budgeting season for the fall semester. As the VP of Finance, that involves balancing and approving a budget for 40+ student organizations. It was indeed no small task, and it was especially challenging to keep up with the budgeting in the midst of taking care of routine job tasks and keeping up with the homework that I had (which was mostly reading and small-ish assignments). 

After almost three weeks of one-on-one meetings with clubs, figuring out how and where to cut, and standing before Senate to find a way to cover a $10k deficit to balance the budget and then approve the balanced budget, I can say that I am definitely relieved but also very thankful for what was ultimately a character-building experience. I am thankful for several people who helped out during the process, but I have to thank God the most. Without trusting in Him to make everything come together, I literally would have gone insane. Frankly, with everything that was at stake responsibility-wise, I probably should have been more frazzled than I was. But the Lord ultimately pulled me through it, and he placed key people in my life through which to encourage me and spur me on.

Through the whole budgeting experience, I learned a lot about patience, time management, and not being afraid to seek help. I also have gained quite the appreciation for high-level finance positions in the business world. Managing money for a large organization or large set of organizations is not easy, especially when you need to cut certain things for the sake of budget-balance and do not want to completely crush someone’s dreams. Additionally, I have gained a bit of experience in decision-making and general organization. While the job can be a little stressful at times, I am more than thankful for the practical experience I am gaining and for a platform on which to use the organizational and technical skills that God as given me.

Now that budgeting is over, my role as VP of Finance has become mostly that of routine operations. These tasks mostly involve purchase approvals, cash advances, bookkeeping, and answering any questions that clubs may have about their funds or anything financially related within the realm of SGA. I also have the opportunity to work on various goals (previously mentioned earlier in this post) for SGA that I will expand upon more in the future.

If you are still reading at this point, either you are bored or you actually kind of care about what I have to say, even though it is more of a personal recap than anything thought-provoking. If you fit the latter, thank you so much for your support!! It has been a very fast and busy month, but I have really experienced much personal and spiritual growth while immersed in a business kind of atmosphere.

I am so thankful for where God has taken me this past month, and there is so much more I could say (especially outside of SGA things). But this post has gone on quite long enough already, so you’ll just have to wait until next time.