Journey with Jackson

What's going on? It’s Jackson here to fill you in on the first couple of months of my sophomore year here at UAH. It has been very busy, but also some of the most fun I’ve ever had. Right off the bat, I moved into my new residence hall at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house. I have to say, living in a house with ten of your closest friends is just as exciting as it sounds.

After moving in, I jumped right into the Week of Welcome events. I had a great time doing silent disco at Rock the Rec, trying my luck at the Chargers after Dark casino night, and putting away some barbecue at the Charger Blue Barbecue. Overall, the first week of school was filled with fun events that set a great tone for the rest of the semester.

When Week of Welcome ended, I immediately jumped into classes, the fall rush, and my new job at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The fall rush for Alpha Tau Omega took up a good chunk of my time. I got to go to a lot of cool events and meet some great new people. It was a great experience getting to see it all come together at our formal pinning ceremony. 

I am also very excited about my classes this semester. All of my professors are great and I am enjoying the content, especially in my Accounting class. 

In a semester filled with firsts, I also got to start a new job for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Getting to interact with potential new students and give campus tours to families is right up my alley.

Overall, this year so far has been better than I could have expected. All the new opportunities and friendships make me excited to see what the rest of this semester is going to hold.

Charge On! 

-Jackson

As soon as the first month of school ended, classes started to pick up quickly. I found myself spending a lot of time in the Charger Union or my room hitting the books. Outside of academics, I’ve had some awesome opportunities come my way these past few weeks! Starting, we did the photoshoot for the Admissions Office billboard, and I have to say that everyone in it was looking like a million bucks. Keep your eyes peeled for that billboard to go up soon! 

Soon after that, I decided to interview for the 2024 Orientation Leader Coordinator position, which would allow me to help plan and organize next year's New Student Orientation events. I went into the interview very confident, but also a bit nervous; however, after a week or so, I got an email saying that I was offered the position! Celebrating that win was good, but short-lived because I almost immediately got straight to work planning how we can make this year's orientation great. We conducted hours of interviews for new orientation leaders, which was a very cool and rewarding experience.

After getting the coordinator position, I decided that I wasn’t done running for new positions. Alpha Tau Omega had our yearly round of executive board elections, and I decided to throw my hat in the ring for vice president. I was very pumped to hear that I won the election, and I am excited to get started next semester!

Additionally, I attended the College of Business career fair where I got to speak with over 20 companies from all over the area, including Cummings Research Park. This was a very cool experience hosted by the College of Business.

With all the schoolwork and interviews for these new positions, I had to sprinkle in some fun stuff to take my mind off it all and relax. I found myself hanging out with all my fraternity brothers at the ATO house a lot, and I hung out at some great places just a few minutes from campus, like Dave and Busters, Main Event, and Bridgestreet. Overall, these past few weeks have been busy, but I’m so thankful for all the opportunities that are coming my way. As always thank you, Future Chargers, and I’ll see you soon!

Charge On! 

-Jackson

Hey everyone! It's Jackson, here again to fill you in on what has been happening since UAH's winter break. Since I was fortunate enough to win the vice president position for my fraternity, I got to travel to Chicago, Illinois, for the Executive Board Retreat the weekend before school started back up. There, I learned a lot of valuable information about how to fulfill my new position. I also met the other Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) vice presidents from across the country (you know we were repping UAH though). It was an overall great experience getting to travel with my other friends on the executive board.

I got back to Huntsville the day before the spring semester started, so I hit the ground running! A lot of time was spent figuring out how to navigate my loaded spring schedule. I was a tad bit anxious for my first week of new classes, but they all went great. I've been enjoying my coding class a lot!

Work in the Undergraduate Admissions Office also started back up on my second day of classes. I gave my first campus tour in a while, which was a lot of fun. It will come as no surprise to anyone that I threw in a couple of one-liners that went over well with the tour group!

We also had our first New Student Orientation spring training session. It was great to finally see the team together in one place, and it made me even more excited to keep fulfilling my coordinator role. The spring semester has started great, and I'm looking forward to what the rest of the semester will bring. As always, thank you, Chargers, and I'll see you soon!

Charge On! 

-Jackson

Hey everyone! It's Jackson here to fill you all in on how I wrapped up my sophomore year here at UAH. Starting, my fraternity and I went full speed ahead into preparing for our signature philanthropy event, Battle of the Buffalo. This event required a lot of effort from everyone; however, seeing the results made it all worth it. Our philanthropy was able to raise $136,000 for cancer research! I had the opportunity to be the emcee for this event this year, and that was a blast. My fraternity brothers and I are very proud of what we were able to accomplish.

After Battle of the Buffalo, I went right into some interviews (shocker, right?). I ended up interviewing for the Career Services i4 program and the College of Business Ambassador position. I am honored to have received both, and I can't wait to see what these opportunities bring in the future.

Just when I thought my schedule was winding down, I realized I had finals coming up right around the corner. However, this didn’t stop me from taking advantage of those beautiful days on campus and playing some spikeball with my friends. I dove right into the study grind for finals. I ended up studying in the same spot for around 10 hours, which I have to say is a new record. After finals wrapped up, I'm excited to say I am very pleased with how my grades turned out this semester.

As I reflect on my sophomore year, I am extremely grateful for all the amazing opportunities that came my way. Between being an OL coordinator, ATO Vice President, College of Business Ambassador, i4 participant, and the plenty of new friends I met throughout the year, it's safe to say that this was a very successful year.

Now, my fellow OL team members and I are working very hard to get ready for Orientation this summer. I can’t wait to see everyone there, and I'll see you all soon! And as always, Charge On!

- Jackson