One Northwood

This past weekend was busy at Northwood University’s Texas campus – visitors from all over the country, events in honor of seven Distinguished Women, and lots of focus around Student Government. 

(Enjoying Joe T Garcia's!)

The excitement began Thursday morning when students representing the Florida campus’ Student Government Association arrived! After meeting several Texas Ambassadors and SGA representatives for lunch and tour of the campus, we took the five students and their adviser to Fort Worth’s own Joe T Garcia’s for an amazing dinner. Despite their delays (thank you, Delta airlines), two representatives from Michigan were also able to join for supper!

(Enjoying Joe T Garcia's!)

Then, to truly get the feel for Texas, we took our visitors to the largest Honky Tonk in the world, Billy Bob’s Texas! After a few songs, some of our brave visitors even got out on the dance floor and learned a little about two-stepping and line-dancing. :)

The next day started bright and early (and CHILLY!) at 8am to begin working on a Constitution that governs the three campuses. As a service organization, Student Government’s purpose is to serve as the voice of their student body. I am happy to say that we were successful in our task this weekend of creating a One Northwood SGA Constitution! But perhaps the highlight of everyone’s day was the Distinguished Women’s Luncheon. Hosted at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Dallas, this event featured wonderful company, delicious food, great networking, and an entertaining and insightful panel discussing the balance of success and happiness. 

(Students at the Distinguished Women's Luncheon)

 Saturday was another busy day, beginning at 7:30am for the American Student Government Association conference. One-hundred and forty students from nine different states came together to learn from some of the most knowledgeable speakers about how to improve their SGA. Students attended sessions and workshops about leadership, policy, programming, and parliamentary procedure, to name a few. Not only is the conference a great learning opportunity, but it is also a wonderful chance for various officers to network and learn more about their position and duties. This jam-packed day was completed at Texas Roadhouse for some peanuts, biscuits with cinnamon butter, and steak. :)

(Texas, Florida, and Michigan students and advisers at the ASGA conference.)

After reflecting on the weekend, I think I speak for all the Northwood participants when I say it was not only productive, but a ton of fun and a great opportunity to interact with our fellow Northwood students. Our constitution became united, and so did the students. We were able to put faces to names, develop inside jokes, and work as hard as we played. Thank you to everyone who made this weekend possible!

~Melissa