Like Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, Mr. John Robles as the Director of Student Advocacy had to fill in for the President in his absence. Though Mr. Roosevelt filled in for William McKinley after he died, this situation was not as drastic thankfully. The Residence Hall Association’s (RHA) president was absent for weeks dealing with personal matters and John had to step up as acting president for those weeks in the month of March. RHA was in the middle of selling tickets to their annual road trip, hosting a dance, working with the National Residence Hall Honorary on a blood drive, and other projects here at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. March was a very busy month for RHA, but John did a great job at juggling the festivities!

John was the dance chair which he and his committee put on a fabulous dance to start off the Complex Sustainability Competition of saving water and energy. The dance was called, “Lights Out Night Out” in which all the lights in the room were off and all that remained were black lights and glow sticks. Posters about the competition were up, hand-outs strewn across the table of food and beverages, as well as compostable and recycle bins all around. The dance went well; people talked, grooved, and overall had a great night. John made sure everything was set up and taken down smoothly. He stayed after in order to ensure everything was cleaned and to wait for one of the RAs to come lock up. He was a true team leader and player on the warm breezy evening of March 9th, 2012.

Though the president did return for a few days, after that, John was back in the hot seat trying to set up scheduled times for students to purchase their road trip tickets. He may have had class, but he made sure that there was someone there when we promised students we would be selling. John did a great job at making sure people showed up before he went off to class. Tickets were sold each night and though we still have only a few left, it was because of his efforts to keep on selling them that had people excited to go on this road trip to Disneyland!

On top of all the events RHA has going on, John was also responsible for conducting our weekly RHA meetings for two weeks straight. Though the president did not leave John the gavel, John’s creativity popped and he brought to the meetings a rubber mallet! Everyone found amusement in this jester and the meetings ran smoothly, efficiently, and most importantly fun as always.

The quote above made me think of John during these few weeks in March because he is a great team leader; he has made amazing contributions to RHA, especially in the month of March and with all the help and support he gave the rest of the staff he did everything a president would do without being paid like the president. He did all the hard work a president is responsible for with as much enthusiasm as a president should have, and did not once gripe about his responsibilities. He has the potential to be an amazing leader and we thank him for his efforts while our fearless leader was absent.

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