Twice a quarter, on-campus residents can attend free movies on
the Hill. In January, they danced the night away at the semiformal
“Fire and Ice.” In February, residents got a chance to
let loose and play games at Casino Night. Next month, they will be
getting dressed up and making memories by attending the formal.
All these events are organized by Jason Chiu and Jennifer
Nelson, programming commissioners for the On Campus Housing
Council.
“We are in charge of the events and have to make sure
everything flows well,” Chiu said.
These events are put on for the students living in on-campus
housing and are meant to make the transition to college life easier
for students who may be time zones away from family, friends and
other things familiar to them.
Many students make lifelong friendships by meeting someone
living on the Hill or attending an OCHC event, but they don’t
know much about the people who make these activities possible.
At the moment, Chiu is handling smaller events such as movie
nights, while Nelson is tackling the formal, one of OCHC’s
biggest events.
The formal encourages group bonding by offering VIP status and
gifts for groups of ten or more.
Nelson, a second-year history student, does not mind the
pressure. On the contrary, she finds it refreshing to be able to
participate at this level.
“I wanted to be involved more; I did floor government, but
you can only do so much on floor government,” she said.
Nelson is attending training courses for future positions as an
orientation counselor and as a Hedrick Hall resident assistant.
She has decided she will stop working with OCHC next year
because it would be accepting an overwhelming amount of
responsibility in addition to her other jobs.
To the surprise of many, the biggest challenge for a programming
commissioner is not finding a venue, booking DJs, contacting
catering, shopping for decorations, or even gathering up enough
people to volunteer to work the event. Both Nelson and Chiu agree
that the most difficult task is finding a balance between OCHC and
classes, and trying not to forget about their social lives.
“I like that different events give me a chance to meet
different people from the residence halls,” Nelson said.
Chiu added that he wanted to provide a service for his fellow
students and found it exciting to put up programming for a large
audience of people he does not know.
Chiu, who is a third-year mechanical engineering student, hopes
to go on to become a pilot.
Chiu’s former leadership experience includes being the
social/publicity chair for De Neve Plaza and a leadership intern
supervisor for the Office of Residential Life.
This year, Chiu was also the dance relations chair for the Dance
Marathon committee, and he is also a member of the Delta Sigma Phi
fraternity.
“The two consecutive weeks when casino night and Dance
Marathon took place were the most hectic and most rewarding weeks
of my life,” Chiu said, though he admits having to plan for
both events simultaneously left him exhausted.
After all is said and done, the duo complement each other so
well that some go as far as calling them the J & J show.
“I don’t think that you can find two people who are
better suited to work with, or for each other,” Chiu
said.
Nelson said they rely on each other for certain aspects of the
work and always know what the other is thinking.
“I like working with Jenn,” said Chiu. “I can
count on her, and she always gets the job done.”
Nelson added, “We couldn’t do it without each
other.”