This fall semester has been shaping up to be my favorite thus far in my college career. I have found myself getting more involved in our school’s athletic department over the past three years, despite stepping away from my senior season of volleyball.
During the fall, I’ve had more free time and took on the responsibility of being the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) president. Being president of the organization has given me the responsibility and opportunity of taking part in planning major events for our Albertus Community. The two largest events that occur during the first semester are Albertus Madness and Fall Fest both of which I had a hand in creating and organizing.
Albertus Madness is our school’s version of the ‘Midnight Madness’ pep rally that takes places at big colleges and universities across the country. Typically, the events are held on October 15th, which kicks off the NCAA college basketball season. SAAC was in charge of planning this year’s Albertus Madness. The group came up with the idea of making this pep rally a battle of the teams, and also considered the idea of making it a battle of the classes. If we started the planning process a little earlier these ideas could have been pursued further, but they are great ideas for next year’s Albertus Madness.
Our main objective for the events was to support the start of the basketball season. For the audience to actually show support and cheer they needed a way to get involved so we had mini-games where others could compete and win prizes that were donated. The planning process began with splitting up the SAAC group into two groups: one was assigned to soliciting donations and the other planned the order of events. Games consisted of musical chairs, a scavenger hunt, tug of war, and then basketball challenges like a 3-point shootout. I believe a lot was put into this Albertus Madness and I can’t wait to be at next year’s to see which ideas power through.
Fall Fest is by far the biggest event of the fall semester on campus for both current students and alumni. With this being my last Fall Fest as an undergraduate student, this year by far was the most successful out of the past four years. I have never seen so many people on our Albertus campus. As I have said previously I have found myself much more involved in our athletic department so I was already working the soccer games as a stat caller for our sports information director. As a member of the Student Alumni Association (SAA) I also took part in planning Fall Fest. Fall Fest is an annual event that groups or organizations set up and try to get donations along with vendors coming to sell food and desserts. We had to do a lot of planning about set up and where each table and group would be. This year’s Fall Fest under the lights was much improved from last year because the lights actually lit the field and the area around the turf.
As the captain of the softball team, I led team members in setting up a softball station at Fall Fest to raise money for our Myrtle Beach trip. To plan our table alone took a lot of work because we needed to come up with tactics of selling that were different from all other vendors. We had a station called “AMC Showdown Throw Down” in which a contestant challenged any softball player to a throwing contest. This was a great planned fundraiser because there needed to be more activity for others to do rather than just come and watch the soccer games; people want to get involved, and we understood that while we planned the event.
Both events thus far have been spectacular, and took hard work in creating such successful outcomes. While being the lone senior work study for the athletic department, an intern for our Sports Information Director, president of SAAC, captain of the softball team, and a member of the SAA I had taken a large part in preparing both of these events for our school and they both took a lot of time and effort.
When the events were approaching, I started to stress, but I wouldn’t change a thing about it because this experience gave us all a better understanding of what it takes to plan big events.
Learn more about Alyssa Puccilli:
Alyssa has starred on the volleyball court and softball field during her time with the Falcons. She is the daughter of Anthony and Eva Puccilli and is majoring in Sport Management. Entering her final season with the softball team this spring, Alyssa has recorded over 100 career hits.