Dear competent and organized humans who successfully plan events for others like me to enjoy on campus,

You rock. In high school I was president of my art club, editor in chief of my yearbook and a class officer, so I feel your planning pain. We organized prom, graduation, art shows, book distribution, charity events and more. A lot of people don’t realize how much effort it takes to run a club, especially one that holds social events. When I came to college I told myself that I wasn’t going to take any leadership positions in any clubs I joined because the payoff wasn’t worth it. But that’s not always true, and I’m glad not everyone thinks like me, because then we wouldn’t have BUDM, Exam Jam or Welcome Week. You truly are leaders, and I applaud you for it.

I remember trying to think of fundraising ideas for my yearbook class and coming up with nothing. For art club one year, we tried a pumpkin-painting night outside our town’s library. I think maybe eight people showed up, and seven of them were our friends. Marketing is vital. We didn’t know that.

It can be remarkably difficult to collaborate with other people, especially if they are obnoxiously ambitious or crazy lazy. But it can also be just as hard to do everything on your own. I remember staying up for hours staring at my laptop, editing pages until my vision started to blur. I didn’t want to ask my junior editors to do it, because I was nervous that they wouldn’t do as good a job or that they’d get mad at me for making them do extra work. My timidity probably didn’t add to my leadership skills. I also would just stand in front of the classroom until everyone stopped talking so I could make my announcements. Also not a helpful trait for a leader.

I wanted to say thank you to all of you who have helped make some event or happening on campus possible. When I talk to people about Butler, I always mention how I never get bored on campus. There seems to always be something going on, whether it’s an SGA movie night in Jordan Hall or a Coffeehouse concert on the Schwitzer lawn to de-stressing before exam week. I don’t get to see any behind-the-scenes action anymore, but I know what it takes to be a club leader, and I am so very grateful for those of you who can rise to the challenge.

Show your love to any event coordinator, committee member or club collaborator next time you see them. They spend countless hours planning, compromising, fundraising, setting up, tearing down, etc to entertain and inspire us. I tried my hand at leading a club, and I found out that I’m not cut out for it, but I’m beyond grateful for those who are.