Japanese street performer doing the juggle.

Finals week was like a gong show! Busy, crazy and chaotic.  Not only was I trying to finish what felt like an unmanageable amount of homework, but I also had additional responsibilities that I had to tend to involving my extracurricular activities.  As my grandmother would always tell me, “keep your nose to the grindstone,” and that is exactly what I did.

Any type of comprehensive project that a teacher could assign, I was working on.  Group papers, group presentations, individual papers, individual presentations, financial forecasting/number crunching, study for final exams, etc.  I was doing it all.  On top of class assignments, I had my first Rock For Kids (RFK) fundraiser that I was personally responsible for putting together.

Thankfully, it went swimmingly.  My fellow graduate student, Sarah Newbie, was kind enough to design the event flyer.  The great thing about the Columbia community is the willingness to help fellow students.  Even during the craziest and busiest of times, you can always count on your classmates for support.  When I first started at Columbia, I remember wondering what the environment would be like among classmates.  Would it be competitive and serious or collaborative and jovial?  While it can be serious at times, I have been pleasantly surprised by the overall positivity everyone puts forth.

Rock For Kids event flyer designed by Sarah Newbie, AEMM Graduate Student.

As you can see from the event flyer, the fundraiser was held at The Bedford.  We drew a crowd of about 15 to 20 people and enjoyed a few happy hour beverages to support the kids.  The Bedford was gracious enough to provide the space and donate 30 percent of all liquor sales toward RFK.  We were able to snag bartender extraordinaire, Brad Bolt, co-owner of Bar DeVille to donate his time and talent.  The crowd enjoyed Brad’s carefully crafted beverages.  All of the tips also went to RFK.

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In addition to tips and a portion of the liquor sales, we also had one other revenue generation strategy.  A few weeks ago, I attended a Clap Your Hands Say Yeah concert (which was awesome!) and the band graciously donated a signed poster, which we raffled off.

Teresa Nguyen, winner of signed CYHSY poster.

I was happy with the turn out, I was able to generate awareness, raise some money, create new connections, and blow off some steam.  After the event, it was back to the grindstone.  I must say, there isn’t a much better feeling than knowing you conquered finals week.  Life is full of juggling acts and you might as well learn to dance the jig simultaneously.