Monty Monthly Volume VI | Edition 5 | February 2016 Issue
Sending love from SDSU Circle K and friends! Â
FEBRUARY
2016
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
1
Wednesday
2
Thursday
3 Reality Changers
Friday
5
6
Breakfast Meeting
Food Serving at Hearst Korea Coffee Hour
Canyon Cleanup
12
13
GAG Kiwanis GBM
7
8
9
UCSD Elections
10 Reality Changers
Saturday
4
11 GAG Kiwanis
Breakfast Meeting
Cowles Mountain Hike Social
GBM
14
15
16
Food Serving for
17 Reality Changers
Military Families
18
19
GAG Kiwanis
20 DLSSP
Breakfast Meeting
GBM BWW Social
21
22
Aquaplex Social
23
24 Reality Changers
25
27 PISA Ori Tahiti
Takeover
Dance Competition
GBM
28
26
GAG Kiwanis
Key 2 Life + DCM
29
Paradise Field Day: UCSDSU PaloMarcos
Jade Thai Fundraiser
March 11:
March 18-20:
May 7:
SDSU District Spring Circle K Convention Training Talent Show (DCON) Conference
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Contents
CNH
Letter from
the Editor Hi everybody!
This semester has been going by so fast, and as I type this while sitting on a comfy couch in The Living Room, I can’t believe I’ll be graduating in just a few months and that this is already my last newsletter. I couldn’t have made these without you. Thanks so much for going out to events, taking photos, and writing meaningful articles, and for writing them last minute when I was a little bit behind. I’m really glad I got the chance to be your Public Relations Chair this year, and I hope you’ve enjoyed these little newsletters as much as I’ve had making them. Today I went to UCSD’s Key 2 Life and afterwards I just felt really inspired by what the future will hold. I know one day I’ll look back on these newsletters as a moment in my life that I’ll always remember, and I hope that this year in Circle K, that this year at SDSU, that this year of your life has been one that you’ll always remember and that you feel like you’ve grown from. Thank you so much for reading and I wish you all the best!
Letter from the President Spring Rush Week Service Projects Letter from the LtG DLSSP Member Highlights 2016-2017 E-Board Kayla
Ben
3 4 6 11 13 14 16 Tati
Love, Sam Pfau
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Letter from...
The President Dear SDSU Circle K,
Oh man, my last letter to ya’ll as President. I am extremely proud to have been your President this 2015-2016 year and hope each and every one of you continues to help the community in any way that you can whether it be Circle K or beyond. As I had said in my FB post, being President of Circle K is the biggest reward and the biggest challenge I have faced since being in college. Being a student leader is something I’m going to be able to look back on and be thankful that I did because in the workplace, I’m most likely not going to have the opportunity be able to lead a group of my peers, my friends again. Being President has taught me so much about who I am as a person and as a leader and I thank you all for that. I wanted to highlight some memorable moments from this year just to remind ya’ll what we’ve done so far: • Having continuous service with the PT clinic (hit up Vivian Nguyen if interested) and with Reality Changers • Had continuous service with Traveling Stories • Had joint service projects with other SDSU organizations such as APSA, SHRM, APO • Have participated in more divisional events (Weekends in Paradise) • Having an amazing 6 family system (Agents of MKZ, Ruthless Rosebuds, Codename: KND, Renegades, Masters of Disasters, Secret SamMitches) • Hosted great MD&E events (New Member Retreat and Installation) • Held many fun and exciting socials (bonfires times a million) • Had cool pure vida esque bracelets and other fun fundraisers like Shamrock shakes, pancakes, cake pops and cool food fundraiser locations like Chipotle and Jade Thai. • Hosted the best Key 2 College to date And so much more! I love and appreciate each and every one of you, thank you for making this year so memorable! I’ll see ya’ll around the town!
Don’t forget, live to serve, love to serve. Melissa Farlow
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SPRING RUSH WEEK: JANUARY 23 - 29
Torrey Pines Hike The Torrey Pines social was definitely one of my favorite socials! It was so cool because it was the first social from coming back from the month long winter break, so it was a fun way to catch up with everyone after not seeing each other for a while. It was a really great turn out, and I got to meet and connect with new people and get to know others better. The hike and beach was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been, and it was such a perfect day outside. We all got great pictures and I think everyone had a great time! It was a perfect little get together before the semester would start to get hectic. We all went to Lolita's after and almost all of us got carne asada fries which were BOMB (it was my first time eating there). Overall, it was very successful and fun. I love getting to bond with everyone and explore San Diego!
Written by: Alicea Libbey
Sandwich Making On January 26th, SDSU Circle K students teamed up with Alpha Phi Omega students to make sandwiches for the homeless. As a freshman still getting to know the many different people and organizations of SDSU, this event was a good way to meet new people. I went to the event expecting it to be a small meet up but when I arrived at the event I was amazed at how many people showed up. There were so many students from both organizations that showed up that we were able to make all the sandwiches in no time. The people I met made the event fun and their enthusiasm at the event inspired me to participate in future events.
Written by: Salma Price
Ice Skating Social Ice skating is always fun, but I’m glad that I got the chance to skate with friends from Circle K. :) At first, I was not sure of how many people were going or if there would be new members, but there was a good mix of returning and new members (which was great)! I had so much fun hanging out with friends that I have not seen in a while and getting to know new members or those I haven’t talked to much before. We had a lot of good talks and took really nice, cute pictures! I am glad that we had an ice skating social because it brought us closer together as we held hands and caught each other’s falls. ;) It was a nice way to end our first week of school after our long winter break. I look forward to more fun and chill socials like this for the spring semester!
Written by: Diana Nguyen
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Reality Changers Reality Changers is an incredible program that tutors youth from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them become first generation college students. I love RC and have been going for two years. I recommend everyone at least trying it out to see the impact just being there makes on the students! At RC, when you first arrive you’re greeted by the staff with a smile and go to their College Town where you watch and “judge” the students doing SAT prep like incorporated a synecdoche and foreshadowing in a sentence. After that section, you’re ushered to a kitchen where parents of the students volunteer to have homemade family style dinners that you eat with the students and other volunteers. The dinners are particularly tasty and good to help bond you and the students you tutor more. After dinner, the students and volunteers are escorted back to the College Town main room where a motivational speaker will speak with the students about college. Once the speaker is over, the tutors are divided into small sections where you get to work with a student on a 1-1 or 1-2 ratio and help them in any way they need. The student I help, Martha, typically needs English help and it’s cool to be able to see her grow with how she now analyzes passages in books compared to before. I really love RC and the positive impact it makes on the future community and hope ya’ll can try it out someday!
Written by: Melissa Farlow
Sandwich Distributing On Thursday, January 29th, I went to the second half of the sandwich making/distribution event. I went with Eileen, Sam, G-Bus, Da-Chen, Kevin B., Julie, Victor, and past Circle K member Jamille! We all drove over to Lewis Middle School to pick up the lunches that the kids put together and made our way over to downtown to start distribution. We started out handing out about half of the lunches, before we realized that some of the lunches didn’t actually have a sandwich in them! We then started to announce that we had snack bags to everyone so that the people wouldn’t get offended about some getting sandwiches and others not. We covered as much ground as we could at the first location and then we decided to go to another spot that had a higher concentration of homeless people. But MAN OH MAN, did we find them. Once we got to a specific corner and they saw us with the food, about 40-50 people surrounded Kevin, G-Bus, Julie, and myself, while we were trying to hand out the food as fast as we could. All in all, we had a successful turn out with the amount of lunches made and given out; the amount of sandwiches and being low-key mobbed on the other hand, was definitely interesting.
Written by: Imani Baldi
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Habitat for Humanity January 23, 2016
“Laying the foundation for a home's new front yard through Habitat for Humanity was a very labor-demanding and fulfilling volunteer experience.” –Vyanna Ma
“This was a fun experience working with everyone. It was also cool getting to use all the different gardening tools and getting our hands dirty.” -G-Bus Aguilar
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Canyon Cleanup
February 6, 2016
“The Ruffin Canyon cleanup was a pretty idyllic service project. The day was actually pretty warm and I had decided to wear all black, which was no bueno. When we got to the canyon there were a bunch of other groups there ready to do community service. We were split into two groups. The planting group and the mulching group. I was placed into the mulching group for the first shift and spent an hour or so raking mulch so that it was evenly distributed among the ground. Eventually we got to switch jobs and headed for the planting group. For the planting group we were tasked with planting sunflower plants by digging a hole, filling it with water, placing the plant in, refilling the hole with dirt, building a barrier around it, watering the plant and lastly, placing a cone around the plant to protect it. My partner was Tati and we probably planted the most plants (it was either 5 or 6). Overall, it was a really fun service project where we got to work with the Earth and help beautify the canyon.” –Mitchell Nguyen
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Serving food to military families “On Valentine’s Day, we had the chance to pass out a ton of donated food to military families. It was awesome to see how much food we were able to distribute and the families were even able to go through the line a second time! When we got there, we set up the tables in an assembly line fashion and then laid out all the different food items from canned foods, snacks, and even goods like baby diapers for the families to take home with them. There were so many volunteers, and next to me was one little boy less than 10-years-old who was on his tip toes helping pass out food too. I talked with his mom for a bit, and she said she had asked him to choose one service project every month for them to do as a family, and this was what he had chosen for February. I thought that was really special to see someone so young have so much love in them for others. This Valentine’s Day service project definitely made my heart feel full.” –Sam Pfau
Griffin
Ronald Sharanee
Steph
Lucy
Tammy
Salma Victor
Sam
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Purple Rose Project
Ice Skating Social
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District Large Scale Service Project
DLSSP
10
Zach Manlapid: Paradise LTG Hey everyone! This is your Paradise LtG coming back at you with my LAST letter of the term! (I know, it’s so sad). It seems just only yesterday I was writing my first one for you all to read, introducing who I was and wanting to get to know every single one of you. While I might not have remembered all of your names – because I’m terrible at names – the numerous faces and lives that make up this club always inspires me and touches my heart. SDSU CKI has been a second home to me since my freshman year, and three years later it still feels that way. Thank you for always welcoming me at your GBMs and events. I want to say congratulations to the outgoing board for being able to survive the year that is a CKI term, along with everything that comes with it that usually kicks you in the butt. Being a board member is never easy, but you were able to make it to the end! I also want to say congratulations to the new board for being elected and given the opportunity to leave your mark at SDSU CKI. You only get one year and it will be done before you know it, so make everything you do count and to make sure you find a way to enjoy your position. So even though I won’t be your LtG anymore, I will still be excited to see what you all have in store for the future. Go out there and make it an awesome one!
Love, -Zach Manlapid
Jeremy
Zach Featuring Pika the pineapple
Zach
Hershey Melody
G-Bus
DLSSP
DLSSP
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“On Saturday, February 20th, the southern divisions (Desert Oasis, Magic Kingdom, Metro, and Paradise) came together in Orange County for the District Large Scale Service Project (DLSSP). DLSSP consisted of three projects: Santiago Park Nature Reserve, Veterans First Homeless Shelter, and the Heritage Museum. I got to do the Santiago Park project where others and I helped clean up the creek, restore some of the plants, and removed invasive plants. For the Veterans First Homeless Shelter, members helped clean and renovate transitional houses for male veterans. For the Heritage Museum, members helped remove weeds and plants in preparation for a farm. Overall, this was an incredibly fun event because not only did I get to see returning members come out and new members come out to their first district event, I also got to see old friends once again from the different divisions! Can’t wait for next year’s!” –G-Bus Aguilar
SDSU Circle K @ DLSSP
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MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS It’s the year of the Monkey, and it’s the year of Monty! In this edition of the Newsletter, we share more about some of our members that received Member of the Week!
Name: Julie Tran (Some people call me Huli or Jules too) Major: Undeclared Year: First Favorite service project: My favorite service project was the Sandwich Distribution Event because being surrounded by a mob of homeless people was interesting because it was different and it was nice seeing the homeless get food. Some of them of them were really honest too. (o: Fun fact: I usually cry when I laugh like the emoji Name: Brianna Deschenes Major: Psychology Year: 1st year Favorite service project: My favorite service event is probably Reality Changers. All the kids there are so motivated and it makes me want to work even harder at my own studies so that I can be more of an inspiration to them. Fun fact: My last name means "The oaks" in French! Name: Kevin Borges Major: Public Health Year: 3rd year Favorite service project: My favorite service project was the Habitat for Humanity. Not only was it a good workout, but I was able to notice the good our service was doing. I think seeing with your own eyes the impact you can have, the moment you do something, makes it even more special. Fun fact: I have a pretty nice ear. Let me explain that further. I'm good at listening, and I don't just mean paying attention to a conversation(which I do). But I also can hear things most people don't. For example, the almost silent music playing in the background of a room full of people talking loudly. I know it sounds more like an odd fact, but the fun part is that it has made me appreciate music, singing, whistling, etc, a lot more. A good set of ears has allowed me to indulge on the sounds of the world.
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MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS Name: Griffin Gilmore Major: Physics Year: Sophomore Favorite service project: Passing out food to the veteran families because of how much food we were able to give to them. We could see the impact we were making, and it truly felt like service. Fun fact: I ski and snowboard.
Name: Lucy Brunswick Major: Liberal Studies Year: 1st year Favorite service project: Kiwanis’ Spaghetti Dinner because it was my first event ever and it is where I first felt like Circle K was my home Fun fact: My favorite movie is Wreck-it Ralph
Name: Salma Price Major: Business Management with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship Year: First year Favorite service project: DLSSP because during that project I got to know Circle K members more Fun fact: I love to bake sweets and want to own a bakery in the future. So if anyone ever wants to bake something sweet hmu ;D
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Denny
G-Bus Brianna
Tati Patrick
Congratulations to the new 2016-2017 Elected Board! President Patrick Cuaresma Vice President of Administration Vice President of Service Treasurer Secretary
G-Bus Aguilar Tati Rizo Brianna Deschenes Denny Cao
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A blast from Presidents past John
Patrick
Melissa
Yvonne
Scott
Amanda
David
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UCSDSU PaloMarcos Paradise Field Competition Day
CONTRIBUTORS Thank you to everyone who has contributed to Monty Monthly from April 2015 to February 2016! It wouldn’t have been possible without y’all. -Sam Pfau
Contributing Editors: Mitchell Nguyen, Victoria Romero
Writers: Imani Baldi, Francis Banaña, Denny Cao, Patrick Cuaresma, Celeste Estrada, Melissa Farlow, Gabriel Hernandez, Simi Kakwani, Alicea Libbey, Jonah Faye Longares, Brennan McDonough, Gautam Nair, Kevin Nhim, Diana Nguyen, Mitchell Nguyen, Vivian Nguyen, Salma Price, Tatiana Rizo, Victoria Romero, Andrea Steele, Sharanee Sytha, Julie Tran, Aracely Valadez, Eileen Vedar, Abi Wortmann
Member Highlights: Otoo Andoh, Kevin Borges, Lucy Brunswick, Victor Campos, Patrick Cuaresma, Lili De la Torre, Jayme Dela Cruz, Brianna Deschenes, Jasmine Fukutomi, Griffin Gilmore, ,Jessica Gutierrez, Hershey Guzman, Diana Nguyen, Paulina Perez-Curiel, Tammy Pham, Salma Price, Tatiana Rizo, Victoria Romero, Megan Thai, Julie Tran, Eileen Vedar, Tran Vu, Abi Wortmann
Photo Committee: Kristoff Aragon, Laiko Cayanan, Patrick Cuaresma, Brianna Deschenes, Melissa Farlow, Simi Kakwani, Vivian Nguyen, Andrea Steele, Julie Tran
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CONTACT US! Melissa Farlow President sdsucirclekpresident@gmail.com
Vivian Nguyen Vice President of Administration sdsucirclekvpa@gmail.com
Sharanee Sytha Vice President of Service sdsucirclekvpservice@gmail.com
Andrea Steele Treasurer sdsu.cktreasurer@gmail.com
Simi Kakwani Secretary sdsucircleksecretary@gmail.com
G-Bus Aguilar Fundraising Chair sdsu.circlekfrchair@gmail.com
Kristoff Aragon Historian sdsu.ckhistorian@gmail.com
Kevin Nhim Kiwanis Family Chair nhimkap4@gmail.com
Julia Kinoshita MD&E Chair juliakk.11@gmail.com
Gabriel Hernandez MRP Chair sdsucirclekmrpchair@yahoo.com
Sam Pfau Public Relations Chair samantha.pfau@yahoo.com
Francis Banaña Social Chair banana.francis93@gmail.com
Zsoli Reynolds Spirit Chair
Gautam Nair Technology Chair gautam.nair96@gmail.com
angela_zsoli_reynolds@yahoo.com
Circle K Pledge
I pledge to uphold the objects of Circle K International, to foster compassion and goodwill towards others through service and leadership, to develop my abilities and the abilities of all people, and to dedicate myself to the realization of mankind’s potential!