STUDENT CENTERS STUDENT CENTERS

CONFERENCE & RESERVATION SERVICES

Creationstation

Games Room

SHASTA’S CONES & MORE me to break the news in Houston on a set date and advertise the tour. I was getting to do the best job on earth, padding my portfolio, learning industry skills and secrets, and all because I got sick of paying for concert tickets.

I’d been involved with Coog Radio for a few years when I was asked if I wanted to take on a leadership position. The board was graduating, and the station needed direction from people who had an idea of how it was run. I readily agreed, becoming the news and sports producer in 2019. This went smoothly until halfway through the semester.

The student serving as web director stopped coming to meetings, responding to emails and updating the website. Articles were getting backed up, contracts weren’t being fulfilled, and press passes weren’t being acquired. The new station director had to make a tough call, asking the web director to resign. But now, one of the key roles at the station was vacant. I was called in for a meeting where I was asked to take on the position.

According to online statistics, I was the most published, the most active. I had the most experience with the website and music journalism, thus would make for the smoothest transition into the role. I agreed, moving blindly into the role.

It was unusual, as everyone else got to train their replacement. I was stuck figuring things out on my own, occasionally reaching out to the two web directors prior to the one who’d resigned whenever I got stuck.

While rushing to catch up with the site and guide the team of journalists, I continued my role as news and sports producer as I found a trained replacement. It was a stressful job, essentially that of an editor-in-chief who works closely with advertising and marketing teams to gather the money and recognition needed to keep the station running. And yet, it was the most rewarding job of all.

I edited every article published, teaching people how to write in AP style, use better grammar, and make their stories flow. I also held photography workshops to teach anyone who wanted to learn how to handle their cameras anywhere from an orchestra to a mosh pit. Our readership grew and it became easier than ever to obtain press passes. At the end of the semester, my success as web director was the perfect jumping-off point for me to become Coog Radio’s first female station director.

I dove into the role with passion. By that point, I’d learned how to do most everything that needed to be done to run the station, so I was ready to train anyone in whatever they may need. I interviewed and chose my new board, a dynamic group of people where diversity and cooperation were our greatest strengths.

My final semester saw the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. I had to navigate running a station during a pandemic without a map, and somehow managed to create a model smooth enough that the station director that followed me was able to use it during his own term.

Outside of the dozens of skills I learned during my tenure at Coog Radio, the most important thing I got out of the experience were the life-long friendships I made and the incredible college experience we had together. In this friend group, I see future godparents and members of my wedding party, chosen family that have proven themselves to me time and time again. I have skills to kick-start my career with, and friends, no, family to cheer me on as I go. And all because I decided to join Coog Radio.

By McKenzie Misiaszek |

Since March of 2020 the world has transitioned online. Zoom and Microsoft Teams have been a way to connect with coworkers and classmates, but have they really? The professional atmosphere of these services makes it hard to connect with peers, let alone make friends or get involved with new activities, even when on campus groups try to organize fun virtual meetings and events.

But where Zoom lacks, Instagram has made up for it. University themed accounts have been popping up within the UH community over the last two years, and many of them have grown a large following by using humor and shared interests to connect students in ways they may not have been able to otherwise.

From @thecrookedcougar and @uh_affirmations making students laugh, to @uh_missed_connections helping students reach out to one another in a Craigslist fashion and a multitude of UH themed fan accounts helping fans of musicians link and laugh, there’s a Cougar themed account for you.

When meeting people on campus became practically impossible due to the pandemic, these accounts helped people connect in a way that doesn’t risk illness.

Each of these accounts began after COVID for similar reasons, they wanted to have fun. Whether it be they wanted to create something to help students destress during finals like @uh_missed_connections, make UH feel a little less like a commuter school like @uh_affirmations or create an army like @thecrookedcougar.

“I hope that my account has brought them enjoyment, even in the midst of the ominously quoted unprecedented times,” said @thecrookedcougar.

Forming connections

While having fun and making people laugh is a benefit of running @uh_missed_ connections, the person who runs it actually once used it to find their own missed connection.

“There was one time where I was in the basement of the library and I met someone,” @uh_missed_connections said. “Even though we only had a brief two minute conversation they completely matched my humor and every part of my personality.”

They went on to post their own missed connection on the account which led to the person seeing it, finding @uh_missed_connections’s personal account because they knew their name, and the two started talking. The two have found they have a lot in common. While some of the accounts have more experience than others, they are not afraid to share the wealth – the wealth, of course, being followers.

Me’s and meet ups. It makes me really happy to see that happen, for people to find a place.”

Online to on campus

Both @uh.harries and @uhswifties are accounts dedicated to musicians Harry Styles and Taylor Swift but specifically for fans at UH. Both accounts photoshop pictures of the musicians around campus with UH related captions. This had led those in charge of the accounts to become much more familiar with the campus layout.

“I view UH so differently,” @uhswifties said. “I really see it as this home base for so many different types of people from all walks of life. It’s also made me walk about different parts of campus that I’ve never been to, just so I can edit Taylor Swift onto them. It’s really so fun.”

“A very special thing that I got to help create was when UH Swifties and UH Harries both started their accounts,” @uh_affirmations said. “I reposted them to my story and they both shot up a couple hundred followers within that 24 hours. Now they have their own communities and Group

As the account grew, @uhswifties realized that there are a lot of Taylor Swift fans at UH. When Swift dropped ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ the group had a listening party at Lynn Eusan Park and many met in person for the first time. Now, they’re making the account into an official organization.

“After seeing it gain a lot of traction, I realized I wanted it to be an official on campus organization,” @uhswifties said. “With any organization, you need officers. So, I asked followers to submit an application to become an officer, interviewed potential candidates over Zoom, and picked four other amazing people to join me in the endeavor. These people mean so much to me because we all share the same goal when it comes to making this club into something bigger than us. We all see a future in this, and we work together to keep that future alive.”

While @uh_harries hasn’t said they are trying to make an official organization, they have helped connect fans on campus and led to more enjoyable and exciting experiences at Styles’ concerts in 2021.

“We also have a Groupme where some people who were planning on going to the concert alone found some friends that they could go with,” @uh_harries said. “Others are going to multiple concerts together, helping each other with school, and have become close friends. I love seeing the bonds being made because of this account. We hope to have some sort of event in the future that brings all the followers together to hang out.”

Accepting submissions

While some of the accounts have more than one person behind the keyboard, coming up with posts still isn’t easy. Each of the accounts accepts submissions, especially @uh_ missed_connections which runs off of them.

@Uh_affirmations said they only come up with half the posts on their account, with the other half coming from follower direct messages.

“This creates the opportunity for posts that I may not personally relate to, but others will, and it makes my job a lot easier,” @ uh_affirmations said. “Plus then they have a personal connection to the account, which makes it that much more special.”

@Thecrookedcougar does something similar, although they describe it quite differently.

“I have connected with lots of students throughout my endeavors, many of whom have already sworn their allegiance to my cause of total campus domination,” @thecrookedcougar said. “They often use my tip line to inform me about the latest news, and I welcome their cleverness and shared hatred for my goody-twoshoes twin brother (The Daily Cougar).”

Staying power

Each of these accounts has hundreds, if not thousands, of followers and none seem to be slowing down. Even between classes, finals and their own social lives there’s a new post every week. Both of the fan accounts and @ uh_missed_connections are all freshmen, meaning that they have about another three years until they need to find someone else to run the account if that’s what they decide to do.

While @thecrookedcougar gives little information about their identity, just know that their presence in the online UH community will not be diminishing any time soon, and reflects many of the other accounts’ sentiments. When asked what would happen to their account when they graduate they simply responded, “oh, please, you won’t be getting rid of me that easily.”

MVP helps students better themselves, their community

MVP helps students better themselves, their community

By McKenzie Misiaszek | Photos courtesy of MVP

Walking along surfside beach picking up trash, packaging meals at the Houston Food Bank and putting together an on campus hygiene drive to collect sanitary products for people who may not be able to afford them all make Houston and UH a better place to live.

The Metropolitan Volunteer Program is behind the scenes of every one of these activities, organizing members of the UH community who want to be involved in their community and better their city.

“ By interacting with MVP students can give back and learn more about the community that surrounds them,” said assistant director of membership Ogechi Ngwakwe. “Volunteering benefits both the student and community because it helps to improve the environment and provide better opportunities.”

This semester’s activity list is still being planned, with their annual beach clean up tentatively scheduled for April.

“As we prepare for this semester, we have started to contact our partners for any events they might be planning or any ideas we would like to propose to them,” said Angel Flores, Director of MVP. “Our first step is to always ask what our partners need since we want to make sure we can provide the help they actually are in need of. Afterwards, we ask them how many volunteers they need and any description of what we will be doing the day of the event to give to our volunteers. From there, MVP sends out the request for volunteers through our social media and our newsletter providing them with all the information they need and how they can signup.”

Now that vaccines are widely available and more is known about COVID-19, there are more opportunities to get involved with MVP in person, help the greater Houston area and meet new people.

“I think getting involved with MVP can be the first step in being introduced to the social issues that are present in our community,” Flores said. “As an organization, we strive to provide information on where we take our volunteers and the reason we are there to volunteer. We introduce students to local efforts in combating social issues they might relate to and how they can potentially further help or take the ideas they learn and bring them back home to their own communities.”

For Flores, joining MVP was not something he planned, it just sort of happened during the first semester of his freshman year.

“I knew very few people coming to UH and very quickly I began to feel isolated going to class and back to my dorm,” Flores said. “I made the initiative to attend an event for Weeks of Welcome and it happened to be Day of Service, a collaborative event between MVP and the Center for Student Involvement. Since this event, I felt impassioned to attend even more events with MVP, at one point attending one to two events every week.”

Getting so involved with the program not only led to Flores becoming the head of MVP, but making friends with old and new members.

“Being a director for two years now, I can say I have had the pleasure of working with some amazing people,” Flores said. “Being able to go into the MVP office and interact with the many board members we have, it’s an enjoyable environment. I’ve also had the pleasure to talk to many past MVP members who are now working with local partners as employees or even higher positions, all through the introduction of the Metropolitan Volunteer Program when they were attending UH!”

MVP has led to Flores looking at Houston differently, in a good way. Knowing that so many people in the area want to donate their time to helping others has opened his eyes to the fact that there are great people in the UH community and in Houston.

“Through MVP, I have been able to learn a lot about the actions being done in regard to the environment and the well being of adults and children in the community,” Flores said. “When you see the number of items being donated and the capacity our partners are able to provide, it really opens your eyes to how much the Houston community loves to help one another, and the same can be said with the UH community!”

Being a part of MVP has given Flores experiences and opportunities he knows he wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else, and he says everything he has done at MVP has helped him grow.

“I have been able to really get to know myself as a leader and learn my style of managing an organization,”

Flores said. “I have been put into many new situations and learned from each one, which has helped me respond better in future situations. I have also really found what I am passionate about, even going as far to change my major because I genuinely want to go into nonprofit work and do my part to help others once I graduate.”

He hopes that other students will join MVP, not only because it’s a great thing to do for your community, but because it can help you in your career