Ryan Day sits in the Student Productions office with a few other SP officers. You can hear them laughing all the way down by the PEACE office on the second floor of Vaughn. For Day, these people are like his extended family.
For four years he has worked with them, planning events like Casino Night and Campus MovieFest, hosting comedians and musicians, and preparing the annual Party in the Park concert. For two years he’s led them, through high student praise and harsh criticism, the latter surrounding Party in the Park headliner 3OH!3. But in a matter of weeks, Day will be stepping down. On May 11, walking with the senior class at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, Day will graduate from the University of Tampa, leaving SP behind him.
“I guess the only thing I’ve been avoiding thinking about and the only real issue is now that it’s getting closer and closer, it’s having to say good bye to everybody and these people who I’ve gotten to know for the last four years and not really sure of when our paths are gonna cross again,” Day said.
Day is one of many student leaders on campus who will graduate in the next few weeks. Matthew Rutkovitz will leave office as Student Government president, with Patrick “PK” Creedon, a junior, taking his place for the 2013-2014 academic year. Jessica McCarron is preparing for her departure from the College Democrats after serving three years as president. Spartan Scarlet Team Captain Jordan Maltese looks forward to graduation, but is sad to leave a team she danced with for her four years at the university.
For each of these students, their organizations have proved to be more than an extracurricular, but rather a place of comfort among friends and a stimulus for growth, even helping to inspire career paths.
When Day, 21, was a freshman, he was introduced to SP by his sister Sophie Day, who at the time was the stage shows chair. He was just helping her to begin with. He didn’t take on a larger role and at the time, wasn’t doing well in his classes.
“It was my freshman year,” Day said. “I was just in college, skipping classes, had changed my major a few times and didn’t really have a good time management system, wasn’t really good at staying on top of tasks. I just wasn’t really organized.”
That all changed when Day became the stage shows chair of SP his sophomore year. The new responsibility sparked an “immediate change” in the communications major. Soon, he found himself much more organized and able to stay on top of tasks.
“It seems like the more responsibility I’ve taken in organizations, the more organized it’s forced me to become, which has ultimately led to more success on campus as a whole.”
He credits SP for helping him get through his four years at the university and for the success he has achieved.
“It’s also stressful because the decisions you make have such a large impact but I’ve really enjoyed it just cause it has helped me kind of develop as a leader,” Day said. “ It’s been crazy. We’ve had ups and downs. Students get mad at some things and excited at others. But that’s kind of the fun of it, … getting to see how that works.”
Day was approached by then SP advisor Jenn Powell at the end of the school year about applying for president. He was reluctant at first, instead wanting to test his abilities as vice president. She convinced him, however, and he’s been SP president for two years. The position has even inspired Day’s future goals. He’ll be attending the University of South Carolina for grad school where he will study higher education in a two-year program, “following the Student Production’s route,” as Day put it.
Once he’s done, he hopes to return to UT and take on a staff role, eventually going to get his doctorate with the hopes of moving up in his career.
“ My ultimate plan is to come back and do something like the people who work in OSLE, specifically with leadership development,” Day said. “But I’d like to work on a college campus for the rest of my life.”
The Spartan Scarlets similarly influenced 22-year-old Team Captain Jordan Maltese, a marine biology major who has danced since she was two. Before becoming team captain, Maltese previously choreographed for the team.
The senior already has a job set up at home in St. Louis, Missouri, working for Tyson Research Center as an aquatic field technician.
“I’m bringing a little marine bio to Missouri,” Maltese laughed.
Her departure from the Spartan Scarlets won’t be the end of her dance career, however. She has a second job lined up to coach dance at her former high school in Missouri, Seckman High.
Maltese won’t just be leaving the Spartan Scarlets; she’s also involved with Alpha Chi Omega, Beta Beta Beta, the Environment Protection Coalition and PEACE. She works in the admissions department as a tour guide too.
“ I definitely think being well-rounded is … something you need when you come to college, especially when you come to the University of Tampa because a lot of people come here and they don’t know anybody,” Maltese said.
Although being involved in so many organizations is time consuming for Maltese, who devotes five hours a week for dance practice with the Spartan Scarlets, she wouldn’t have it any other way, calling the experience “incredible.”
“It’s really really sad because… I’ve seen it really grown,” Maltese said. “It’s sad because this is our first year going to the national competition.”
The Spartan Scarlets placed second in their division in the National Dance Alliance competition under Maltese’s leadership, a success she believes the team will continue on with even after she leaves.
“We’ve gone to smaller dance competitions against college teams but nothing like nationally recognized so I definitely think having the qualities … to lead a team to nationals and getting second in our division was definitely an incredible feeling,” Maltese said.
Leading an organization has also been a big part of 21-year-old SG President Matthew Rutkovitz’s time at UT. The entrepreneurship major didn’t get involved with SG till his sophomore year and eventually ran for the director of programming position after losing the election for vice president of the UT Entrepreneurs. He later went on to run with Alison “McKay” Ellis for the SG presidential ticket.
“If I didn’t lose the election sophomore year, I would have never become president,” Rutkovitz said.
Being SG president has been an integral part of Rutkovitz’s time at UT, who ran for office to “better the campus.”
“I’m a huge fan of constant, never-ending improvement,” Rutkovitz said. “ And I love helping others and working with other people and dealing with students. … When there’s issues that arise, I hate when people just look and complain about an issue. I’m a big fan of problem-solving.”
Rutkovitz said the position has had its ups and downs throughout the semester but found his involvement made him stronger as a person and a leader.
“It’s been so important and I stress this a lot, I talk about the out-of-classroom experience,” Rutkovitz said. “You can’t pay for that. You can’t pay for what you learn outside of the classroom and Student Government, the amount I’ve learned personally from everybody else on this campus, has been tremendous.”
Rutkovitz plans on getting a sales position with his entrepreneurship major once he graduates from UT, with the hope of eventually starting his own business in the next two to five years.
Jessica McCarron, 22 and a government and world affairs major, is also on the SG cabinet as the director of public relations. The senior, who is also a Pathways mentor, sought out the College Democrats her freshman year. She was surprised when asked by the organization’s president to apply for president the following academic year, McCarron’s sophomore year. She has held the position for three years now.
“It really helped me kind of figure out who I am and what I want to do with my life because I came here, I knew I wanted to join the college Dems, I knew I was excited about politics, but I didn’t think it would be such a big part of my life,” McCarron said. Becoming president, McCarron said, was “one of the greatest decisions [she’s] made.”
With the College Democrats, McCarron has worked on campaigns and issue work. The organization supported President Obama’s agenda and helped register students to vote during election time, with its goal being to “educate students about issues.”
Her time as president has opened up internship opportunities, one at Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s office and the other at the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence. In the fall, she even worked on the Obama campaign at the state headquarters in Tampa.
Although still looking at her options for after graduation, McCarron is interested in working in public affairs or government relations. She’s also eager to work on campaigns.
“Campaigning is very exciting, it’s a big part of what we do in College Dems, so it’s definitely a possibility for me,” McCarron said.
Though these student leaders are excited for life after college, leaving the organizations they have spent years with is making their graduation bittersweet.
Through each organization, these seniors have developed bonds with their fellow officers and members that are making their departures from UT tough.
“My favorite part and definitely the most rewarding aspect has been the camaraderie among the board, especially
for my two years as president,” Day said.
“I’ll miss working with all the students on campus and taking their opinions and running with it and trying to do something with them,” Rutkovitz said. “I love dealing with people so I think I’ll miss saying hi to everybody walking to the cafeteria every morning, walking in and out of class.”
They may be graduating, but these seniors plan on returning to UT in the future.
“I’m definitely going to come back and give both my time and money once I graduate,” Rutkovitz said.
Jessica Keesee can be reached at jessica.keesee@theminaretonline.com