Hampton University Student Ambassador Update
This week has been quite eventful; as February is right around the corner, we are starting to confirm and set-in-stone dates and details surrounding the contest. We have officially started the Instagram campaign, so my week has been packed with editing and constructing Canva Instagram posts and set slides. This part has been delightful as we have gotten more followers; our goal is to hit 100 followers by the end of the first week of February. Social media is an outlet to disperse information quickly and concisely. I have been getting familiar with all of the tools, especially the content-related tools such as Instagram reels, and making sure the image quality and selected colors match. Using paint 3d, I can photoshop, color match, create logos, and design quality images. Canva adds custom image formats to fit into the Instagram post squares perfectly. Our Instagram is growing, and our digital footprint has been made well. Utilizing the bio space, we can give those who visit our page a small introduction summary. Our registration link has also been updated and added this week, so when students visit, they can easily see where to register. This social media platform has been an excellent addition to this process.
The Hampton History Makers Instagram page.
Feel free to give us a follow and explore the content on the page.
We look forward to continuing to add more, especially within the weeks leading up to the contest, as we have daily posts ready for Black History Month. For media coverage of the event, video content will be released covering the competition and more outreach events. This social media promotion work occurred Monday through Wednesday and is still being revisited.
The black history contest, our biggest event of the ambassador program, is occurring on February 28th, and we are pretty excited. We are working on getting our location concrete, but we are awaiting approval from the school higher-ups. We want to ensure our School Library and School is cleared on everything, so we are sending out documents and the recent meeting with our fantastic advisors to ensure we are taking the proper steps. Our registration link is completed, and we have flyer templates. However, since we are currently still setting things in stone and waiting for approval on location, we have yet to launch a flyer, but the formatting is there, so when we receive the green light, we will be ready. We have also decided to bring on other students as judges for this event. So many beautiful ideas to improve retention, fun additions to the contest, and so much more has started to present themselves, so we are still at the end of finalizing everything. We are happy to have built this strong foundation with the campus library, which made this opportunity possible by dispersing the news of this internship through their campus-wide newsletter. We are forever thankful for our home by the sea's resources.
As the event date gets closer, I have been drafting the presentations for Arlington. I have been organizing the speech, starting with my intro. I want to create a strong speech with a solid but welcoming beginning and a gentle conclusion, leaving the audience with a good sense of what I am trying to accomplish. I am proofing the speech and memorizing the script to add my personal touch while still hitting all the critical points necessary.
To conclude this productive week, we are on track, racing toward the finish line, but we have a couple of quick stops to make, gaining one more level of approval and securing a set location. Our judge invites, rule lists, and regulations will be sent out tomorrow as we hope to have heads of student-led organizations as judges. This would benefit us as it would pull in those who are a part of that organization and help them have an excellent bonding opportunity. Our advisors have been so much help, and I look forward to meeting with them again. As I discussed in my article when discussing Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery and the beginning/ objective of the SCLS, collaboration can cause high productivity and new viewpoints that could change the trajectory of a project, organization, or plan. Our whole team (Simone, Mr. Nyakudya, Dr. Sullivan, and I) is pleased to continue this process, as we see amazing things every day. This process has been a learning experience, as my skillsets have been growing using the archive and outreach coordination process. I hope all ambassadors are having success with their programs on campus; it can be challenging at times but know; no matter your school's protocol (make sure you follow it), the university wants to see you succeed; this learning tool once people understand the vital role it plays for one understanding of history, they will be ready to accept your plans with open arms.