ACBU – Johnalie

03/09/2020 1:08 AM

Hey, everyone! It’s Johnalie again.

A huge chunk of the “campus involvement” section of my resume is taken up by my experience with the Activities Council of Bradley University, otherwise known around campus as ACBU. As Bradley University’s primary student-led programming board, ACBU strives to make college a memorable experience for Bradley students by producing social and educational programs and events to campus.

In short, ACBU gets to bring the fun stuff to campus. We host Homecoming events, Family & Siblings Weekends, trivia nights, free movie screenings, hypnotists, comedians, indie musicians, performance poets, motivational speakers, interactive simulations, and everything else in between. We even bring big-name artists and comedians once a year for a big event called Recess! Some past headliners you might know are Jesse McCartney, T-Pain, Andy Grammer, Bastille, Nick Jonas, Wiz Khalifa, Chance the Rapper, Bo Burnham, and The Black Eyed Peas.

But I digress with the flex. Apart from being able to bring super cool people and host cool events, ACBU has taught me so many invaluable hard and soft skills and has shaped me as a leader. I’ve been able to practice and improve my communication skills, teamwork skills, time management, and problem-solving skills through hands-on experience.

Above all, I think my biggest win being involved with ACBU has been all the amazing people I’ve met along the way. (Shout out and much love to Ian, Matt, and Abby who are also tour guides here. They’re part of my ACBU family!) My 2019 exec board has become a second family to me, and I’ve made so many unforgettable memories with them over the past year. My heart sinks a bit in my chest whenever I remember that I’m about to wrap up my last semester on this exec board, but I am so excited to see what cool ideas the next board will bring to campus.

When you get here be sure to look out for ACBU, and if you’re interested, get involved! You can get involved as event staff as early as your first semester and apply as a coordinator for the following spring! Otherwise, try to come to our events whenever you get the chance to while you’re here because you won’t ever get the same opportunity after you leave. I promise you won’t regret it.

After all, we’re definitely not your average campus entertainment.