On Thursday, September 14, 2023, the Andrews University Student Association (AUSA) hosted the second Change Day Afterparty in partnership with the Center for Faith Engagement (CFE). Hailey Prestes (senior, architecture), AUSA Vice President (VP) for Social Affairs, and her team planned the Afterparty. As Hailey enters her second term as VP for Social Affairs, she shares why the Afterparty started, her passion for Andrews, and future AUSA events.
Hailey Prestes is a senior Architectural Studies major with a Marketing minor. Prestes has been a part of the AUSA Social team since her sophomore year. She was Assistant to the Social Vice President (SVP) before becoming the AUSA SVP in 2022. Under the new AUSA constitution, her title has changed to Vice President (VP) of Social Affairs.
Prestes shares, "Event planning is something I've always loved doing and grew up watching my family do for our family events and church community." She added that she has been in event planning leadership roles since high school and said, "that just continued when I got to AU." However, Prestes was not planning on continuing in the position for a second term this school year. "I was going to take a break and not do it this year since I'm also involved in three other clubs,” but lucky for us, Loren Manrique (senior, animal science and art), AUSA President, "convinced me to apply again this year, and here I am."
One of the reasons the Afterparty returned to Change Day this year is because of the same team working on the event. Prestes mentions, "Every time an event is repeated, we have past experience to go off of, and since last year it was the same team [leading Change Day], we easily knew our notes from last year and how to improve this year!" She added that "Last year it was a success with students enjoying the refreshments and activities, so we thought let's do it again this year, even bigger and better!" Bigger and better is what Prestes and her team planned! This year's Afterparty featured volleyball, bubble soccer, a water slide, a foam pit, water guns, bubble launchers, lawn games, and refreshments, including watermelon, snow cones, Andy Eats food truck, and the India Garden food truck. "This year, we really wanted to have a variety of activities for the students… Students were able to enjoy all of this by either participating or just socializing while the music bumped throughout the Alumni House lawn or sitting on blankets in the grass with their friends," reflects Prestes. However, the color powder explosion finale was a highlight again this year. "The most iconic part has to be the colored powder as that tradition seems to always be a blast," she says.
There is a common theme that makes every event and her position unique. Prestes reflects on this and states: "I think what made the event special is the same thing that makes all our events special: the students! They were able to connect and play together and really seemed to enjoy themselves. Watching them take videos with each other in the foam or while whacking each other with colored powder just shows that this event will become a cherished college memory for them and that's all we could ever ask for." Prestes added that one of her favorite parts of her position is "That moment during one of our events where you can just see everything you've been planning is running smoothly, people are having fun, memories are being made, and our community is connecting with each other." She says this experience "drives our passion to start planning the next one."
Prestes is looking forward to the Barn Party and AUnited Weekend this school year. She added news about this year's barn party happening on October 14, stating, "This year we're planning for a little cultural twist which I'm excited about, so be looking out for more on that." She also added: "For the Barn Party, we are wanting to collaborate with multiple clubs and hoping to give them a platform at our event. If you're interested, hit us up by emailing me at prestes@andrews.edu"
Prestes expressed the most challenging part of planning events is "bringing together all the different aspects of the event." She explains that "Whether it be the venue, the activities, the people involved, the catering, things to be bought or rented, services to be requested, it adds up to one huge to-do list to be given among a team of full-time students." This team of students is something she loves most, saying, "I LOVE MY TEAM." The new AUSA constitution, ratified spring semester 2022, established the Student Activities Board (SAB). This is a "full team of dedicated, hardworking, creative individuals who are just as passionate as I am about making our events a success… I love them all very much," says Prestes.
Students connecting and making memories make Prestes and the events she plans successful. "I think that my passion for planning events and for creating opportunities for memories to be made is what drives me to be successful in my position," she says. She also believes her talent "is thanks to God and what He does through me." Not only has God given Prestes her talent, but He has also provided for her many times as a leader. "The amount of times God has come through for me during all my student leadership positions is insane and deserves to be recognized," stated Prestes.
As the semester accelerates, Prestes and her team continue planning more events. She is excited by the opportunity to represent students, welcome them to the AUSA offices, and continue planning exciting events, sharing, "Please come to our events cause we work hard on them. Also, if you want to be involved in student leadership, please talk to any of our AUSA officers!"
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.