The Fresno Christian chapter of the California Scholarship Federation (CSF) will hold a regional conference at Fresno Pacific University for all CSF chapters in the region, March 27. The event will begin at 8:30 a.m. and include workshops, lunch and the presentation of several awards.
The FC chapter has spent time preparing the conference throughout the year, organizing both education and fun workshops, facilitating the interview for the Seymour Award finalists and registering attendees.
This is the first time FC has hosted the event since 1999.
“This conference is important because we are representing our school to all CSF chapters in our region,” chapter president Suzanna Quiring, ’10, said. “We hope to represent our school well by being a chapter that’s active and interesting instead of just another achievement that you can put on college applications.”
According to Molly Sargent, CSF adviser, this event has been the main focus of the club for the semester. The campus chapter volunteered to host the conference out of 276 other chapters in the region.
“Our main goals are to not lose money on the event and also to provide an enjoyable time for the students,” Sargent said. “We hope that they will learn about how to run a better CSF chapter and also receive some information about college.”
The conference will recognize junior high students for their achievements with the Marian Huhn Award, and one high school student with the Seymour Award. Quiring is a Seymour finalist and will spend the conference in an interview with the nine other finalists and the CSF board members.
The preparation for the event has also included acquiring a venue and obtaining donations for door prizes.
“It has been a lot of work to prepare for this event,” Quiring said. “The benefit to all of our hard work will be to look at the conference and see everybody having a good time. It looked like an impossible task at the beginning of the year, but to chip away at it is really rewarding.”
According to Sargent, the most difficult part about planning this event has been securing the off-site location.
“It takes a lot more planning to have the event at Fresno Pacific University. I have to be very detailed about what supplies I need at what time because I don’t know where anything is,” Sargent said. “However, I think that this opportunity will be a valuable experience for our CSF members. It’s rare for students to be able to be in charge of a large event like this one.”
For Elise Porter, ’11, head of the CSF decorations committee, the greatest challenge of her position is coordinating the meetings.
“The hardest part is getting everyone together for planning,” Porter said. “I have to make sure everyone has a job and that they are getting things done without being too overbearing.”
This event serves not only as a service to all CSF chapters but also as a test of leadership for aspiring officers.
“I started doing CSF freshman year,” Porter said. “I am aiming to be an officer for next year but I’m not sure exactly what position I will run for. This event is important because I have a lot of responsibility. I hope to prove that I can handle it and be given even more responsibility next year.”
For more information, check out CSF’s Web site or e-mail Sargent.
