When you get into your dorm room as a first year, you are going to be assaulted with information. You will get info on alcohol danger, what to do when you are walking home alone at night, how to join the writer’s club, etc etc. One thing that your RAs will be pushing on you hardcore is to get involved in floor government, like being your floor’s President, VP, Birthday Chair, or really whatever wacky position there is either available on paper or in your mind (one floor had an official floor ninja). Of the legitimate positions, there is one position that I highly recommend. And that is Publicity Chair.

This may sound biased as I was Publicity Chair for my floor last year, and I kicked major butt. Not really, I did OK. But here are the three reasons why you should be your floor’s publicity chair:

1. Scented markers. You all know those Mr. Sketch markers from when you were in Kindergarten? The ones that are different colors and smell like fake pie and nostalgia? Yes, well, you get a full set of those when you are Publicity Chair. One of your jobs (hey wait, your only job) as Publicity Chair is to make posters and fliers. Most of the time I made mine on the computer and then emailed them over to my RA who then printed them in the ORL office, but on occasion I would take out my Mr. Sketchs and a roll of butcher paper I had stuffed behind my bed and make a (really cute) poster. Not only is poster-making a ton of fun and a great excuse to procrastinate from real work, but you get to use Mr. Sketch markers. And get to kill brain cells by means of inhaling marker fumes.
2. Like a said before, Publicity chair is one of the established floor government positions and is recognized as a worthwhile job. When you tell a prospective student’s parent that you are involved in floor government and then tell her your position is “Cupcake Lover for D3”, she is not going to take you very seriously. You may laugh and your friends may laugh, but Publicity chair gets you respect with the adults (not to mention, it could help you get an internship if your competitor has the same resume as you except floor government).
3. Yeah, so what? What makes Publicity Chair better than President? Or External VP? If every position is legit, why not choose another? Because the other ones require a ton of work. Presidents have to run the floor meetings once a week and go to other meetings on the Hill, as do the other floor government positions. The only other position that does not need to go to extra meetings and do legitimate governmental-like work is the Birthday Chair but their job is kind of tedious. They have to make a “Happy Birthday!” sign for every person on the floor (and get ugly stares when they forget someone’s birthday). Publicity Chair is not tied down by meetings and crazy amounts of work but still makes a valuable contribution to the floor.

These reasons are kind of silly and really do not represent the attitude you should have if you want to be involved in happenings on the Hill. But, if you are like me, it is a good opportunity for you to sort of feel like you are part of something without over-committing yourself and then debating if you should bring your flashcards to Monday’s  Hill government meeting or just skip it altogether. If you get nothing else from this post, please just remember that Publicity Chair = Mr. Sketch markers. With that information, the choice should be an easy one.