On December 1st, 2016, I was officially inducted into the NRHH of UT Austin. A prestigious society that accepts only the top 1% of students (with a membership cap of 80 out of a 55,000 student university) and requires a semester-long apprenticeship, their page can be found here.
To become an active member, I first had to fill out an application online with essay components. I was then invited to an interview, and finally to one of the general meetings, where I was selected to be a Chair for the Recognition Committee despite my lowly “mentee” status. I was also assigned a mentor, Jesus. To be inducted, I had to attend the rest of the general and committee meetings for the semester, complete 5 service hours (two with Jesus, providing hot chocolate at the Duren Winterfest December 2nd; and six providing directions and crowd control at the Jester East elevators, way back during Mooov-In Weekend, as part of a requirement as a Leadership Week 2016 attendee), present a Powtoon made of the pillars of NRHH (service and recognition) at the ceremony with the help of two other mentees–Lola and Murphy–and write an Of The Month essay for November, shown below.
Resident Assistant OTM – November 2016
We newly inducted members were awarded a plaque, a pin, a certificate, and the promise of graduation cords.
My other work in this organization so far has included the production of a new event to be held in the Spring 2016 semester. It will be a month in appreciation of the janitorial staff/building attendants: JAM or BAAM. There has also been a myriad of other minor things that are too many to list out even in a blog. For example, my monthly OTMs (visible by choosing “Nominator is Rebekah Mullins” and searching here, then ignoring the one from Texas Tech).
My work in NRHH has been frequently recognized since induction. 
In January 2017, I was nominated for an OTM and won as best Executive Board Member across the entire campus of 55,000. Read my successful nomination below or at this link.
Rebekah is one of the Public Relations Officers for the Jester East Residence Hall Council (RHC) for the current academic year, and the words that come to mind when describing her tireless efforts (and those of the RHC officers in general) are dedicated, passionate and outstanding. From organizing and leading meetings with our floor representatives, to publishing weekly newsletters highlighting events at Jester East and around campus, Rebekah continuously shows great initiative and leads by example. By updating the entire Jester community about events happening at Jester East through social media such as Facebook in addition to her officer duties, she exceeds the expectations of her role in RHC to help residents feel more welcome in the hall. Rebekah’s commitment to improve residence life and initiatives to keep Jester East residents more involved in residence hall events are only a few examples of her selfless efforts, all for the benefit of the residents. Even since the beginning of the current Spring semester, Rebekah undertook the task of keeping Jester East residents updated about future events through the newsletters. In addition to her excellent contributions to RHC, Rebekah is also an active member of NRHH and successfully balances her schedule in an organized way to fulfill her commitments, making her efforts one of the integral parts of a successful year as a Residence Hall Council at Jester East.
Special thanks to Mounika for that commendation.
One month later in February 2017, my OTM for Jester East 6th Floor (a hotspot for reslife work and community) was also chosen as a campus winner.
In March 2017, I was given a mentee to train and prepare for induction. This was a great honor considering my relative lack of experience, as my own induction was only a few months before. I made myself available for Amanda’s questions, showed her how to submit OTMs and the rest of what I mentioned above as my own requirements, and performed service hours with her at the on-campus live music/food truck event Duren City Limits. It was a proud moment to witness her induction in May.
I also had the privilege of serving on the Alys Bodoin Scholarship Committee for some of my service hours. The award went to a deserving student living on campus and involved in residency leadership roles. When I entered my second year of college and became involved in organizations like the NRHH, my entire outlook changed and I became exponentially more inspired and productive. As such, this particular path holds great meaning for me, and it was an honor to choose a worthy student and reward them for making similar choices to better their lives and the lives of others.
While I was away studying in Mexico City and Queretaro during the Fall 2017 semester, I received word of another of my OTMs (about a wonderful program I had helped plan, promote, and host) becoming a regional winner. Read it here.
When I returned for the Spring 2018 semester, I was able to continue in the organization thanks to a new constitution allowing off-campus residents to participate. Just a few meetings in I was elected as the new Special Events and Social Media Coordinator. My new duties as a member of the executive board involve updating our website and all social media profiles, as well as promoting the events I help find and plan. While a lot of independent work is required, especially in design and planning capacities highly related to my career, much of this also involves in-depth discussion with not only my team but high-ranking faculty. It’s an honor and a challenge to be sure.
The culmination of my reslife experience was attendance at the 2018 NACURH (National Association of College and University Residence Halls) conference, a gathering of hundreds of schools and their delegate teams from Canada to Mexico. There, we attended lectures hosted from students and professionals to gain ideas to bring home for events, org expansion, and more.
My representative position those three days at Arizona State University was as The University of Texas at Austin’s NRHH (National Residence Hall Honorary) Rep. In this capacity, I skipped a few of the lecture slots on days 2 and 3 to instead attend higher-up meetings where we voted officially on next steps for the entire organization.
While this conference was incredibly fun–what with SWACURH’s (our region) joint dance at the closing ceremonies and giant rubber duck mascot, activities such as late-night drag shows and early-morning hikes, and lots of branded swag–it was also an example of the huge happenings UT NRHH has helped me attend. Pictures are included on the cover slide of the presentation in the following section.
My role in my senior year took on a distinctly mentor-like quality. I created the presentation above and showed it to the new recruits I helped get, then did my very best to be the welcoming and educational influence that made them want to stay in our organization that had in the past year lost so many of its members to graduation.
Beyond that role and my work on a new Constitution (and taking minutes at our General and Executive meetings) as the External Vice President, I will be stepping back in my final semester to work on other commitments and allow new leaders to stretch their wings in my place. It has been an honor and a pleasure, but it’s almost time to move on.