My inspiration for this project came from my love of events. Each year the SUUSA Vice President of Activities has the opportunity to work along side their team of directors to host this prestigious event. My passion and drive for events was able to shine with the assistance of my directors from the early stages of planning until clean up was accomplished that evening. Each member of my team shared their opinion and worked together to make this event a success. As a leader and an event planner, my award for the night was seeing the spark in my team's eyes and the smiles on the faces of those in attendance. 

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          Throughout my experience of planning events, I have been taught by my mentor, Mindy Benson, that "nothing is a crisis". Because of this mentality, when challenges arise through planning, they are quickly solved to ensure that the event will not fail. The largest challenge that arose during the planning stages of the Thunderbird Awards was finding an entertainer who fit the event. After an extensive search, every idea for an entertainer that my team and I thought of was booked. When we thought that we had come to the end of our search, we recalled an entertainer that we found at a conference in Spokane, Washington. He was a pianist and singer, and was perfect for the 66th Annual Thunderbird Awards. 

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          Throughout the process of this event, I was able to lead and teach my team of directors every step of the way. Seeing each of them grow and develop as event directors and leaders was an amazing experience. Each of my directors took charge and were fully invested in making this event the best that it could be. My team each had their own tasks to make this event a success. The Thunderbird Awards benefited each and every member of my team, and the award recipients. I am very grateful for Madison, Amy, Kathy, Greg, Cami, Sam, and Brandon for all of their hard work and dedication to this event. 

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          The 66th Annual Thunderbird Awards was an amazing experience that benefited me greatly. After graduating from Southern Utah University with my bachelors degree, I plan to continue my education at SUU while interning with V.P. Mindy Benson. My goals after college are to become a professional event planner. Having served as Vice President of Activities and planning the Thunderbird Awards gave me the knowledge, skill set, and experience to lead and direct a team. I also was able to contract entertainers, venues, and catering. This EDGE project has helped me immensely for my future goals, and I can not wait to plan events for the rest of my life. 

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