Campus News

K Crew Coordinators on the Move

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Video by UK Public Relations and Marketing

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 2, 2015) — It is the responsibility of the University of Kentucky K Crew coordinators to plan, coordinate and execute a nine-day series of hundreds of events that will educate, entertain and welcome thousands of new UK Wildcats. This fall welcoming event is called K Week, and it’s the biggest student-led event of the year.

Including lectures teaching new students how to succeed in a large classroom, a huge pep rally filling Commonwealth Stadium, and a day devoted to the largest community service outreach in the state, K Week events would not be possible if it were not for the role of the K Crew coordinators.

Although K Week is the most significant jewel in the crown of K Crew activities, the team of two K Crew coordinators also creates programming for the full academic year. Much of this planning must take place over the coming summer break.

Taking the responsibility this year of representing various cultures, ethnicities, religions, countries and hometowns to thousands of new and transferring students are Kaci Smith, a junior in secondary education from Bell County in southeastern Kentucky, and Martin Jones, an economics and pre-law junior from Corbin, Kentucky.

Smith and Jones have already been hard at work on the 2015-16 academic year; their commitment to the program is a full, very busy 18 months. In addition to event planning, the pair is responsible for recruiting, training and supervising the K Crew and the Super Crew. The K Crew are returning students who guide new students through the K Week experience and serve as mentors for their first year on campus. The Super Crew is responsible for training K Crew members and supervising them throughout the yearlong K Team experience.

“I’ve gone from impacting 10 people in my first K Crew experience to the entire freshman class. It's daunting if you think too much about it,” said Smith. “But, really, these activities are just a reflection of my career interests, teaching high school.”

In high school, Smith was “super involved in encouraging others to get involved. I think that leadership experience helped me more than anything else when I started in K Crew.”

She has learned some invaluable tools from her experience: time management, balancing chores, networking and communication skills.

“K Crew helped me come out of my shell and helped me to solidify what I want to do with my life,” said Smith.

Jones had a better experience during K Week than Smith had in her freshman year. He said K Week and the K Crew helped him define himself as a college student and what he wanted to accomplish during his years at UK.

“At first I got involved in a bunch of different groups and activities, but I didn’t feel truly connected until I found K Crew,” said Jones. “I discovered a passion for working with new students that I had no idea was inside me. It was a defining moment for me. I knew this was going to become important for me.”

And the K Crew experience did not disappoint. He, too, is learning all sorts of skills that will enhance his future — office management, public speaking, logistics and “how to cope and succeed when plans go awry.

“Those are all things K Crew taught me, as well as how to be outgoing and personable. Every single one of those skills — plus learning how to learn from others  will help me be a better attorney for my clients,” Jones said.

But before the many skills these college juniors have learned help them as adults, they will first benefit all those new Wildcats who have absolutely no idea what UK is all about.

“Don’t worry,” said Jones. “We’ll teach them,” added Smith.

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