Tracey O'Dowd Leaves Her Mark at RIT

2012 Apr 27

From College Activities Board to the Hospitality Association Club to lead orientation assistant, Tracey O'Dowd, a fourth-year hospitality and service management major, always has an activity to organize or participate in. Through her work as an event manager with College Activities Board, she is excited to take the next step in her life by searching for her dream job in event planning.

Question: Where are you from?

Answer: I am from Minnetonka, Minn.

Q: What brought you to RIT?

A: The fact that RIT has such a diverse student body, as well as an abundance of extra-curricular activities made it the right choice for me. I fell in love with RIT after touring it and it was the only college I applied to.

Q: What is the craziest thing you have ever done you are most proud of?

A: My friends and I coordinated a flash mob during convocation. Just the thought is insane. We had late night dance practices with RIT community members and dress rehearsal with Tech Crew in the Gordon Field House.

Q: What is something that people do not know about you?

A: I used to be a competition dancer back in high school. When I find spare time-which is not often-I will sometimes go over to the Student Life Center and choreograph my own dances.

Q: What are you involved in on campus?

A: I am in so many different clubs and organizations I do not know where to begin. I am in the Hospitality Association Club, Honors program, a lead orientation assistant and an event manager with the CAB. I am also involved in "spiRIT Tribe," program recruitment, fundraising and training chair for the annual RITz Dinner, and recently joined Alpha Sigma Lambda Honorary Society.

Q: How did you get involved with College Activities Board?

A: I began as an event manager by planning movies for the Thursday night cinema position. I was later promoted to be the events coordinator. The events coordinator manages all eight divisions and event managers of the College Activities Board, as well as aids in the planning and management of the major concerts and shows.

Q: What is the best part of SpringFest 2012?

A: We have made some awesome additions this year. I am really impressed by our planning committee because the sky is the limit. We have expanded the entire festival to reach from Colony Manor to Global Village.

Q: What is your next step after graduation?

A: I will be moving to Indianapolis, where my family now resides. I am still in the middle of job-hunting, but my dream job is in event planning. I love event planning because you need to have the skill and ability to put together an experience that cannot be captured in a photo.

Q: Any advice you would give to other RIT students?

A: Take every opportunity you can get. Pay attention to the e-mails about volunteering for Career Fairs, or for Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity Festival. Get involved and leave your mark in your own way at RIT.

Rochester Institute of Technology is internationally recognized for academic leadership in computing, engineering, imaging technology, sustainability, and fine and applied arts, in addition to unparalleled support services for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. RIT enrolls 17,000 full- and part-time students in more than 200 career-oriented and professional programs, and its cooperative-education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.

For two decades, U.S. News & World Report has ranked RIT among the nation's leading comprehensive universities. RIT is featured in The Princeton Review's 2011 edition of The Best 373 Colleges as well as its Guide to 286 Green Colleges. The Fiske Guide to Colleges 2011 includes RIT among more than 300 of the country's most interesting colleges and universities.

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