Hi everyone! The District Member Recognition Committee is here to bring you all Member Recognition Mondays, a District recognition program that aims to recognize members for their efforts in Circle K. We are kicking it off in August to appreciate the members, who stayed active over the summer, and was chosen by their fellow peers. Lieutenant Governors had the duty to pick the final selections and said a few words.

What is new with MR Mondays this term is that we included a Q&A portion! Everyone answered these questions below:

1. Who do you look up to in Circle K, and why?
2. What’s invisible but you wish people can see?
3. Through what medium would you like to get cool when you have been wandering under the sun all day?

Without further ado, here is the first week! For this week, we are recognizing members from the northern region of our District: Capital, Golden Gate, and Sunset.

Capital Division
Omar Sanchez, University of the Pacific
“Even though Omar just recently graduated from the University of the Pacific, he continues to play a significant role in the organization we serve! He has helped San Joaquin Delta College Circle K and University of the Pacific Circle K to plan our their annual Salvation Army Kids’ College in Stockton. On top of that, he also came out to the July DCM Member Retreat, all while he was set to leave for Argentina to study abroad in the following week. He always gave a helping hand when needed, made sure everyone around him was having fun while also being respectful. Ultimately, Omar has exhibited great leadership, spirit, and kindness towards all members not only in Capital Division but throughout the CNH District.”

Q&A:
1. In Circle K I definitely look up to members who step up to take on a leadership role. Whether the position is at the Club, Divisional, District or International level doesn’t matter, what matters is that the member stepped up to take on this responsibility. I look up to members who take on these roles because they are challenging themselves to grow as leaders. This is not an easy task and at times it comes with a lot of pressure, stress and anxiety, but in the end it is worth it, which is why I look up to those who take on this amazing challenge. In addition to looking up to members who take on leadership roles, I also look up to the alumni who come back and support their home club, home division and home district. It is something that is highly needed in CKI. These are people who no longer need to support CKI, but choose to do so because they care and want to make the experience of current members a better one. I aspire to be an alumni who can give back and make sure that future CKI members gain as much from their experience as possible.

2. Something that’s invisible but I wish people could see is the amount of love and belief I have in their ability to succeed and that others see as well. I have seen time and time again that the people who I believe to be some of the strongest leaders, or who could become some of the strongest leaders don’t see what I see in them. I wish they could see the confidence I have in their abilities. I wish there was a mirror for me to show them that they posses the intelligence and skills to make a positive impact in this world, and also to reach their goals and aspirations. More than that I wish people could see that they are worth it. That they are loved, valued, and that they aren’t alone.

3. If I was wondering under the sun all day, my preferred medium to cool down would be a three step process. Step one would be to find help and/or civilization because if i’m in the sun all day it’s probably because I got lost, or someone kidnapped me and I managed to escape and I’ve been looking for help all day. Step two would be to find a huge tub of ice cream, because Ice-cream makes everything better of course. Although it would need to be some kind of sweet sorbet (i.e. Raspberry, Mango, Grape, Pineapple, etc.) or mint chocolate chip ❤ . Oh gosh I want ice cream now UwU. Anyways… Step three would be to find a pool to swim in. Not just any pool though, it has to be a pool with a temperature between 77-82 degrees, because according to my google search for perfect pool temperatures, “bacteria, algae and other organisms thrive under warm water conditions this is obviously harmful…(to) the general public in a commercial swimming pool.” So yeh… Let’s keep that water temperature at a nice bacteria unfriendly temperature of 77 to 82 degrees 😀 ❤.

Golden Gate Division
Brandon Abrego, UC Berkeley
“Brandon is an incoming Freshmen that recently graduated from Key Club and is now part of UC Berkeley Circle K! While taking summer session classes, he has been very involved with going to club events, getting acquainted with the division, and also helped planned UC Berkeley’s Member Takeover meeting. Brandon’s involvement has been truly admirable and I hope that he continues to explore what CKI has to offer!”

Q&A:
1. Well I look up to my board because they welcomed a stranger (me) with open arms and made me feel at home coming to college for the first time. I was also inspired that many of them were active members freshman year, which made me want to be as active as possible.

2. While not really invisible, I feel that most of the time we are so fixated on the negative aspects that we ignore the positive ones. There’s lots of good people working in the background that get overshadowed by negativity.

3. Too cool off after a long day under the sun, I would like to travel to a room at zero degrees Kelvin or digest icecream in a Bose-Einstein condensate form, because I’m not a fan of the heat but I can handle any amount of cold.

Sunset Division
Nathan Yu, De Anza College
“Nathan is an upcoming third year at De Anza College and serves as secretary for the 2018-2019 term. He has been coming out to our summer divisional events, including our July DCM and July Division service projects. As a newer member of Circle K, it has been great to see him coming out to more service projects and events within his club and the divisional level.”

Q&A:
1. People in the position of president, because it takes a lot of time, work and charisma to lead any group of people.

2. Thoughts. That way, there wouldn’t be as many miscommunications.

3. Fans