Stacie Larsen
News Editor
At 1 p.m. on Jan. 29, members from the Cameron University Chapter of Circle K International (CKI) attended a Spring Rally at the University of North Texas.
Junior Cameron CKI (CUCKI) President Hector Perez-Aponte said the purpose of the annual event is to bring the CKI chapters within the division together to promote service within the community and among each other. The chapters that participated in the rally included Cameron University, the University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University.
Perez-Aponte also said the rally provides an opportunity for the members to put the three-tenants of CKI, which are service, leadership and fellowship, into practice.
The rally kicked off with a social ice-breaker called “human bingo.” Each member is given a bingo card with squares containing descriptions of personal traits or facts, such as “Someone who failed their first drivers-test,” or “Someone who can speak another language.”
The object of the game was to try and get a bingo by going around the room and finding individuals that matched the descriptions and having them sign their name.
Perez-Aponte said the purpose of the ice-breaker was to give the members within the different chapters the opportunity to meet, mingle and get to know each other better.
“I met probably a good seven to eight people that I didn’t know prior to Spring Rally,” he said.
The rally continued with divisional-elections and district-endorsements for board-positions and the announcing of upcoming district events and service projects.
Projects included the 2018 District Convention scheduled for March 2-4 in Denton, Texas. This year’s theme will be “Lights, Camera, Action.”
Perez Aponte said as the rally came to an end, all the members agreed to go out for ice cream before heading home.
“The ice cream parlor was really the most exciting part about Spring Rally,” he said. “I liked sitting down and speaking with the other members and actually practicing fellowship.”
Shortly after he and the other CUCKI members headed back to Cameron, Perez-Aponte said he witnessed something that exemplified what the organization is all about.
As the group approached a stop sign, a car broke down in front of them with a woman sitting alone inside it.
The CKI member who drove, Cameron senior Robbie Day, immediately pulled over and helped the woman get her car started by using jumper-cables.
Perez-Aponte said what Day demonstrated is exactly what the organization hopes to achieve, and that it’s about taking the experiences and wisdom learned within the organization and applying them out in the world.
Cameron junior Joseph Burke also attended the rally and said that, as a new CKI member, it was nice to be able to meet members from other CKI chapters.
“It’s refreshing to see a group of people that know there is more to life than just themselves,” he said. “There’s people that have it worse than we do.”
Burke said his favorite moment as a member so far was when the organization collaborated with one of the local animal shelters last semester and walked dogs.
“I love animals,” he said. “It was a service opportunity, and I enjoyed it the whole time.”
Perez-Aponte said the organization not only aims to benefit the members of the local community, but also the members within the organization itself.
“We try to provide a way for students to let go, explore themselves [and] explore their capabilities,” he said. “I hope to inspire them [the members] to go out and actually think outside the box of what they can do in the realm of community service.”
Perez-Aponte also said he believes it’s important for schools to have organizations like CKI.
“Service is, I think, something that guarantees survival for humanity,” he said. “It’s the helping of each other that keeps us alive and well.”
Further into the semester, CKI plans to help Lawton Animal Welfare by hosting a dog show adoption.
The organization also aims to host a meet-and-greet at a local retirement home.
For more information, visit Circle K International on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cameroncki.
