Drake isn’t the only celebrity from Canada.
Originally from Saskatchewan, Canada, Chris Goodale, a senior biology major, moved to the United States with his family when he was seven years old. Despite living in the states for 14 years, Chris has a green card and still retains his Canadian citizenship. Although this Canadian campus celebrity may not be as nationally known as Drake, Chris is definitely well known on the University of Kentucky campus.
Chris served as a freshman senator with Student Government, held positions on his residence hall’s Hall Government for two years, attended a few state and regional conferences through the Resident Student Association and helped to coordinate volunteers when the University of Kentucky hosted the South Atlantic Association Collegiate Undergraduate Residence Halls Conference, better known as SAACURH. He was a resident advisor in the fall of his junior year and has been involved in organizations such as K-Crew, The CAUSE, the Leadership Development Program and Leadership Summit.
He is also a member and founding father of the UK chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
And his list of involvements doesn’t end there. Chris currently serves as the president of the Student Activities Board, a large organization which plans and organizes numerous campus events throughout the year,
“I work to make sure that SAB’s programming committees, each of which puts on a variety of events throughout the year, are able to do their jobs successfully,” Chris said. “I think the Student Activities Board has a history of doing a lot for campus in terms of providing fun and enriching social and cultural events that really add to the student experience. It’s such a privilege for me to be able to work with my teammates to continue to do this.”
Chris became involved with SAB as director of SAB in the Halls at the beginning of the summer before his junior year. A year later, he interviewed for the position of SAB president and was selected.
“[I was] almost halfway through my college career,” Chris said. “It goes to show you that it’s not hard to do!”
His favorite part about being president of SAB is being able to see the impact that the organization makes on campus. Chris noted that the impact isn’t always big, but says that he has had students come up to him or others on his team to let him know how much various events meant to them.
“That’s a great feeling, to know that you changed someone’s experience for the better in whatever small way you did,” Chris said.
Chris says being involved in various activities on campus is rewarding. To him, the biggest benefit is being able to do and learn things on campus. For example, through SAB, Chris learned through experience how to assemble a large concert stage. He also enjoys the experiences he has with his fraternity such as winning the annual Greek Sing competition.
Regardless of the rewards, being involved keeps Chris busy and he admits that he’s still learning time management. He has learned to be flexible to be able to quickly accommodate his plans for the unexpected. Chris has found that combining activities, such as studying at a coffee shop with friends, helps to lessen the workload.
Upper-level leadership positions require a lot of time commitment, but Chris stresses that though he makes sacrifices of his time, it’s worth it in the end.
“As long as I can look ahead and see what I have to do throughout the week, I can budget my time to make sure I get it all done with some ‘me-time’ to spare,” he expresses.
When he does have free time, Chris enjoys playing videogames, watching a movie, or napping. He also likes to spend his time rock climbing at the Johnson Center, swimming laps at the pool, or hanging with his fraternity brothers. Weekends are the most enjoyable for Chris because that’s when he takes time to check out downtown and the Farmer’s Market, travel to Cincinnati or volunteer.
Though he is SAB president now, Chris admits that he wasn’t always so involved. Though he was on the swim team for four years at his high school, Madisonville North Hopkins in Western Kentucky, he admits he wasn’t involved in clubs until the end of his high school career. He did campaign for class president his sophomore, junior and senior year, but was only elected his senior year.
When he got to UK, he realized he could get into groups and organizations and make things happen, in a way that he couldn’t in high school. “The more I got into things, the more excited I got about trying other things.”
Chris encourages other students who want to be involved to just do it.
“Put yourself out of your comfort zone. You are the only person who can make that decision for you, but you should know that it’s one that can completely change your experience here at UK.”
While not a rapper, Chris has definitely developed a celebrity status on campus through his involvement in numerous organizations and making the most of his college years.