Have you seen the mustached man running around campus with a green bandana on and think to yourself, “Who is that guy?” Well you’re in luck, because you can find out all you need to know about him here! His name is John Burdette. You have and will most likely see him around campus sporting his Kansas City Royals gear. He’s from right outside of Kansas City in Overland Park, KS.
John is a sophomore here at Eckerd, and he’s majoring in Film Studies. In the future, he hopes to work with Non-Profits specifically Medical Non-Profit Organizations. He wants to produce videos for these organizations showcasing their cause and message. John also hopes to maybe start his own Non-Profit.
John is a busy guy. He is the RA of Delta Berkeley, the head of the ECOS department of Intercollegiate Affairs, and a tour guide. He is also a member of the Ambassador board as one of the New Ambassador Coordinators. Last but not least he is also a part of the Weekend Warriors Club.
The ECOS Intercollegiate Affairs committee is tasked with maintaining and facilitating new relationships between other colleges and universities. The overall goal of the committee is to strengthen these said relationships. Some goals John has as the Head of the Intercollegiate Affairs are to skype/meet with at least one college a month as well as branch out to other non-Florida schools. John would also love to host a conference here for schools to come, meet, and discuss in person.
As the New Ambassador Coordinator, John also has the responsibilities to ensure that new ambassadors who are hired in November are given all the information necessary to lead a tour. John and his partner Dan coordinate training sessions and check-in with the new ambassadors to make sure that they are doing everything they need to do. As a board member, John also helps organize larger projects such as the Fall Open House or the Explore Eckerd Weekends in the spring
One of John’s favorite things about Eckerd is the community. His love for the strong sense of community led him to apply to be an RA. John wants to help grow and strengthen the community bond so that no one has to face challenges alone or celebrate life’s happy moments alone. When asked about his responsibilities as an RA, John said it could, “be summed up in one pretty simple sentence: our job is to make sure students are comfortable, healthy, safe, and when they go to bed, they are waking up in (relatively) the same state they went to bed in.” As an RA, he is also responsible for putting on dorm events for the community. John tries his best to make himself available all the time so if anyone has a problem they can come to him.
As an RA, John does have to enforce policies. However, he believes that a misconception of RAs is that they want to write people up. This is far from the truth. It is a part of their job to write up students that are committing a policy violation, but they are strictly doing it to keep everyone safe.
When asked to reflect on his freshman year John said that his favorite part, “was probably the last two months of school.” Springtopia ensures that every weekend there is an awesome event happening. It was also the time when he made his some of his strongest friendships and stopped feeling like a freshman and more like an Eckerd student.
This year John said he is, “really looking forward to taking advantage of everything Eckerd has to offer with experienced eyes.” He is also looking forward to spending one more year with his senior friends before they graduate.
But the event he is looking forward to by far is without a doubt Around the World.